А В C. Who the devil could А В C be? Well see if Mary Drower (thats the niece) can give us any help. Its an odd business. But for this letter Id have put my money on Franz Ascher for a certainty.
Do you know anything of Mrs Aschers past?
Shes a Hampshire woman[56]. Went into service as a girl up in Londonthats where she met Ascher and married him. Things must have been difficult for them during the war. She actually left him for good[57] in 1922. They were in London then. She came back here to get away from him, but he got wind[58] of where she was and followed her down here, pestering her for money A constable came in. Yes, Briggs, what is it?
Do you know anything of Mrs Aschers past?
Shes a Hampshire woman[56]. Went into service as a girl up in Londonthats where she met Ascher and married him. Things must have been difficult for them during the war. She actually left him for good[57] in 1922. They were in London then. She came back here to get away from him, but he got wind[58] of where she was and followed her down here, pestering her for money A constable came in. Yes, Briggs, what is it?
Its the man Ascher, sir. Weve brought him in.
Right. Bring him in here. Where was he?
Hiding in a truck on the railway siding.
He was, was he? Bring him along.
Franz Ascher was indeed a miserable and unprepossessing specimen. He was blubbering and cringing and blustering alternately[59]. His bleary eyes moved shiftily from one face to another.
What do you want with me? I have not done nothing. It is a shame and a scandal to bring me here! You are swine, how dare you? His manner changed suddenly. No, no, I do not mean thatyou would not hurt a poor old mannot be hard on[60] him. Everyone is hard on poor old Franz. Poor old Franz.
Mr Ascher started to weep.
Thatll do[61], Ascher, said the inspector. Pull yourself together. Im not charging you with anythingyet. And youre not bound to make a statement unless you like. On the other hand, if youre not concerned in the murder of your wife
Ascher interrupted himhis voice rising to a scream.
I did not kill her! I did not kill her! It is all lies! You are goddamned English pigsall against me. I never kill hernever.
You threatened to often enough, Ascher.
No, no. You do not understand. That was just a jokea good joke between me and Alice. She understood.
Funny kind of joke! Do you care to say where you were yesterday evening, Ascher?
Yes, yesI tell you everything. I did not go near Alice. I am with friendsgood friends. We are at the Seven Starsand then we are at the Red Dog
He hurried on, his words stumbling over each other.
Dick Willowshe was with meand old Curdieand Georgeand Platt and lots of the boys. I tell you I do not never go near Alice. Ach Gott[62], it is the truth I am telling you.
His voice rose to a scream. The inspector nodded to his underling.
Take him away. Detained on suspicion.
I dont know what to think, he said as the unpleasant, shaking old man with the malevolent, mouthing jaw was removed. If it wasnt for the letter[63], Id say he did it. What about the men he mentions?
A bad crowdnot one of them would stick at perjury. Ive no doubt he was with them the greater part of the evening. A lot depends on whether any one saw him near the shop between half-past five and six.
Poirot shook his head thoughtfully.
You are sure nothing was taken from the shop?
The inspector shrugged his shoulders.
That depends. A packet or two of cigarettes might have been takenbut youd hardly commit murder for that.
And there was nothinghow shall I put itintroduced into the shop? Nothing that was odd thereincongruous?
There was a railway guide, said the inspector.
A railway guide?
Yes. It was open and turned face downward on the counter. Looked as though someone had been looking up the trains from Andover. Either the old woman or a customer.
Did she sell that type of thing?
The inspector shook his head.
She sold penny time-tables. This was a big onekind of thing only Smiths or a big stationer would keep.
A light came into Poirots eyes. He leant forward.
A light came into the inspectors eye also.
A railway guide, you say. A Bradshawor an ABC[64]?
By the Lord[65], he said. It was an A B C.
Chapter 5
Mary Drower
I think that I can date my interest in the case from that first mention of the ABC railway guide. Up till then I had not been able to raise much enthusiasm. This sordid murder of an old woman in a back-street shop was so like the usual type of crime reported in the newspapers that it failed to strike a significant note[66]. In my own mind I had put down the anonymous letter with its mention of the 21st as a mere coincidence. Mrs Ascher, I felt reasonably sure, had been the victim of her drunken brute of a husband. But now the mention of the railway guide (so familiarly known by its abbreviation of А В C, listing as it did all railway stations in their alphabetical order) sent a quiver of excitement through me. Surelysurely this could not be a second coincidence?
The sordid crime took on a new aspect.
Who was the mysterious individual who had killed Mrs Ascher and left an А В C railway guide behind him?