Saltmarsh Murders by Gladys Mitchell

Author:Gladys Mitchell [Mitchell, Gladys]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Mystery
ISBN: 9780753185384
Google: bJO1tiAMpVwC
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: Random House
Published: 1984-01-02T00:00:00+00:00

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CHAPTER IX

the village speaks its mind

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“That last remark Mabel made is important, don’t you think?” asked Mrs. Bradley, as we walked on together. I considered it.

“Why, especially?” I asked, feeling fogged, of course.

“Bob had got over his resentment long before the murder,” said Mrs. Bradley. “It rather knocks the motive on the head, doesn’t it?”

“One moment,” I said. “This Mabel Thingummy herself. Could she have done it, do you think?”

Mrs. Bradley pursed her thin lips into a kind of little beak, and then shook her head.

“You need strong hands, and a lot of nerve, and even then it must be a very unpleasant way of killing anybody,” she said. “You are arguing from the point of view that Mabel is in love with Bob and might have wished Meg Tosstick out of the way. I don’t think there is much in it. Mabel doesn’t strike me as the jealous, vindictive possessive type of lover. Besides, if she were fond of Bob and had committed the murder herself, she would confess in order to save him, wouldn’t she? Still, we could keep her in mind. It’s a point, certainly, that Bob was not the only person who had a motive for putting the girl out of the way.”

“Thank you,” I said, quite bucked, of course, that she had not turned the idea down flat. “Pray sum up will you? Shall I take down?”

“It would be nice of you,” said Mrs. Bradley. We had been walking towards the Manor House, and as she spoke, we entered its gates. In a few moments we were in the library.

“First,” said Mrs. Bradley. “I believe if Candy could give the story of that Bank Holiday afternoon to the Court as he gave it to you, any jury in the land would acquit him. It was very affecting, and very possibly true. Secondly, it is obvious that if he could provide himself with an alibi for that quarter of an hour in the beer cellar, the case against him would fall flat. Personally, I think the police acted very hastily and ill-advisedly in arresting the young man so soon, even on the strength of that quarter of an hour. It was exceedingly unlucky for Candy that the knife and boot boy should not have been there to perform his usual duties, wasn’t it?”

“The trouble is,” I said, “that everybody was at the fête, of course. And, because of that fact, everybody in the village will have much the same alibi. Even if their friends can’t vouch for them—”

“Everybody in the village will not have the same alibi,” said Mrs. Bradley, interrupting me. “Incidentally, you noted the fact that Candy didn’t get sight of the baby, I suppose?”

“Yes,” I replied. “Poor little thing. It must be deformed, mustn’t it? Or do you think he did see it, and was lying for some reason?”

“There are so many kinds of deformity,” said Mrs. Bradley, seriously. I waited to hear what more she had to say, but apparently her remarks for the day were concluded.

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