Chapter 17 Chapter 17 Album

Miss Marple, fully wrapped up, stood at the vicarage gate, taking a note from Bunch. "Tell Miss Blacklock," said Bunch, "that Julian can't go in person, and I'm very sorry. There's a parishioner dying in Locke's village. If Miss Blacklock will see him, he'll be here after lunch." The note was about arranging the funeral. If the inquiry was on Tuesday, he suggested Wednesday. Poor old Bonnie, somehow, took the poisoned aspirin that was meant for someone else , that's typical of her. Good-bye, darling, and I hope the journey isn't too far for you. But I really have to get that kid to the hospital right away."

Miss Marple said it wasn't too far for her, and Bunche ran off. While waiting for Miss Blacklock, Miss Marple looked around the drawing room, wondering what Dora Bonner had meant that morning in the Bluebird room.At the time, Bonner said she believed Patrick "tricked the lamps" to "turn out all the lights."What desk lamp?How did he "do it with his hands and feet?" Miss Marple decided that she must be referring to the lamp on the table by the arch.She also mentions a shepherd girl or shepherd boy - which is actually a fine piece of porcelain from Dresden, a shepherd boy in a blue shirt and red trousers holding a lamp - which turned out to be a candlestick , now turned into a lamp.

The lampshade is made of pure parchment and is somewhat oversized, almost covering the ceramic body.What else did Dora Bonner say? "I clearly remember that it was the shepherd girl, but the next day—" Now it is naturally the shepherd boy. Miss Marple remembered Dora Bonner saying that the lamps were a pair when she and Bunch went to tea.No—the shepherd boy and the shepherd girl.On the day of the robbery, she was still a shepherd girl, but the next day she became another lamp—this one, the shepherd boy.The lamps were changed during the night. And Dora Bonner had reason (or no reason) to believe that it was Patrick who switched.

why?This is because if one examines the original desk lamp, it can be seen that Patrick managed to "turn out all the lights".How did he manage it? Miss Marple looked carefully at the lamp in front of her.The flower wire of the electric light was pulled along the edge of the table and inserted into the wall.There is a pear-shaped switch in the middle of the flower wire.None of this suggested anything to Miss Marple, since she knew nothing about electricity. Where is the lamp of the shepherdess now?she wondered.In the storage room or thrown away - where was Dora Bonner when she caught Patrick Simmons with a feather and a cup of oil?Miss Marple decided to leave these doubts to Inspector Craddock.

At first Miss Blacklock hastily concluded that it was her nephew Patrick who was behind the advertisement. This firm view of intuition often turned out to be correct, or so Miss Marple believed.Because, if you know people well enough, you know what sort of things are on their minds..." Patrick Simmons... a good-looking young man, a charming young man, a young man whom women liked--and whether it was a girl or a dick.Maybe the kind of man Randall Godler's sister married.Could Patrick Simmons be 'Pip'?But he was in the navy during the war.The police will soon be able to verify this.

It's just that—sometimes—the most astonishing impostors do happen. If you're daring enough, you can make a fortune and get away, and the door opens and Miss Blacklock walks in.Miss Marple felt that she looked several years older, and that all the vigor and energy of life had disappeared from her. "I'm very sorry to disturb you like this," said Miss Marple, "but the vicar is attending a dying parishioner, and Bunch is in a hurry to take the child to the hospital. The vicar has a note for you." She handed the note and Miss Blacklock took it and opened it. "Please take a seat, Miss Marple," she said, "thank you very much for your note."

She read the note over. "The pastor is a very considerate man," she said calmly, "and he does not offer foolish consolations to others. . . Please tell him that this arrangement is very suitable. She—her favorite hymn is "Shine the Light of Mercy." " Her voice suddenly choked up. Miss Marple said softly, "I'm just a stranger, but I feel very, very sorry." Miss Letitia Blacklock finally couldn't control herself anymore, and burst into tears.It is sympathetic and intensely pathos, mixed with a kind of despair.Miss Marple sat motionless. Miss Blacklock sat up at last.She cried and her face was swollen with tears.

"I'm sorry," she said, "I—I couldn't help it. My loss is too great. You see, she—she's the only connection I have with the past. She's the only one who remembers it. Now She's gone, leaving me alone." "I see what you mean," said Miss Marple, "and one does become lonely when the last person who remembers is gone. I have nephews and nieces and good friends, but no one understands my little girl." Time things, no one belongs to the past years. I've been lonely for a long time now." The two women sat in silence for a while.

"You are very understanding," said Letitia Blacklock, as she got up and went to the desk. "I must write a few words to the priest." She picked up the pen uncontrollably, and wrote slowly. . "It's rheumatism," she explained, "and sometimes I can barely write anything." She sealed the envelope and wrote down the recipient's name. "If you wouldn't mind passing along, I would be very grateful." Hearing a man's voice from the hall, she said quickly, "It's Inspector Craddock." She went to the mantel mirror; powdered her face a little.

Craddock came in with a sullen, sullen face. He glanced disapprovingly at Miss Marple. "Oh," he said, "you are here." Miss Blacklock turned from the fireplace. "Miss Marple was kind enough to deliver the vicar's note." Miss Marple said in a panic, "I'm leaving now. Please don't let me interfere with your work." "Did you attend the tea party here yesterday afternoon?" Miss Marple timidly replied, "No, no, I haven't. Bunche drove me to visit some friends." "So you have nothing more to tell me." Craddock opened the door unceremoniously, and Miss Marple slipped away in embarrassment.

"Meddlers, old women," said Craddock. "I don't think you're being fair to her," said Miss Blacklock. "She has indeed come to deliver the vicar's note." "I'll bet it." "I don't think it's idle curiosity." "Well, perhaps you are right, Miss Blacklock, but my own diagnosis is a severe episode of euphoria..." "That old woman would never hurt anybody," said Miss Blacklock. "I wish you understood that she is as dangerous as a rattlesnake," thought the Inspector viciously.But he didn't intend to force people to believe him.Now that he was sure a killer was on the loose, he decided it would be better to say less.He didn't want the next person to be killed was Jane Marple. There's a killer somewhere... where is it? "I won't waste time with words of sympathy, Miss Blacklock," he said. "In fact, I'm terribly guilty of Miss Bonner's death. We should have been able to prevent it." "I don't see how you can stop it." "Yes, well, it wasn't easy. But we must hurry up now. Who did this, Miss Blacklock? Who shot you twice?And if we don't hurry up and solve the case, this person may kill other people soon. " Letitia Blacklock shuddered. "I don't know, Inspector, I don't know anything!" "I checked with Mrs. Goedler and she helped me with everything she could. Not much to learn. There are only a few people who are sure to benefit from your death, starting with Pip and Emma.Patrick and Julie Kee fit that age, but their backgrounds seemed clean enough.Anyway, we can't just focus on these two.Please tell me, Miss Blacklock, if you saw Sonia Godler, would you recognize her? " "Recognize Sonia? Strange, of course—" She stopped suddenly, "No," she said slowly, "not now. It's been so long, thirty years . . . she now Must be an old woman." "Do you remember what she used to be like?" "Sonia?" Miss Blacklock thought for a moment. "She's small and dark..." "Is there any characteristic? What about mannerisms?" "No, no, I don't think so. She's optimistic--pleasant." "Perhaps less optimistic now," said the Inspector. "Have you a picture of her?" "Sonia's? Let me see, it's not a picture, I have some old snapshots - in an album somewhere - I think there should be at least one of hers." "Ah, can I see it?" "Of course. But where did I put the album?" "Tell me, Miss Blacklock, do you have a vague feeling that Mrs. Swettenham might be Sonia Godler?" "Mrs. Swettenham?" Miss Blacklock looked at him in great astonishment, "but her husband was a government servant—first in India, I think, and later in Hong Kong." "It's just what she told you. You didn't learn it yourself, as we said in court, did you?" "Yes," said Miss Blacklock slowly, "if you say so, I really don't know . . . but Mrs. Swettenham? Oh, that's absurd!" "Has Sonia Godler ever acted? An amateur play?" "Oh, yes. She's pretty good." "That's right. One more thing, Mrs. Swettenham wears a wig. At least," corrected the inspector, "Mrs. Harmon says she wears a wig." "Yes, yes, I think it might be the wig, those little gray curls. But I still think it's ridiculous. She's actually pretty nice, and can be hilarious sometimes. " "And then there's Miss Hinchcliffe and Miss Murgatroyd. Which of the two of them might be Sonia Godler?" "Miss Hinchcliffe is too tall. She's as tall as a man." "And Miss Murgatroyd?" "Huh, but—oh, no, I don't believe Miss Murgatroyd can be Sonia." "Your eyesight is not very good, is it, Miss Blacklock?" "You mean I'm nearsighted?" "Yeah. I'd like to see this snapshot of Sonia Godler, even if it was taken a long time ago and probably doesn't look like it does now. You know, we're trained to find resemblances, And this is absolutely impossible for an outsider to do.” "I'll try to find it for you." "Just now?" "What, right now?" "I'd rather be now." "Okay. So let me think about it. There are a lot of books in that cabinet. When I was cleaning the books, I saw the photo album. Julie Ji helped me clean it. I remember her laughing at the clothes we wore in that era. . . We put The books are on the shelf in the living room. Where did we put the albums and the big bundle of Art Magazines? I've got a terrible memory! Maybe Julia will remember, she's home today." "I'll find her." The inspector ended the questioning.He didn't find Julie Ji in any of the downstairs rooms.Asked where Miss Micky Simmons had been, she said angrily that it was none of her business. "It's me again: I'm in my kitchen, concerned with lunch. There's nothing I eat that I didn't cook myself. Nothing is not.Did you hear that? " The Inspector called upstairs, "Miss Simmons," but there was no answer, so he went upstairs. At the turn of the stairs he almost bumped into Julie Ji.She had just come out of a door leading up a small winding staircase. "I'm in the attic," she explained, "what's the matter?" Inspector Craddock explained. "Those old albums? Yes, I remember them well. I think we put them in a big cabinet in the study. I'll find them for you." She took him downstairs and pushed open the door of the study.There is a big cabinet by the window.Julia opened the door of the cabinet, and there was a lot of messy things inside. "Trags," said Julia, "it's all rags. But old people just don't want to throw them away." The Inspector knelt down and took out two old-fashioned albums from the bottom shelf. "is that all?" "right." Miss Blacklock came in and joined them. "Ah, so we put the album here, I don't even remember." Craddock put the photo album on the table and turned the pages one by one. Women with big wheel hats, women with skirts so deep that they couldn't walk.There is an explanation neatly written under the photo, but the ink has faded over time. "It should be in this one," said Miss Blacklock, "about page twenty-three. The other one was taken after Soniki got married and left." She turned to a page, "it should be here. ' She stopped flipping. There are several blank spaces on the page.Craddock bowed his head and read in faded words: "Sonia ... herself ... Randall Godler." Then came "Sonia and Bell at the beach."On the opposite page read "Skaine's Picnic".He turned to the next page. "Charlotte, myself, and Randall Godler." Craddock stood up, his lips pursed ugly. "Someone took the picture - not long ago, I must say." "There wasn't a blank when we looked that day. Right, Julia?" "I didn't look at it--just noticed their clothes. No... You're right, Aunt Letty, there's no gap." Craddock's expression grew grim. "Someone," he said, "has taken all the pictures of Sonia out of this album."