A Murder Is Announced

Craddock confronts Phillipa, saying she lied about her husband dying in Italy. Phillipa admits that her husband deserted his regiment, but she does not want her son to know. She claims she has not seen her husband for years and does not know if he is still alive. Craddock again challenges her, suggesting that the man Mitzi heard her within the summerhouse was Captain Haymes. Phillipa denies it.

Craddock visits the attic, suspicious of Julia’s reasons for being there earlier in the day. He finds a batch of letters written by Letitia to Charlotte. Miss Blacklock is unhappy when Craddock asks permission to take the correspondence away. She touches her pearl choker as she reluctantly agrees.

Craddock later asks for Miss Marple’s opinion on one of the letters, in which Letitia writes about the encouraging results of “iodine treatment.” She also describes Randall’s anger at Sonia’s choice of husband, Sonia’s determination to marry him regardless, and Dr. Blacklock’s callousness. Miss Marple says Dr. Blacklock sounds similar to Mr. Curtiss, a minister who would not allow his child to have her teeth straightened.

Craddock reveals that the revolver did not belong to Scherz and asks if anyone in Chipping Cleghorn owns one. Mrs. Harmon says that she knows from her cleaner, Mrs. Butt, that Colonel Easterbrook keeps one in a drawer. Craddock comments that Miss Hinchcliffe was suspiciously evasive when questioned about her reasons for visiting Little Paddocks alone. Miss Marple and Mrs. Harmon explain the villagers’ habit of exchanging goods, which is illegal under the rationing laws. To illustrate their point, they show him a note written by Miss Blacklock that starts, “I have made inquiries—Thursday is the day” (224); the note is about butter that Miss Hinchcliffe collects from a local farm. Miss Marple then asks to reread Letitia Blacklock’s letter, particularly the part concerning Randall “making enquiries about Dmitri Stamfordis” (226).

Rydesdale calls Craddock with news of a man who has died after being hit by a lorry 10 days earlier while saving a child. The man has been identified as Captain Ronald Haymes. Though he had a Chipping Cleghorn bus ticket among his possessions and a large sum of money, he cannot be a suspect as his accident occurred before the holdup.

At the Vicarage, Mrs. Harmon places a lamp near Miss Marple as she knits. The Vicarage cat, Tiglath Pileser, sees the lamp move and attacks the cable, almost biting through it. As Miss Marple turns the lamp on, Mrs. Harmon moves a vase of flowers, spilling some water on the chewed cable. There is a flash of electricity, and the lights blow out. Noting the resulting burn mark on the table, Miss Marple writes down “Lamp?”

Miss Hinchcliffe and Miss Murgatroyd again discuss the night of the holdup. Miss Hinchcliffe realizes that Miss Murgatroyd was the only person who could see during the holdup, as she was positioned behind the door and would not have been dazzled by Scherz’s flashlight. Miss Murgatroyd remembers that Patrick and Phillipa were at the far end of the drawing-room, nearest the second door, when the lights went out. She then tries to recall the positions of the other guests as Scherz cast the flashlight around the room (she remembers seeing Dora and Mrs. Harmon), but Miss Hinchcliffe urges her to work out whom she didn’t see there. Miss Hinchcliffe answers the telephone, and then announces she must fetch a dog from the police station. Miss Murgatroyd remembers something, but Miss Hinchcliffe is already leaving. Miss Murgatroyd shouts, “[S]he wasn’t there…” (237).

After Miss Hinchcliffe drives away, Miss Murgatroyd starts to bring in the washing and greets an unspecified visitor who offers to help her. The visitor takes a scarf from the washing line and pulls it tight around Miss Murgatroyd’s neck.

On the way back from the police station, Miss Hinchcliffe stops and offers Miss Marple a lift, inviting her to tea. When they arrive at Boulders, they discover Miss Murgatroyd’s dead body by the washing line. Miss Hinchcliffe vows to kill the perpetrator and blames herself for treating murder like “a game.” As she explains to Miss Marple how they reconstructed the crime before she left, Miss Hinchcliffe realizes the killer must have been outside and overheard their conversation through the window. She tells Miss Marple about Miss Murgatroyd’s final words—“she wasn’t there…” (237)—but cannot be sure which of the three words her friend emphasized.

Miss Blacklock receives a letter from a Julia Simmons announcing she will arrive on Tuesday. She confronts Patrick, who admits that the woman he brought to Little Paddocks is not his sister—she met Patrick at a cocktail party and is Sonia’s daughter, Emma Stamfordis. The real Julia has joined a Scottish theater company but told their mother she is training as a pharmacist.

Julia, or Emma, explains that her parents separated when she and Pip were three years old. She went to live with her father, while Pip stayed with their mother. After a chaotic childhood, Emma lost touch with her father, joined the French Resistance, and ended up in London. Knowing that her uncle was wealthy, she investigated the contents of his will and decided that Miss Blacklock was her best chance of inheriting any money. Emma’s plan to get to know Miss Blacklock came together when she met Patrick by chance, and he fell in love with her.

Emma admits to persuading Patrick’s sister to follow her dream of becoming an actor. However, Julia quit the theater company, and when she announced she was on her way to Chipping Cleghorn, Patrick failed to warn her not to come. Miss Blacklock asks about Pip, demanding to know when Emma last saw him, and Emma pauses for a moment before replying that she last saw him when they were three years old. She assures Miss Blacklock that if she had tried to kill her with a revolver she would not have missed.

Craddock arrives to break the news of Miss Murgatroyd’s death. He asks Emma and Patrick where they were at the time of the murder. Patrick claims they were on the bus back to Chipping Cleghorn, but Emma admits she came home earlier than Patrick and went for a walk. They are interrupted by an anxious call from Mrs. Harmon, reporting that Miss Marple is missing. Miss Blacklock pulls at her choker, which breaks, scattering pearls across the floor. Crying out in distress, she runs from the room.

When Craddock goes to the Vicarage, Mrs. Harmon shows him a piece of paper where Miss Marple jotted down her thoughts. It reads, “Lamp,” “Violets,” “Where is bottle of aspirin?,” “Delicious death,” “Making enquiries,” “severe affliction bravely borne,” “Iodine,” “Pearls,” and “Old Age Pension” (255). Craddock is seriously worried about Miss Marple’s safety as she appeared to be getting close to the truth. As Craddock leaves the Vicarage, Sergeant Fletcher whispers to him from the shrubbery.