"Oh dear." said Jane. "I don"t know what to do."
She sighed deeply.
"What"s the matter?"
"I"m worried."
"What about?"
"Dolly," Jane Helier was portentously solemn. "Do you know what that queer old lady whispered to me before she went out of the door tonight?"
"No. What?"
"She said: "I shouldn"t do it if I were you, my dear. Never put yourself too much in another woman"s power, even if you do think she"s your friend at the moment." You know, Dolly, that"s awfully true."
"The maxim? Yes, perhaps it is. But I don"t see the application."
"I suppose you can"t ever really trust a woman. And I should be in her power. I never thought of that."
"What woman are you talking about?"
"Netta Greene, my understudy."
"What on earth does Miss Marple know about your understudy?"
"I suppose she guessed but I can"t see how."
"Jane, will you kindly tell me at once what you are talking about?"
"The story. The one I told. Oh, Dolly, that woman, you know the one that took Claud from me?"
Mrs Bantry nodded, casting her mind back rapidly to the first of Jane"s unfortunate marriages to Claud Averbury, the actor.
"He married her; and I could have told him how it would be. Claud doesn"t know, but she"s carrying on with Sir Joseph Salmon week-ends with him at the bungalow I told you about I wanted her shown up I would like everyone to know die sort of woman she was. And you see, with a burglary, everything would be bound to come out"
"Jane!" gasped Mrs Bantry. "Did you engineer this story you"ve been telling us?"
Jane nodded.
"That"s why I chose Smith. I wear parlourmaid"s kit in it, you know. So I should have it handy. And when they sent for me to the police station it"s the easiest thing in the world to say I was rehearsing my part with my understudy at the hotel. Really, of course, we would be at the bungalow. I just have to open the door and bring in the c.o.c.ktails, and Netta to pretend to be me. He"d never see her again, of course, so there would be no fear of his recognizing her. And I can make myself look quite different as a parlourmaid; and besides, one doesn"t look at parlourmaids as though they were people. We planned to drag him out into the road afterwards, bag the jewel case, telephone the police and get back to the hotel. I shouldn"t like the poor young man to suffer, but Sir Henry didn"t seem to think he would, did he? And she"d be in the papers and everything and Claud would see what she was really like."
Mrs Bantry sat down and groaned.
"Oh! my poor head. And all the time Jane Helier, you deceitful girl! Telling us that story the way you did!"
"I am a good actress," said Jane complacently. "I always have been, whatever people choose to say. I didn"t give myself away once, did I?"
"Miss Marple was right," murmured Mrs Bantry. "The personal element. Oh, yes, the personal element. Jane, my good child, do you realize that theft is theft, and you might have been sent to prison?"
"Well, none of you guessed," said Jane. "Except Miss Marple." The worried expression returned to her face. "Dolly, do you really think there are many like her?"
"Frankly, I don"t," said Mrs Bantry.
Jane sighed again.
"Still, one had better not risk it. And of course I should be in Netta"s power that"s true enough. She might turn against me or blackmail me or anything. She helped me think out the details and she professed to be devoted to me, but one never does know with women. No, I think Miss Marple was right. I had better not risk it."
"But, my dear, you have risked it."
"Oh, no." Jane opened her blue eyes very wide. "Don"t you understand? None of this has happened yet! I was well, trying it on the dog, so to speak."
"I don"t profess to understand your theatrical slang," said Mrs Bantry with dignity. "Do you mean this is a future project not a past deed?"
"I was going to do it this autumn in September. I don"t know what to do now."
"And Jane Marple guessed actually guessed the truth and never told us," said Mrs Bantry wrathfully.
"I think that was why she said that about women sticking together. She wouldn"t give me away before the men. That was nice of her. I don"t mind your knowing, Dolly."
"Well, give the idea up, Jane. I beg of you."
"I think I shall," murmured Miss Helier. "There might be other Miss Marples..."
Death by Drowning
Sir Henry c.l.i.thering, ex-Commissioner of Scotland Yard, was staying with his friends the Bantrys at their place near the little village of St Mary Mead.
On Sat.u.r.day morning, coming down to breakfast at the pleasant guestly hour of ten fifteen, he almost collided with his hostess, Mrs Bantry, in the doorway of the breakfast room. She was rushing from the room, evidently in a condition of some excitement and distress.
Colonel Bantry was sitting at the table, his face rather redder than usual.
"Morning, c.l.i.thering," he said. "Nice day. Help yourself."
Sir Henry obeyed. As he took his seat, a plate of kidneys and bacon in front of him, his host went on: "Dolly"s a bit upset this morning."
"Yes er I rather thought so," said Sir Henry mildly.
He wondered a little. His hostess was of a placid disposition, little given to moods or excitement. As far as Sir Henry knew, she felt keenly on one subject only gardening.
"Yes," said Colonel Bantry. "Bit of news we got this morning upset her. Girl in the village Emmott"s daughter Emmott who keeps the Blue Boar."
"Oh, yes, of course."
"Ye-es," said Colonel Bantry ruminatively. "Pretty girl. Got herself into trouble. Usual story. I"ve been arguing with Dolly about that. Foolish of me. Women never see sense. Dolly was all up in arms for the girl you know what women are men are brutes all the rest of it, etcetera. But it"s not so simple as all that not in these days. Girls know what they"re about. Fellow who seduces a girl"s not necessarily a villain. Fifty-fifty as often as not. I rather liked young Sandford myself. A young a.s.s rather than a Don Juan, I should have said."
"It is this man Sandford who got the girl into trouble?"
"So it seems. Of course I don"t know anything personally," said the colonel cautiously. "It"s all gossip and chat. You know what this place is! As I say, I know nothing. And I"m not like Dolly-leaping to conclusions, flinging accusations all over the place. d.a.m.n it all, one ought to be careful in what one says. You know inquest and all that"
"Inquest?"
Colonel Bantry stared.
"Yes. Didn"t I tell you? Girl drowned herself. That"s what all the bother"s about."
"That"s a nasty business," said Sir Henry.
"Of course it is. Don"t like to think of it myself. Poor pretty little devil. Her father"s a hard man by all accounts. I suppose she just felt she couldn"t face the music."
He paused.
"That"s what"s upset Dolly so."
"Where did she drown herself?"
"In the river. Just below the mill it runs pretty fast. There"s a footpath and a bridge across. They think she threw herself off that. Well, well, it doesn"t bear thinking about"
And with a portentous rustle, Colonel Bantry opened his newspaper and proceeded to distract his mind from painful matters by an absorption in the newest iniquities of the government Sir Henry was only mildly interested by the village tragedy. After breakfast, he established himself on a comfortable chair on the lawn, tilted his hat over his eyes and contemplated life from a peaceful angle.
It was about half past eleven when a neat parlourmaid tripped across the lawn.
"If you please, sir, Miss Marple has called, and would like to see you."
"Miss Marple?"
Sir Henry sat up and straightened his hat. The name surprised him. He remembered Miss Marple very well her gentle quiet old-maidish ways, her amazing penetration. He remembered a dozen unsolved and hypothetical cases and how in each case this typical "old maid of the village" had leaped unerringly to the right solution of the mystery. Sir Henry had a very deep respect for Miss Marple. He wondered what had brought her to see him.
Miss Marple was sitting in the drawing-room very upright as always, a gaily coloured marketing basket of foreign extraction beside her. Her cheeks were rather pink and she seemed fl.u.s.tered.
"Sir Henry I am so glad. So fortunate to find you. I just happened to hear that you were staying down here ... I do hope you will forgive me ... "
"This is a great pleasure," said Sir Henry, taking her hand. "I"m afraid Mrs Bantry"s out"
"Yes," said Miss Marple. "I saw her talking to Foot.i.t, the butcher, as I pa.s.sed. Henry Foot.i.t was run over yesterday that was his dog. One of those smooth-haired fox terriers, rather stout and quarrelsome, that butchers always seem to have."
"Yes," said Sir Henry helpfully.
"I was glad to get here when she wasn"t at home," continued Miss Marple. "Because it was you I wanted to see. About this sad affair."
"Henry Foot.i.t?" asked Sir Henry, slightly bewildered.
Miss Marple threw him a reproachful glance.
"No, no. Rose Emmott, of course. You"ve heard?"
Sir Henry nodded.
"Bantry was telling me. Very sad."
He was a little puzzled. He could not conceive why Miss Marple should want to see him about Rose Emmott.
Miss Marple sat down again. Sir Henry also sat. When the old lady spoke her manner had changed. It was grave, and had a certain dignity.
"You may remember, Sir Henry, that on one or two occasions we played what was really a pleasant kind of game. Propounding mysteries and giving solutions. You were kind enough to say that I that I did not do too badly."
"You beat us all," said Sir Henry warmly. "You displayed an absolute genius for getting to die truth. And you always instanced, I remember, some village parallel which had supplied you with the clue."
He smiled as he spoke, but Miss Marple did not smile. She remained very grave.
"What you said has emboldened me to come to you now. I feel that if I say something to you at least you will not laugh at me."
He realized suddenly that she was in deadly earnest.
"Certainly, I will not laugh," he said gently.
"Sir Henry this girl Rose Emmott. She did not drown herself she was murdered ... And I know who murdered her."
Sir Henry was silent with sheer astonishment for quite three seconds. Miss Marple"s voice had been perfectly quiet and unexcited. She might have been making the most ordinary statement in the world for all the emotion she showed.
"This is a very serious statement to make, Miss Marple," said Sir Henry when he had recovered his breath.
She nodded her head gently several times.
"I know I know that is why I have come to you."
"But, my dear lady, I am not the person to come to. I am merely a private individual nowadays. If you have knowledge of the kind you claim, you must go to the police."
"I don"t think I can do that," said Miss Marple.
"But why not?"
"Because, you see, I haven"t got any what you call knowledge."
"You mean it"s only a guess on your part?"
"You can call it that, if you like, but it"s not really that at all. I know. I"m in a position to know; but if I gave my reasons for knowing to Inspector Drewitt well, he"d simply laugh. And really, I don"t know that I"d blame him. It"s very difficult to understand what you might call specialized knowledge."
"Such as?" suggested Sir Henry.
Miss Marple smiled a little.
"If I were to tell you that I know because of a man called Peasegood leaving turnips instead of carrots when he came round with a can and sold vegetables to my niece several years ago "