AgathaChristie-ParkerPineDetective

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by Parker Pyne Detective (lit)

him--and he obeys. There's the contradictory man.

  Bully him the opposite way from that in which you want

  him to go. Then there's the suggestible person, the com-monest

  type of all. Those are the people who have seen a

  motor, because they have heard a motor horn; who see a

  postman because they hear the rattle of the letter box;

  who see a knife in a wound because they are told a man

  has been stabbed; or who will have heard the pistol if

  they are told a man has been shot."

  "I guess no one could put that sort of stuff over on

  me," said Carol incredulously.

  "You're too smart for that, honey," said her father.

  "It is very true what you say," said the Frenchman

  reflectively. "The preconceived idea, it deceives the

  senses."

  Carol yawned. "I'm going to my cave. I'm tired to

  death. ^bbas Effendi said we had to start early tomor-row.

  He's going to take us up to the place of sacrifice--whatever

  that is."

  THE PEARL OF PRICE

  155

  "It's where they sacrifice young and beautiful girls,"

  said Sir Donald.

  · "Mercy, I hope not! Well, good night, all. Oh, I've

  dropped my earring."

  Colonel Dubosc picked it up from where it had rolled

  across the table and returned it to her.

  "Are they real?" asked Sir Donald abruptly. Discourteous

  for the moment, he was staring at the two

  large solitaire pearls at her ears.

  "They're real, all right," said Carol.

  "Cost me eighty thousand dollars," said her father

  with relish. "And she screws them in so loosely that they

  fall off and roll about the table. Want to ruin me, girl?"

  "I'd say it wouldn't ruin you even if you had to buy

  me a new pair," said Carol fondly.

  "I guess it wouldn't," her father acquiesced. "I could

  but you three pairs of earrings without noticing it in my

  bank balance." He looked proudly around.

  "How nice for you!" said Sir Donald.

  "Well, gentlemen, I think I'll turn in now," said

  Blundell. "Good night." Young Hurst went with him.

  The other four smiled at one another, as though in

  sympathy over some thought.

  "Well," drawled Sir Donald, "it's nice to know he

  wouldn't miss the money. Purse-proud hog!" he added

  viciously.

  "They have too much money, these Americans," said

  Dubosc.

  "It is difficult," said Mr. Parker Pyne gently, "for a

  rich man to be appreciated by the poor."

  Dubosc laughed. "Envy and malice?" he suggested.

  "You are right, Monsieur. We all wish to be rich; to buy

  the pearl earrings several times over. Except, perhaps,

  Monsieur here."

  He bowed to Doctor Carver who, as seemed usual

  with him, was once more far away. He was fiddling with

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  Agatha Christie

  $llt, the %

  E bject in his hand.

  ovet I He roused Mmself. No, I must admit I don t

  is to'rge pearls. Money is always useful, of course."

  '-:. , put it where it belonged "But look at this," he

  ' .

  '

  --",';"° 't ere is something' a hundred times more inter

  ,,whan pearls."

  ,,it,it is it?"

  5

  ,,en, a cylinder seal of black hematite and it's got a

  ;;libation scene engraved on it--a god introducing a

  ,:,,, ht to a more important enthroned god. The sup-

  nd y so that it must have been made just four thous

  He [ rs ago."

  ,.,ok alum of plasticine from his pocket and

  h moment the spell of the past was laid upon them

  all' from outside, the voice of Mr. Blundell was

  a hmusically.

  darned you fellows! Change my baggage out of this

  -,,. cave and into a tent! The no-see-ums are biting

  l;°,';hd hard. I shan't get a wink of sleep."

  ,,p ee-ums?" Sir Donald queried.

  '

  ,,ilaably sand flies," said Doctor Carver.

  tch l'?(e no-see-ums," said Mr. Parker Pyne. "It's a

  "re suggestive name."

  THE PEARL OF PRICE

  157

  The Party started early the following morning, getting

  under way after various exclamations at the color and

  marking of the rocks. The "rose-red" city was indeed a

  freak invented by Nature in her most extravagant and

  colorful mood. The party proceeded slowly, since Doc

  tor Carver walked with his eyes bent on the ground, oc

  casionally pausing to pick up small objects.

  "You can always tell the archaeologist--so," said

  Colonel Dubosc, smiling. "He regards never the sky,

  nor the hills, nor the beauties of nature. He walks with

  head bent, searching."

  "Yes, but what for?" said Carol. "What are the

  things you are picking up, Doctor Carver."

  With a slight smile the archaeologist held out a couple

  of muddy fragments of pottery.

  "That rubbish!" cried Carol scornfully.

  "Pottery is more interesting than gold," said Doctor

  Carver. Carol looked disbelieving.

  They came to a sharp bend and passed two or three

  rock-cut tombs. The ascent was somewhat trying. The

  Bedouin guards went ahead, swinging up the precipitous

  slopes unconcernedly, without a downward glance at

  the sheer drop on one side of them.

  Carol looked rather pale. One guard leaned down

  from above and extended a hand. Hurst sprang up in

  front of her and held out his stick like a rail on the

  precipitous side. She thanked him with a glance, and a

  minute later stood safely on a broad path of rock. The

  others followed slowly. The sun was now high and the

  heat was beginning to be felt.

  At last they reached a broad plateau almost at the

  top. An easy climb led to the summit of a big square

  block of rock. Blundell signified to the guide that the

  party would go up alone. The Bedouins disposed themselves

  comfortably against the rocks and began to

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  Agatha Christie

  smoke. A few short minutes and the others had reached

  the summit.

  It was a curious, bare place. The view was marvelous

  embracing the valley on every side. They stood on a

  plain rectangular floor, with rock basins cut in the side

  and a kind of sacrificial altar.

  "A heavenly place for sacrifices," said Carol with en-thusiasm.

  "But my, they must have had a time getting

  the victims up here!"

  "There was originally a kind of zigzag rock road,"

  explained Doctor Carver. "We shall sec traces of it as

  we go down the other way."

  They were some time longer commenting and talking.

  Then there was a tiny chink, and Doctor Carver said:

  "I believe you've dropped your earring again, Miss

  Blundell."

  Carol clapped a hand to her ear. "Why, so I have."

  Dubosc and Hurst began searching about.

  "It must be just here," said the Frenchman. "It can't

  have rolled away, because there is nowhere for it to roll

  to. The place is like a square box."

  "It can
't have rolled into a crack?" queried Carol.

  "There's not a crack anywhere," said Mr. Parker

  Pyne. "'You can.see for yourself. The place is perfectly

  smooth. Ah, you have found something, Colonel?"

  "Only a little pebble," said Dubosc, smiling and

  throwing it away.

  Gradually a different spirit--a spirit of tension--came

  over the search. They were not said aloud, but the

  words "eighty thousand dollars" were present in every-body's

  mind.

  "You are sure you had it, Carol?" snapped her

  father. "I mean, perhalSs you dropped it on the way

  up."

  "I had it just as we stepped onto the plateau here,"

  said Carol. "I know, because Doctor Carver pointed

  THE PEARL OF PRICE

  out tO me that it was loose and he screwed it up for

  That's so, isn't it, doctor?"

  Doctor Carver assented. It was Sir Donald w

  voiced the thoughts in everybody's mind.

  "This is rather an unpleasant business, Mr. Blt

  dell," he said. "You were telling us last night what

  value of these earrings is. One of them alone is wortl

  small fortune. If this earring is not found, and it

  not look as though it will be found, every one of us

  be under a certain suspicion."

  "And for one, I ask to be searched," broke in

  onel Dubosc. "I do not ask, I demand it as a right!"

  "You can search me, too," said Hurst. His vo

  sounded harsh.

  "What does everyone else feel?" asked Sir Donal

  looking around.

  "Certainly," said Mr. Parker Pyne.

  "An excellent idea," said Doctor Carver.

  I'll be in on this too, gentlemen," said Mr. Blunde.

  "I've got my reasons, though I don't want to stre

  them."

  "Just as you like, of course, Mr. Blundell,'' said

  Donald courteously.

  "Carol, my dear, will you go down and wait with

  guides?"

  Without a word the girl left them. Her face was s

  and grim. There was a despairing look upon it th

  caught the attention of one member of the party,

  least. He wondered just what it meant.

  The search proceeded. It was drastic and thorough-and

  completely unsatisfactory. One thing was certail

  No one was carrying the earring on his person. It was

  subdued little troop that negotiated the descent

  listened halfheartedly to the guide's descriptions

  information.

  Mr. Parker Pyne had just finished dressing for lunc

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  Agatha Christie

  when a figure appeared at the door of his tent.

  "Mr. Pyne, may I come in?"

  "Certainly, my dear young lady, certainly."

  Carol came in and sat down on the bed. Her face had

  the same grim look upon it that he had noticed earlier in

  the day.

  "You pretend to straighten out things for people

  when they are unhappy, don't you?" she demanded.

  "I am on holiday, Miss Blundell. I am not taking any

  cases."

  "Well, you're going to take this one," said the girl

  calmly. "Look here, Mr. Pyne, I'm just as wretched as

  anyone could well be."

  "What is troubling you?" he asked. "Is it this busi-ness

  of the earring?"

  "That's just it. You've said it. Jim Hurst didn't take

  it, Mr. Pyne. I know he didn't."

  "I don't quite follow you, Miss Blundell. Why should

  anyone assume he had?"

  "Because of his record. Jim Hurst was once a thief,

  Mr. Pyne. He was caught in our house. I--I was sorry

  for him. He looked so young and desperate--"

  "And so good-looking,'! thought Mr. Parker Pyne.

  "I persuaded Pop to give him a chance to make good.

  My father will do anything for me. Well, he gave Jim his

  chance and Jim has made good. Father's come to rely

  on him and to trust him with all his business secrets.

  And in the end he'll come around altogether, or would

  have if this hadn't happened."

  "When you say 'come around'--?"

  "I mean that I want to marry Jim and he wants to

  marry me."

  "And Sir Donald?"

  "Sir Donald is Father's idea. He's not mine. Do you

  think I want to marry a stuffed fish like Sir Donald?"

  THE PEARL OF PRICE

  l

  Without expressing any views as to this description

  the young Englishman, Mr. Parker Pyne asked: "A

  Sir Donald himself?"

  "I dare say he thinks I'd be good for his impoverish

  acres," said Carol scornfully.

  Mr. Parker Pyne considered the situation. "I shot

  like to ask you about two things," he said. "Last ni

  the remark was made, 'once a thief, always a thief.'"

  The girl nodded.

  "I see now the reason for the embarrassment t

  remark seemed to cause."

  "Yes, it was awkward for Jim--and for me and Pc

  too. I was so afraid Jim's face would show somethi

  that I just trotted out the first remarks I could thi

  of."

  Mr. Parker Pyne nodded thoughtfully. Then

  asked: "Just why did your father insist on bei

  searched today?"

  "You didn't get that? I did. Pop had it in his mL

  that I might think the whole business was a frame-t

  against Jim. You see, he's crazy for me to marry ti

  Englishman. Well, he wanted to show me that he hadr

  done the dirty on Jim."

  "Dear me,', said Mr. Parker Pyne, "this is all very

  luminating. In a general sense, I mean. It hardly hel

  us in our particular inquiry."

  "You're not going to hand in your checks?"

  "No, no." He was silent a moment, then he sai

  "What is it exactly you want me to do, Miss Carol?"

  "Prove it wasn't Jim who took that pearl."

  "And suppose--excuse me--that it was?"

  "If you think so, you're wrong--dead wrong."

  "Yes, but have you really considered the case cal.

  fully? Don't you think that the pearl might prove a sue

  den temptation to Mr. Hurst? The sale of it would brir

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  Agatha Christie

  in a large sum of moncy--a foundation on which to

  speculate, shall we say?--which will make him indepen-dent,

  so that he can marry you with or without your

  father's consent."

  "Jim didn't do it," said the girl simply.

  This time Mr. Parker Pyne accepted her statement.

  "Well, I'll do my best."

  She nodded abruptly and left the tent. Mr. Parker

  Pyne in his turn sat down on the bed. He gave himself

  up to thought. Suddenly he chuckled.

  "I'm growing slow-witted," he said, aloud. At lunch

  he was very cheerful.

  The afternoon passed peacefully. Most people slept.

  When Mr. Parker Pync came into the big tent at a quar-ter

  past four only Doctor Carver was there. He was ex-amining

  some fragments of pottery.

  "Ah!" said Mr. Parker Pyne, drawing up a chair to

  the table. "Just the man I want to see. Can you let me

  have that hit of plasticine you carry about?"

  The doctor felt in his pockets and produced a stick of

  plasticine, which he offered to Mr. Parker Pyne.
<
br />   "No," said Mr. Parker Pyne, waving it away, "that's

  not the one I want. I want that lump you had last night.

  To be frank, it's not the plasticine I want. It's the con-tents

  of it."

  There was a pause, and then Doctor Carver said

  quietly. "I don't think I quite understand you."

  "I think you do," said Mr. Parker-Pyne. "I want

  Miss Blundell's pearl earring."

  There was a minute's dead silence. Then Carver

  slipped his hand into his pocket and took out a shapeless

  lump of plasticine.

  "Clever of you," he said. His face was expression-less.

  "I wish you'd tell me about it," said Mr. Parker

  THE PEARL OF PRICE

  163

  Pyne. His fingers were busy. With a grunt, he extracted

  a somewhat smeared pearl earring. "Just curiosity, I

  know," he added apologetically. "But I should like to

  hear about it."

  "VII tell you," said Carver, "if you'll tell me just how

  you happened to pitch upon me. You didn't see any-thing,

  did you?"

  Mr. Parker Pyne shook his head. "I just thought

  about it," he said.

  "It was really sheer accident, to start with," said

  Carver. "I was behind you all this morning and I came

  across it lying in front of me--it must have fallen from

 

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