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Bess stared at her for a moment, then she nodded her head slowly

“Fair enough,” she said “Yes, I see But all the same you misunderstood what you heard Micky didn’t blackht of it—but I warned hiain in that wide generous shtened him off”

“Yes,” agreed Miss Marple “I think you probably did You threatened to shoot him You handled it—if you won’t think it impertinent of me to say so—very well indeed”

Bess Sedgwick’s eyebrows rose in some amusement

“But I wasn’t the only person to hear you,” Miss Marple went on

“Good gracious! Was the whole hotel listening?”

“The other armchair was also occupied”

“By whom?”

Miss Marple closed her lips She looked at Chief-Inspector Davy, and it was allance said, “but I can’t…”

“Your daughter was in the other chair,” said Chief-Inspector Davy

“Oh no!” The cry came out sharply “Oh no Not Elvira! I see—yes, I see She ht—”

“She thought seriously enough of what she had overheard to go to Ireland and search for the truth It wasn’t difficult to discover”

Again Bess Sedgwick said softly: “Oh no…” And then: “Poor child…Even now, she’s never askedShe’s kept it all to herself Bottled it up inside herself If she’d only told me I could have explained it all to her—showed her how it didn’t matter”

“She reed with you there,” said Chief-Inspector Davy “It’s a funny thing, you know,” he went on, in a re like an old farreat many years’ trial and error—I’ve learned to distrust a pattern when it’s siood to be true The pattern of this ht was like that Girl says so to save her, and copped it with a second bullet That irl saw it But actually behind the appearances, things ht be rather different

“You said pretty vehewick, that there could be no reason for Ladislaus Malinowski to atteree with you I don’t think there was He’s the sort of young ht have a roith a woman, pull out a knife and stick it into her But I don’t think he’d hide in an area, and wait cold-bloodedly to shoot her But supposing he wanted to shoot someone else Screams and shots—but what actually has happened is that Michael Gorman is dead Suppose that was actually as meant to happen Malinowski plans it very carefully He chooses a foggy night, hides in the area and waits until your daughter coed to arrange it that way He fires a shot It’s not o anywhere near her, but she thinks it’s aiht She screa the shot and the screa down the street and then Malinowski shoots the person he’s come to shoot Michael Gorman”

“I don’t believe a word of it! Why on earth should Ladislaus want to shoot Micky Gorman?”

“A little matter of blackmail, perhaps,” said Father

“Do youLadislaus? What about?”

“Perhaps,” said Father, “about the things that go on at Bertraht have found out quite a lot about that”