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4 EC] Sra FATE THE OSHAWA DAILY TIMES, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 1927 PAGE THIRTEEN The Murder of (By Agatha Christie) Roger Ackroyd CHAPTER XIL Round the Table A joint inquest was held on Mon- day. 4 do not propose to give the proceed- ings in detail. To do so would only Le to go over the same ground again and agai. By arrangement with the police, very litue. was allowed to come out. 1 gave evidence as to the cause of Ackroyd's death and the probable time. The absence of Ralpn Paton was commented on by the coroner, but not unduly stressed. Afterwards, Poirot and I had a few words with Inspector Raglan. The m- spector was very grave. "It looks bad, Mr. Poirot," he sa:d. "I'm trying ta judge the thing fair and square. I'm a local man, and I've seen Captain Paton many times in Cran- chester. I'm not wanting him to be the guilty one--but it's bad whichever way you look at it. If he's innocent, why doesn't he come forward? We've got evidence against him, but it's just possible that that evidence could be explained away. Then why doesn't he give an explanation?" A lot more lay behind the inspector's words than I knew at the time. Ralph's description had been wired to every port and railway station in England. The police everywhere were on the alert. His rooms in town were watch- ed, and any houses he had been known to be in the habit of frequenting. With such a cordon it seemed impos- sible that Ralph should be able to evade detection. He had no luggage, and, as far as any one knew, no money. "l can't find any one who saw him at the station that night," continued the inspector. "And yet, he's well known down here, and you'd think somebody would have noticed him. There's no news from either." "You think he went to Liverpool?" queried Poirot, "Well, it's on the cards. That tele- phon message from the station, just three minutes before the Liverpool ex- press leit--there ought to be some- thing in that." "Unless it was deliberately intended to throw you off the scent. That might just possibly be the point of the tele- phone message." "That's an idea," said the inspector eagerly. "Do you really think that's the explanation of the telephone call?" "My friend," said Poirot gravely, I do not know. But I will tell you this: 1 believe tliat when we find the ex- planation of that telephone call we shall find the explanation of the mur- der." "You said something like that be- fore, I remember," I observed, looking at him curiously. Poirot nodded. "I always come back to it," he said seriously, "It seems to me utterly irrelevant," I declared. Liverpool "I wouldnt say. that," demurred the inspector, "But I must confess I think Mr. Poirot here harps on it a little too much. We've better clues than that. The fingerprints on the dagger, for instance." Poirot became suddenly very foreign in manner, as he often did when ex- cited over anything. "M. Plnspecteur," he said, "beware of the blind--the blind--comment dire ¢ --the little street that has no end to it, Inspector Raglan stared, but I was quicker. "You mean a blind alley " I said, "That is it -- the blind street that leads nowhere. So it may be with those fingerprints--they may lead you nowhere," "I don't see how that can well be," | said the police officer. "I suppose you're hinting that they're faked? I've read of such things being done, though I can't say I've ever come across it 'n my experience, But fake or true-- they're bound to lead somewhere." Poirot merely shruzged his should- ers, flinging out his arms wide. The inspector then showed wus various enlarged photographs of the fingerprints, and proceeded to become technical on the subjects of loops and whorls, "Come now," he said at last, annoyed by Poirot's detached manner, "you've got to admit that those prints were made by some one who was in the house that night?" "Bien entendu," said Poirot, nodding his head. "Well, I've taken the prints of every member of the household, every one, mind you, from the old lady down to the kitchenmaid." I don't think Mrs. Ackroyd would would enjoy being referred to as the old lady. She must spend a consider- able amount on cosmetics, "Every one's," repeated the inspector fussily. "Including mine," I said dryly. "Very well. None of them corres- pond. That leaves us two alternatives. Ralph Paton or the mysterious stran- ger the doctor here tells us about. When we get hold of those two--" "Much valuable time may have been lost," broke in Poirot. J "I don't quite get you, Mr. Poirot?" "You have taken the prints of every one in the house, you say," murmured Poirot. "Is that the exact truth you are telling me there, M. I'Inspecteur?" "Certainly." "Without overlooking any one?" "Without overlooking any one." "The quick or the dead?" For a moment the inspector looked bewildered at what he took ir be a religious observation. Then he reacted slowly. "You mean--" "The dead, M. I'lfispecteur." The inspector still took a minute or two to understand, ' "I am suggesting," said Poirot point of it. You're surely not sug- gesting suicide, Mr. Poirot?" "Ah! no. My theory is that the murderer. wore gloves or wrapped something round his hand. After the ! blow was, struck, he picked up the vicum"s hand and closed it round the Foirot shrugged his shoulders again. r d very quiet, looking thought- fully at her. "Like shell-shock, you know," said Mrs. Ackroyd obstinately, "and I daresay Roger kept him very short of money--with the best inten- tions, of course. I can see you are all against me, but I do think it is very odd that Ralph has not come forward, and I must say I am thankful Flora's engagement was never announced for- mally." "It will be to-morrow," said Flora in a clear voice. "Flora!" cried her mother, aghast. Flora had turned to the secretary. "Will you send the announcement to the Morning Post and the Times, 1 , Mr. Raymond." "le make a coniusing case even more coniusing." "Well," said the inspector, "I'll look into it. What gave you the idea in the first place?" "When you were so kind as to show me the dagger and araw attention to tue fingerprints. I know very little of lcops and whorls--see, I confess my ignorance frankly. But it did occur tu me that the position of the prints was somewhat awkward. Not so would 1 have held a dagger in order to strike. Naturally, with the right hand brought up over the shoulder backwards, it would have been difficult to put it in exactly the right position." Inspector Raglan stared at the lit tle man. Poirot, with an air of great unconcern, flecked a speck of dust from his coat sleeve. "Well," said the inspector, "it's an idea. I'll look into it all right, but don't you be disappointed if nothing comes of it." He endeavoured to make his tone kindly and patronising. Poirot watch- ed ham go off. Then he turned to me with twinkling eyes. "Another time," he observed, "I must be more careful of his amour propre. And now that we are leit to our own devices, what do you think, my good friend, of a little reunion o1 the family?" The "little reunion," as Poirot called it, took place about half an hour later. We sat round the table in the dining- room at Fernly. Poirot at the head of the table, like the chairman of some ghastly board meeting. The servants were not present, so we were six in all. Mrs, Ackroyd, Flora, Major Blunt, young Raymond, Poirot and myself. When every one was assembled, Poi- rot rose and bowed, "Messieurs, mesdames, I have called you together for a certain purpose." He paused. "To begin with, I want to make a very special plea to ma- demoiselle." "1u me?" said Flora. "Mademoiselle, you are engaged to Captain Ralph Paton. If any one is in his confidence, you are. I beg you, most earnestly, if you know of his whereabouts, to persuade him to come forwdard. One little minute"--as Flora raised her head to speak--"say nothing till you have well reflected. Madem- oiselle, his position grows daily more dangerous, If he had come forward at once, no matter how damning the facts, he might have had a chance of explaining them away. But this sil- ence--this flight--what can it mean? Surely only one thing, knowledge ot yuilt. Mademoiselle, if you really be- lieve in his innocence, persuade him to come forward before it is too late." Flora's face had gone very white, "Too late!" she repeated, very low. Poirot leant forward, looking at her. "See now, mademoiselle," he said very gently, "it is Papa Poirot who asks you this. The old Papa Poirot who has much knewledge and much experience, - I would not seek to en- trap you, mademoiselle. Will you not trust me--and tell. me where Ralph Paton is hiding?" The girl rose, and stood facing him. "M. Poirot," she said in a clear voice, "I swear to you--swear solemn- ly--that I have no idea where Ralph is, and that I have neither seen him nor heard from him either on the day of--of the murder, or since". She sat down again. Poirot gazed at her in silence for a minute or two, then he brought his hand down on the table with a sharp rap. "Bien!" That is that," he said. His face hardened. "Now I appeal to these others who sit round this table, Mrs. Ackroyd, Major Biunt, Dr. Sheppard, Mr. Raymond. You are all friends and intimates of the missing man. If you know where Ralph Paton is hiding, speak out." There was a long silence. looked to each in turn. "I beg of you," he said in a low voice, "speak out." But still there was silence, broken at last by Mrs, Ackroyd. "I must say," she observed in a plaintive voice, "that Ralph's absence is most peculiar--most peculiar indeed. Not to come forward at such a time. It looks, you know, as though there were something behind it. I can't hel» thinking, Flora dear, that it was a very fortunate thing your engagement was never formally announced." "Mother!" cried Flora angrily. "Providence," declared Mrs. Ack- royd. "I have a devout 'belief in Pro- vidence--a divinity that shapes our ends, as Shakespeare's beautiful line runs." "Surely you don't make the Almighty directly responsible for thick ankles, Mrs. Ackroyd, do you?" asked Geof- Poirot frey Raymond, his irresponsible laugh ringing out. His idea was, I think, to loosen the tension, but Mrs. Ackroyd threw him a glance of reproach and took out her handkerchief, "Flora has been saved a terrible amount of notoriety and unpleasant- ness. Not for a moment that I think dear Ralph had anything to do with roor Roger's death. I don't think so. But then I have a trusting heart--I always have had, ever since a child. I am loath to believ the worst of any one. But, of course, one must remem- ber that Ralph was in several air raids as a young boy. The results are ap- parent long after, sometimes, they say. People are not responsible for their actions in the least. They lose control, you know, without being able to help it. "Mother," cried Flora, "you don't think Ralpr did it?" | "Come, Mrs. Ackropd," said Blunt, "I don't know what to think," said + Mrs. Ackroyd tearfully. "It's all very placidly, "that the fingerprints on the upsetting. What would happen to the dagger handle are those of Mr. Ack- | estate, I wonder, if Ralph were found royd himself. It is an easy matter to verify. His body is still available." "But why? What would be the guilty?" Raymond pushed his chair away from the table viclently. Major Blunt Yapg you are sure that it is wise, Miss Ackroyd," he replied gravely. She turned impulsivel yto Blunt. "You understand," she said. "What else can I do? As things are, I mnst stand bv Ralph. Don't you see that I must?" She looked very searchinggly at him, and after a long pause he nodded abruptly. Mrs. Ackroyd burst into shrill pro- tests. Flora remained unmoved. Then Raytiond spoke. "l appreciate your motives, Miss Ackroyd. But don't you think you're being rather precipitate? Wait a day or two" "To-morrow," said Flora, in a clear voice. It's no good, mother, going on like this. Whatever else I am, I'm not disloyal to my friends." "M. Poirot," Mrs. Ackroyd appealed tearidly. "Can't you say anything at all? "Nothing to be said," interpolated Blunt. "She's doing the right thing. mn stand by her through thick and thin." Flora held out her hand to him. "Thank you, Major Blunt," she said. "Mademoiselle," said Poirot, "will you let an old man congratulate you on your courage and your loyalty? And will you not misunderstand me if I ask you--ask you most solemnly--to post- pone the announcement you speak oi for at least two days more?" Flora hesitated. "I ask it in Ralph Paton's interests as much as in yours, mademoiselle. You frown. You do not see how that Pas de blagues. You put the case into my hands--you must not hamper me now." Flora p d a few replying. . "I do not like it," she said at last, "but I will do what you say." She sat down again at the table. "And now, Ss et d said Poirot rapidly, "I will continue with what I was ut to say. Under- stand "this, I 'mean to arrive at the truth. The truth, however ugly in it- self, is always curious and beautiful to the seeker after it. I am much aged, my powers may not be what they were." Here he clearly expected a contradition. "In all probability this is the last case I shall ever investigate. But Hercule Poirot does not end with a failure. Messieurs et nresdames, | tell you, I mean to know. And I shall know--in spite of you all." He brought out the last words pro- vocatively, hurling them in our face as it were. I think we all flinched back a little, exceptingg Geoffrey Raymond, who remained good humoured and im- before perturbable as usual can be. But I assure you that it is so. 1 "How do you mean--in spite of vs all?" he asked, with slightly raised eyebrows. "But--just that, monsieur. Every one of you in this room is concealing something from me." He raised his hand as a faint murmur of protest arose. "Yes, yes, I know what I am saying. It may be something unim- portant--trivial--which is supposed to have no bearing on the case, but there it is. Each one of you has something to hide. Come, now, am I right?" His glance, challenging and accusing, swept round the table., And every pair of eyes dropped before his. Yes, mie as well. "I am answered," said Poirot, with a curious laugh. He got up from his seat. "I appeal to you all. Tell me the truth--the whole truth." There was a silence. "Will no one speak?" He gave the same short laugh again. "C'est dommage," he said, and went out. 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