Домашнее чтение на английском языке «The Murder of Roger Ackroyd»

Закрытый контент сайта. Chapter 9. The Goldfish Pond

Poirot looked at the house. «A very beautiful house,» he said. «Who inherits it?»

«Oh!» I said. «I never thought of it.» And indeed, I had not thought of it before.

«The day is fine,» said Poirot. «Let’s walk a little.»

We walked around the house and into the garden. The garden was rich and beautiful. We found a seat among the trees and sat down. The garden was slop­ing down, and below us we could see a garden path with another seat in front of a little goldfish pond.

«England is very beautiful,» said Poirot. «And English girls are also beautiful. Hush, my friend, let’s look at the pretty picture below us.»

It was then that I saw Flora. She was walking along the path near the goldfish pond. There was a smile on her face.

A man stepped out from the trees. It was Hector Blunt.

«Oh,» said Flora, smiling. «I did not see you.» Blunt said nothing, but it was clear that he was glad to see the girl.

«Is it true that you are going away soon?» said Flora.

«Yes, it is time for me to go,» said Blunt.

«Are you going on another expedition — to shoot?»

«Yes.»

«That tiger head which we have in the hall — did you shoot the tiger?»

Blunt nodded. «Do you like skins?» he said. «If so — I can bring you a good skin.»

«Oh! Please do!» cried Flora. «You won’t forget?»

«No, I won’t forget,» said Blunt. «Yes,» he added, «it’s time for me to go. I am not used to this sort of life. I never remember things which one must say in society. This life is not for me.»

«But I hope you are not going at once,» said Flora.

«When we are in this trouble — Oh! Please. If you go now — »

«Do you want me to stay?» asked Blunt.

«Oh yes, I want you to stay,» said Flora.

«Then I’ll stay.»

They sat in silence for a while.

«It’s such a lovely morning,» said Flora. «You know, I — I feel happy — in spite of everything. It’s awful, I suppose?»

«It’s quite natural,» said Blunt. «You never saw your uncle until two years ago, did you?»

«Ye-es, that’s right. You know — I’ll — I’ll tell you why I feel so happy this morning. Maybe you will think that I am heartless. But all the same¹. I want to tell you. I have found out this morning that Uncle Roger has left me twenty thousand pounds. Think of it — twenty thousand!»

At that moment Poirot decided to interrupt them, and we came out from behind the trees.

«Oh, good morning,» said Flora. «This is M. Poirot,» She said to Blunt. «I think you’ve heard about him.»

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¹ all the same — все равно

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Poirot bowed. «I know Major Blunt by reputation,» he said. «I am glad to meet you, monsieur. I would like to ask you something.»

Blunt looked at him.

«When did you last see Mr. Ackroyd alive?»

«At dinner.»

«And you did not see him and did not hear any­thing about him after that?»

«No, I didn’t see him. I heard his voice.»

«How was that?»

«I walked about on the terrace — »

«Pardon me, what time was it?»

«About half past nine. I was walking up and down smoking in front of the drawing-room window. It seemed to me I saw a woman in the bushes, and walked to the corner of the terrace. I think I was mistaken about the woman. And when I was at the corner of the terrace, I heard Ackroyd’s voice.»

«Can you remember any words?»

«No, I can’t. It was something very unimportant. I was thinking about something else.»

«Never mind,» said Poirot. «Did you move the big armchair back to the wall when you came into the study after the body was discovered?»

«Armchair? No — why?»

Poirot did not answer and turned to Flora. «I would also like to ask you one question, mademoiselle,» he said. «When you were standing at the silver table with Dr. Sheppard, was the dagger in its place or was it not?»

«Inspector Raglan has already asked me this ques­tion,» said Flora, «and I’ve told him and I’ll tell you. I am sure that the dagger was not there. He does not believe me.

He thinks that it was in its place and that later Ralph took it, but it is not so!»

Blunt looked at his watch. «It’s nearly lunch time,» he said. «We’d better go into the house.»

«Will you lunch with us, M. Poirot?» said Flora. «I should like you to meet my mother. She is — very fond of Ralph.»

The little man bowed. «I shall be glad, mademoiselle,» he said.

«And you, Dr. Sheppard? Please stay, too.»

I thanked her. Flora and Blunt turned and walked towards the house.

«Look,» said Poirot, «there is something shining on the bottom of the pond.»

He bent over the pond, slowly and carefully put his hand into the water and took the thing out. «Look, my friend,» he said.

It was a woman’s wedding ring. I took it.

«Look inside,» said Poirot.

I did so. Inside was an inscription: From R., March 13^th. I looked at Poirot, but he did not give me any explanation.