tion id="u57d6a8ec-fd63-5623-bb45-d060d9cb57e5">
Agatha Christie
The Unexpected Guest
Novelised by Charles Osborne
Copyright
Published by HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
First published in Great Britain by
Collins 1999
Copyright © 1999 Agatha Christie Ltd.
All rights reserved.
The moral right of the author is asserted
All rights reserved. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins ebooks.
Epub Edition 2010 ISBN: 9780007423033
Version: 2020-01-28
Contents
Copyright
Chapter 1
It was shortly before midnight on a chilly November evening,…
Chapter 2
‘By all means,’ the man replied. He ran a hand…
Chapter 3
Starkwedder looked at her with a somewhat bemused expression. ‘Well?’…
Chapter 4
Starkwedder stared at Laura. ‘Richard ran over a child?’ he…
Chapter 5
After closing the door behind Laura, Starkwedder paused, working out…
Chapter 6
At eleven the following morning, Richard Warwick’s study looked somewhat more…
Chapter 7
The inspector thrust Cadwallader’s notebook back at him roughly, as…
Chapter 8
Sergeant Cadwallader closed the door and stood with his back…
Chapter 9
Just then, Sergeant Cadwallader ushered in Jan, who rushed up…
Chapter 10
Crossing the front hall, Miss Bennett paused to admit Starkwedder…
Chapter 11
There was an awkward pause after the police officers had…
Chapter 12
Later that day, towards the end of the afternoon, Julian…
Chapter 13
‘I’m sorry I’ve kept you waiting, Julian,’ Laura called as…
Chapter 14
Julian Farrar and Laura ran towards the house, almost colliding…
Chapter 15
A shocked silence greeted Inspector Thomas’s announcement. Then, hesitantly and,…
Chapter 16
Starkwedder and Inspector Thomas faced each other in silence for…
Chapter 17
Mrs Warwick was silent for a few moments. Then she said…
Chapter 18
Starkwedder looked at Miss Bennett and smiled. ‘You’re pretty sharp, aren’t…
Chapter 19
Miss Bennett beckoned to Jan, then stepped back into the room…
Chapter 20
‘After him! Quickly!’ the inspector shouted to Cadwallader as they…
Chapter 21
Sergeant Cadwallader’s announcement was greeted with a stunned silence. Laura…
Postscript
The Unexpected Guest
About the Author
Other Books by Agatha Christie
About the Publisher
Chapter 1
It was shortly before midnight on a chilly November evening, and swirls of mist obscured parts of the dark, narrow, tree-lined country road in South Wales, not far from the Bristol Channel whence a foghorn sounded its melancholy boom automatically every few moments. Occasionally, the distant barking of a dog could be heard, and the melancholy call of a night-bird. What few houses there were along the road, which was little better than a lane, were about a half-mile apart. On one of its darkest stretches the road turned, passing a handsome, three-storey house standing well back from its spacious garden, and it was at this spot that a car sat, its front wheels caught in the ditch at the side of the road. After two or three attempts to accelerate out of the ditch, the driver of the car must have decided it was no use persevering, and the engine fell silent.
A minute or two passed before the driver emerged from the vehicle, slamming the door behind him. He was a somewhat thick-set, sandy-haired man of about thirty-five, with an outdoor look about him, dressed in a rough tweed suit and dark overcoat and wearing a hat. Using a torch to find his way, he began to walk cautiously across the lawn towards the house, stopping halfway to survey the eighteenth-century building’s elegant façade. The house appeared to be in total darkness as he approached the french windows on that side of the edifice which faced him. After turning to look back at the lawn he had crossed, and the road beyond it, he walked right up to the french windows, ran his hands over the glass, and peered in. Unable to discern any movement within, he knocked on the window. There was no response, and after a pause he knocked again much louder. When he realized that his knocking was not having any effect, he tried the handle. Immediately, the window opened and he stumbled into a room that was in darkness.
Inside the room, he paused again, as though attempting to discern any sound or movement. Then, ‘Hello,’ he called. ‘Is anyone there?’ Flashing his torch around the room which revealed itself to be a well-furnished study, its walls lined with books, he saw in the centre of the room a handsome middle-aged man sitting in a wheelchair facing the french windows, with a rug over his knees. The man appeared to have fallen asleep in his chair. ‘Oh, hello,’ said the intruder. ‘I didn’t mean to startle you. So sorry. It’s this confounded fog. I’ve just run my car off the road into a ditch, and I haven’t the faintest idea where I am. Oh, and I’ve left the window open. I’m so sorry.’ Continuing to speak apologetically as he moved, he turned back to the french windows, shut them, and closed the curtains. ‘Must have run off the main road somewhere,’ he explained. ‘I’ve been driving round these topsy-turvy lanes