Ted Bigland said with simple violence:
“Why the hell should I? Mr. Welman’s all right. I’ve nothing against him. He’s not what I call much of a man! I could pick him up and break him in two. He’s got brains, I suppose… But that’s not much help to you if your car breaks down, for instance. You may know the principle that makes a car run; but it doesn’t stop you from being as helpless as a baby when all that’s needed is to take the mag out and give it a wipe.”
Poirot said:
“Of course, you work in a garage?”
Ted Bigland nodded.
“Henderson’s, down the road.”
“You were there on the morning when—this thing happened?”
Ted Bigland said:
“Yes, testing out a car for a gentleman. A choke somewhere, and I couldn’t locate it. Ran it round for a bit. Seems odd to think of now. It was a lovely day, some honeysuckle still in the hedges… Mary used to like honeysuckle. We used to go picking it together before she went away abroad….”
Again there was that puzzled child-like wonder on his face.
Hercule Poirot was silent.
With a start Ted Bigland came out of his trance.
He said:
“Sorry, sir, forget what I said about Mr. Welman. I was sore—because of his hanging round after Mary. He ought to have left her alone. She wasn’t his sort—not really.”
Poirot said:
“Do you think she cared for him?”
Again Ted Bigland frowned.
“I don’t—not really. But she might have done. I couldn’t say.”
Poirot asked:
“Was there any other man in Mary’s life? Anyone, for instance, she had met abroad?”
“I couldn’t say, sir. She never mentioned anybody.”
“Any enemies—here in Maidensford?”
“You mean anyone who had it in for her?” He shook his head. “Nobody knew her very well. But they all liked her.”
Poirot said:
“Did Mrs. Bishop, the housekeeper at Hunterbury, like her?”
Ted gave a sudden grin. He said:
“Oh, that was just spite! The old dame didn’t like Mrs. Welman taking such a fancy to Mary.”
Poirot asked:
“Was Mary Gerrard happy when she was down here? Was she fond of old Mrs. Welman?”
“She’d have been happy enough, I dare say, if Nurse had let her alone. Nurse Hopkins, I mean. Putting ideas into her head of earning a living and going off to do massage.”