The Mystery of the Blue Train (10 page)

Fifteen

T
HE
C
OMTE DE LA
R
OCHE

V
an Aldin read the letter through in silence. His face turned a dull angry crimson. The men watching him saw the veins start out on his forehead, and his big hands clench themselves unconsciously. He handed back the letter without a word. M. Carrège was looking with close attention at his desk, M. Caux's eyes were fixed upon the ceiling, and M. Hercule Poirot was tenderly brushing a speck of dust from his coat sleeve. With the greatest tact they none of them looked at Van Aldin.

It was M. Carrège, mindful of his status and his duties, who tackled the unpleasant subject.

“Perhaps, Monsieur,” he murmured, “you are aware by whom—er—this letter was written?”

“Yes, I know,” said Van Aldin heavily.

“Ah?” said the magistrate inquiringly.

“A scoundrel who calls himself the Comte de la Roche.”

There was a pause; then M. Poirot leaned forward, straightened a ruler on the judge's desk, and addressed the millionaire directly.

“M. Van Aldin, we are all sensible, deeply sensible, of the pain it must give you to speak of these matters, but believe me, Monsieur, it is not the time for concealments. If justice is to be done, we must know everything. If you will reflect a little minute you will realize the truth of that clearly for yourself.”

Van Aldin was silent for a moment or two, then almost reluctantly he nodded his head in agreement.

“You are quite right, M. Poirot,” he said. “Painful as it is, I have no right to keep anything back.”

The Commissary gave a sigh of relief, and the Examining Magistrate leaned back in his chair and adjusted a pince-nez on his long thin nose.

“Perhaps you will tell us in your own words, M. Van Aldin,” he said, “all that you know of this gentleman.”

“It began eleven or twelve years ago—in Paris. My daughter was a young girl then, full of foolish, romantic notions, like all young girls are. Unknown to me, she made the acquaintance of this Comte de la Roche. You have heard of him, perhaps?”

The Commissary and Poirot nodded in assent.

“He calls himself the Comte de la Roche,” continued Van Aldin, “but I doubt if he has any right to the title.”

“You would not have found his name in the
Almanac de Gotha,
” agreed the Commissary.

“I discovered as much,” said Van Aldin. “The man was a good-looking, plausible scoundrel, with a fatal fascination for women. Ruth was infatuated with him, but I soon put a stop to the whole affair. The man was no better than a common swindler.”

“You are quite right,” said the Commissary. “The Comte de la Roche is well known to us. If it were possible, we should have laid him by the heels before now, but
ma foi!
it is not easy; the fellow is cunning, his affairs are always conducted with ladies of high social position. If he obtains money from them under false pretences or as the fruit of blackmail,
eh bien!
naturally they will not prosecute. To look foolish in the eyes of the world, oh no, that would never do, and he has an extraordinary power over women.”

“That is so,” said the millionaire heavily. “Well, as I told you, I broke the affair up pretty sharply. I told Ruth exactly what he was, and she had, perforce, to believe me. About a year afterwards, she met her present husband and married him. As far as I knew, that was the end of the matter; but only a week ago, I discovered, to my amazement, that my daughter had resumed her acquaintance with the Comte de la Roche. She had been meeting him frequently in London and Paris. I remonstrated with her on her imprudence, for I may tell you gentlemen that, on my insistence, she was preparing to bring a suit for divorce against her husband.”

“That is interesting,” murmured Poirot softly, his eyes on the ceiling.

Van Aldin looked at him sharply, and then went on.

“I pointed out to her the folly of continuing to see the Comte under the circumstances. I thought she agreed with me.”

The Examining Magistrate coughed delicately.

“But according to this letter—” he began, and then stopped.

Van Aldin's jaw set itself squarely.

“I know. It's no good mincing matters. However unpleasant, we have got to face facts. It seems clear that Ruth had arranged to go to Paris and meet de la Roche there. After my warnings to her, however, she must have written to the Count suggesting a change of rendezvous.”

“The Isles d'Or,” said the Commissary thoughtfully, “are situated just opposite Hyères, a remote and idyllic spot.”

Van Aldin nodded.

“My God! How could Ruth be such a fool?” he exclaimed bitterly. “All this talk about writing a book on jewels! Why, he must have been after the rubies from the first.”

“There are some very famous rubies,” said Poirot, “originally part of the Crown jewels of Russia; they are unique in character, and their value is almost fabulous. There has been a rumour that they have lately passed into the possession of an American. Are we right in concluding, Monsieur, that you were the purchaser?”

“Yes,” said Van Aldin. “They came into my possession in Paris about ten days ago.”

“Pardon me, Monsieur, but you have been negotiating for their purchase for some time?”

“A little over two months. Why?”

“These things became known,” said Poirot. “There is always a pretty formidable crowd on the track of jewels such as these.”

A spasm distorted the other's face.

“I remember,” he said brokenly, “a joke I made to Ruth when I gave them to her. I told her not to take them to the Riviera with her, as I could not afford to have her robbed and murdered for the sake of the jewels. My God! the things one says—never dreaming or knowing they will come true.”

There was a sympathetic silence, and then Poirot spoke in a detached manner.

“Let us arrange our facts with order and precision. According to our present theory, this is how they run. The Comte de la Roche knows of your purchase of these jewels. By an easy stratagem he induces Madame Kettering to bring the stones with her. He, then, is the man Mason saw in the train at Paris.”

The other three nodded in agreement.

“Madame is surprised to see him, but he deals with the situation promptly. Mason is got out of the way; a dinner basket is ordered. We know from the conductor that he made up the berth for the first compartment, but he did not go into the second compartment, and that a man could quite well have been concealed from him. So far the Comte could have been hidden to a marvel. No one knows of his presence on the train except Madame; he has been careful that the maid did not see his face. All that she could say is that he was tall and dark. It is all most conveniently vague. They are alone—and the train rushes through the night. There would be no outcry, no struggle, for the man is, so she thinks, her lover.”

He turned gently to Van Aldin.

“Death, Monsieur, must have been almost instantaneous. We will pass over that quickly. The Comte takes the jewel case which lies ready to his hand. Shortly afterwards the train draws into Lyons.”

M. Carrège nodded his approval.

“Precisely. The conductor without descends. It would be easy for our man to leave the train unseen; it would be easy to catch a train back to Paris or anywhere he pleases. And the crime would be put down as an ordinary train robbery. But for the letter found in Madame's bag, the Comte would not have been mentioned.”

“It was an oversight on his part not to search that bag,” declared the Commissary.

“Without doubt he thought she had destroyed that letter. It was—pardon me, Monsieur—it was an indiscretion of the first water to keep it.”

“And yet,” murmured Poirot, “it was an indiscretion the Comte might have foreseen.”

“You mean?”

“I mean we are all agreed on one point, and that is that the Comte de la Roche knows one subject
à fond:
Women. How was it that, knowing women as he does, he did not foresee that Madame would have kept that letter?”

“Yes—yes,” said the Examining Magistrate doubtfully, “there is something in what you say. But at such times, you understand, a man is not master of himself. He does not reason calmly.
Mon Dieu!
” he added, with feeling, “if our criminals kept their heads and acted with intelligence, how should we capture them?”

Poirot smiled to himself.

“It seems to me a clear case,” said the other, “but a difficult one to prove. The Comte is a slippery customer, and unless the maid can identify him—”

“Which is most unlikely,” said Poirot.

“True, true.” The Examining Magistrate rubbed his chin. “It is going to be difficult.”

“If he did indeed commit the crime—” began Poirot. M. Caux interrupted.

“If—you say
if?
”

“Yes, Monsieur le Commissaire, I say
if.
”

The other looked at him sharply. “You are right,” he said at last, “we go too fast. It is possible that the Comte may have an alibi. Then we should look foolish.”

“
Ah, ça par exemple,
” replied Poirot, “that is of no importance whatever. Naturally, if he committed the crime he will have an alibi. A man with the Comte's experience does not neglect to take precautions. No, I said
if
for a very definite reason.”

“And what was that?”

Poirot wagged an emphatic forefinger. “The psychology.”

“Eh?” said the Commissary.

“The psychology is at fault. The Comte is a scoundrel—yes. The Comte is a swindler—yes. The Comte preys upon women—yes. He proposes to steal Madame's jewels—again yes. Is he the kind of man to commit murder? I say
no!
A man of the type of the Comte is always a coward; he takes no risks. He plays the safe, the mean, what the English call the lowdown game; but murder, a hundred times no!” He shook his head in a dissatisfied manner.

The Examining Magistrate, however, did not seem disposed to agree with him.

“The day always comes when such gentry lose their heads and go too far,” he observed sagely. “Doubtless that is the case here. Without wishing to disagree with you, M. Poirot—”

“It was only an opinion,” Poirot hastened to explain. “The case is, of course, in your hands, and you will do what seems fit to you.”

“I am satisfied in my own mind the Comte de la Roche is the man we need to get hold of,” said M. Carrège. “You agree with me, Monsieur le Commissaire?”

“Perfectly.”

“And you, M. Van Aldin?”

“Yes,” said the millionaire. “Yes; the man is a thorough-paced villain, no doubt about it.”

“It will be difficult to lay hands on him, I am afraid,” said the Magistrate, “but we will do our best. Telegraphed instructions shall go out at once.”

“Permit me to assist you,” said Poirot. “There need be no difficulty.”

“Eh?”

The others stared at him. The little man smiled beamingly back at them.

“It is my business to know things,” he explained. “The Comte is a man of intelligence. He is at present at a villa he has leased, the Villa Marina at Antibes.”

Sixteen

P
OIROT
D
ISCUSSES THE
C
ASE

E
verybody looked respectfully at Poirot. Undoubtedly the little man had scored heavily. The Commissary laughed—on a rather hollow note.

“You teach us all our business,” he cried. “M. Poirot knows more than the police.”

Poirot gazed complacently at the ceiling, adopting a mock-modest air.

“What will you; it is my little hobby,” he murmured, “to know things. Naturally I have the time to indulge it. I am not overburdened with affairs.”

“Ah!” said the Commissary shaking his head portentously. “As for me—”

He made an exaggerated gesture to represent the cares that lay on his shoulders.

Poirot turned suddenly to Van Aldin.

“You agree, Monsieur, with this view? You feel certain that the Comte de la Roche is the murderer?”

“Why, it would seem so—yes, certainly.”

Something guarded in the answer made the Examining Magistrate look at the American curiously. Van Aldin seemed aware of his scrutiny and made an effort as though to shake off some preoccupation.

“What about my son-in-law?” he asked. “You have acquainted him with the news? He is in Nice, I understand.”

“Certainly, Monsieur.” The Commissary hesitated, and then murmured very discreetly: “You are doubtless aware, M. Van Aldin, that M. Kettering was also one of the passengers on the Blue Train that night?”

The millionaire nodded.

“Heard it just before I left London,” he vouchsafed laconically.

“He tells us,” continued the Commissary, “that he had no idea his wife was travelling on the train.”

“I bet he hadn't,” said Van Aldin grimly. “It would have been rather a nasty shock to him if he'd come across her on it.”

The three men looked at him questioningly.

“I'm not going to mince matters,” said Van Aldin savagely. “No one knows what my poor girl has had to put up with. Derek Kettering wasn't alone. He had a lady with him.”

“Ah?”

“Mirelle—the dancer.”

M. Carrège and the Commissary looked at each other and nodded as though confirming some previous conversation. M. Carrège leaned back in his chair, joined his hands, and fixed his eyes on the ceiling.

“Ah!” he murmured again. “One wondered.” He coughed. “One has heard rumours.”

“The lady,” said M. Caux, “is very notorious.”

“And also,” murmured Poirot softly, “very expensive.”

Van Aldin had gone very red in the face. He leant forward and hit the table a bang with his fist.

“See here,” he cried, “my son-in-law is a damned scoundrel!”

He glared at them, looking from one face to another.

“Oh, I don't know,” he went on. “Good looks and a charming, easy manner. It took me in once upon a time. I suppose he pretended to be brokenhearted when you broke the news to him—that is, if he didn't know it already.”

“Oh, it came as a surprise to him. He was overwhelmed.”

“Darned young hypocrite,” said Van Aldin. “Simulated great grief, I suppose?”

“N—no,” said the Commissary cautiously. “I would not quite say that—eh, M. Carrège?”

The Magistrate brought the tips of his fingers together, and half-closed his eyes.

“Shock, bewilderment, horror—these things, yes,” he declared judicially. “Great sorrow—no—I should not say that.”

Hercule Poirot spoke once more.

“Permit me to ask, M. Van Aldin, does M. Kettering benefit by the death of his wife?”

“He benefits to the tune of a couple of millions,” said Van Aldin.

“Dollars?”

“Pounds. I settled that sum on Ruth absolutely on her marriage. She made no will and leaves no children, so the money will go to her husband.”

“Whom she was on the point of divorcing,” murmured Poirot. “Ah, yes—
précisément.
”

The Commissary turned and looked sharply at him.

“Do you mean—?” he began.

“I mean nothing,” said Poirot. “I arrange the facts, that is all.”

Van Aldin stared at him with awakening interest.

The little man rose to his feet.

“I do not think I can be of any further service to you, M. le Juge,” he said politely, bowing to M. Carrège. “You will keep me informed of the course of events? It will be a kindness.”

“But certainly—most certainly.”

Van Aldin rose also.

“You don't want me any more at present?”

“No, Monsieur; we have all the information we need for the moment.”

“Then I will walk a little way with M. Poirot. That is, if he does not object?”

“Enchanted, Monsieur,” said the little man, with a bow.

Van Aldin lighted a large cigar, having first offered one to Poirot, who declined it and lit one of his own tiny cigarettes. A man of great strength of character, Van Aldin already appeared to be his everyday, normal self once more. After strolling along for a minute or two in silence, the millionaire spoke:

“I take it, M. Poirot, that you no longer exercise your profession?”

“That is so, Monsieur. I enjoy the world.”

“Yet you are assisting the police in this affair?”

“Monsieur, if a doctor walks along the street and an accident happens, does he say, ‘I have retired from my profession, I will continue my walk,' when there is someone bleeding to death at his feet? If I had been already in Nice, and the police had sent to me and asked me to assist them, I should have refused. But this affair, the good God thrust it upon me.”

“You were on the spot,” said Van Aldin thoughtfully. “You examined the compartment, did you not?”

Poirot nodded.

“Doubtless you found things that were, shall we say, suggestive to you?”

“Perhaps,” said Poirot.

“I hope you see what I am leading up to?” said Van Aldin. “It seems to me that the case against this Comte de la Roche is perfectly clear, but I am not a fool. I have been watching you for this last hour or so, and I realize that for some reason of your own you don't agree with that theory?”

Poirot shrugged his shoulders.

“I may be wrong.”

“So we come to the favour I want to ask you. Will you act in this matter for me?”

“For you, personally?”

“That was my meaning.”

Poirot was silent for a moment or two. Then he said:

“You realize what you are asking?”

“I guess so,” said Van Aldin.

“Very well,” said Poirot. “I accept. But in that case, I must have frank answers to my questions.”

“Why, certainly. That is understood.”

Poirot's manner changed. He became suddenly brusque and businesslike.

“This question of a divorce,” he said. “It was you who advised your daughter to bring the suit?”

“Yes.”

“When?”

“About ten days ago. I had had a letter from her complaining of her husband's behaviour, and I put it to her very strongly that divorce was the only remedy.”

“In what way did she complain of his behaviour?”

“He was being seen about with a
very
notorious lady—the one we have been speaking of—Mirelle.”

“The dancer. Ah-ha! And Madame Kettering objected? Was she very devoted to her husband?”

“I would not say that,” said Van Aldin, hesitating a little.

“It was not her heart that suffered, it was her pride—is that what you would say?”

“Yes, I suppose you might put it like that.”

“I gather that the marriage has not been a happy one from the beginning?”

“Derek Kettering is rotten to the core,” said Van Aldin. “He is incapable of making any woman happy.”

“He is, as you say in England, a bad lot. That is right, is it not?”

Van Aldin nodded.

“
Très bien!
You advise Madame to seek a divorce, she agrees; you consult your solicitors. When does M. Kettering get news of what is in the wind?”

“I sent for him myself, and explained the course of action I proposed to take.”

“And what did he say?” murmured Poirot softly.

Van Aldin's face darkened at the remembrance.

“He was infernally impudent.”

“Excuse the question, Monsieur, but did he refer to the Comte de la Roche?”

“Not by name,” growled the other unwillingly, “but he showed himself cognizant of the affair.”

“What, if I may ask, was Mr. Kettering's financial position at the time?”

“How do you suppose I should know that?” asked Van Aldin, after a very brief hesitation.

“It seemed likely to me that you would inform yourself on that point.”

“Well—you are quite right, I did. I discovered that Kettering was on the rocks.”

“And now he has inherited two million pounds!
La vie
—it is a strange thing, is it not?”

Van Aldin looked at him sharply.

“What do you mean?”

“I moralize,” said Poirot, “I reflect, I speak the philosophy. But to return to where we were. Surely M. Kettering did not propose to allow himself to be divorced without making a fight for it?”

Van Aldin did not answer for a minute or two, then he said:

“I don't exactly know what his intentions were.”

“Did you hold any further communications with him?”

Again a slight pause, then Van Aldin said:

“No.”

Poirot stopped dead, took off his hat, and held out his hand.

“I must wish you good-day, Monsieur. I can do nothing for you.”

“What are you getting at?” demanded Van Aldin angrily.

“If you do not tell me the truth, I can do nothing.”

“I don't know what you mean.”

“I think you do. You may rest assured, M. Van Aldin, that I know how to be discreet.”

“Very well, then,” said the millionaire. “I'll admit that I was not speaking the truth just now. I
did
have further communication with my son-in-law.”

“Yes?”

“To be exact, I sent my secretary, Major Knighton, to see him, with instructions to offer him the sum of one hundred thousand pounds in cash if the divorce went through undefended.”

“A pretty sum of money,” said Poirot appreciatively: “and the answer of Monsieur your son-in-law?”

“He sent back word that I could go to hell,” replied the millionaire succinctly.

“Ah!” said Poirot.

He betrayed no emotion of any kind. At the moment he was engaged in methodically recording facts.

“Monsieur Kettering has told the police that he neither saw nor spoke to his wife on the journey from England. Are you inclined to believe that statement, Monsieur?”

“Yes, I am,” said Van Aldin. “He would take particular pains to keep out of her way, I should say.”

“Why?”

“Because he had got that woman with him.”

“Mirelle?”

“Yes.”

“How did you come to know that fact?”

“A man of mine, whom I had put on to watch him, reported to me that they both left by that train.”

“I see,” said Poirot. “In that case, as you said before, he would not be likely to attempt to hold any communication with Madame Kettering.”

The little man fell silent for some time. Van Aldin did not interrupt his meditation.