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‘It’s rather aard, you see I was to fit on Mrs Spenlow’s new dress this afternoon Three-thirty, she said’
Miss Hartnell consulted her wrist watch ‘It’s a little past the half-hour now’
‘Yes I have knocked three times, but there doesn’t see if perhaps Mrs Spenlow et appointments as a rule, and she wants the dress to wear the day after tomorrow’
Miss Hartnell entered the gate and walked up the path to join Miss Politt outside the door of Laburnue
‘Why doesn’t Gladys answer the door?’ she demanded ‘Oh, no, of course, it’s Thursday—Gladys’s day out I expect Mrs Spenlow has fallen asleep I don’t expect you’ve ’
Seizing the knocker, she executed a deafening rat-a-tat-tat, and in addition thumped upon the panels of the door She also called out in a stentorian voice, ‘What ho, within there!’
There was no response
Miss Politt one out, I’ll call round so away down the path
‘Nonsense,’ said Miss Hartnell firone out I’d have h the s and see if I can find any signs of life’
She laughed in her usual hearty manner, to indicate that it was a joke, and applied a perfunctory glance to the nearest -pane—perfunctory because she knew quite well that the front roo the s-room
Perfunctory as it was, though, it succeeded in its object Miss Hartnell, it is true, saw no signs of life On the contrary, she saw, through the , Mrs Spenlow lying on the hearthrug—dead
‘Of course,’ said Miss Hartnell, telling the story afterwards, ‘I ed to keep my head That Politt creature wouldn’t have had the least idea of what to do “Got to keep our heads,” I said to her “You stay here, and I’ll go for Constable Palk” She said so to be left, but I paid no attention at all One has to be firm with that sort of person I’ve always found they enjoyoff when, at that very moment, Mr Spenlow came round the corner of the house’
Here Miss Hartnell nificant pause It enabled her audience to ask breathlessly, ‘Tell me, how did he look?’
Miss Hartnell would then go on, ‘Frankly, I suspected so at once! He was far too calm He didn’t seem surprised in the least And you may say what you like, it isn’t natural for a man to hear that his wife is dead and display no emotion whatever’
Everybody agreed with this statement
The police agreed with it, too So suspicious did they consider Mr Spenlow’s detachentleman was situated as a result of his wife’s death When they discovered that Mrs Spenlow had been the monied partner, and that her money went to her husband under a will e, they were more suspicious than ever
Miss Marple, that sweet-faced—and, soued—elderly spinster who lived in the house next to the rectory, was interviewed very early—within half an hour of the discovery of the crime She was approached by Police Constable Palk, i a notebook ‘If you don’t mind, ma’am, I’ve a few questions to ask you’
Miss Marple said, ‘In connection with the murder of Mrs Spenlow?’
Palk was startled ‘May I ask, ot to know of it?’
‘The fish,’ said Miss Marple
The reply was perfectly intelligible to Constable Palk He assuether with Miss Marple’s evening meal
Miss Marple continued gently ‘Lying on the floor in the sitting-rooled—possibly by a very narrow belt But whatever it was, it was taken away’
Palk’s face rathful ‘How that young Fred gets to know everything—’
Miss Marple cut him short adroitly She said, ‘There’s a pin in your tunic’
Constable Palk looked down, startled He said, ‘They do say, “See a pin and pick it up, all the day you’ll have good luck” ’
‘I hope that will come true Nohat is it you want me to tell you?’
Constable Palk cleared his throat, looked important, and consulted his notebook ‘Statement was made to me by Mr Arthur Spenlow, husband of the deceased Mr Spenlow says that at two-thirty, as far as he can say, he was rung up by Miss Marple, and asked if he would come over at a quarter past three as she was anxious to consult hi Now, ma’am, is that true?’
‘Certainly not,’ said Miss Marple