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As she was looking carefully down thewhat to have, she looked across the room and her eyebroent up a little How extraordinary coincidence was! Here was a woh she had seen plenty of newspaper photographs of her—at raceby her own plane or car Yesterday, for the first time, she had seen her in the flesh And now, as was so often the case, there was the coincidence of running into her again in a most unlikely place For somehow she did not connect lunch at the Arwick She would not have been surprised to see Bess Sedgwick e out of Covent Garden Opera House in evening dress with a diamond tiara on her head But somehow, not in the Army & Navy Stores which in Miss Marple’s mind was, and alould be, connected with the arrand as usual very s at a table with aa black leather jacket They were leaning forward talking earnestly together, forking in h they were quite unahat they were eating

An assignation, perhaps? Yes, probably an assignation The er than she was—but Bess Sedgas a netically attractive woman

Miss Marple looked at the young ly and decided that he hat she called a “handsome fellow” She also decided that she didn’t like him very much “Just like Harry Russell,” said Miss Marple to herself, dredging up a prototype as usual froood Never did any woood either

“She wouldn’t take advice froive her some” However, other people’s love affairs were no concern of hers, and Bess Sedgwick, by all accounts, could take care of herself very hen it came to love affairs

Miss Marple sighed, ate her lunch, and meditated a visit to the stationery department

Curiosity, or what she preferred herself to call “taking an interest” in other people’s affairs, was undoubtedly one of Miss Marple’s characteristics

Deliberately leaving her gloves on the table, she rose and crossed the floor to the cash desk, taking a route that passed close to Lady Sedgwick’s table Having paid her bill she “discovered” the absence of her gloves and returned to get the on the return route It came open and spilled various odd thereat shakiness and dropped coppers and keys a second time

She did not get very es but they were not entirely in vain—and it was interesting that neither of the two objects of her curiosity spared asthings

As Miss Marple waited for the lift down she memorized such scraps as she had heard

“What about the weather forecast?”

“OK No fog”

“All set for Lucerne?”

“Yes Plane leaves 9:40”

That was all she had got the first tier

Bess Sedgwick had been speaking angrily

“What possessed you to come to Bertram’s yesterday—you shouldn’t have come near the place”

“It’s all right I asked if you were staying there and everyone knoe’re close friends—”

“That’s not the point Bertraht for me—Not for you You stick out like a sore thumb Everyone stares at you”

“Let them!”

“You really are an idiot Why—why? What reasons did you have? You had a reason—I know you…”

“Calm down, Bess”

“You’re such a liar!”

That was all she had been able to hear She found it interesting

Chapter Seven

On the evening of 19th November Canon Pennyfather had finished an early dinner at the Athenaeum, he had nodded to one or two friends, had had a pleasant acri of the Dead Sea Scrolls and now, glancing at his watch, saw that it was tih the hall he was greeted by one more friend: Dr Whittaker of the SOAS, who said cheerfully:

“How are you, Pennyfather? Haven’t seen you for a long tiress? Any points of interest come up?”

“I am sure there will be”