The Thirteen Problems. Агата Кристи

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ had gone a bit wrong with one corner of my sketch and I bent over it for some moments doing something to put it right. When I looked up again there was a figure leaning against one of the pillars of The Polharwith Arms, who seemed to have appeared there by magic. He was dressed in seafaring clothes and was, I suppose, a fisherman. But he had a long dark beard, and if I had been looking for a model for a wicked Spanish captain I couldn’t have imagined anyone better. I got to work with feverish haste before he should move away, though from his attitude he looked as though he was pefectly prepared to prop up the pillars through all eternity.

      ‘He did move, however, but luckily not until I had got what I wanted. He came over to me and he began to talk. Oh, how that man talked.

      ‘“Rathole,” he said, “was a very interesting place.”

      ‘I knew that already but although I said so that didn’t save me. I had the whole history of the shelling—I mean the destroying—of the village, and how the landlord of the Polharwith Arms was the last man to be killed. Run through on his own threshold by a Spanish captain’s sword, and of how his blood spurted out on the pavement and no one could wash out the stain for a hundred years.

      ‘It all fitted in very well with the languorous drowsy feeling of the afternoon. The man’s voice was very suave and yet at the same time there was an undercurrent in it of something rather frightening. He was very obsequious in his manner, yet I felt underneath he was cruel. He made me understand the Inquisition and the terrors of all the things the Spaniards did better than I have ever done before.

      ‘All the time he was talking to me I went on painting, and suddenly I realized that in the excitement of listening to his story I had painted in something that was not there. On that white square of pavement where the sun fell before the door of The Polharwith Arms, I had painted in bloodstains. It seemed extraordinary that the mind could play such tricks with the hand, but as I looked over towards the inn again I got a second shock. My hand had only painted what my eyes saw—drops of blood on the white pavement.

      ‘I stared for a minute or two. Then I shut my eyes, said to myself, “Don’t be so stupid, there’s nothing there, really,” then I opened them again, but the bloodstains were still there.

      ‘I suddenly felt I couldn’t stand it. I interrupted the fisherman’s flood of language.

      ‘“Tell me,” I said, “my eyesight is not very good. Are those bloodstains on that pavement over there?”

      ‘He looked at me indulgently and kindly.

      ‘“No bloodstains in these days, lady. What I am telling you about is nearly five hundred years ago.”

      ‘“Yes,” I said, “but now—on the pavement”—the words died away in my throat. I knew—I knew that he wouldn’t see what I was seeing. I got up and with shaking hands began to put my things together. As I did so the young man who had come in the car that morning came out of the inn door. He looked up and down the street perplexedly. On the balcony above his wife came out and collected the bathing things. He walked down towards the car but suddenly swerved and came across the road towards the fisherman.

      Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

      Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

      Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

      Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.

/9j/4QAYRXhpZgAASUkqAAgAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP/sABFEdWNreQABAAQAAABQAAD/4QO6aHR0cDov L25zLmFkb2JlLmNvbS94YXAvMS4wLwA8P3hwYWNrZXQgYmVnaW49Iu+7vyIgaWQ9Ilc1TTBNcENl aGlIenJlU3pOVGN6a2M5ZCI/PiA8eDp4bXBtZXRhIHhtbG5zOng9ImFkb2JlOm5zOm1ldGEvIiB4 OnhtcHRrPSJBZG9iZSBYTVAgQ29yZSA1LjAtYzA2MSA2NC4xNDA5NDksIDIwMTAvMTIvMDctMTA6 NTc6MDEgICAgICAgICI+IDxyZGY6UkRGIHhtbG5zOnJkZj0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMTk5 OS8wMi8yMi1yZGYtc3ludGF4LW5zIyI+IDxyZGY6RGVzY3JpcHRpb24gcmRmOmFib3V0PSIiIHht bG5zOnhtcFJpZ2h0cz0iaHR0cDovL25zLmFkb2JlLmNvbS94YXAvMS4wL3JpZ2h0cy8iIHhtbG5z OnhtcE1NPSJodHRwOi8vbnMuYWRvYmUuY29tL3hhcC8xLjAvbW0vIiB4bWxuczpzdFJlZj0iaHR0 cDovL25zLmFkb2JlLmNvbS94YXAvMS4wL3NUeXBlL1Jlc291cmNlUmVmIyIgeG1sbnM6eG1wPSJo dHRwOi8vbnMuYWRvYmUuY29tL3hhcC8xLjAvIiB4bXBSaWdodHM6TWFya2VkPSJGYWxzZSIgeG1w TU06T3JpZ2luYWxEb2N1bWVudElEPSJ1dWlkOkEwMTAxNEVCQ0NFNkRDMTFBNzA3QjlFRkFCMzFF NUQ4IiB4bXBNTTpEb2N1bWVudElEPSJ4bXAuZGlkOjg5NDBDNjVFOUY1QjExRTZCOTY1QzdFRjlG MUZEMjdFIiB4bXBNTTpJbnN0YW5jZUlEPSJ4bXAuaWlkOjg5NDBDNjVEOUY1QjExRTZCOTY1QzdF RjlGMUZEMjdFIiB4bXA6Q3JlYXRvclRvb2w9IkFkb2JlIFBob3Rvc2hvcCBDUzUuMSBNYWNpbnRv c2giPiA8eG1wTU06RGVyaXZlZEZyb20gc3RSZWY6aW5zdGFuY2VJRD0ieG1wLmlpZDo3QTZDMTA5 QzUyMjQ2ODExQjg5MUQ0MDc0OUIwNDc5MyIgc3RSZWY6ZG9jdW1lbnRJRD0idXVpZDpBMDEwMTRF QkNDRTZEQzExQTcwN0I5RUZBQjMxRTVEOCIvPiA8L3JkZjpEZXNjcmlwdGlvbj4gPC9yZGY6UkRG PiA8L3g6eG1wbWV0YT4gPD94cGFja2V0IGVuZD0iciI/Pv/iCCRJQ0NfUFJPRklMRQABAQAACBRB REJFAkAAAG1udHJSR0IgWFlaIAfXAAMAAgAKAAcAKWFjc3AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAABAAD21gABAAAAANMtYklDQ5xtNKWtpEX2FG2YsFEMEm0AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACWNwcnQAAAbEAAAAyWRlc2MAAAeQAAAAg3d0cHQAAADwAAAAFHJUUkMAAAEE AAAFhGdUUkMAAAEEAAAFhGJUUkMAAAEEAAAFhHJYWVoAAAaIAAAAFGdYWVoAAAacAAAAFGJYWVoA AAawAAAAFFhZWiAAAAAAAAD21gABAAAAANMtY3VydgAAAAAAAAK8AAAACgAVAB8AKgA0AD4ASQBT AF0AaAByAH0AhwCRAJwApgCwALsAxQDQANoA5ADvAPkBAwEOARgBIwEtATcBQgFMAVcBYQFrAXYB gAGKAZUBnwGqAbQBvgHJAdMB3QHoAfIB/QIHAhECHAImAjACOwJFAlACWgJlAnACewKGApECnAKo ArMCvwLLAtcC4wLvAvwDCAMVAyIDLwM8A0kDVgNkA3IDfwONA5sDqgO4A8YD1QPkA/MEAgQRBCEE MARABFAEYARwBIAEkQShBLIEwwTUBOUE9wUIBRoFLAU+BVAFYwV1BYgFmwWuBcEF1QXoBfwGEAYk BjgGTQZhBnYGiwagBrUGywbgBvYHDAcjBzkHTwdmB30HlAesB8MH2wfzCAsIIwg7CFQIbQiGCJ8I uAjSCOwJBgkgCToJVQlvCYoJpQnBCdwJ+AoUCjAKTQppCoYKowrACt4K+wsZCzcLVQt0C5ILsQvQ C/AMDwwvDE8MbwyPDLAM0QzyDRMNNQ1WDXgNmg29Dd8OAg4lDkkObA6QDrQO2A79DyEPRg9rD5EP tg/cEAIQKBBPEHYQnRDEEOwRExE7EWQRjBG1Ed4SBxIxEloShBKuEtkTBBMvE1oThROxE90UCRQ2 FGMUkBS9FOoVGBVGFXQVoxXSFgEWMBZgFpAWwBbwFyEXUheDF7UX5hgZGEsYfRiwGOMZFxlKGX4Z sxnnGhwaURqGGrwa8hsoG18blRvMHAQcOxxzHKsc5B0dHVYdjx3JHgMePR53HrIe7R8pH2QfoB/d IBkgViCTINEhDyFNIYshyiIJIkgiiCLIIwgjSSOJI8skDCROJJAk0iUVJVglmyXfJiMmZyasJvEn Nid8J8IoCChOKJUo3CkkKWwptCn8KkUqjirYKyIrbCu2LAEsTCyYLOMtMC18LckuFi5jLrEu/y9O L50v7DA7MIsw3DEsMX0xzjIgMnIyxDMXM2ozvTQRNGU0uTUONWM1uDYONmQ2uzcSN2k3wDgYOHE4 yTkiOXw51jowOoo65TtAO5w7+DxUPLE9Dj1rPck+Jz6GPuU/RD+kQARAZEDFQSZBiEHqQkxCr0MS Q3VD2UQ9RKJFB0VtRdJGOEafRwZHbUfVSD1IpkkPSXhJ4kpMSrZLIU

СКАЧАТЬ