Читать книгу The Murder of Roger Ackroyd / Убийство Роджера Экройда онлайн

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He rose from where he had been sitting astride the chair belonging to the desk, and crossed over to the still form in the armchair.

‘The weapon ought to give us a clue,’ he remarked, looking up. ‘It’s something quite unique – a curio, I should think, by the look of it.’

He bent down, surveying the handle attentively, and I heard him give a grunt of satisfaction. Then, very gingerly, he pressed his hands down below the hilt and drew the blade out from the wound. Still carrying it so as not to touch the handle, he placed it in a wide china mug which adorned the mantelpiece.

‘Yes,’ he said, nodding at it. ‘Quite a work of art. There can’t be many of them about.’

It was indeed a beautiful object. A narrow, tapering blade, and a hilt of elaborately intertwined metals of curious and careful workmanship. he touched the blade gingerly with his finger, testing its sharpness, and made an appreciative grimace.

‘Lord, what an edge,’ he exclaimed. ‘A child could drive that into a man – as easy as cutting butter. A dangerous sort of toy to have about.’