Chapter 15 15

.15. "Miss Fortescue, I'm sorry to bother you again. I want to clarify one thing. As far as we know, you are the last - or should I say penultimate - in the Ford Mrs. Tescu saw her when she was alive. Did you leave the little parlor at about five-twenty?" Ailan said, "Almost, I'm not sure." Then she defended herself, "People don't keep looking at the clock." "No, of course not. What did you talk about when the others left and you and Mrs. Fortescue were alone in the room?" "Does it matter what we talk about?" Inspector Neil said, "Probably not, but I might be able to guess what Mrs. Fortescue was thinking."

"You mean—you think she might have committed suicide?" Inspector Neil noticed her expression brighten.As far as the family is concerned, such an answer is of course very convenient.Inspector Neil never saw it that way.He didn't think Adele Fortescue was a suicidal woman.Even if she had poisoned her husband, and believed that the police were about to find her guilty, she would not contemplate suicide.She will be optimistic that she will be released at trial.But he didn't hate Ellen Fortescu for assuming it.So he said sincerely, "At least it's possible, Miss Fortescue. Maybe you'll tell me what you were talking about?"

"Oh, it's actually about me," Ailan hesitated. "What is your business...?" He stopped as if asking, with an amiable expression. "I—a friend of mine came to the area, and I asked Adele if she would object to it—I asked him to stay with me." "Ah, who is this friend?" "It's Gerald Wright. He's a teacher. He's staying at the Golf Hotel." "Probably a very close friend?" Inspector Neal smiled like an elder, and he seemed to be at least fifteen years older. "We shall hear good news soon, shall we?" He saw that the girl was at a loss, and her face was flushed.He almost had a conscience.She loved that guy dearly.

"We're - we're not officially engaged, and of course we can't announce it at the moment, but - oh, I think we're - I mean we'll get married later on." Inspector Neil said cheerfully, "Congratulations. You said Mr. Wright lives at the Golf Hotel? How long has he been there?" "After Dad died, I sent him a telegram." "He's coming right away. I see," said Inspector Neal. He uses his favorite phrases, and his friendly manner is very reassuring. "You asked Mrs. Fortescue if she could let him come, and what did she say?"

"Oh, she said no problem, I can invite anyone I like." "Then she has a nice attitude?" "Not so good, I mean, she said—" "What did she say?" Ellen blushed again. "Oh, silly things like that I'm more able to think of myself now. . . . That's what Adele loves to say." Inspector Neal said, "Oh, well, relatives say that a lot." "Yeah, yeah, that's true. But people tend to have a hard time -- admiring Gillard. He's an intellectual, you know, and he has some iconoclastic and progressive ideas that people don't like."

"So he can't get along with your father?" Alan blushed hard. "My father was biased and unfair. He hurt Girard's pride. In fact, Girard walked away because of his attitude. I didn't hear from him for weeks." Inspector Neil thought to himself: If your father hadn't died and left you a sum of money, he might not have heard from him until now. He said, "Have you and Mrs. Fortescue talked any more?" "No, no, I don't think so." "It was about twenty-five past five, and at five minutes to six Mrs. Fortescue was found dead. You didn't go back to that room during that half hour?"

"No." "What do you do?" "I—I'm going for a walk." "To the golf hotel?" "I—oh, yes, but Girard isn't here." Inspector Neil said "I see" again, but this time it meant sending someone away.Alan Fortescu stood up and said: "Is there anything else?" "No, thank you, Miss Fortescue." When she got up to go, Inspector Neal said casually: "You probably don't have anything to report about the black thrush?" "Black thrush? You mean the ones in the pie?" Always in the pie, thought the Inspector.All he said was, "When did it happen?"

"Oh, three or four months ago—my father had some on his desk, too. He was furious—" "Is he mad? Did he check?" "There is—of course—but we can't find out who set it." "Do you know why he was angry?" "Huh—that kind of behavior is horrible, isn't it?" Neil looked at her thoughtfully—but he couldn't see the avoidance on her face.He said: "Oh, and one more thing, Miss Fortescue. Do you know if your stepmother ever made a will?" Alan shook her head. "I don't know—I—I guess. Everybody makes a will, don't they?"

"Supposedly--but not necessarily. Have you ever made a will yourself, Miss Fortescue?" "No—no—I haven't—so far I have nothing to pass on—now, of course—" From the eyes of the other party, he found that she had realized the change of identity. He said: "Fifty thousand pounds is a great responsibility—Miss Fortescue, it will change a lot of things." Inspector Neal stared thoughtfully ahead for several minutes after Alan Fortescu stepped out the door.In truth, he had new material to think about.Mary Douf said she saw someone in the garden at about four thirty-five, which opened up several new possibilities—of course, Mary Douf was speaking the truth.

Inspector Neil was not used to being sure of the truth.But he reviews her confession and sees no reason for her to lie.Mary Douf said she saw someone in the garden, which he thought was true, and she thought it was Lance Fortescu, and gave reasons, which were quite natural in the circumstances, but that People are obviously not him. The man was not Lance Fortescue, but a man of Lance Fortescue's height and build, and at that time if someone was stalking the garden and sneaking behind the yew hedge, of course Worth pondering. In addition to this sentence, she also said that she heard people moving upstairs, which was related to another clue.Neil once found a small piece of mud on the floor of Adele Fortescue's boudoir.Inspector Neil thought of the pretty little desk in that room.A small imitation antique with a conspicuous secret drawer inside; in it were three letters from Vivienne Dubos to Adele Fortescue.Inspector Neil handled the case and had in his hand many different kinds of love letters.He was familiar with passionate letters, silly letters, sentimental letters, and nagging letters.Some letters are written with care.Inspector Neil classified the above three letters as "cautious".Even if these letters were read in the divorce court, they would be judged as purely friendship letters and could not be counted.But this time the Inspector thought to himself, "Pure Friendship hell!" When Neil found these letters, he sent them to Scotland Yard immediately, because the main question at that time was whether the public prosecution felt that there was enough evidence to charge Adele Foley. Tescu alone or Adele Fortescu and Vivian Dubose both.Everything shows that Rex Fortescu was poisoned by his wife, and it is uncertain whether the adulterer was complicit.The letters, discreet as they were, identified Vivienne Dubose as her lover; but, as far as Inspector Neal was concerned, the wording gave no sign of encouraging crime.Perhaps their conversation had been provocative, but Vivian Dubose was careful not to put such words on paper.

Inspector Neil guessed that Vivian Dubose had asked Adele Fortescu to destroy the letter, which Adele Fortescu claimed had destroyed. Forget it, now they have two more murders on hand, so it can be seen that Adele Fortescu did not kill her husband. Unless—Inspector Neal came up with a new hypothesis—unless Adele Fortescue wanted to marry Vivian Dubose, and Vivienne Dubose wanted not Adele but It was the £100,000 Adele inherited when her husband died.He might have thought that Rex Fortescue would be considered a natural death--stroke or sudden illness or something.After all, last year everyone was worried about Rex Fortescu's health.Later, Rex Fortescu's death was different from what was planned. The doctor diagnosed poisoning in time, and also mentioned the name of the poison. What would happen to Adele Fortescu and Vivian Dubose if they had committed a crime?Vivienne Dubose would panic, Adele would lose her mind.She may do stupid things or say stupid things.She'd probably call him, rambling on, and someone he knew of "Yew Cottage" might hear. What's next for Vivian Dubose? It was too early to answer the question, but Inspector Neal immediately wanted to go to the Golf Hotel and find out if Dubose was at the hotel between four-fifteen and six. Vivian Dubose was tall and dark, like Lance Fortescue.He might slip through the garden to the side door, go upstairs, and then?Looked for those letters and found that they were missing?Maybe bide your time over there, and go downstairs to the library when the tea party is over and Adele is the only one present? But it was going too fast—Neil had grilled Mary Douf and Ellen Fortescue; now he wanted to see what Percival Fortescue's wife had to say.