“Meet anyone?” She stared at him. “What
do you mean?”
“I just wondered if you’d seen anybody or
anybody had seen you during this walk of
yours.”
“I saw the gardener in the distance, that’s
all.” She was looking at him suspiciously.
“Then you came in, came up here to your
room and you were just taking your things off
when Miss Dove came in to tell you that tea
was ready?”
“Yes. Yes, and so I came down.”
“And who was there?”
“Adele and Elaine, and a minute or two
later Lance arrived. My brother-in-law, you
know. The one who’s come back from
Kenya.”
“And then you all had tea?”
“Yes, we had tea. Then Lance went up to
see Aunt Effie and I came up here to finish
my letters. I left Elaine there with
Adele.”
He nodded reassuringly.
“Yes. Miss Fortescue seems to have been
with Mrs. Fortescue for quite five or ten
188
minutes after you left. Your husband hadn’t
come home yet?”
“Oh no. Percy—Val—didn’t get home until
about half-past six of seven. He’d been kept
up in town.”
“He came back by train?”
“Yes. He took a taxi from the station.”
“Was it unusual for him to come back by
train?”
“He does sometimes. Not very often. I
think he’d been to places in the city where it’s
rather difficult to park the car. It was easier
for him to take a train home from Cannon
Street.”
“I see,” said Inspector Neele. He went on,
“I asked your husband if Mrs. Fortescue had
made a will before she died. He said he
thought not. I suppose you don’t happen to
have any idea?”
To his surprise Jennifer Fortescue nodded
vigorously.
“Oh, yes,” she said. “Adele made a will.
She told me so.”
“Indeed! When was this?”
“Oh, it wasn’t very long ago. About a
month ago, I think.”
“That’s very interesting,” said Inspector
Neele.
189
Mrs. Percival leant forward eagerly. Her
face now was all animation. She clearly
enjoyed exhibiting her superior knowledge.
“Val didn’t know about it,” she said.
“Nobody knew. It just happened that I found
out about it. I was in the street. I had just
come out of the stationer’s, then I saw Adele
coming out of the solicitor’s office. Ansell
and Worrall’s you know. In the High Street.”
“Ah,” said Neele, “the local solicitors?”
“Yes. And I said to Adele ‘Whatever have
you been doing there?’ I said. And she
laughed and said ‘Wouldn’t you like to
know?’ And then as we walked along together
she said ‘I’ll tell you, Jennifer. I’ve been
making my will.’ ‘Well,’ I said, ‘why are you
doing that, Adele, you’re not ill or anything,
are you?’ And she said no, of course she
wasn’t ill. She’d never felt better. But
everyone ought to make a will. She said she
wasn’t going to those stuck-up family
solicitors in London, Mr. Billingsley. She
said the old sneak would go round and tell the
family. ‘No,’ she said, ‘My will’s my own
business, Jennifer, and I’ll make it my own
way and nobody’s going to know about it.’
‘Well, Adele,’ I said, ‘/ shan’t tell anybody.’
She said ‘It doesn’t matter if you do. You
190
won’t know what’s in it.’ But I didn’t tell
anyone. No, not even Percy. I do think
women ought to stick together, don’t you,
Inspector Neele?”
“I’m sure that’s a very nice feeling on your
part, Mrs. Fortescue,” said Inspector Neele,
diplomatically.
“I’m sure I’m never ill-natured,” said
Jennifer. “I didn’t particularly care for Adele,
if you know what I mean. I always thought
she was the kind of woman who would stick
at nothing in order to get what she wanted.
Now she’s dead, perhaps I misjudged her,
poor soul.”
“Well, thank you very much, Mrs. Fortescue,
for being so helpful to me.”
“You’re welcome, I’m sure. I’m only too
glad to do anything I can. It’s all so very
terrible, isn’t it? Who is the old lady who’s
arrived this morning?”
“She’s a Miss Marple. She very kindly
came here to give us what information she
could about the girl Gladys. It seems Gladys
Martin was once in service with her.”