2,49 €
A young drifter finds more than he bargained for when he agrees to deliver a parcel to an English country house… Little did Anthony Cade suspect that a simple errand on behalf of a friend would make him the centrepiece of a murderous international conspiracy. Someone would stop at nothing to prevent the monarchy being restored in faraway Herzoslovakia. The combined forces of Scotland Yard and the French Surete can do no better than go in circles – until the final murder at Chimneys, the great country estate that yields up an amazing secret…
Das E-Book können Sie in Legimi-Apps oder einer beliebigen App lesen, die das folgende Format unterstützen:
CHAPTER 1. ANTHONY CADE SIGNS ON
By
Agatha Christie
Table of Contents
CHAPTER 1. ANTHONY CADE SIGNS ON
CHAPTER 2. A LADY IN DISTRESS
CHAPTER 3. ANXIETY IN HIGH PLACES
CHAPTER 4. INTRODUCING A VERY CHARMING LADY
CHAPTER 5. FIRST NIGHT IN LONDON
CHAPTER 6. THE GENTLE ART OF BLACKMAIL
CHAPTER 7. MR. MCGRATH REFUSES AN INVITATION
CHAPTER 8. A DEAD MAN
CHAPTER 9. ANTHONY DISPOSES OF A BODY
CHAPTER 10. CHIMNEYS
CHAPTER 11. SUPERINTENDENT BATTLE ARRIVES
CHAPTER 12. ANTHONY TELLS HIS STORY
CHAPTER 13. THE AMERICAN VISITOR
CHAPTER 14. MAINLY POLITICAL AND FINANCIAL
CHAPTER 15. THE FRENCH STRANGER
CHAPTER 16. TEA IN THE SCHOOLROOM
CHAPTER 17. A MIDNIGHT ADVENTURE
CHAPTER 18. SECOND MIDNIGHT ADVENTURE
CHAPTER 19. SECRET HISTORY
CHAPTER 20. BATTLE AND ANTHONY CONFER
CHAPTER 21. MR. ISAACSTEIN’S SUIT-CASE
CHAPTER 22. THE RED SIGNAL
CHAPTER 23. ENCOUNTER IN THE ROSE GARDEN
CHAPTER 24. THE HOUSE AT DOVER
CHAPTER 25. TUESDAY NIGHT AT CHIMNEYS
CHAPTER 26. THE 13TH OF OCTOBER
CHAPTER 27. THE 13TH OF OCTOBER (CONTD.)
CHAPTER 28. KING VICTOR
CHAPTER 29. FURTHER EXPLANATIONS
CHAPTER 30. ANTHONY SIGNS ON FOR A NEW JOB
CHAPTER 31. SUNDRY DETAILS
“ Gentleman Joe!”
“ Why, if it isn’t old Jimmy McGrath.”
Castle’s Select Tour, represented by seven depressed-looking females and three perspiring males, looked on with considerable interest. Evidently their Mr. Cade had met an old friend. They all admired Mr. Cade so much, his tall lean figure, his sun-tanned face, the light-hearted manner with which he settled disputes and cajoled them all into good temper. This friend of his now—surely rather a peculiar-looking man. About the same height as Mr. Cade, but thickset and not nearly so good-looking. The sort of man one read about in books, who probably kept a saloon. Interesting, though. After all, that was what one came abroad for—to see all these peculiar things one read about in books. Up to now, they had been rather bored with Bulawayo. The sun was unbearably hot, the hotel was uncomfortable, there seemed to be nowhere particular to go until the moment should arrive to motor to the Matoppos. Very fortunately, Mr. Cade had suggested picture postcards. There was an excellent supply of picture postcards.
Anthony Cade and his friend had stepped a little apart.
“ What the hell are you doing with this pack of females?” demanded McGrath. “Starting a harem.”
“ Not with this little lot,” grinned Anthony. “Have you taken a good look at them?”
“ I have that. Thought maybe you were losing your eyesight.”
“ My eyesight’s as good as ever it was. No, this is a Castle’s Select Tour. I’m Castle—the local Castle, I mean.”
“ What the hell made you take on a job like that?”
“ A regrettable necessity for cash. I can assure you it doesn’t suit my temperament.”
Jimmy grinned.
“ Never a hog for regular work, were you?”
Anthony ignored this aspersion.
“ However, something will turn up soon, I expect,” he remarked hopefully. “It usually does.”
Jimmy chuckled.
“ If there’s any trouble brewing, Anthony Cade is sure to be in it sooner or later, I know that,” he said. “You’ve an absolute instinct for rows—and the nine lives of a cat. When can we have a yarn together?”
Anthony sighed.
“ I’ve got to take these cackling hens to see Rhodes’s grave.”
“ That’s the stuff,” said Jimmy approvingly. “They’ll come back bumped black and blue with the ruts in the road, and clamouring for bed to rest the bruises on. Then you and I will have a spot or two and exchange the news.”
“ Right. So long, Jimmy.”
Anthony rejoined his flock of sheep. Miss Taylor, the youngest and most skittish of the party, instantly attacked him.
“ Oh, Mr. Cade, was that an old friend of yours?”
“ It was, Miss Taylor. One of the friends of my blameless youth.”
Miss Taylor giggled.
“ I thought he was such an interesting-looking man.”
“ I’ll tell him you said so.”
“ Oh, Mr. Cade, how can you be so naughty! The very idea! What was that name he called you?”
“ Gentleman Joe?”
“ Yes. Is your name Joe?”
“ I thought you knew it was Anthony, Miss Taylor.”
“ Oh, go on with you!” cried Miss Taylor coquettishly.
Anthony had by now well mastered his duties. In addition to making the necessary arrangements of travel, they included soothing down irritable old gentlemen when their dignity was ruffled, seeing that elderly matrons had ample opportunities to buy picture postcards, and flirting with everything under a catholic forty years of age. The last task was rendered easier for him by the extreme readiness of the ladies in question to read a tender meaning into his most innocent remarks.
Miss Taylor returned to the attack.
“ Why does he call you Joe, then?”
“ Oh, just because it isn’t my name.”
“ And why Gentleman Joe?”
“ The same kind of reason.”