Hallowe'en Party / Вечеринка на Хэллоуин. Книга для чтения на английском языке

�I expect she wanted to impress you a bit,’ he said. �You write detective stories, don’t you? I think she was just putting it on so that you should take more notice of her than you did of the others.’

�That would also be rather like her, would it?’ said Poirot.

�Oh, she’d say anything,’ said Leopold. �I bet nobody believed her though.’

�Were you listening? Do you think anyone believed it?’

�Well, I heard her say it, but I didn’t really listen.

Beatrice laughed at her and so did Cathie. They said “that’s a tall story[67 - tall story – выдумка, неправдоподобная история],” or something.’

There seemed little more to be got out of Leopold. They went upstairs to where Ann, looking rather more than her sixteen years, was bending over a table with various study books spread round her.

�Yes, I was at the party,’ she said.

�You heard your sister say something about having seen a murder?’

�Oh yes, I heard her.

I didn’t take any notice, though.’

�You didn’t think it was true?’

�Of course it wasn’t true. There haven’t been any murders here for ages. I don’t think there’s been a proper murder for years.’

�Then why do you think she said so?’

�Oh, she likes showing off. I mean she used to like showing off. She had a wonderful story once about having travelled to India. My uncle had been on a voyage there and she pretended she went with him.

Lots of girls at school actually believed her.’

�So you don’t remember any what you call murders taking place here in the last three or four years?’

�No, only the usual kind,’ said Ann. �I mean, the ones you read every day in the newspaper. And they weren’t actually here in Woodleigh Common. They were mostly in Medchester, I think.’

�Who do you think killed your sister, Ann? You must have known her friends, you would know any people who didn’t like her.

’

�I can’t imagine who’d want to kill her. I suppose someone who was just batty. Nobody else would, would they?’

�There was no one who had—quarrelled with her or who did not get on with her?’

�You mean, did she have an enemy? I think that’s silly. People don’t have enemies really. There are just people you don’t like.