"書蟲"系列之《愛(ài)情與金錢》chapter 07

Chapter 7

On Monday morning Sergeant Foster went to Roger's office and asked some questions. And then he went to Albert's house and asked some more questions. Inspector Walsh sat in his office and telephoned. He made phone calls about Peter Hobbs and he made phone calls about Tom Briggs. And then he had some coffee and sandwiches.

At three o'clock the two detectives drove to the Clarksons' house.

'I would like to see everyone,' he told Roger.

Everyone came into the sitting room and sat down.

Inspector Walsh stood in front of the windows and looked at them, one by one. 'I want to talk to you. Someone killed Molly Clarkson. Someone put sleeping tablets in her hot milk and killed her Nobody wanted to tell me the true story, but now I know the true story and I'm going to tell you.'

The two dogs came slowly into the room and sat down at Diane's feet. It was very quiet in the room.

The Inspector looked at Albert. 'Mr King, your wife is very ill and needs a nurse. You told me this. You didn't tell me about your house. You're selling your house next month because you need the money.'

Albert was angry. 'Last year I asked Molly's husband for some money, and he said yes. But then he died in an accident.'

'Accident!' Diane cried. 'That was no accident. Mother killed Daddy because she wanted his money!

'Let's talk about you now, Diane,' said Inspector Walsh. You visited your mother every month and you took money from her. Last month she gave you money for your television. This month she gave you money for your telephone. Every month you told your mother: “It was no accident; you killed Daddy. I'm going to tell the police. ”Your mother was afraid of the police and so she gave you the money. But in the end she wanted to stop you. She told Dr Pratt. No more money, she told Dr Pratt on Thursday; and on Saturday she died. You took the hot milk to your mother－what did she tell you?'

Diane began to cry. 'I loved Daddy! He always gave money to me; he loved me. It was Mother －she didn't love Daddy and she didn't love me. Diane stopped. The dogs got up and went to the door. 'It's true, I took a lot of money from Mother. On Saturday she told me—no more money. I wanted to kill her, but I didn't.'

The dogs came back and sat down again at Diane's feet. Inspector Walsh looked at Roger. 'Mr Clarkson also needed money.'

Roger's face went red. 'Don't tell them! Please!'

'Mr Clarkson lost his job last month. He has no money. But he has an expensive house and an expensive car. He likes expensive things.'

His sisters looked at him, but Roger put his hand over his eyes. 'Don't talk to me!'

'It doesn't matter now!' Diane said. 'Mother is dead and we have a lot of money. You don't need a job.'

Roger's face went red again. 'Be quiet, Diane!'

'Now,' Inspector Walsh began again. 'Peter Hobbs is a very angry young man. Mrs Clarkson was not very nice to him. He got the sleeping tablets from the shop. But did he put the tablets in the hot milk? I think not. Tom Briggs wanted half the garden for his farm. He was in the kitchen that night. Did he put sleeping tablets in the hot milk? I think not.'

Suddenly it began to rain. For a minute everyone watched it through the window. Jackie took a cigarette from her bag and began to smoke.

'But someone wanted Peter Hobbs to come into the kitchen that night. She wanted everyone to see him, and listen to him,' Inspector Walsh said.

'She…? I don't understand,' Roger began, and stopped.

Inspector Walsh moved away from the window and sat down. 'I'm going to tell you the true story now. Miss Clarkson, you wanted Peter Hobbs to come to the house that night. He was very angry with your mother because of that letter. He said: “I want to kill her.” And you wanted everyone to hear that. Why?'

Jackie's face went white. It's not true! What about Diane? You found the empty bottle in her bag!'

Diane stood up. 'In my bag? Jackie! What are you talking about?'

'Be quiet, please, and sit down,' Inspector Walsh said. He looked at Jackie. 'It's true: we found the bottle in Diane's bag. But how do you know

that? We didn't tell you.'

'You did…before…you told me before!'

'No. We found the empty bottle in Diane's room. We told you that. You talked about Diane's bag; we didn't tell you. Sergeant foster wrote it all down.' Inspector Walsh looked carefully at Jackie. 'A long time ago, you knew Tom Briggs. He was the gardener here and you loved him. But your mother didn't like him.'

Jackie put her hands to her head. 'No! No!'

'We found your picture—an old one—in Mr Briggs' house. You were younger then, and your hair was long. Last year Tom Briggs came back, and you wanted him. He loved you, too, but he had no money. He wanted the garden for his farm, he wanted money, he wanted you. But your mother said no. In the end, you wanted to kill your mother…and you did kill her. Your mother went downstairs to see the dogs and you put the sleeping tablets in her hot milk. Later, you put the empty bottle in Diane's bag.

Jackie stood up. Her eyes were dark and afraid. 'You don't understand!' she cried. 'Mother gave me nothing…all those years. I wanted to be happy…to be with Tom. That's all. I love Tom, and he loves me. But Mother said no. Always no.' Then she began to cry. Nobody looked at her.

Jackie left the house in a police car. Inspector Walsh watched and then walked slowly to his car. He felt tired and hungry. He stopped and looked back at the house.

'Well,' he said to Sergeant Foster, 'in the end, they go the money: Albert, Roger, Diane. They're all rich now. But are they going to be happy?'

He got into the car. 'Let's go,' he said. 'I'm hungry; need a sandwich.'