Chapter 31 Chapter Thirty-One

Melchett stared at her with me. "A trap? What kind of trap?" Miss Marple hesitated, but it was clear that she had made up her mind. "Imagine calling Mr Redding and warning him." Colonel Melchett smiled. "'It's all revealed, run away!' That's the old way, Miss Marple. It usually works! But I think young Redding is too much of a frightened bird this time to be caught that way." "Something special has to be done. I know that," said Miss Marple, "and I suggest, and only suggest, that it should be suggested by someone who has an unusual view of these matters. Dr. Haydock's statement would make anyone think that he might see something like murder in an unusual light. If he suggested that someone, say Mrs. Sadler and one of her children, happened to see the swapping capsules with his own eyes, oh , of course, if Mr. Redding was an innocent man, the remark meant nothing to him, if he wasn't—"

"Oh, it might fall into the trap." "And fell into our hands. It's possible. It's clever, Miss Marple. But will Haydock stand in the way? As you say, his opinion..." Miss Marple interrupted him lightly. . "Oh, but that's only in theory! Quite different from reality, isn't it? But anyway, he's here, and we can ask him." I think Haydock was a little surprised to see Miss Marple with us. He looked tired and haggard. "It was too dangerous," he said, "too dangerous. But he will get through it. It is a doctor's job to save a patient's life, and I saved him. But I shall be glad if I don't succeed."

"If you'd listened to what we had to tell you," Melchett said, "you'd think differently." He told him succinctly and clearly Miss Marple's analysis of the case, and finally, her suggestion. Then we are lucky enough to see the difference between what Miss Marple says is theory and reality. Haydock's opinion seemed to have changed entirely.I think he wanted Lawrence Redding's head chopped off.I think it was not the killing of Colonel Protheroe that made him so angry, but the setting up of the unfortunate Howes. "Damn villain!" said Haydock. "Damn villain! Poor Howes, he has a mother and a sister. To bear the name of a murderer's mother and sister will hold them back forever. Think It is a cowardly and despicable trick to think about their mental suffering!"

Once you have provoked his rage, that rage alone puts me in the good graces of a thoroughly humane host. "If it's true," he said, "you can count on me. The fellow is dead. Bully an honest man like Howes!" Any kind of wretch would have Haydock's sympathy. He was eagerly working out the details with Melchett when Miss Marple stood up and I insisted on taking her home. "It's very kind of you, Mr. Claremont," said Miss Marple, as we walked down the empty street. "My God! It's past twelve. I hope Raymond is in bed and not waiting I." "He should be with you," I said.

"I didn't let him know I was going out," said Miss Marple. At this moment, I remembered Raymond West's subtle psychoanalysis of the case, and suddenly smiled. "If your reasoning turns out to be correct, I have no doubt," I said, "that you'll score much higher than your nephew." Miss Marple laughed too, a self-absorbed laugh. "I remember an idiom my great-grandmother Fanny told me. I was sixteen and thought it was silly." "Really?" I asked. "She used to say: 'Young people think old people are fools, but old people know young people are fools!'"