Agatha Christie The Hollow Chapter I At 6:13 a.m. ... - bzelbublive.info

word. He was asking me to protect Gerda. You see, he loved Gerda ... I think heloved Gerda much better than he ever knew he did. Better than VeronicaCray--better than me. Gerda belonged to him, and John liked things that belonged tohim . . . He knew that if anyone could protect Gerda from the consequences of whatshe'd done, I could-- And he knew that I would do anything he wanted, because Iloved him." "And you started at once," said Poirot grimly. "Yes, the firstthing I could think of was to get the revolver away from her and drop it in thepool. That would obscure the fingerprint business. When I discovered later that hehad been shot with a different gun, I went out to look for it, and naturally found it atonce because I knew just the sort of place Gerda would have put it-- I was only a minuteor two ahead of Inspector Grange'smen." She paused and then went on: 397 "I kept it with me in that satchelbag of mine until I could take it up to London. Then I hid it in the studio until Icould bring it back, and put it where the police would find it." "The clayhorse," murmured Poirot. "How did you know? Yes, I put it in a sponge bag andwired the armature round it and then slapped up the clay model round it. After all,the police couldn't very well destroy an artist's masterpiece, could they? Whatmade you know where it was?" "The fact that you chose to model a horse. Thehorse of Troy was the unconsciousassociation in your mind. But the fingerprints--How did you manage thefingerprints?" "An old blind man who sells matches in the street. He didn'tknow what it was I asked him to hold for a moment while I got some money out!"Poirot looked at her for a moment. "C'est formidable!" he murmured. "You areone of the best antagonists. Mademoiselle, that I have ever had." "It's been dreadfullytiring always trying to keep one move ahead of you!" "I know. I began to realizethe truth as soon as I saw that the pattern was always designed not to implicateany one person but to implicate everyone--other than Gerda Christow. Everyindication always pointed away from her. You deliberately plantedYgdrasil to catch my attention and bring yourself under suspicion. Lady Angkatell,who knew perfectly what you were doing, amused herself by leading poor InspectorGrange in one direction after another. David, Edward, herself. "Yes, there is onlyone thing to do if you want to clear a person from suspicion who is actually guilty.You must suggest guilt elsewhere but never localize it. That is why every cluelooked promising and then petered out and ended in nothing." Henrietta looked atthe figure huddled pathetically in the chair. She said, "Poor Gerda." "Is thatwhat you have felt all along?" "I think so ... Gerda loved John terribly--but shedidn't want to love him for what he was. She built up a pedestal forhim and attributed every splendid and noble and unselfish characteristic to him.And if you cast down an idol, there's nothing left ..." She paused and then went on."But John was something much finer than an idol on a pedestal. He was a real,living, vital human being. He was generous and warm and alive, and he was a great