One, Two, Buckle My Shoe by Agatha Christie Read Free Book Online Page A

room while you were there?”
    “Now let me see - there was just one young man there when I went in. I think he was in pain because he was muttering to himself and looking quite wild and turning over the leaves of a magazine just anyhow. And then suddenly he jumped up and went out. Really acute toothache he must have had.”
    “You don't know whether he left the house when he went out of the room?”
    “I don't know at all. I imagined he just felt he couldn't wait any longer and must see the dentist. But it couldn't have been Mr. Morley he was going to, because, the boy came in and took me up to Mr. Morley only a few minutes later.”
    “Did you go into the waiting room again on your way out?”
    “No. Because you see, I'd already put on my hat and straightened my hair up in Mr. Morley's room. Some people,” went on Miss Sainsbury Seale, warming to her subject, “take off their hats downstairs in the waiting room, but I never do. A most distressing thing happened to a friend of mine who did that. It was a new hat and she put it very carefully on a chair, and when she came down, would you believe it, a child had sat on it and squashed it flat. Ruined! Absolutely ruined!”
    “A catastrophe,” said Poirot politely.
    “I blame the mother entirely,” said Miss Sainsbury Seale judicially. “Mothers should keep an eye on their children. The little dears do not mean any harm, but they have to be watched.”
    Japp said:
    “Then this young man with toothache was the only other patient you noticed at 58 Queen Charlotte Street?”
    “A gentleman came down the stairs and went out just as I went up to Mr. Morley - Oh! and I remember a very peculiar looking foreigner came out of the house just as I arrived.”
    Japp coughed. Poirot said with dignity:
    “That was I, Madame.”
    “Oh, dear!” Miss Sainsbury Seale peered at him.
    “So it was! Do forgive - so short-sighted - and very dark here, isn't it?”
    She trailed off into incoherencies.
    “And really, you know, I flatter myself that I have a very good memory for faces. But the light here is dim, isn't it? Do forgive my most unfortunate mistake!”
    They soothed the lady down, and Japp asked:
    “You are quite sure Mr. Morley didn't say anything such as - for instance - that he was expecting a painful interview this morning? Anything of that kind?”
    “No, indeed, I'm sure he didn't.”
    “He didn't mention a patient by the name of Amberiotis?”
    “No, no. He really said nothing - except, I mean, the things that dentists have to say.”
    Through Poirot's mind there ran quickly: “Rinse. Open a little wider, please. Now close gently.”
    Japp had proceeded to his next step. It would possibly be necessary for Miss Sainsbury Seale to give evidence at the inquest.
    After a first scream of dismay, Miss Sainsbury Seale seemed to take kindly to the idea. A tentative inquiry from Japp produced Miss Sainsbury Seale's whole life history.
    She had, it seemed, come from India to England six months ago. She had lived in various hotels and boarding houses and had finally come to the Glengowrie Court which she liked very much because of its homely atmosphere; in India she had lived mostly in Calcutta where she had done mission work and had also taught elocution.
    “Pure, well enunciated English - most important, Chief Inspector. You see -” Miss Sainsbury Seale simpered and bridled - “as a girl I was on the stage. Oh! only in small parts, you know. The provinces! But I had great ambitions. Repertory. Then I went on a world tour - Shakespeare, Bernard Shaw.” She sighed. “The trouble with us poor women is heart - at the mercy of our hearts. A rash, impulsive marriage. Alas! we parted almost immediately. I had been sadly deceived. I resumed my maiden name. A friend kindly provided me with a little capital and I started my elocution school. I helped to found a very good amateur dramatic society. I must show you some of our notices.”
    Chief Inspector Japp knew the dangers