v
japp grumbled as they were waiting for the manageress.
“what does the woman want to disappear for?”
“it is curious, you admit?”
they had no time for more.
mrs. harrison, proprietor of the glengowrie court, was with them.
mrs. harrison was voluble and almost tearful. she was so worried about miss sainsbury seale.
what could have happened to her? rapidly she went over every possibility of disaster. loss of
memory, sudden illness, haemorrhage, run down by an omnibus, robbery and assault—
she paused at last for breath, murmuring:
“such a nice type of woman—and she seemed so happy and comfortable here.”
she took them, at japp’s request, up to the chaste bedroom occupied by the missing lady.
everything was neat and orderly. clothes hung in the wardrobe, nightclothes were folded ready on
the bed, in a corner were miss sainsbury seale’s two modest suitcases. a row of shoes stood
under the dressing table—some serviceable oxfords, two pairs of rather meretricious glacé fancy
shoes with court heels and ornament with bows of leather, some plain black satin evening shoes,
practically new, and a pair of moccasins. poirot noted that the evening shoes were a size smaller
than the day ones—a fact that might be put down to corns or to vanity. he wondered whether miss
sainsbury seale had found time to sew the second buckle on her shoe before she went out. he
hoped so. slovenliness in dress always annoyed him.
japp was busy looking through some letters in a drawer of the dressing table. hercule poirot
gingerly pulled open a drawer of the chest of drawers. it was full of underclothing. he shut it again
modestly, murmuring that miss sainsbury seale seemed to believe in wearing wool next to the
skin, and opened another drawer which contained stockings.
japp said:
“got anything, poirot?”
poirot said sadly, as he dangled a pair: “ten inch, cheap shiny silk, price probably two-and-
eleven.”
japp said:
“you’re not valuing for probate, old boy. two letters here from india, one or two receipts from
charitable organizations, no bills. most estimable character, our miss sainsbury seale.”
“but very little taste in dress,” said poirot sadly.
“probably thought dress wordly.” japp was noting down an address from an old letter dated two
months back.
“these people may know something about her,” he said. “address up hampstead way. sound
as though they were fairly intimate.”
there was nothing more to be gleaned at the glengowrie court hotel except the negative fact
that miss sainsbury seale had not seemed excited or worried in any way when she went out, and it
would appear that she had definitely intended to return since on passing her friend mrs. bolitho in
the hall, she had called out:
“after dinner i will show you that patience i was telling you about.”
moreover, it was the custom at the glengowrie court to give notice in the dining room if you
intended to be out for a meal. miss sainsbury seale had not done so. therefore it seemed clear that
she had intended returning for dinner which was served from seven thirty to eight thirty.
but she had not returned. she had walked out into the cromwell road and disappeared.
japp and poirot called at the address in west hampstead which had headed the letter found.
it was a pleasant house and the adams were pleasant people with a large family. they had lived
in india for many years and spoke warmly of miss sainsbury seale. but they could not help.
they had not seen her lately, not for a month, not in fact since they came back from their easter
holidays. she had been staying then at a hotel near russell square. mrs. adams gave poirot the
address of it and also the address of some other anglo-indian friends of miss sainsbury seale’s
who lived in streatham.
but the two men drew a blank in both places. miss sainsbury seale had stayed at the hotel in
question, but they remembered very little about her and nothing that could be of any help. she was
a nice quiet lady and had lived abroad. the people in streatham were no help either. they had not
seen miss sainsbury seale since february.
there remained the possibility of an accident, but that possibility was dispelled too. no hospital
had admitted any casualty answering to the description given.
miss sainsbury seale had disappeared into space.
