Chapter XXVII. A Supper Party at the Savoy

by Agatha Christie

　　The supper party given by Mr. Julius Hersheimmer to a few friendson the evening of the 30th will long be remembered in cateringcircles. It took place in a private room, and Mr. Hersheimmer'sorders were brief and forcible. He gave carte blanche--and whena millionaire gives carte blanche he usually gets it!Every delicacy out of season was duly provided. Waiters carriedbottles of ancient and royal vintage with loving care. The floraldecorations defied the seasons, and fruits of the earth as farapart as May and November found themselves miraculously side byside. The list of guests was small and select. The AmericanAmbassador, Mr. Carter, who had taken the liberty, he said, ofbringing an old friend, Sir William Beresford, with him,Archdeacon Cowley, Dr. Hall, those two youthful adventurers, MissPrudence Cowley and Mr. Thomas Beresford, and last, but notleast, as guest of honour, Miss Jane Finn.Julius had spared no pains to make Jane's appearance a success. Amysterious knock had brought Tuppence to the door of theapartment she was sharing with the American girl. It was Julius.In his hand he held a cheque."Say, Tuppence," he began, "will you do me a good turn? Takethis, and get Jane regularly togged up for this evening. You'reall coming to supper with me at the Savoy. See? Spare noexpense. You get me?""Sure thing," mimicked Tuppence. "We shall enjoy ourselves. Itwill be a pleasure dressing Jane. She's the loveliest thing I'veever seen.""That's so," agreed Mr. Hersheimmer fervently.His fervour brought a momentary twinkle to Tuppence's eye."By the way, Julius," she remarked demurely, "I--haven't givenyou my answer yet.""Answer?" said Julius. His face paled."You know--when you asked me to--marry you," faltered Tuppence,her eyes downcast in the true manner of the early Victorianheroine, "and wouldn't take no for an answer. I've thought itwell over----""Yes?" said Julius. The perspiration stood on his forehead.Tuppence relented suddenly."You great idiot!" she said. "What on earth induced you to doit? I could see at the time you didn't care a twopenny dip forme!""Not at all. I had--and still have--the highest sentiments ofesteem and respect--and admiration for you----""H'm!" said Tuppence. "Those are the kind of sentiments thatvery soon go to the wall when the other sentiment comes along!Don't they, old thing?""I don't know what you mean," said Julius stiffly, but a largeand burning blush overspread his countenance."Shucks!" retorted Tuppence. She laughed, and closed the door,reopening it to add with dignity: "Morally, I shall alwaysconsider I have been jilted!""What was it?" asked Jane as Tuppence rejoined her."Julius.""What did he want?""Really, I think, he wanted to see you, but I wasn't going to lethim. Not until to-night, when you're going to burst upon everyone like King Solomon in his glory! Come on! We're going toshop!"To most people the 29th, the much-heralded "Labour Day," hadpassed much as any other day. Speeches were made in the Park andTrafalgar Square. Straggling processions, singing the Red Flag,wandered through the streets in a more or less aimless manner.Newspapers which had hinted at a general strike, and theinauguration of a reign of terror, were forced to hide theirdiminished heads. The bolder and more astute among them sought toprove that peace had been effected by following their counsels.In the Sunday papers a brief notice of the sudden death of SirJames Peel Edgerton, the famous K.C., had appeared. Monday'spaper dealt appreciatively with the dead man's career. The exactmanner of his sudden death was never made public.Tommy had been right in his forecast of the situation. It hadbeen a one-man show. Deprived of their chief, the organizationfell to pieces. Kramenin had made a precipitate return to Russia,leaving England early on Sunday morning. The gang had fled fromAstley Priors in a panic, leaving behind, in their haste, variousdamaging documents which compromised them hopelessly. With theseproofs of conspiracy in their hands, aided further by a smallbrown diary taken from the pocket of the dead man which hadcontained a full and damning resume of the whole plot, theGovernment had called an eleventh-hour conference. The Labourleaders were forced to recognize that they had been used as acat's paw. Certain concessions were made by the Government, andwere eagerly accepted. It was to be Peace, not War!But the Cabinet knew by how narrow a margin they had escapedutter disaster. And burnt in on Mr. Carter's brain was thestrange scene which had taken place in the house in Soho thenight before.He had entered the squalid room to find that great man, thefriend of a lifetime, dead--betrayed out of his own mouth. Fromthe dead man's pocket-book he had retrieved the ill-omened drafttreaty, and then and there, in the presence of the other three,it had been reduced to ashes.... England was saved!And now, on the evening of the 30th, in a private room at theSavoy, Mr. Julius P. Hersheimmer was receiving his guests.Mr. Carter was the first to arrive. With him was acholeric-looking old gentleman, at sight of whom Tommy flushed upto the roots of his hair. He came forward."Ha!" said the old gentleman, surveying him apoplectically. "Soyou're my nephew, are you? Not much to look at--but you've donegood work, it seems. Your mother must have brought you up wellafter all. Shall we let bygones be bygones, eh? You're my heir,you know; and in future I propose to make you an allowance--andyou can look upon Chalmers Park as your home.""Thank you, sir, it's awfully decent of you.""Where's this young lady I've been hearing such a lot about?"Tommy introduced Tuppence."Ha!" said Sir William, eyeing her. "Girls aren't what they usedto be in my young days.""Yes, they are," said Tuppence. "Their clothes are different,perhaps, but they themselves are just the same.""Well, perhaps you're right. Minxes then--minxes now!""That's it," said Tuppence. "I'm a frightful minx myself.""I believe you," said the old gentleman, chuckling, and pinchedher ear in high good-humour. Most young women were terrified ofthe "old bear," as they termed him. Tuppence's pertnessdelighted the old misogynist.Then came the timid archdeacon, a little bewildered by thecompany in which he found himself, glad that his daughter wasconsidered to have distinguished herself, but unable to helpglancing at her from time to time with nervous apprehension. ButTuppence behaved admirably. She forbore to cross her legs, set aguard upon her tongue, and steadfastly refused to smoke.Dr. Hall came next, and he was followed by the AmericanAmbassador."We might as well sit down," said Julius, when he had introducedall his guests to each other. "Tuppence, will you "He indicated the place of honour with a wave of his hand.But Tuppence shook her head."No--that's Jane's place! When one thinks of how she's held outall these years, she ought to be made the queen of the feastto-night."Julius flung her a grateful glance, and Jane came forward shylyto the allotted seat. Beautiful as she had seemed before, it wasas nothing to the loveliness that now went fully adorned.Tuppence had performed her part faithfully. The model gownsupplied by a famous dressmaker had been entitled "A tiger lily."It was all golds and reds and browns, and out of it rose the purecolumn of the girl's white throat, and the bronze masses of hairthat crowned her lovely head. There was admiration in every eye,as she took her seat.Soon the supper party was in full swing, and with one accordTommy was called upon for a full and complete explanation."You've been too darned close about the whole business," Juliusaccused him. "You let on to me that you were off to theArgentine--though I guess you had your reasons for that. The ideaof both you and Tuppence casting me for the part of Mr. Brownjust tickles me to death!""The idea was not original to them," said Mr. Carter gravely. "Itwas suggested, and the poison very carefully instilled, by apast-master in the art. The paragraph in the New York papersuggested the plan to him, and by means of it he wove a web thatnearly enmeshed you fatally.""I never liked him," said Julius. "I felt from the first thatthere was something wrong about him, and I always suspected thatit was he who silenced Mrs. Vandemeyer so appositely. But itwasn't till I heard that the order for Tommy's execution cameright on the heels of our interview with him that Sunday that Ibegan to tumble to the fact that he was the big bug himself.""I never suspected it at all," lamented Tuppence. "I've alwaysthought I was so much cleverer than Tommy--but he's undoubtedlyscored over me handsomely."Julius agreed."Tommy's been the goods this trip! And, instead of sitting thereas dumb as a fish, let him banish his blushes, and tell us allabout it.""Hear! hear!""There's nothing to tell," said Tommy, acutely uncomfortable. "Iwas an awful mug--right up to the time I found that photograph ofAnnette, and realized that she was Jane Finn. Then I rememberedhow persistently she had shouted out that word 'Marguerite'--andI thought of the pictures, and--well, that's that. Then of courseI went over the whole thing to see where I'd made an ass ofmyself.""Go on," said Mr. Carter, as Tommy showed signs of taking refugein silence once more."That business about Mrs. Vandemeyer had worried me when Juliustold me about it. On the face of it, it seemed that he or SirJames must have done the trick. But I didn't know which.Finding that photograph in the drawer, after that story of how ithad been got from him by Inspector Brown, made me suspect Julius.Then I remembered that it was Sir James who had discovered thefalse Jane Finn. In the end, I couldn't make up my mind--andjust decided to take no chances either way. I left a note forJulius, in case he was Mr. Brown, saying I was off to theArgentine, and I dropped Sir James's letter with the offer of thejob by the desk so that he would see it was a genuine stunt.Then I wrote my letter to Mr. Carter and rang up Sir James.Taking him into my confidence would be the best thing either way,so I told him everything except where I believed the papers to behidden. The way he helped me to get on the track of Tuppence andAnnette almost disarmed me, but not quite. I kept my mind openbetween the two of them. And then I got a bogus note fromTuppence--and I knew!""But how?"Tommy took the note in question from his pocket and passed itround the table."It's her handwriting all right, but I knew it wasn't from herbecause of the signature. She'd never spell her name 'Twopence,'but anyone who'd never seen it written might quite easily do so.Julius had seen it--he showed me a note of hers to him once--butSir james hadn't! After that everything was plain sailing. I sentoff Albert post-haste to Mr. Carter. I pretended to go away, butdoubled back again. When Julius came bursting up in his car, Ifelt it wasn't part of Mr. Brown's plan--and that there wouldprobably be trouble. Unless Sir James was actually caught in theact, so to speak, I knew Mr. Carter would never believe it of himon my bare word----""I didn't," interposed Mr. Carter ruefully."That's why I sent the girls off to Sir James. I was sure they'dfetch up at the house in Soho sooner or later. I threatenedJulius with the revolver, because I wanted Tuppence to repeatthat to Sir James, so that he wouldn't worry about us. The momentthe girls were out of sight I told Julius to drive like hell forLondon, and as we went along I told him the whole story. We gotto the Soho house in plenty of time and met Mr. Carter outside.After arranging things with him we went in and hid behind thecurtain in the recess. The policemen had orders to say, if theywere asked, that no one had gone into the house. That's all."And Tommy came to an abrupt halt.There was silence for a moment."By the way," said Julius suddenly, "you're all wrong about thatphotograph of Jane. It was taken from me, but I found it again.""Where?" cried Tuppence."In that little safe on the wall in Mrs. Vandemeyer's bedroom.""I knew you found something," said Tuppence reproachfully. "Totell you the truth, that's what started me off suspecting you.Why didn't you say?""I guess I was a mite suspicious too. It had been got away fromme once, and I determined I wouldn't let on I'd got it until aphotographer had made a dozen copies of it!""We all kept back something or other," said Tuppencethoughtfully. "I suppose secret service work makes you likethat!"In the pause that ensued, Mr. Carter took from his pocket a smallshabby brown book."Beresford has just said that I would not have believed Sir JamesPeel Edgerton to be guilty unless, so to speak, he was caught inthe act. That is so. Indeed, not until I read the entries inthis little book could I bring myself fully to credit the amazingtruth. This book will pass into the possession of Scotland Yard,but it will never be publicly exhibited. Sir James's longassociation with the law would make it undesirable. But to you,who know the truth, I propose to read certain passages which willthrow some light on the extraordinary mentality of this greatman."He opened the book, and turned the thin pages.". . . It is madness to keep this book. I know that. It isdocumentary evidence against me. But I have never shrunk fromtaking risks. And I feel an urgent need for self-expression....The book will only be taken from my dead body....". . . From an early age I realized that I had exceptionalabilities. Only a fool underestimates his capabilities. My brainpower was greatly above the average. I know that I was born tosucceed. My appearance was the only thing against me. I wasquiet and insignificant--utterly nondescript....". . . When I was a boy I heard a famous murder trial. I wasdeeply impressed by the power and eloquence of the counsel forthe defence. For the first time I entertained the idea of takingmy talents to that particular market.... Then I studied thecriminal in the dock.... The man was a fool--he had beenincredibly, unbelievably stupid. Even the eloquence of hiscounsel was hardly likely to save him. I felt an immeasurablecontempt for him.... Then it occurred to me that the criminalstandard was a low one. It was the wastrels, the failures, thegeneral riff-raff of civilization who drifted into crime....Strange that men of brains had never realized its extraordinaryopportunities.... I played with the idea.... What a magnificentfield--what unlimited possibilities! It made my brain reel....". . . I read standard works on crime and criminals. They allconfirmed my opinion. Degeneracy, disease--never the deliberateembracing of a career by a far-seeing man. Then I considered.Supposing my utmost ambitions were realized--that I was called tothe bar, and rose to the height of my profession? That I enteredpolitics--say, even, that I became Prime Minister of England?What then? Was that power? Hampered at every turn by mycolleagues, fettered by the democratic system of which I shouldbe the mere figurehead! No--the power I dreamed of was absolute!An autocrat! A dictator! And such power could only be obtainedby working outside the law. To play on the weaknesses of humannature, then on the weaknesses of nations--to get together andcontrol a vast organization, and finally to overthrow theexisting order, and rule! The thought intoxicated me....". . . I saw that I must lead two lives. A man like myself isbound to attract notice. I must have a successful career whichwould mask my true activities.... Also I must cultivate apersonality. I modelled myself upon famous K.C.'s. I reproducedtheir mannerisms, their magnetism. If I had chosen to be anactor, I should have been the greatest actor living! Nodisguises--no grease paint--no false beards! Personality! I putit on like a glove! When I shed it, I was myself, quiet,unobtrusive, a man like every other man. I called myself Mr.Brown. There are hundreds of men called Brown--there arehundreds of men looking just like me....". . . I succeeded in my false career. I was bound to succeed. Ishall succeed in the other. A man like me cannot fail....". . . I have been reading a life of Napoleon. He and I havemuch in common....". . . I make a practice of defending criminals. A man shouldlook after his own people....". . . Once or twice I have felt afraid. The first time was inItaly. There was a dinner given. Professor D----, the greatalienist, was present. The talk fell on insanity. He said, 'Agreat many men are mad, and no one knows it. They do not know itthemselves.' I do not understand why he looked at me when hesaid that. His glance was strange.... I did not like it....". . . The war has disturbed me.... I thought it would further myplans. The Germans are so efficient. Their spy system, too, wasexcellent. The streets are full of these boys in khaki. Allempty-headed young fools.... Yet I do not know.... They won thewar.... It disturbs me....". . . My plans are going well.... A girl butted in--I do notthink she really knew anything.... But we must give up theEsthonia.... No risks now....". . . . All goes well. The loss of memory is vexing. It cannotbe a fake. No girl could deceive me! . . .". . .The 29th.... That is very soon...." Mr. Carter paused."I will not read the details of the coup that was planned. Butthere are just two small entries that refer to the three of you.In the light of what happened they are interesting.". . . By inducing the girl to come to me of her own accord, Ihave succeeded in disarming her. But she has intuitive flashesthat might be dangerous.... She must be got out of the way.... Ican do nothing with the American. He suspects and dislikes me.But he cannot know. I fancy my armour is impregnable....Sometimes I fear I have underestimated the other boy. He is notclever, but it is hard to blind his eyes to facts...."Mr. Carter shut the book."A great man," he said. "Genius, or insanity, who can say?"There was silence.Then Mr. Carter rose to his feet."I will give you a toast. The Joint Venture which has so amplyjustified itself by success!"It was drunk with acclamation."There's something more we want to hear," continued Mr. Carter.He looked at the American Ambassador. "I speak for you also, Iknow. We'll ask Miss Jane Finn to tell us the story that onlyMiss Tuppence has heard so far--but before we do so we'll drinkher health. The health of one of the bravest of America'sdaughters, to whom is due the thanks and gratitude of two greatcountries!"