you came into the inner office and saw me there - you were surprised. Why?"
"Because I didn't expect to see you, I suppose. I thought I'd find Percival there."
"You weren't told that he'd gone out?"
Lance looked at him curiously.
"No. They said he was in his office."
"I see - nobody knew he'd gone out. There's no second door out of the inner office - but there is a door leading straight into the corridor from the little antechamber - I suppose your brother went out that way - but I'm surprised Mrs Hardcastle didn't tell you so."
Lance laughed.
"She'd probably been to collect her cup of tea."
"Yes - yes - quite so."
Lance looked at him.
"What's the idea, Inspector?"
"Just puzzling over a few little things, that's all, Mr Fortescue -"
Chapter 24
In the train on the way down to Baydon Heath, Inspector Neele had singularly little success doing The Times crossword. His mind was distracted by various possibilities. In the same way he read the news with only half his brain taking it in. He read of an earthquake in Japan, of the discovery of uranium deposits in Tanganyika, of the body of a merchant seaman washed up near Southampton, and of the imminent strike among the dockers. He read of the latest victims of the cosh and of a new drug that had achieved wonders in advanced cases of tuberculosis.
All these items made a queer kind of pattern in the back of his mind. Presently he returned to the crossword puzzle and was able to put down three clues in rapid succession.
When he reached Yewtree Lodge he had come to a certain decision. He said to Sergeant Hay:
"Where's that old lady? Is she still here?"
"Miss Marple? Oh, yes, she's here still. Great buddies with the old lady upstairs."
"I see." Neele paused for a moment and then said: "Where is she now? I'd like to see her."
Miss Marple arrived in a few minutes' time, looking rather flushed and breathing fast.
"You want to see me. Inspector Neele? I do hope I haven't kept you waiting. Sergeant Hay couldn't find me at first. I was in the kitchen, talking to Mrs Crump. I was congratulating her on her pastry and how light her hand is and telling her how delicious the souffle was last night. I always think, you know, it's better to approach a subject gradually, don't you? At least, I suppose it isn't so easy for you. You more or less have to come almost straight away to the questions you want to ask. But of course for an old lady like me who has all the time in the world, as you might say, it's really expected other that there should be a great deal of unnecessary talk. And the way to a cook's heart, as they say, is through her pastry."
"What you really wanted to talk to her about," said Inspector Neele, "was Gladys Martin?"
Miss Marple nodded.
"Yes. Gladys. You see, Mrs Crump could really tell me a lot about the girl. Not in connection with the murder. I don't mean that. But about her spirits lately and the odd things she said. I don't mean odd in the sense of peculiar. I mean just the odds and ends of conversation."
"Did you find it helpful?" asked Inspector Neele.
"Yes," said Miss Marple. "I found it very helpful indeed. I really think, you know, that things are becoming very much clearer, don't you?"
"I do and I don't," said Inspector Neele.
Sergeant Hay, he noticed, had left the room. He was glad of it because what he was about to do now was, to say the least of it, slightly unorthodox.
"Look here, Miss Marple," he said, "I want to talk to you seriously."
"Yes, Inspector Neele?"
"In a way," said Inspector Neele, "you and I represent different points of view. I admit, Miss Marple, that I've heard something about you at the Yard." He smiled, "It seems you're fairly well known there."
"I don't know how it is," fluttered Miss Marple, "but I so often seem to get mixed up in things that are really no concern of mine. Crimes I mean, and peculiar happenings."
"You've got a reputation," said Inspector Neele.
"Sir Henry Clithering, of course," said Miss Marple, "is a very old friend of mine."
"As I said before," Neele went on, "you and I represent opposite points of view. One might almost call them sanity and insanity."
Miss Marple put her head a little on one side.
"Now what exactly do you mean by that, I wonder, Inspector?"
"Well, Miss Marple, there's a