Chapter 20 Chapter Twenty

Hercule Poirot looked out at the stately Georgian house in what was not long ago a quiet street in an old trading town.Progress encroached rapidly on the strip; fortunately a new supermarket, a gift shop, Margaret's, Peck's Café, and a magnificent bank had all been sited on Crawford Road without encroaching on it. This narrow high street. The knocker on the door was polished and polished, Poirot noticed with pleasure.He rang the bell next to the door. The door opened almost immediately, and there stood a tall, dazzling woman with brushed-up gray hair and an energetic look. "Mr. Poirot? You are very punctual. Come in."

"Miss Badersby?" "Exactly." She pushed back the door and invited Poirot to enter.After hanging his hat on a coat rack in the corridor, she led him into a lovely room looking out on to a small walled garden. She offered Poirot a chair, and sat down herself with an air of expectation.Evidently Miss Birdsby was not one to waste time on worldly pleasantries. "I suppose you are the ex-principal of Ryefield Girls' School?" "Yes. I retired a year ago. As far as I understand, you came to see me on behalf of a former student, Norma Resderick." "correct."

"In your letter," said Miss Badersby, "the details were not given." She added: "I can say that I know who you are, Mr. Poirot. Therefore, before we talk any further, I Would love to know a little more background. For instance, are you interested in hiring Norma Resderick?" "No, that's not what I came for." "Based on your occupation, I'm sure you understand why I want to know some details. For example, do you have any letters of introduction from Norma's family?" "Neither," said Hercule Poirot, "I will explain to you."

"thanks." "In fact, I was employed by Miss Resderick's father, Andrew Resderick." "Oh. I believe he has only recently come back to England, and seems to have been away for a long time." "Indeed it is." "Then you didn't bring his letter of introduction?" "I didn't ask him for it." Miss Birdsby gave him a questioning look. "Then he will insist on coming with me," said Hercule Poirot, "and thus prevent me from asking you questions whose answers, in all likelihood, will cause him pain and distress. He It's distressing enough for now, and I see no reason to add to it."

"What happened to Norma?" "I hope not . . . but there is a possibility. You know the girl, Miss Badersby?" "I know all my students. I have a good memory. Besides, Ryefield is not a very big school, only two hundred students." "Why did you resign, Miss Badersby?" "Why? M. Poirot, I don't see that it has anything to do with you." "No, I'm just expressing my natural curiosity." "I'm seventy years old. Isn't that a reason?" "It doesn't matter to you, so to speak. I think you are full of vitality and energy, and you can continue to be the headmaster for many years to say the least."

"Times are different, Mr. Poirot. Not everyone likes the change. I'll just satisfy your curiosity. I find myself becoming more and more intolerable to the parents of students. The goals they set for their daughters are very Shortsighted and, frankly, downright stupid.” According to Poirot's research on her qualifications, Miss Badesby was a famous mathematician. "Don't think I've got nothing to do," said Miss Badersby. "I have more intimacy with the work I do in my life now. I'm tutoring advanced students myself. Now, would you please tell me what you think of Noah?" What's the real reason for Miss Mary Restarick's interest?"

"It's quite worrisome. She—let me tell you straight up, she disappeared." Miss Badesby remained indifferent. "Really? What you mean by 'disappeared', I think she probably ran away from home without telling her parents. Oh, I know her mother died, so it should be said that she ran away without telling her father. Yes. It is nothing unusual today, M. Poirot. Did M. Restarick not call the police?" "At this point, he's stubborn. He's adamant against calling the police." "I can assure you that I have absolutely no idea where this girl is. She has not contacted me. In fact, I have not heard anything about her since she left the wheat field. Therefore, I don't think I can help you. What are you doing?"

"I don't really want that kind of information. I just want to know what kind of a girl she is—how would you describe her. Not her looks, I don't mean that, but her character and personality." "Norma, she's an ordinary girl in school. She's not very good at school, but she does her homework." "Not the neurotic type?" After thinking for a while, Badesby said slowly: "No, I don't think so. Judging from her family situation, she is by no means as far as I imagined." "You mean her crippled mother?" "Yes. She grew up in a broken family. Her father was the one she always loved deeply, but he suddenly ran away with another woman. Naturally, her mother hated such things. The grievances were unnecessarily directed at the daughter, which made the girl even more distressed and angry."

"Perhaps it would be more pertinent for me to ask you what you think of Mrs. Restarick?" "Are you asking for my personal opinion?" "if you do not mind?" "No, I have nothing to take into account when answering your question. The family environment is very important to a girl's life. Although I can get very little information, I still try my best to pay attention to their family background. I It can be said that Mrs. Restarick is an upright and respectable woman. Self-righteous, critical, and extremely stupid, so that she will be crippled all her life!"

"Ah," Poirot said a word appreciatively. "She, too, I think, is a morbid fantasist. The kind of person who exaggerates his illnesses, the kind of woman who goes in and out of sanitariums. It's a very unfortunate family situation for a girl, especially one with no definite personality." Girl. Norma shows no intellectual ambition, no self-confidence, I would not recommend any career to a girl like her. Get a normal job, marry and have kids, that's all I have for her expect." "Forgive me for asking again. In your opinion, has she never been mentally unstable during any period of time?"

"Mentally unstable?" said Miss Badersby. "Nonsense!" "According to you, it's nonsense! Not crazy?" "Any girl, almost any girl, can be neurotic, especially in her teenage years, especially in her first social encounters. She's still immature, and she needs guidance when it comes to sexual matters for the first time. Yes. Girls are usually most attracted to youth who are totally inappropriate and often dangerous. Today, however, few parents have the willpower to save their daughters from such danger, so that they always have to go through a frustrating experience. Crazy pain, or even getting married in a daze, and it didn't take long to walk into the end of divorce." "Then Norma never showed any signs of mental instability?" Poirot was still asking this question relentlessly. "She's a moody but perfectly normal girl," said Miss Bidesby. "Mentally unstable? As I said just now, it's nonsense! She may have eloped with a young man and married her. In my opinion, there is nothing more normal than that!"