A Pocket Full of Rye Read Online Free PDF

suppose not...”
    She thought about it for a moment and then looked up at him with a sudden smile.
    “I didn't do it,” she said. “But I suppose everybody will tell you that!”
    “Have you any idea who did do it, Miss Dove?”
    She shrugged her shoulders.
    “Frankly, he was an odious man. Anybody might have done it.”
    “But people aren't poisoned just for being 'odious,' Miss Dove. There usually has to be a pretty solid motive.”
    “Yes, of course.”
    She was thoughtful.
    “Do you care to tell me something about the household here?”
    She looked up at him. He was a little startled to find her eyes cool and amused.
    “This isn't exactly a statement you're asking me to make, is it? No, it couldn't be, because your Sergeant is busy upsetting the domestic staff. I shouldn't like to have what I say read out in court - but all the same I should rather like to say it - unofficially. Off the record, so to speak?”
    “Go ahead then. Miss Dove. I've no witness, as you've already observed.”
    She leaned back, swinging one slim foot and narrowing her eyes.
    “Let me start by saying that I've no feeling of loyalty to my employers. I work for them because it's a job that pays well and I insist that it should pay well.”
    “I was a little surprised to find you doing this type of job. It struck me that with your brains and education -”
    “I ought to be confined in an office? Or compiling files in a Ministry? My dear Inspector Neele, this is the perfect racket. People will pay anything - anything - to be spared domestic worries. To find and engage a staff is a thoroughly tedious job. Writing to agencies, putting in advertisements, interviewing people, making arrangements for interviews, and finally keeping the whole thing running smoothly - it takes a certain capacity which most of these people haven't got.”
    “And suppose your staff when you've assembled it, runs out on you? I've heard of such things.”
    Mary smiled.
    “If necessary, I can make the beds, dust the rooms, cook a meal and serve it without anyone noticing the difference. Of course I don't advertise that fact. It might give rise to ideas. But I can always be sure of tiding over any little gap. But there aren't often gaps. I work only for the extremely rich who will pay anything to be comfortable. I pay top prices and so I get the best of what's going.”
    “Such as the butler?”
    She threw him an amused, appreciative glance.
    “There's always that trouble with a couple. Crump stays because of Mrs Crump, who is one of the best cooks I've ever come across. She's a jewel and one would put up with a good deal to keep her. Our Mr Fortescue likes his food - liked, I should say. In this household nobody has any scruples and they have plenty of money. Butter, eggs, cream, Mrs Crump can command what she likes. As for Crump, he just makes the grade. His silver's all right, and his waiting at table is not too bad. I keep the key of the wine cellar and a sharp eye on the whisky and gin, and supervise his valeting.”
    Inspector Neele raised his eyebrows.
    “The admirable Miss Crichton.”
    “I find one must know how to do everything oneself. Then - one need never do it. But you wanted to know my impressions of the family.”
    “If you don't mind.”
    “They are really all quite odious. The late Mr Fortescue was the kind of crook who is always careful to play safe. He boasted a great deal of his various smart dealings. He was rude and overbearing in manner and was a definite bully. Mrs Fortescue, Adele - was his second wife and about thirty years younger than he was. He came across her at Brighton. She was a manicurist on the lookout for big money. She is very good looking - a real sexy piece, if you know what I mean.”
    Inspector Neele was shocked but managed not to show it. A girl like Mary Dove ought not to say such things, he felt.
    The young lady was continuing composedly:
    “Adele married him for his money, of course, and his son, Percival, and his