'And did you see Molly in her room？'
　　'Yes．I was tired and I went upstairs first．I went to Molly's room and asked her for money again．But no—there was no money for her sister．'Albert stopped and put his hand over his eyes．
　　Inspector Walsh watched Albert for a minute．'Did you hear noises after you went to bed？'
　　'Everyone went into Molly's room to say good night，I think．Later，I heard someone…He—or she—went down－stairs．That was about midnight．'
　　'Very well，Mr King．Thank you，you can go now．'Albert left the room．
　　Inspector Walsh put his hands behind his head．'What time is it？I'm hungry．We're learning a lot，but I need some coffee．'
　　'Shall I go to the kitchen？'Sergeant Foster asked．
　　'Oh，no．Later．Let's see Jackie Clarkson next．'
　　Jackie came in and sat down．She looked down at her hands and said nothing．
　　'We found the empty bottle of your mother's sleeping tablets in Diane's room，'the Inspector said suddenly．Then he waited．Jackie's face did not change and she said nothing．
　　'Tell me，did your mother get her tablets from the shop in the village？'
　　'Yes．My mother usually took a sleeping tablet every night so she needed a lot of tablets．Sometimes she got them from the shop，sometimes I did．On Thursday，I asked Peter Hobbs to get them．He lives in the house across the road，and he of－ten goes to the village on his bicycle．'
　　'I see．Your mother wanted to stay in this house．How about you？Did you want to move？'
　　Jackie looked up for a minute and then down at her hands a－gain．'This is Mother's house．I loved my mother．She was good to me．'
　　'Did you see your mother in her room last night？'
　　'Yes，everyone did．Diane made hot milk and took it to Mother．She usually drank a cup of hot milk before she slept．'
　　Inspector Walsh put his hands behind his head．Jackie was very quiet．'What did your mother say？'
　　Jackie opened her bag and looked for a cigarette．'Can I smoke？'
　　'Of course．This is your house，'Inspector Walsh said．He watched Jackie．'What did your mother say？'he asked again．
　　'She wanted to go downstairs again．She remembered the dogs—she wanted to get some dinner for them． I went to my room and she went downstairs．'
　　'What time was this？'
　　'I don't remember．About midnight，I think．'
　　'And the cup of hot milk？'
　　'It was on the table by her bed．'
　　'Did you need your mother's money？'
　　'No，Inspector．Money is not important to me．There are more important things，'Jackie said quietly．
　　'Well，your uncle Albert wanted money．Tom Briggs wanted the garden．You wanted nothing？'
　　Jackie finished her cigarette and looked up at the Inspector．Her eyes were suddenly angry．'Don't forget Peter Hobbs．He lost his job because of my mother．He wanted to kill her，you know．And what about Diane？You found the empty bottle in her bag．'
　　Inspector Walsh listened carefully．'We're going to question everyone，Miss Clarkson．'
　　Jackie said nothing for a minute．'Would you like some sandwiches and coffee，Inspector？'
　　'Ah！Yes，please！'Inspector Walsh said warmly．'I would like sandwiches and coffee very much．'
　　Jackie left the room．Inspector Walsh thought about her．Why was she suddenly angry？The room was quiet．

上一页  [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]  ... 下一页  >>