Three is a lucky number by Margery Allingham Audio book subtitle
at five o’clock on a September afternoon
Ronald Torbay was making preparations
for his third murder he was being very
careful he realized that murdering
people becomes more dangerous if you do
it often he was in the bathroom of the
house that he had recently rented for a
moment he paused to look in the mirror
the face that looked back at him was
thin middle-aged and pale dark hair a
high forehead and well shaped blue eyes
only the mouth was unusual narrow and
quite straight even Ronald Torbay did
not like his own mouth a sound in the
kitchen below worried him was Edith
coming up to have her bath before he had
prepared it for her no it was alright
she was going out of the back door from
the window he saw her disappearing
around the side of the house into the
small square garden it was exactly like
all the other gardens in the long street
he didn’t like her to be alone there she
was a shy person but now new people had
moved into the house next door and there
was a danger of some silly woman making
friends with her he didn’t want that
just now each of his three marriages had
followed the same pattern using a false
name he had gone on holiday to a place
where no one knew him there he had found
a middle-aged unattractive woman with
some money of her own and no family he
had talked her into marrying him and she
had then agreed to make a will which
left him all her money
both his other wives had been shy too he
was very careful to choose the right
type of woman someone who would not make
friends quickly in a new place Mary the
first of them had had her deadly
accident almost unnoticed in the
bathroom of the house he had rented a
house very like this
but in the north of England instead of
the south there police had not found
anything wrong the only person who was
interested was a young reporter on the
local newspaper he had written something
about death in the middle of happiness
and had printed photographs of Mary’s
wedding and her funeral which took place
only three weeks after the wedding
Dorothy had given him a little more
trouble it was not true that she was
completely alone in the world as she had
told him her brother had appeared at the
funeral and asked difficult questions
about her money there had been a court
case but Ronald had won it and the
insurance company had paid him the money
all that was four years ago now with a
new name a newly invented background and
a different area to work in he felt
quite safe from the moment he saw Edith
sitting alone at a little table in the
restaurant of a seaside hotel he knew
she was his next subject he could see
from her face that she was not happy and
he could also see that she was wearing a
valuable ring after dinner he spoke to
her she did not want to talk at first
but in the end he managed to start a
conversation after that everything went
as he expected his methods were
old-fashioned and romantic and by the
end of a week she was in love with him
her background was very suitable for
Ronald’s purpose after teaching at a
girl school for ten years she had gone
home to look after her sick father and
had stayed with him until he died now
aged 43 she was alone with a lot of
money and she didn’t know what to do
with herself five weeks after they met
Ronald married her in the town where
they were both strangers the same
afternoon they both made a will leaving
all their property to each other
then they moved into the house which he
had rented cheaply because the holiday
season was at an end
it was the most pleasant of his
marriages he found Edith a cheerful
person and even quite sensible except
that it was stupid of her to believe
that a man would fall in love with her
at first sight
Ronald knew he must not make the mistake
of feeling sorry for her he began to
make plans for her future as he called
it two things made him do this earlier
than he intended one was the way she
refused to talk about her money she kept
all her business papers locked in a desk
drawer and refused to discuss them his
mother worried was her unnecessary
interest in his job
Ronald had told Edith that he was a
partner in an engineering company which
was giving him a long period of absence
Edith accepted the story but she asked a
lot of questions and wanted to visit his
office and the factory so Ronald had
decided that it was time to act he
turned from the window and began to run
water into the bath his heart was
beating loudly he noticed he didn’t like
that he needed to keep very calm the
bathroom was the only room they had
painted he had done it himself soon
after they arrived he had also put up
the little shelf over the bath which
held their bottles and creams and a
small electric heater it was a cheap one
with two bars and it was white like the
walls and not too noticeable there is no
electric point in the bathroom but he
was able to connect the heater to a
point just outside the door he turned on
the heater now and watched the bars
become red and hot then he went out of
the room the controls for all the
electricity in the house were inside a
cupboard at the top of the stairs
Ronald opened the door carefully and
pulled up the handle which turned
off the electricity he had a cloth over
his hand so that he would not leave
fingerprints back in the bathroom the
bass of the heater were turning black
again still using the cough he lifted
the heater from the shelf and put it
into the bathwater at the bottom end of
the bath of course you could still see
it it looked as if it had fallen off the
shelf by accident
Edith was coming back from the garden he
could hear her moving something outside
the kitchen door he pulled a small
plastic bottle out of his pocket and
began to read again the directions on
the back a small sound behind him made
him turn suddenly there was a death
only two meters away appearing above the
flat roof of the kitchen which was below
the bathroom window she was clearing the
dead leaves from the edge of the roof
she must be standing on the ladder which
was kept outside the kitchen door he
stays calm what are you doing there dear
Edith was so surprised that she nearly
fell off the ladder oh you frightened me
I thought I’d just do this little job
before I came to get ready but I’m
preparing your beauty bath for you it’s
kind of you to take all this trouble
Ronald not at all I’m taking you out
tonight and I want you to look as nice
as possible
hurry up dear the bubbles don’t last
very long and like all these beauty
treatments this one’s expensive go in
undress now and come straight here very
well dear she began to climb down the
ladder
Ronald opened the little bottle and
poured the liquid into the bath he
turned on the water again and in a
moment the bath was full of bubbles
smelling strongly of roses they covered
the little heater completely they even
covered the sides of the bath Edith was
at the door
Ronald it’s all over everything even on
the floor that doesn’t matter you get in
quickly before it loses its strength
I’ll go and change now get straight in
and lie down it will give your skin a
bit of colour he went out and paused
listening she locked the door as he
expected he walked slowly to the
electricity box and forced himself to
wait another minute how is it he shouted
I don’t know yet I’ve only just got into
the bath it smells nice his hand covered
with the cloth was on the controls one
two three he said and pulled the handle
down a small explosion from the electric
point behind him told him that the
electricity had gone off then everything
was silent after a time he went and
knocked on her bathroom door Edith
there was no answer no sound nothing now
he had to prepare this second stage as
he knew well this was the difficult bit
the discovery of the body must be made
but not too soon he had made that
mistake with Dorothy’s accident and the
police had asked him why he had got
worried so soon this time he decided to
wait half an hour before he began to
knock loudly on the bathroom door then
to shout for a neighbour and finally to
force the lock there was something he
wanted to do now Edith’s letter-writing
case which contained all her private
papers was in the drawer where she kept
her blouses he had discovered it some
time ago but he had not forced the lock
open because that would frighten her now
there was nothing to stop him he went
softly into the bedroom and opened the
drawer the
case was there the lock was more
difficult than he expected but he
finally managed to open the case inside
there were some financial documents one
or two thick envelopes and on top of
these her post office savings book he
opened it with shaking fingers and began
reading the figures 17,000 pounds
eighteen thousand six hundred pounds
twenty-one thousand nine hundred and
forty pounds he turned over a page and
his heart jumped wildly on the fourth of
September she had taken almost all the
money out of her savings account perhaps
it was here in these thick envelopes he
opened one of them papers letters
documents fell on the floor
suddenly he saw an envelope with his own
name on it in Edith’s writing he pulled
it open and saw in surprise that the
date on the letter was only two days ago
dear Ronald if you ever read this I am
afraid it will be a terrible shock to
you I hoped it would not be necessary to
write it but now your behavior has
forced me to face some very unpleasant
possibilities did you not realize Ronald
that any middle-aged woman who has been
rushed into marriage to a stranger will
ask herself about her husband’s reason
for marrying her at first I thought I
was in love with you but when you asked
me to make my will on our wedding day
I began to worry and then when you
started making changes to the bathroom
in this house I decided to act quickly
so I went to the police have you noticed
that the people who have moved into the
house next door have never spoken to you
well they are not a husband and wife
but a police inspector and a policewoman
the policewoman showed me two pieces
from old newspapers both about women who
had died from accidents in their baths
soon after their marriages both pieces
included a photograph of the husband at
the funeral they were not very clear but
I was able to recognize you so I
realized that it was my duty to agree to
do what the inspector asked me to do the
police have been looking for the man
since the photographs were given to them
by your second wife’s brother the
inspector said the police needed to be
sure that you are guilty you must be
given the opportunity to try the crime
again that’s why I am forcing myself to
be brave and to play my part I want to
tell you something Ronald if one day you
lose me out of the bathroom I mean
you’ll find that I have gone out over
the kitchen roof and I’m sitting in the
kitchen next door I was stupid to marry
you but not quite as stupid as you
thought yours Edith Ronald’s mouth was
uglier than ever when he finished
reading the letter the house was still
quiet but in the silence he heard the
back door opened suddenly and heavy
footsteps rushed up the stairs towards
him