Chapter 2 Chapter One

1 Mrs. Bantry is dreaming... Her sweet peas won first prize at the Flower Show.The parish priest in his white cassock and black robe was presenting the award when his wife walked by in a bathing suit; however, this kind of thing that would never be allowed in real life did not cause dissatisfaction in the whole parish, because it was a dream after all. Mrs. Bantry was deeply missed in the dream.These early morning dreams usually brought her great pleasure until morning tea was brought.In the dimness, she felt the noise that appeared at home early in the morning as usual.There was the sound of the curtain rings as one maid drew the curtains upstairs, another sweeping the floor and emptying the dustpan in the outside corridor, and the far door latch being pulled back.

A new day begins.She wants to get as much happiness as possible from the flower show, because it is more and more like a dream scene... Someone opened the big wooden shutter in the living room downstairs, and she seemed to hear it, but she didn't seem to hear it.This careful, light-handed sound usually lasts for half an hour, but it is not disturbing because it sounds so familiar. Finally there will be the brisk, measured step of footsteps in the passage, the slight scuff of calico gowns, the soft clink of the tea set as the tray is placed on the table outside the door, and the soft clink of Mary's curtains before she enters. knock on the door.

Mrs. Bantry in her dream frowned.She felt a little uneasy, something was wrong.The footsteps in the passage were too hasty, too early.Her ears searched unconsciously for the sound of porcelain, but found none. There is a knock on the door.Mrs. Bantry, who was indulging in a dream, said casually, "Come in." The door opened, and now she could hear the curtains being drawn. But there was no clattering of curtain rings.From the dim green light came Mary's hysterical voice: "Oh, ma'am, oh, ma'am, there's a dead man in the library!" With hysterical sobs, she rushed out again.

2 Mrs Bantry sat up in bed. Either her dream had gone awry, or just—that Mary did come running in and said (unbelievable: unbelievable!) that there was a dead man in the library! "Impossible," said Mrs Bantry to herself, "I must be dreaming." She said this, but she felt more and more that this was not a dream, and that Mary, who had always had strong self-control, really said these unbelievable words. Mrs Bantry thought for a moment, then eagerly nudged her husband who was sleeping beside him. Colonel Bantry muttered something and turned over. "Wake up, Arthur. Did you hear her?"

"Very likely," murmured Colonel Bantry, "Dolly, I quite agree with you." Then fell asleep again. Mrs Bantry shook him vigorously. "Listen. Mary just came in and said there was a dead man in the library." "Well, what did you say?" "There's a dead man in the library." "Who said this?" "Mary." Colonel Bantry collected himself, and then said: "Don't talk nonsense, old man. You're dreaming." "I wasn't dreaming. I thought it was a dream at first, too. But it wasn't a dream. Really, that's what she said."

"Mary said there was a dead man in the library?" "yes." "But that's impossible," said Colonel Bantry. "Yes, yes, I don't think so," said Mrs. Bantry hesitantly. Pulling herself together, she added: "But why did Mary say yes?" "She couldn't have said that." "She did." "You must have imagined it." "no." Colonel Bantry was now wide awake, and to get the matter straightened out, he said softly, "Dolly, you were dreaming, that's all. You've read detective novels." "The Broken Matchstick" is at work when a certain Lord Edgebaston discovers the body of a fair-haired beauty on the hearth rug in his library.

There are always dead bodies in the library described in the novel.I've never come across a single case in real life. " "Perhaps you come across it this time," said Mrs. Bantry. "At any rate, Arthur, you must get up and see." "But, Dolly, it must be a dream. Dreams always seem real when people first wake up, and they take it for real." "The dream I just had wasn't like that—it was a woman in a bathing suit, and she was the priest's wife—something like that." Mrs. Bantry was suddenly refreshed. She jumped out of bed and drew the curtains.The sunny autumn light immediately flooded the room.

"It's not a dream," said Mrs. Bantry firmly. "Get up, Arthur, and go downstairs and have a look." "You want me to go downstairs and ask if there's a dead person in the library? It's no wonder people don't think there's something wrong with me." "You needn't ask anything," said Mrs Bantry, "if there are dead people, you will be told right away. You don't have to say a word.Maybe Marie was wrong, thinking she was seeing something that wasn't there. " Colonel Bantry put on his nightgown dissatisfied and walked out of the room.He walked down the hall and down the stairs.At the foot of the stairs was a small group of servants; some of them were sobbing.

The butler stepped forward solemnly. "Sir, it is very good of you to come. I have sent orders that nothing should be done until you come. May I call the police now?" "Why did you call the police?" The butler cast a reproachful glance back at the tall young woman who was weeping hysterically over the cook's shoulder. "Sir, I thought Mary had told you. She said she had told you." "I'm so confused," said Mary, breathlessly, "I don't know what I've said. I'm so frightened, and my legs are weak, and my heart's flustered. Seeing that--oh, oh, oh!"

Then she fell on Mrs. Eccles again, who said hastily, "There, there. It's all right." "Mary was naturally a little flustered, sir. She was the first to see that horrible scene." The housekeeper explained, "She went into the library to draw the curtains as usual, and then... almost tripped over the corpse." "You mean," demanded Colonel Bantry, "that there's a dead man in my library—my library?" The butler coughed. "Perhaps it is, sir; you'd better go and see for yourself." 3 "Hi, hello, hello, this is the police station. Yes, who are you?"

Sergeant Parker held the receiver in one hand and buttoned his coat with the other. "Well, well, Gossington House. What's the matter? Oh, good morning, sir." Sergeant Parker's tone was slightly different from the previous one.He spoke with a less impatient bureaucracy when he realized that the other party was a generous patron of the police station's activities and a local administrator. "What's the matter, sir? Can I help you? I'm sorry, sir, I didn't quite catch it—you mean the dead body? You mean—well, at your behest. That's right, sir—you mean Young woman you don't know? Yes, sir. Yes, you leave it all to me." Sergeant Parker put the handset back, let out a long whistle, and went to dial his boss. Mrs Park leaned out from the kitchen, bringing out the appetizing smell of fried bacon. "What happened?" "The strangest thing you've ever heard," replied her husband, "a young woman's body has been found at Gossington House. In the colonel's library." "murder?" "He said he was strangled." "Who is she?" "The colonel said he didn't know her at all." "Then what was she doing in his library?" Sergeant Parker gave her a reproachful glance, motioned her to be quiet, and said gravely into the receiver: "Is that Superintendent Slack? I'm Sergeant Parker. Someone just reported it at seven o'clock this morning. Fifteen found the body of a young woman..." 4 Miss Marple was dressing when the telephone rang.The ringing made her a little uneasy.Usually no one would call her at this time.She is a prim spinster with an orderly life, and unexpected phone calls make her ponder for a long time. "My God," said Miss Marple, looking blankly at the telephone, "who could it be?" In the countryside, from 9:00 to 9:30 is the time for neighbors to call each other to say hello.At this time, everyone passes on the arrangements, invitations, etc. for the day to each other.If there was a crisis in the pork trade, the butcher was known to call a little before nine.There may be other calls during the day, but calling after 9.30pm is considered bad manners.Miss Marple had a writer nephew named Raymond West who was erratic and had called at the most unacceptable hours, once ten minutes before midnight.But however eccentric he was, he wasn't one of the early risers either.Neither he nor anyone Miss Marple knew would call before eight o'clock in the morning.It was a quarter to eight to be exact. Even the telegram was too early because the post office didn't open until eight. "It must be a wrong number," Miss Marple concluded. So she approached the eagerly ringing telephone and picked up the receiver. "Who?" she asked. "Jane, is that you?" Miss Marple was taken aback. "It's me. I'm Jane. You're up so early, Dolly." From the telephone came Mrs. Bantry's anxious voice. "The most terrible thing happened." "Oh my god." "We just found a body in the library." Miss Marple thought her friend was out of his mind. "What did you find?" "I understand that no one would believe it. I thought this kind of thing only happened in books, too. I argued with Arthur for hours this morning before he agreed to go downstairs and see." Miss Marple did her best to keep her composure.She held her breath and asked, "Whose body is that?" "It's a blond. A pretty blond—just like in the book. We've never seen her before. She was lying in the library, dead. You must come here immediately. " "You let me go?" "Yes, I will send a car to pick you up right away." Miss Marple said uncertainly, "Of course, my dear. If you need my comfort." "Oh, I don't need consolation. I know you're good at examining dead bodies." "Oh, no, no. My little successes are mostly theoretical." "But you are very good at solving murders. See, she was murdered and strangled. I thought, since the murder happened in my own home, why not solve it yourself. I hope you understand what I mean. This is what I ask The reason you are here. I want you to help me find the murderer and solve the mystery.It's really exciting, isn't it? " "Oh, sure, my dear, if I can help." "Great! Arthur is hard to deal with now. He seems to think that I shouldn't be interested in it at all. Of course, I understand that all this is really sad. But then, I don't know the woman--she It doesn't look real at all, and you won't know what I mean until you've seen it with your own eyes." 5 Miss Marple stepped out of the Bantry family's car, and the driver held the door open for her, she was a little out of breath. Colonel Bantry appeared on the steps, looking a little startled. "Miss Marple - oh, nice to meet you." "Your wife called me," explained Miss Marple. "It's great, it's great. Someone should be with her, or she'll break down. She's looking all right so far, but you know this kind of thing—" Then Mrs. Bantry appeared, and she called out, "Arthur, go back to the dining-room for breakfast. Your bacon is going cold." "I thought it was the Inspector," explained Colonel Bantry. "He'll be here in a minute," said Mrs. Bantry. "You must have breakfast first. You must." "You've got to eat too. Better come in and get something to eat, Dolly." "I'll come," said Mrs Bantry, "you go in first, Arthur." Colonel Bantry was shooed into the dining room like a hen holding her. "There!" said Mrs. Bantry, triumphantly, "come on." She led the way at a brisk pace down the long hallway to the east end of the house.Sergeant Parker stood outside the library door.He stopped Mrs Bantry rudely. "Ma'am, I'm afraid no one will be allowed in here. It's the Inspector's order." "Come, Parker," said Mrs. Bantry, "you know Miss Marple very well." Inspector Parker did not deny that he knew Miss Marple. "She must be shown the body," said Mrs. Bantry. "Don't be a fool, Parker. This is my home after all, isn't it?" Sergeant Park relented.He was always subservient to the superiors.But he thought he must not let Governor Jin know about it. "Don't touch anything," he warned the two women. "Of course." Mrs. Bantry said impatiently. "We understand that. You can follow up if you want." Sergeant Park had to agree.He does want to follow in. Mrs. Bantry led her friend triumphantly to the other side of the library, where there was a large old-fashioned fireplace.Then she said dramatically, "There!" and Miss Marple understood now what her friend meant when she said that the dead woman was not real.The library is full of the characteristics of the owner.Not only was it big, it was old and untidy: armchairs sunken in the middle, pipes, books and property papers on top of a large writing desk.There were a good old family portrait or two on the walls, a few rough Victorian watercolours, and a few smug hunting scenes.There is a large purple vase in the corner. The whole room is dimly lit, soft in color, and randomly arranged, showing the owner's familiarity with it and its age, and reminiscent of various traditions. Lying across the hearthrug was something new, naked, exaggerated. This is a gorgeous woman.Her blond hair, which was carefully curled unnaturally around her face, wore a thin body in a backless white satin evening gown with sequins.The blue, swollen face was heavily made up and powdered, and looked grotesque; the twisted cheeks were thick with ointment, and the scarlet lips looked like a deep gash.Fingernails and toenails showing through cheap silver sandals were painted with blood red nail polish.It was a cheap, vulgar, gaudy image--out of tune with the solid old-fashioned style of Colonel Bantry's library. Mrs Bantry whispered: "You know what I mean? It's not true at all." The old woman beside her nodded, looking thoughtfully at the curled corpse. Finally she said softly, "She's young." "Yes—yes—I think so." Mrs. Bantry was startled—as if at a new discovery. Miss Marple bent down.She didn't touch the woman.She looked at the woman's fingers clutching the skirt of her shirt.They seemed to be in a final frenzied struggle for life. There was the sound of cars grinding on the gravel outside.Sergeant Parker said hastily, "Here comes the Superintendent..." Indeed, as he believed, the upper classes would not disappoint, Mrs. Bantry immediately walked towards the door, followed by Miss Marple.Mrs Bantry said: "Take it easy, Parker." Constable Parker breathed a sigh of relief. 6 Colonel Bantry swallowed the last slice of toast and jam with a sip of coffee, and hurried to the hall, where he was instantly relieved to see Colonel Melchett getting out of the car.Standing by the side and standing by at any time was Jindu Slack. Colonel Melchett was the County Constable and a friend of Colonel Bantry.He'd never liked Slack—a high-energy, flashy man who, on the go, dismissed anyone he didn't think was important. "Good morning, Bantry," said the Constable, "I think I'd better come myself. This incident seemed extraordinary. " "This--this--" Colonel Bantry said as best he could. "Unbelievable-Unbelievable 2" "Do you know who this woman is?" "Not at all. I've never seen her in my life." "What does the butler know?" Inspector Slack asked. "Lorimer was as shocked as I was." "Oh, yes?" said Inspector Slack. Colonel Bantry said: "What would you like to eat, Melchett? There's breakfast in the dining room." "No, no—better get to work at once. Haydock should be here by now—oh, here he is." Another car pulled up in front of the house and out of it came the tall, broad-shouldered Sergeant Haydock.Then two plainclothes men got out of another police car, one of them with a camera in his hand. "Is everything ready?" said the Chief of Police. "Very well. Let's go in. Slack told me it was in the library." Colonel Bantry snorted. "Incredible! You know my wife insisted this morning that the maid came up and said there was a dead man in the library. I couldn't believe it." "Yes, I can quite understand that. I hope your wife is not too disturbed by all this." "She's been doing great—really. She's got Miss Marple down from the country." "Miss Marple?" The Chief Constable bruised a bit. "Why did she invite her here?" "Oh, a woman needs another woman, right?" Colonel Melchett smiled softly. "I see that your wife wants to try the amateur detective. Miss Marple is a good local detective. Once she got us all. Didn't she, Slack?" Inspector Slack said, "It was different that time." "Why is it different?" "That's a plan, sir. The old lady knows all about the country, that's for sure. But this time she's a hero." Melchett said indifferently: "Slack, you don't know what happened this time." "Just wait and see, sir. I'll find out before long." 7 Mrs Bantry and Miss Marple are having breakfast in the dining room. After entertaining her guests, Mrs. Bantry asked impatiently, "What do you think, Jane?" Miss Marple looked up, she looked a little bewildered. Mrs. Bantry asked hopefully: "Doesn't it remind you of anything?" Knowing that Miss Marple's fame was due to her ability to connect the little things that happened in the country with the larger problems so that the latter could be solved, "No," said Miss Marple thinking, "can't think of— —Not at the moment. I was only thinking a little bit about Mrs. Chetty's youngest child—Edie—but I think that's just because the poor little girl likes to bite her nails, and her front teeth stick out a little bit. That's all. .And, of course," continued Miss Marple, "Edie likes to wear what I call cheap chic." "You mean her clothes?" said Mrs. Bantry. "Yes, gaudy satin—very poor quality." Mrs. Bantry said: "I know. Must have bought it from a cheap shop." She went on hopefully: "How is Mrs. Chetty's Edie doing?" "Just finished second - I think she's doing pretty well." Mrs. Bantry was a little disappointed.It seems that there is little hope for comparable people and things in the countryside. "What I don't understand," said Mrs. Bantry, "is what she was doing in Arthur's library. Parker told me the window had been broken. Perhaps she and an accomplice had broken into the house, and there had been an argument—but this Seems ridiculous, doesn't it?" "She's not attired for burglary," said Miss Marple thoughtfully. "Isn't it, like going to a dance—or a party. But there's no party here—nor around here." "No, not quite right," said Miss Marple hesitantly. Mrs. Bantry blurted out: "Jane, you have a plan." "Well, I was just thinking—" "Go on?" "Basil Blake." Mrs. Bantry exclaimed impulsively, "Oh, absolutely not!" Then she went on to explain, "I knew his mother." They look at each other. Miss Marple sighed, and shook her head. "I totally understand how you feel about this." "Selina Blake is the most beautiful woman you can imagine. Her flower beds are simply beautiful - so beautiful that I'm jealous. She is very generous with her flowers and plants." Miss Marple ignored these words of understanding for Mrs. Black, and said, "Nevertheless, you know there has been a lot of gossip lately." "Oh, I know--I know. Now Arthur turns blue when Basil Black is mentioned. He had been extremely rude to Arthur, and Arthur would not hear a good word about him after that.He was always talking stupidly and contemptuously about the boys these days--they laughed at people for maintaining schools or the British Empire or something like that.And of course the clothes he was wearing! " "It is said," continued Mrs. Bantry, "that it does not matter what you wear in the country.I have never heard such nonsense.It is only in the countryside that people pay attention. She paused for a moment, then said wistfully: "He was a very lovely child when he was young." " "There was a very lovely picture of Cheviot's killer as a child in the paper last Sunday," said Miss Marple. "Oh, yes, Jane, you don't think he's—" "No, no, my dear. That's not what I meant at all. It's too abrupt to draw conclusions like that. I just want to know why this woman is here. St. Mary's, Meade is not where this happened. And, in my The only possible explanation, it seems, is Basil Blake. He does throw parties. The people at the party come from London, the studios - do you remember last July? Shouting and singing - the most horrible noise - I'm afraid everyone is very drunk - and the unbelievable mess and broken glass the next morning - old lady Berry told me - a young woman sleeping in the bathroom , wearing nothing." Mrs. Bantry said indulgently, "I suppose they're from the movie business." "Very likely. And—I think you've heard—he's brought a young woman over the last few weekends—a woman with fair hair." Mrs. Bantry exclaimed, "You don't think it's the woman?" "Well - no idea. I've never seen her up close - only when she's getting in and out of the car - once I saw her basking in the sun in the front garden, wearing only shorts and a bra. I didn't Really saw her face. These girls all have makeup, hair and nails look the same." "You're right, but it's possible. Jane, here's a clue."