chapter 20 katherine makes a friend

on the following morning katherine and lenox were sitting on the terrace of the villa marguerite. something in the nature of a friendship was springing up between them, despite the difference in age. but for lenox, katherine would have found life at the villa marguerite quite intolerable. the kettering case was the topic of the moment. lady tamplin frankly exploited her guest's

connection with the affair for all it was worth.

the most persistent rebuffs that katherine could administer quite failed to pierce lady tamplin's self-esteem. lenox adopted a detached attitude, seemingly amused at her mother's anoeuvres, and yet with a sympathetic understanding of katherine's feelings.

the situation was not helped by chubby, whose naive delight was unquenchable, and who introduced katherine to all and sundry as:

"this is miss grey. you know that blue train business? she was in it up to the ears! had a long talk with ruth kettering a few hours before the murder! bit of luck for her, eh?" a few remarks of this kind had provoked katherine that morning to an unusually tart rejoinder, and when they were alone together lenox observed in her slow drawl:

"not used to exploitation, are you? you have a lot to learn, katherine."

"i am sorry i lost my temper. i don't, as a rule."

"it is about time you learnt to blow off steam. chubby is only an ass; there is no harm in him. mother, of course, is trying, but you can lose your temper with her until kingdom come, and it won't make any impression. she will open large, sad blue eyes at you and not care a bit."

katherine made no reply to this filial observation, and lenox presently went on:

"i am rather like chubby. i delight in a good murder, and besides - well, knowing derek makes a difference."

katherine nodded.

"so you lunched with him yesterday," pursued lenox reflectively.

"do you like him, katherine?"

katherine considered for a minute or two.

"i don't know," she said very slowly.

"he is very attractive."

"yes, he is attractive."

"what don't you like about him?"

katherine did not reply to the question or at any rate not directly.

"he spoke of his wife's death," she said. "he said he would not pretend that it had been anything but a bit of most marvellous luck for him."

"and that shocked you, i suppose," said lenox. she paused, and then added in rather a queer tone of voice: "he likes you, katherine."

"he gave me a very good lunch," said katherine, smiling.

lenox refused to be sidetracked.

"i saw it the night he came here," she said thoughtfully. "the way he looked at you; and you are not his usual type - just the opposite. well, i suppose it is like religion - you get it at a certain age."

"mademoiselle is wanted at the telephone," said marie, appearing at the window of the salon. "m. hercule poirot desires to speak with her."

"more blood and thunder. go on, katherine; go and dally with your detective."

m. hercule poirot's voice came neat and precise in its intonation to katherine's ear.

"that is mademoiselle grey who speaks? mademoiselle, i have a word for you from m. van aldin, the father of madame kettering. he wishes very much to speak with you, either at the villa marguerite or at his hotel, whichever you prefer."

katherine reflected for a moment, but she decided that for van aldin to come to the villa marguerite would be both painful and unnecessary. lady tamplin would have hailed his advent with far too much delight. she never lost a chance of cultivating millionaires. she told poirot that she would much rather come to nice.

"excellent, mademoiselle. i will call for you myself in an auto. shall we say in about three-quarters of an hour?"

punctually to the moment poirot appeared. katherine was waiting for him, and they drove off at once.

"well, mademoiselle, how goes it?"

she looked at his twinkling eyes, and was confirmed in her first impression that there was something very attractive about m. hercule poirot.

"this is our own roman policier, is it not?" said poirot. "i made you the promise that we should study it together. and me - i always keep my promises."

"you are too kind," murmured katherine.

"ah, you mock yourself at me; but do you want to hear the developments of the case or do you not?"

katherine admitted that she did, and poirot proceeded to sketch for her a thumbnail portrait of the comte de la roche.

"you think he killed her," said katherine thoughtfully.

"that is the theory," said poirot guardedly.

"do you yourself believe that?"

"i did not say so. and you, mademoiselle, what do you think?"

katherine shook her head.

"how should i know? i don't know anything about those things, but i should say that -"

"yes," said poirot encouragingly.

"well - from what you say the count does not sound the kind of man who would actually kill anybody."

"ah! very good," cried poirot, "you agree with me, that is just what i have said."

he looked at her sharply. "but tell me, you have met mr derek kettering?"

"i met him at lady tamplin's, and i lunched with him yesterday."

"a mauvais sujet," said poirot, shaking his head, "but les femmes - they like that, eh?"

he twinkled at katherine and she laughed.

"he is the kind of man one would notice anywhere," continued poirot. "doubtless you observed him on the blue train?"

"yes, i noticed him."

"in the restaurant car?"

"no. i didn't notice him at meals at all. i only saw him once - going into his wife's compartment."

poirot nodded. "a strange business," he murmured. "i believe you said you were awake, mademoiselle, and looked out of your window at lyons? you saw no tall dark man such as the comte de

la roche leave the train?"

katherine shook her head. "i don't think i saw anyone at all," she said. "there was a youngish lad in a cap and overcoat who got out, but i don't think he was leaving the train, only walking up and down the platform. there was a fat frenchman with a beard, in pyjamas and an overcoat, who wanted a cup of coffee. otherwise, i think there were only the train attendants."

poirot nodded his head several times. "it is like this, you see," he confided, "the comte de la roche has an alibi. an alibi, it is a very pestilential thing, and always open to the gravest suspicion. but here we are!"

they went straight up to van aldin's suite, where they found knighton. poirot introduced him to katherine. after a few commonplaces had been exchanged, knighton said, "i will tell mr van aldin that miss grey is here."

he went through a second door into an adjoining room. there was a low murmur of voices, and then van aldin came into the room and advanced towards katherine with outstretched hand, giving her at the same time a shrewd and penetrating glance.

"i am pleased to meet you, miss grey," he said simply. "i have been wanting very badly to hear what you can tell me about ruth."

the quiet simplicity of the millionaire's manner appealed to katherine strongly. she felt herself in the presence of a very genuine grief, the more real for its absence of outward sign.

he drew forward a chair.

"sit here, will you, and just tell me all about it."

poirot and knighton retired discreetly into the other room, and katherine and van aldin were left alone together. she found no difficulty in her task. quite simply and naturally she related her conversation with ruth kettering, word for word as nearly as she could. he listened in silence, leaning back in his chair, with one hand shading his eyes.

when she had finished he said quietly: "thank you, my dear."

they both sat silent for a minute or two.

katherine felt that words of sympathy would be out of place. when the millionaire spoke, it was in a different tone:

"i am very grateful to you, miss grey. i think you did something to ease my poor ruth's mind in the last hours of her life. now i want to ask you something. you know - m. poirot will have told you - about the scoundrel that my poor girl had got herself mixed up with. he was the man of whom she spoke to you - the man she was going to meet. in your judgment do you think she might have changed her mind after her conversation with you? do you think she meant to go back on her word?"

"i can't honestly tell you. she had certainly come to some decision, and seemed more cheerful in consequence of it."

"she gave you no idea where she intended to meet the skunk - whether in paris or at hyeres?"

katherine shook her head.

"she said nothing as to that."

"ah!" said van aldin thoughtfully, "and that is the important point. well, time will show."

he got up and opened the door of the adjoining room. poirot and knighton came back.

katherine declined the millionaire's invitation to lunch, and knighton went down with her and saw her into the waiting car.

he returned to find poirot and van aldin deep in conversation.

"if we only knew," said the millionaire thoughtfully, "what decision ruth came to. it might have been any of half a dozen. she might have meant to leave the train at paris and cable to me. she may have meant to have gone on to the south of france and have an explanation with the count there. we are in the dark - absolutely in the dark. but we have the maid's word for it that she was both startled and dismayed at the count's appearance at the station in paris. that was clearly not part of the preconceived plan - you agree with me, knighton?"

the secretary started. "i beg your pardon, mr van aldin. i was not listening."

"day-dreaming, eh?" said van aldin. "that's not like you. i believe that girl has bowled you over."

knighton blushed.

"she is a remarkably nice girl," said van aldin thoughtfully, "very nice. did you happen to notice her eyes?"

"any man," said knighton, "would be bound to notice her eyes."

第二十章 卡泰丽娜的新友

翌日清晨，卡泰丽娜和雷诺斯坐在伯爵别墅的阳台上，虽然年龄差别很大，但她们之间却仿佛建立了友谊。如果没有雷诺斯，卡泰丽娜在这里的生活是不可能想象的。坦普林女士费尽心机，以利用堂妹这次惊心动魄的事件。就是在吃早饭的时候，卡泰丽娜还愤怒地驳斥了她。

“我真后悔，今天早晨我没有克制住自己。”她对雷诺斯说。

“谁都不会得罪妈妈的，她是个典型的脸皮。若是有人对她说了不愉快的话，她只是睁大了那双神秘的大眼睛，迷惑不解地看着对方，然后就无所谓了。”

卡泰丽娜以沉默回答了小姐的客气话，雷诺斯继续说道：“你今天同德里克一起吃了饭，你喜欢他吗，卡泰丽娜？”卡泰丽娜想了足足有一分钟。

“我自己也不知道。”她慢慢悠悠地说道。

“他很迷人。”

“是的，很迷人。”

“你不喜欢他哪一点呢？”

卡泰丽娜不回答，或者说不直接回答这个问题。“他谈论自己妻子死的事，”卡泰丽娜说，“他说，如果他不装伪君子的话，他必须承认，他夫人的死亡对他来说是一件幸运的事。”

“他的这番话使你感到震惊和可怕？”雷诺斯问道。

她没有出声，过了一会儿继续说下去，但声音有点变化：“他很喜欢你，卡泰丽娜。

在他来的第一天晚上，我就发现了这一点。他看你的那种神态……，但是，说真的，你不是他所需要的那种类型。但是，象他这样年龄的人都变得温和了，因此在这种年龄中孕含着巨大的爱情。”

“小姐，电话！”女仆在窗口叫道，“赫库勒·波洛先生打电话找您。”

“准是那部侦探小说的继续。快，卡泰丽娜，侦探是不能等的。”

“是格蕾小姐吗？凯特林女士的父亲冯·阿尔丁先生很想同您谈几句话，在伯爵别墅或是他住的旅馆都可以。”

卡泰丽娜考虑了一会儿。她怕堂姐又会去要挟冯·阿尔丁先生，因此她回答说，最好是去尼扎谈。

“太好了，小姐。我用汽车接您。四十五分钟以后您能准备好吗？”

波洛准时到达了。卡泰丽娜早就等候在那里，他们乘车向尼扎的方向飞驰而去。

“嗯，小姐，近况如何？”

她看着他那眯缝着的小眼睛，揣摩着，波洛好象又得到了吸引人的新东西，增强了信心。

“您看怎样！我不是已经同您说过嘛，咱俩共同写一部侦探小说，我要恪守自己的诺言。”

“太好了。”卡泰丽娜说道。

“您是否要听一下案情的进展情况？”

卡泰丽娜表示愿意，波洛扼要地说了一下罗歇伯爵的情况。

“您认为，是他杀死了凯特林女士？”卡泰丽娜一面深思一面问道。

“警察局方面的人是这样认为。”波洛慎重地说道。

“那么您自己呢？您也是这样认为吗？”

“这，我没有说过。小姐，您怎样看待这个问题呢？”

“我怎么会懂得这个种事情？我对这类事一窍不通。不过，如果让我说心里话……”

“怎样？”波洛鼓励她说下去。

“从一切现象来看，从您对伯爵情况的介绍分析，我看他不象那种能够杀人的人。”

“太好了！”波洛叫了一声，“那么说，咱们俩的见解是一致的了。”

他用敏锐的目光看着卡泰丽娜。

“请您告诉我，您已经认识了德里克·凯特林先生？”

“我在坦普林女士那里遇到过他，昨天同他一起吃过一顿饭。”

“不太高明的借口，”波洛摇着头说道，“可是女人们都喜欢这一套，是吗？”

他瞅着卡泰丽娜笑了起来。

“他是那种别人揣摩不透的人。”波洛继续说道，“在‘蓝色特快’上您确实见到过他吗？”

“是的，我看到过他。”

“是在餐车上吗？”

“不是，我只见过他一次，那时他正走进他夫人的包厢。”

波洛点了一下头。“真是一起奇妙案件。”他压低了嗓门说道。“如果我没有记错的话，您曾经说过，在里昂您醒了，并趴在车窗上向外面看了一会儿。您没有见到一个高个子黑头发的男人下车吗？”

卡泰丽那摇了一下头。“我只是看到一个列车员走出车厢。但我相信，他只是在月台上散了一会儿步。另外，我还看到一位很胖的穿着睡衣的法国旅客，高声叫着要咖啡。

除此之外，如果我的记忆力还健全的话，只看到铁路上的服务人员。”

波洛连连点头。“事情是这样：罗歇伯爵是不在现场。‘不在现场’总是一件比较讨厌的事。要是有人越是特别令人信服他的‘不在现场’，那么我就越是怀疑他。可是，我们毕竟是被弄糊涂了。”

他们驱车直接来到了冯·阿尔丁的公寓，奈顿出来迎接了他们。

接着冯·阿尔丁就走进了房间，他向卡泰丽娜伸出了手。

“我非常高兴认识您，格蕾小姐。”百万富翁平平淡淡地说道。“我一直渴望从您的嘴里尽可能多地听到一些关于您同我女儿见面的情况。”

卡泰丽娜觉得，这个人的内心深处无比痛苦，但外表又是那样的恬静。他给卡泰丽娜拉过一把椅子。

“请坐！请您讲吧！”

波洛同奈顿一声不响地退到隔壁房间。

讲述一下这件事对卡泰丽娜来说并不觉得有什么困难。她叙述着她同露丝·凯特林见面的情景，话语朴素而自然，逐字逐句地讲述着她们之间的谈话，尽量回忆着当时的情况。冯·阿尔丁坐在靠椅上用心地听着，用手遮住双眼，垂着头。当卡泰丽娜讲完了之后，他克制着内心的激动说道：

“谢谢您，我的孩子！”

此后两人都陷入了沉默。卡泰丽娜一时找不到恰当的字眼去安慰他。后来，还是百万富翁打破了寂静：

“格蕾小姐，我非常、非常地感谢您。我相信，在我那可怜的孩子一生的最后时刻，是您给了她一点慰藉。有一件事我还要向您打听一下。波洛先生已经对您讲过那个拐骗我女儿的流氓。您能否确切的猜测一下，他们俩到底是在哪里会面，是在巴黎还是在耶尔？”

卡泰丽娜摇摇头。

“她没有提到过这件事。”

“不，”冯·阿尔丁一面思索着一面说，“这是个关键问题，不过时间会澄清事实的。”

他站起身来找开通往隔壁房间的门。波洛和奈顿又回到了屋内。

卡泰丽娜婉言谢绝了在这里吃午饭的建议。奈顿陪她到了楼下，并把她送上了汽车。

当奈顿回到房间的时候，见到波洛和冯·阿尔丁正谈得起劲。

“只要我们知道，”百万富翁痛苦地说道，“露丝最后究竟打了什么主意。这有几种可能性，她也可能决定在巴黎下车给我打电报，或者她决定去利维埃拉同伯爵约会。

我们是在黑暗中摸索，完全是在黑暗中摸索。从女仆那里我们知道，露丝对伯爵突然在巴黎出现感到惊奇，甚至感到不快。巴黎的会面是计划之外的事。奈顿，你不认为是这样吗？”

秘书吃了一惊。“请原谅，冯·阿尔丁先生，我没有注意听您在说些什么。”

“你好象在睡梦中似的，是吗？”冯·阿尔丁说，“这可不是你的性格啊。我看得出，格蕾小姐已经使你的心灵失去了平衡。”

奈顿的脸上刷地一下子泛起了红晕。

“一位非常可爱的女人。”冯·阿尔丁轻声说道，“你注意到她的眼睛了吗？”

“她的眼睛？”奈顿回答说，“每个人都应该注意到。”