'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 Clark-son，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．'

 << 上一页  [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] 下一页