Chapter 7. The Torn Page

After the library was checked for fingerprints (of course, nothing peculiar was found), Japp left, and I asked Poirot:

"Well, what do you think? Why was Miss Marsh kidnapped?"

"That is very mysterious," Poirot admitted. "The first question I ask myself is this: Is the kidnapping connected with Lord Edgware's murder?

"Answer One: it is not. Therefore, it has been committed for some political or even maybe religious reasons, unknown to us, and only the time has been chosen to mislead us. This version has no proof, yet there is no actual proof against it. So we'll let this matter rest for a while and go to Answer Two.

"Answer Two: it is connected with the murder. Now I ask myself: In what way?

"First, let's assume Geraldine found out something about the murderer. He or she learned of it and kidnapped her – only to kill her in some remote place. We are again on a false track: we think she's alive. In that case, the most probable suspect is Ronald Marsh."

"What?" I cried.

"Recall Miss Carroll's evidence. We have only Ronald's words that he was upstairs. It could have been he who drugged his cousin, made an artificial dreadful mess in the library, cut Geraldine's arm and wiped the cut with her own coat, then carried her away, killed her, and ran to tell Miss Carroll about 'the kidnapping'.

"But there is one major argument again all this! Geraldine, being so fond of Ronald, would have zealously shielded him in every court of the world! Remember: she actually lied to us about going to Marsh House with him and entering the house herself! So Ronald doesn't need to shut her up – he already knows she'll deceive anyone for him.

"So let us think of other versions…"

"But could any other person kidnap Geraldine because she found something out?" I asked.

"No," Poirot stated firmly. "The doors of Marsh House were both locked. The servants confirmed it. Of course, there is a possibility that Geraldine opened the door to the kidnapper herself or ordered one of the servants to do so – but in that case, the servants would have told us that. That is, unless…"

"Unless what?" I wondered.

"You must remember the strange man seen by Ronald Marsh. The man who looked like Brian Martin – and who somehow had a key to the house."

"But Ronald lied!"

"Hastings, we are now assuming that the murderer and the kidnapper is not Ronald, that's why we assume Ronald did not lie. He clearly said that he believed 'Aunt Jane' to be guilty. So why would he need to have such a foolish try to incriminate Brian Martin?"

"And who's the man in this case?"

"I don't know," Poirot confessed. "I have millions of utterly stupid melodramatic ideas in my head. This man could have been Geraldine's lover or former lover. He could have been an accomplice of Lord Edgware's first wife…"

"But all these theories are quite possible," I said.

"Possible! For your romantic imagination – yes," Poirot grunted. "So, let's think of other versions of the kidnapping.

"Let's say Geraldine was a murderer's accomplice. She might – just might – have been kidnapped by someone else as the sign to the murderer. Money's demanded for kidnapping – and only the murderer understands that it is actually the hush money. That is all very well, but the kidnapper seemingly left no demand for a payment!

"There are several different explanations for this puzzle. First, let us say that the murderer of Lord Edgware was the mysterious lookalike of Brian Martin. What if he is an accomplice of Miss Carroll?"

"Miss Carroll?" I exclaimed, stunned.

"Yes. The single, childless woman adores Geraldine like her own daughter. She can't stand the poor girl being so awfully treated by her father. So she asks some male relation of hers to help her to murder Lord Edgware and tells Geraldine about the plan too. But after the murder Ronald learns of it somehow, kidnaps Geraldine, and leaves a note to Miss Carroll. Miss Carroll is extremely frightened. She hurriedly destroys the note. She is sure that the police suspect Ronald, so he would be almost certainly arrested anyway, and Geraldine will be brought back.

"Or maybe all is vice versa. Ronald and Geraldine are the guilty party, and Miss Carroll asks some male relation of hers to kidnap Geraldine – both for the girl's safety, as Miss Carroll is fond of her, and as a sign to Ronald. And Ronald has all the time he needs to destroy the note with the demand for money she leaves or gives him.

"But alas, mon ami, all these versions are incomplete. These pearl necklaces, Carlotta Adams (who never took veronal, as her sister writes, by the way), Geraldine's lock – all this doesn't fit together."

"Like in a detective novel where someone has torn out the pages with the solution," I joked. Poirot suddenly sprang to his feet:

"What did you say?"

I awkwardly repeated my rather poor joke. Poirot's eyes went wide:

"I have to go to Scotland Yard – now!"

"But it's so late!"

"There is a vital clue just lying in Japp's desk!"

"What clue?"

"The letter of Carlotta Adams to her sister!"

We caught a taxi and soon arrived at Scotland Yard. Japp was still there, searching through Lord Edgware's papers.

"What are you looking for?" I asked.

"A will," Japp said. "If such a thing exists, it may clear the case somehow."

"Another paper will do it," Poirot said. "Give the letter where Carlotta Adams mentioned Ronald Marsh."

Japp handed him a wad of paper sheets. Poirot examined them and cried triumphantly:

"See? All these sheets are double, except for this one! The previous sheet ends with 'Remember Ronald Marsh I told you about? Well,'. And the next one begins with 'he loved my Jane Wilkinson parody'. The single sheet looks as though its other half has been torn! Look."

Japp closely looked at the sheets:

"Yes, perhaps."

"So! What do you think of this?"

"You think the murderer found the letter and tore away the incriminating page, while the previous one conveniently mentioned Ronald Marsh?"

"Precisement. And here you need to remember something. Carlotta Adams was the best friend of Jenny Driver, who also – ahem! – seems to be a very close friend of Brian Martin."

"Brian Martin?"

"Yes. Ronald Marsh, after all, saw a man very like the actor entering Marsh House. But… no, it's unlikely."

"Poirot, but you just said…" I exclaimed. Poirot shook his head:

"The key to Marsh House that the man seemed to have. The necklaces. The lock. It doesn't fit together."

"Why?" asked Japp. "You can link all these clues."

"No, you can't," Poirot said. "These clues point to entirely different people. Shall I make a list?"

Japp and I nodded.

"Eh bien. One. The visit of a woman looking like Jane Wilkinson to Marsh House points either to Lady Edgware herself or to Carlotta Adams. Two. The draft of an imitation of a pearl necklace which corresponds with Alfred Grithe's evidence and the inheritance of Lord Edgware's money and title incriminate Ronald Marsh. Three. The lock of Geraldine Marsh's hair is, after all, supposed to point to Geraldine Marsh. Four. The evidence of Ronald Marsh points to Brian Martin. Five. The destroyed clue to the real criminal's identity – this letter. The only help from it is that we know for certain that the murderer at least twice met with Carlotta Adams."

"What is wrong with this list?" I wanted to know.

"There are too many clues incriminating too many people. Also there are the clues that point to no one in particular but are very important: the real pearl necklace and its second imitation, for instance. So there's a lot for the little gray cells to think about."

Suddenly, the phone rang. Japp picked it up:

"Scotland Yard, Detective Inspector Japp here… What?.." he listened for a while. "Give me his address, please, Miss Arlsbury…" he took a pen and a notebook and wrote something down. "Thank you. We'll be there in several minutes."

"What is it?" Poirot inquired.

"It was Jean Arlsbury, an actress from Covent Garden. Her fiancé Donald Ross was found stabbed. I think the case of Lord Edgware will have to wait a little."

"No, it won't," I said and told Japp and Poirot about my encounter with Ross.

"Again it is too extraordinary to be accidental," Poirot said. "Donald Ross wants to tell me something about Lord Edgware's murder and voila! in a few hours he's killed. We must head to his house at once."

And so we did.