Detectives and Young Adventurers: The Complete Short Stories. Agatha Christie

bill. Then you get the receipted bill with the proper date on it.’

      ‘I think on the whole we have worked out a very sound hypothesis,’ said Tommy. ‘The next thing to do is to catch the twelve o’clock train to Torquay tomorrow and verify our brilliant conclusions.’

      Armed with a portfolio of photographs, Tommy and Tuppence duly established themselves in a first-class carriage the following morning, and booked seats for the second lunch.

      ‘It probably won’t be the same dining car attendants,’ said Tommy. ‘That would be too much luck to expect. I expect we shall have to travel up and down to Torquay for days before we strike the right ones.’

      ‘This alibi business is very trying,’ said Tuppence. ‘In books it is all passed over in two or three paragraphs. Inspector Something then boarded the train to Torquay and questioned the dining car attendants and so ended the story.’

      For once, however, the young couple’s luck was in. In answer to their question the attendant who brought their bill for lunch proved to be the same one who had been on duty the preceding Tuesday. What Tommy called the ten-shilling touch then came into action and Tuppence produced the portfolio.

      ‘I want to know,’ said Tommy, ‘if any of these ladies had lunch on this train on Tuesday last?’

      In a gratifying manner worthy of the best detective fiction the man at once indicated the photograph of Una Drake.

      ‘Yes, sir, I remember that lady, and I remember that it was Tuesday, because the lady herself drew attention to the fact, saying it was always the luckiest day in the week for her.’

      ‘So far, so good,’ said Tuppence as they returned to their compartment. ‘And we will probably find that she booked at the hotel all right. It is going to be more difficult to prove that she travelled back to London, but perhaps one of the porters at the station may remember.’

      Here, however, they drew a blank, and crossing to the up platform Tommy made inquiries of the ticket collector and of various porters. After the distribution of half-crowns as a preliminary to inquiring, two of the porters picked out one of the other photographs with a vague remembrance that someone like that travelled to town by the four-forty that afternoon, but there was no identification of Una Drake.

      ‘But that doesn’t prove anything,’ said Tuppence as they left the station. ‘She may have travelled by that train and no one noticed her.’

      ‘She may have gone from the other station, from Torre.’

      ‘That’s quite likely,’ said Tuppence, ‘however, we can see to that after we have been to the hotel.’

      The Castle Hotel was a big one overlooking the sea. After booking a room for the night and signing the register, Tommy observed pleasantly.

      ‘I believe you had a friend of ours staying here last Tuesday. Miss Una Drake.’

      The young lady in the bureau beamed at him.

      ‘Oh, yes, I remember quite well. An Australian young lady, I believe.’

      At a sign from Tommy, Tuppence produced the photograph.

      ‘That is rather a charming photograph of her, isn’t it?’ said Tuppence.

      ‘Oh, very nice, very nice indeed, quite stylish.’

      ‘Did she stay here long?’ inquired Tommy.

      ‘Only the one night. She went away by the express the next morning back to London. It seemed a long way to come for one night, but of course I suppose Australian ladies don’t think anything of travelling.’

      ‘She is a very sporting girl,’ said Tommy, ‘always having adventures. It wasn’t here, was it, that she went out to dine with some friends, went for a drive in their car afterwards, ran the car into a ditch and wasn’t able to get home till morning?’

      ‘Oh, no,’ said the young lady. ‘Miss Drake had dinner here in the hotel.’

      ‘Really,’ said Tommy, ‘are you sure of that? I mean – how do you know?’

      ‘Oh, I saw her.’

      ‘I asked because I understood she was dining with some friends in Torquay,’ explained Tommy.

      ‘Oh, no, sir, she dined here.’ The young lady laughed and blushed a little. ‘I remember she had on a most sweetly pretty frock. One of those new flowered chiffons all over pansies.’

      ‘Tuppence, this tears it,’ said Tommy when they had been shown upstairs to their room.

      ‘It does rather,’ said Tuppence. ‘Of course that woman may be mistaken. We will ask the waiter at dinner. There can’t be very many people here just at this time of year.’

      This time it was Tuppence who opened the attack.

      ‘Can you tell me if a friend of mine was here last Tuesday?’ she asked the waiter with an engaging smile. ‘A Miss Drake, wearing a frock all over pansies, I believe.’ She produced a photograph. ‘This lady.’

      The waiter broke into immediate smiles of recognition.

      ‘Yes, yes, Miss Drake, I remember her very well. She told me she came from Australia.’

      ‘She dined here?’

      ‘Yes. It was last Tuesday. She asked me if there was anything to do afterwards in the town.’

      ‘Yes?’

      ‘I told her the theatre, the Pavilion, but in the end she decided not to go and she stayed here listening to our orchestra.’

      ‘Oh, damn!’ said Tommy, under his breath.

      ‘You don’t remember what time she had dinner, do you?’ asked Tuppence.

      ‘She came down a little late. It must have been about eight o’clock.’

      ‘Damn, Blast, and Curse,’ said Tuppence as she and Tommy left the dining-room. ‘Tommy, this is all going wrong. It seemed so clear and lovely.’

      ‘Well, I suppose we ought to have known it wouldn’t all be plain sailing.’

      ‘Is there any train she could have taken after that, I wonder?’

      ‘Not one that would have landed her in London in time to go to the Savoy.’

      ‘Well,’ said Tuppence, ‘as a last hope I am going to talk to the chamber maid. Una Drake had a room on the same floor as ours.’

      The chambermaid was a voluble and informative woman. Yes, she remembered the young lady quite well. That was her picture right enough. A very nice young lady, very merry and talkative. Had told her a lot about Australia and the kangaroos.

      The young lady rang the bell about half-past nine and asked for her bottle to be filled and put in her bed, and also to be called the next morning at half-past seven – with coffee instead of tea.

      ‘You did call her and she was in her bed?’ asked Tuppence.

      ‘Why, yes, Ma’am, of course.’

      ‘Oh, I only wondered if she was doing exercises or anything,’ said Tuppence wildly. ‘So many people do in the early morning.’

      ‘Well, that seems cast-iron enough,’ said Tommy when the chambermaid had departed. ‘There is only one conclusion to be drawn from it. It is the London side of the thing that must be faked.’

      ‘Mr le Marchant must be a more accomplished liar than we thought,’ said Tuppence.

      ‘We have a way of checking his statements,’ said Tommy. ‘He said there were people sitting at the next table whom Una knew slightly. What was their name – Oglander, that was it. We must hunt up these Oglanders, and we ought also to make inquiries at Miss Drake’s flat in Clarges Street.’

      The following morning they paid their bill and departed