Agatha Christie - Spider's Web

"No. Wait," Clarissa interrupted suddenly. "I've just had an idea. Hugo, what was the name of Mr. Sellon's shop?"

"It was just an antique shop," Hugo replied, vaguely.

"Yes, I know that," Clarissa exclaimed impatiently. "But what was it called?"

"What do you mean – 'What was it called?'"

"Oh, dear, you are being difficult," Clarissa told him. "You said it earlier, and I want you to say it again. But I don't want to tell you to say it, or say it for you."

Hugo, Jeremy and Sir Rowland all looked at one another. "Do you know what the blazes the girl is getting at, Roly?" Hugo asked plaintively.

"I've no idea," replied Sir Rowland. "Try us again, Clarissa."

Clarissa looked exasperated. "It's perfectly simple," she insisted. "What was the name of the antique shop in Maidstone?"

"It hadn't got a name," Hugo replied. "I mean, antique shops aren't called 'Seaview' or anything."

"Heaven give me patience," Clarissa muttered between clenched teeth. Speaking slowly and distinctly, and pausing after each word, she asked him again, "What – was – written – up – over – the – door?"

"Written up? Nothing," said Hugo. "What should be written up? Only the names of the owners, 'Sellon and Brown,' of course."

"At last!" Clarissa cried jubilantly. "I thought that was what you said before, but I wasn't sure. Sellon and Brown. My name is Hailsham-Brown." She looked at the three men in turn, but they merely stared back at her with total incomprehension written on their faces.

"We got this house dirt-cheap," Clarissa continued. "Other people who came to see it before us were asked such an exorbitant rent that they went away in disgust. Now have you got it?"

Hugo looked at her blankly before replying, "No."

Jeremy shook his head. "Not yet, my love."

Sir Rowland looked at her keenly. "In a glass darkly," he said thoughtfully.

Clarissa's face wore a look of intense excitement. "Mr. Sellon's partner who lives in London is a woman," she explained to her friends. "Today, someone rang up here and asked to speak to Mrs. Brown. Not Mrs. Hailsham-Brown, just Mrs. Brown."

"I see what you're getting at," Sir Rowland said, nodding his head slowly.

Hugo shook his head. "I don't," he admitted.

Clarissa looked at him. "A horse chestnut or a chestnut horse – one of them makes all the difference," she observed inscrutably.

"You're not delirious or anything, are you, Clarissa?" Hugo asked her anxiously.

"Somebody killed Oliver," Clarissa reminded them. "It wasn't any of you three. It wasn't me or Henry." She paused, before continuing, "And it wasn't Pippa, thank God. Then who was it?"

"Surely it's as I said to the Inspector," Sir Rowland suggested. "An outside job. Someone followed Oliver here."

"Yes, but why did they?" Clarissa asked meaningfully. Getting no reply from anyone, she continued with her speculation. "When I left you all at the gate today," she reminded her three friends, "I came back in here through the French windows, and Oliver was standing in the room. He was very surprised to see me. He said, 'What are you doing here, Clarissa?' I just thought it was an elaborate way of annoying me. But suppose it was just what it seemed?"

Her hearers looked attentive, but said nothing. Clarissa continued, "Just suppose that he was surprised to see me. He thought the house belonged to someone else. He thought the person he'd find here would be the Mrs. Brown who was Mr. Sellon's partner."

Sir Rowland shook his head. "Wouldn't he know that you and Henry had this house?" he asked her. "Wouldn't Miranda know?"

"When Miranda has to communicate, she always does it through her lawyers. Neither she nor Oliver necessarily knew that we lived in this house," Clarissa explained. "I tell you, I'm sure Oliver Costello had no idea he was going to see me. Oh, he recovered pretty quickly and made the excuse that he'd come to talk about Pippa. Then he pretended to go away, but he came back because – "

She broke off as Miss Peake came in through the hall door. "The hunt's still on," the gardener announced briskly. "They've looked under all the beds, I gather, and now they're out in the grounds." She gave her familiar hearty laugh.

Clarissa looked at her keenly. Then, "Miss Peake," she said, "do you remember what Mr. Costello said just before he left? Do you?"

Miss Peake looked blank. "Haven't the foggiest idea," she admitted.

"He said, didn't he, 'I came to see Mrs. Brown'?" Clarissa reminded her.

Miss Peake thought for a moment, and then answered, "I believe he did. Yes. Why?"

"But it wasn't me he came to see," Clarissa insisted.

"Well, if it wasn't you, then I don't know who it could have been," Miss Peake replied with another of her jovial laughs.

Clarissa spoke with emphasis. "It was you," she said to the gardener. "You're Mrs. Brown, aren't you?"

MlSS PEAKE, looking extremely startled at Clarissa's accusation, seemed for a moment unsure how to act. When she did reply, her manner had changed. Dropping her usual jolly, hearty touch, she spoke gravely. "That's very bright of you," she said. "Yes, I'm Mrs. Brown."

Clarissa had been doing some quick thinking. "You're Mr. Sellon's partner," she said. "You own this house. You inherited it from Sellon with the business. For some reason, you had the idea of finding a tenant for it whose name was Brown. In fact, you were determined to have a Mrs. Brown in residence here. You thought that wouldn't be too difficult, since it's such a common name. But in the end you had to compromise on Hailsham-Brown. I don't know exactly why you wanted me to be in the limelight whilst you watched. I don't understand the ins and outs – "

Mrs. Brown alias Miss Peake interrupted her. "Charles Sellon was murdered," she reminded Clarissa. "There's no doubt of that. He'd got hold of something that was very valuable. I don't know how – I don't even know what it was. He wasn't always very" – she hesitated – "scrupulous."

"So we have heard," Sir Rowland observed drily.

"Whatever it was," Mrs. Brown continued, "he was killed for it. And whoever killed him didn't find the thing. That was probably because it wasn't in the shop, it was here. I thought that whoever it was who killed him would come here sooner or later, looking for it. I wanted to be on the watch, therefore I needed a dummy Mrs. Brown. A substitute."

Sir Rowland made an exclamation of annoyance. "It didn't worry you," he asked the gardener, speaking with feeling, "that Mrs. Hailsham-Brown, a perfectly innocent woman who had done you no harm, would be in danger?"

"I've kept an eye on her, haven't I?" Mrs. Brown replied defensively. "So much so that it annoyed you all sometimes. The other day, when a man came along and offered her a ridiculous price for that desk, I was sure I was on the right track. Yet I'll swear there was nothing in that desk that meant anything at all."

"Did you examine the secret drawer?" Sir Rowland asked her.

Mrs. Brown looked surprised. "A secret drawer, is there?" she exclaimed, moving towards the desk.

Clarissa intercepted her. "There's nothing there now," she assured her. "Pippa found the drawer, but there were only some old autographs in it."

"Clarissa, I'd rather like to see those autographs again," Sir Rowland requested.

Clarissa went to the sofa. "Pippa," she called, "where did you put... ? Oh, she's asleep."

Mrs. Brown moved to the sofa and looked down at the child. "Fast asleep," she confirmed. "It's all the excitement that's done that." She looked at Clarissa. "I'll tell you what," she said, "I'll carry her up and dump her on her bed."

"No," said Sir Rowland sharply.

Everyone looked at him. "She's no weight at all," Mrs. Brown pointed out. "Not a quarter as heavy as the late Mr. Costello."