Free The Curious Incident at Claridge's by R.T. Raichev

said.’
    â€˜What course?’
    â€˜Antibiotics. The capsules contained an antibiotic. There are no more capsules now. He took them for his big toe.’ She was speaking slowly now, as though to a child. ‘Seymour’s had a bad infection, but he has managed to recover. He is no longer in pain. He is enjoying his stay at Mayholme Manor immensely. He said so.’
    â€˜Mayholme Manor,’ Jesty echoed.
    â€˜Yes. Also known as Dutton’s Retreat. Place in Dulwich. I personally think it is the spookiest of places, but that’s neither here nor there.’ She smiled again. ‘I spoke to Seymour on the phone just before I came here. He’s had a good English breakfast and been for a walk. He still uses his stick, but he said he could have done without it. He was looking forward to a game of chess with the Master. He believes the antibiotics have done the trick, that was how he put it. You don’t seem to believe me?’
    â€˜You swapped the capsules,’ he said stubbornly. ‘I saw you do it. You did it the moment your husband’s back was turned. You glanced round first. You did it fast. You opened the silver box which your husband had left on the table, then you took a capsule from your bag. You looked furtive as hell.’
    â€˜Why were you spying on me?’
    â€˜When you realized I had seen you,’ he went on, ‘you panicked. You looked terrified. Your face was a picture of guilt.’
    â€˜You don’t think you might have imagined things?’
    He felt anger surge through him. Good! That was a damned sight healthier than moping over her. ‘Payne saw you too,’ he said.
    â€˜Payne? Oh yes. Your fellow soldier. He also saw me exchange the capsules?’
    â€˜No. No . He turned up a couple of minutes later. After you had done the substitution. I told him about it. But he saw the guilty expression on your face all right.’
    â€˜Both of you had been to a regimental reunion,’ she said. ‘It was a regimental reunion, wasn’t it? That was what one of the waiters told us. You were making such a dreadful noise that I asked what was going on. You all seemed to have had a little bit too much to drink, correct?’
    â€˜What are you driving at?’
    â€˜You were a little the worse for wear. The evidence of your eyes was perhaps not particularly reliable? It’s a well-known fact that—’
    â€˜What absolute rot! Neither of us was drunk. Are you suggesting we had some kind of hallucination? The two of us? At the same time? ’
    â€˜Mass hallucinations happen more often than people imagine.’
    This infuriated him. By now they should have been on first-name terms, he thought bitterly—he should have been holding her hand and making arrangements for later on!
    â€˜I could get you into trouble if I chose and you know it perfectly well.’ Jesty spoke through gritted teeth. He tried hard not to raise his voice. ‘I could destroy you. All right. Say, your husband didn’t take the poison, for whatever reason. I could still tell him exactly what I saw.’
    â€˜Seymour wouldn’t believe you.’
    â€˜If you’d been innocent, you wouldn’t have agreed to meet me. It makes no sense. Why did you agree to meet me?’
    â€˜I believe in clearing up misunderstandings.’
    â€˜There’s been no misunderstanding.’
    She bowed her head. Several moments passed. He wondered what she would come up with now. Would she get up and leave without another word? Had he blown his chances with her? What should he do next, if that did happen? Great heaviness descended upon him. He couldn’t really see himself making his way to the police station and reporting the capsule-swapping incident at Claridge’s. They would make him write it all down, which would be a bore. They would ask him all sorts of questions . And what exactly were you doing behind the potted palm, Captain