Free The Secret of Chimneys by Agatha Christie Page B

suggestion of ringing up the police station seemed to her a good one, and she intended to act upon it without any further delay.
    She opened the study door and crossed to the telephone. Then, with her hand on the receiver, she stopped. A man was sitting in the big armchair, sitting in a curious huddled position. In the stress of the moment, she had forgotten all about her expected visitor. Apparently he had fallen asleep whilst waiting for her.
    She came right up to the chair, a slightly mischievous smile upon her face. And then suddenly the smile faded.
    The man was not asleep. He was dead.
    She knew it at once, knew it instinctively even before her eyes had seen and noted the small shining pistol lying on the floor, the little-singed hole just above the heart with the dark stain round it, and the horrible dropped jaw.
    She stood quite still, her hands pressed to her sides. In the silence she heard Elise running down the stairs.
    'Madame! Madame!'
    'Well, what is it?'
    She moved quickly to the door. Her whole instinct was to conceal what had happened - for the moment anyway - from Elise. Elise would promptly go into hysterics, she knew that well enough, and she felt a great need for calm and quiet in which to think things out.
    'Madame, would it not be better if I should draw the chain across the door? These malefactors, at any minute they may arrive.'
    'Yes, if you like. Anything you like.'
    She heard the rattle of the chain, and then Elise running upstairs again, and drew a long breath of relief.
    She looked at the man in the chair and then at the telephone. Her course was quite clear, she must ring up the police at once.
    But still she did not do so. She stood quite still, paralysed with horror and with a host of conflicting ideas rushing through her brain. The bogus telegram! Had it something to do with this? Supposing Elise had not stayed behind? She would have let herself in - that is, presuming she had had her latch-key with her as usual to find herself alone in the house with a murdered man - a man whom she had permitted to blackmail her on a former occasion. Of course she had an explanation of that; but thinking of that explanation she was not quite easy her mind. She remembered how frankly incredible George had found it. Would other people think the same? Those letters now - of course, she hadn't written them, but would it be so easy to prove that?
    She put her hands on her forehead, squeezing them tight together.
    'I must think,' said Virginia. 'I simply must think.'
    Who had let the man in? Surely not Elise. If she had done so, she would have been sure to have mentioned the fact at once. The whole thing seemed more and more mysterious as she thought about it. There was really only one thing to be done - ring up the police.
    She stretched out her hand to the telephone, and suddenly she thought of George. A man - that was what she wanted - an ordinary level-headed, unemotional man who would see things in their proper proportion and point out to her the best course to take.
    Then she shook her head. Not George. The first thing George would think of would be his own position. He would hate being mixed up in this kind of business. George wouldn't do at all.
    Then her face softened. Bill, of course! Without more ado, she rang up Bill.
    She was informed that he had left half an hour ago for Chimneys.
    'Oh, damn!' cried Virginia, jamming down the receiver. It was horrible to be shut up with a dead body and to have no one to speak to.
    And at that minute the front-door bell rang.
    Virginia jumped. In a few minutes it rang again. Elise, she knew, was upstairs packing and wouldn't hear it.
    Virginia went out in the hall, drew back the chain, and undid all the bolts that Elise had fastened in her zeal. Then, with a long breath, she threw open the door. On the steps was the unemployed young man.
    Virginia plunged headlong with a relief born of overstrung nerves.
    'Come in,' she said. 'I think perhaps I've got a job for