The Murder of Roger Ackroyd: Chapter 9 Summary & Analysis

Poirot and Dr. Sheppard walk back from the summerhouse. By this time Inspector Raglan has gone. Poirot studies Ackroyd’s house and murmurs, “Who inherits it?” Sheppard says that he’s surprised by such a question, and that he wishes he’d thought of it earlier. When Poirot inquires what Sheppard means, Sheppard says, “Everyone has something to hide.”

Poirot and Dr. Sheppard then walk to a small goldfish pond. There, they notice Flora and Major Blunt. Flora asks if Blunt will be going on any expeditions, and Blunt blushes. Blunt remains quiet, admitting that he’s no good at talking. Flora suddenly exclaims that, in spite of everything, she’s happy. She tells Blunt, “there’s something awfully consoling about you.” Next, Flora explains that Roger has left her 20,000 pounds in his will—money that represents “freedom.” Major Blunt then sees something shiny in the pond and tries to retrieve it. This prompts Flora to recall Melisande, an opera character who—Blunt says—“married an old chap.” Blunt stops trying to retrieve the object, and tells Flora that everything will be fine. Flora agrees—she’s sure that Poirot will clear Ralph’s name.

 Poirot and Dr. Sheppard emerge from where they’ve been eavesdropping, and greet Flora and Major Blunt. Poirot asks Blunt to tell him when he last saw Roger Ackroyd. Blunt explains that he saw Ackroyd at dinner, and, while he was standing on the terrace at 9:30, he heard Ackroyd’s voice coming from the study. Poirot points out that Blunt couldn’t have heard the voice from so far away, and Blunt, embarrassed, says that he’d walked to the corner of the terrace because he thought he’d seen “a woman disappearing into the bushes.” Blunt claims to have heard Ackroyd speaking to Raymond, though when Poirot questions him, he admits that he just assumed it was Raymond.

Poirot next asks Flora about the dagger, and she insists that, when she looked at the silver table with Dr. Sheppard, the dagger wasn’t there. Flora further points out that Inspector Raglan doesn’t believe her story—he thinks she’s just trying to make it seem less likely that Ralph committed the murder. Poirot points to the shiny object in the water and tries to fish it out, but he says he’s unable to do so. Poirot, Blunt, Flora, and Dr. Sheppard walk up to the Ackroyd house to have lunch. On the walk, Poirot shows Sheppard what was really in the water—a wedding ring with the inscription, “From R., March 13th.”