The Murder at the Vicarage-30
The 
Murder at the Vicarage
Chapter Thirty
We stared at her. I really think that for a moment or two we really 
believed she was out of her mind. The accusation seemed to utterly preposterous.
Colonel Melchett was the first to speak. He spoke kindly and with a 
kind of pitying tolerance.
※This is absurd, Miss Marple,§ he said. ※Young Redding has been 
completely cleared.§
※Naturally,§ said Miss Marple. ※He saw to that.§
※On the contrary,§ said Colonel Melchett dryly, ※he did his bet 
to get himself accused of the murder.§
※Yes,§ said Miss Marple. ※He took us all in that way 每 myself 
as much as anyone else. You will remember, dear Mr. Clement, that I was quite taken aback 
when I heard Mr. Redding had confessed to the crime. It upset all my ides and made me 
think him innocent 每 when up to then I had felt convinced he was guilty.§
※Then it was Lawrence Redding you suspected?§
※I know that in books it is always the most unlikely person. But I 
never find that rule apples in real life. There it is so often the obvious that is true. 
Much as I have always liked Mrs. Protheroe, I could not avoid coming to the conclusion 
that she was completely under Mr. Redding＊s thumb and would do anything he told her, and 
of course he is not the kind of young man who would dream of running away with a penniless 
woman. From his point of view it was necessary that Colonel Protheroe should be removed 
每 and so he removed him. One of those charming young men who have no moral sense.§
Colonel Melchett had been snorting impatiently for some time. Now he 
broke out.
※Absolute nonsense 每 the whole thing! Redding＊s time is fully 
accounted for up to six forty 每 five, and Haydock says positively Protheroe couldn＊t 
have been shot then. I suppose you think you know better than a doctor. Or do you suggest 
that Haydock is deliberately lying 每 the Lord knows why?§
※I think Doctor Haydock＊s evidence was absolutely truthful. He is a 
very upright man. And, of course, it was Mrs. Protheroe who actually shot Colonel 
Protheroe 每 not Mr. Redding.§
Again we stared at her. Miss Marple arranged her lace fichu, pushed 
back the fleecy shawl that draped her shoulders, and began to deliver a gentle, old 每 
maidish lecture compressing the most astounding statements in the most natural way n the 
world.
※I have not thought it right to speak until now. One＊s own belief 
每 even so strong as to amount to knowledge 每 is not the same as proof. And unless one 
has an explanation that will fit all the facts 每 as I was saying to dear Mr. Clement 
this evening 每 one cannot advance it with any real conviction. And my own explanation 
was not quite complete 每 it lacked just one thing 每 but suddenly, just as I was 
leaving. Mr. Clement＊s study, I noticed the palm in the pot by the window 每 and 每 
well there the whole thing was 每 clear as daylight!§
※Mad 每 quite mad,§ murmured Melchett to me.
But Miss Marple beamed on us serenely and went on in her gentle 
ladylike voice.
※I was very sorry to believe that I did 每 very sorry. Because I 
liked them both. But you know what human nature is. And to begin with, when first he and 
then she both confessed in the most foolish way 每 well, I was more relieved that I could 
say. I had been wrong. And I began to think of other people who had a possible motive for 
wishing Colonel Protheroe out of the way.
※The seven suspects!§ I murmured.
She smiled at me.
※Yes, indeed. There was that man Archer 每 not likely, but primed 
with drink 每 so inflaming 每 you never know. And, of course, there was your Mary. She＊s 
been walking out with Archer a long time, and she＊s a queer 每 tempered girl. Motive 
and opportunity 每 why, she was alone in the house! Old Mrs. Archer could easily have got 
the pistol from Mr. Redding＊s house for either of those two. And then, of course, there 
was Lettice 每 wanting freedom and money to do as she liked. I＊ve known many cases 
where the most beautiful and the real girls have shown next to no moral scruple 每 
though, of course, gentlemen never wish to believe if of them.§
I winced.
※And then there was the tennis racket,§ continued Miss Marple.
※The tennis racket?§
※Yes, the one Mrs. Price Ridley＊s Clara saw lying on the grass by 
the Vicarage gate. The looked as though Mr. Dennis had got back earlier from his tennis 
party than he said. Boys of sixteen are so very susceptible and so very unbalanced. 
Whatever the motive 每 for Lettice＊s sake or for yours 每 it was a possibility. And 
then, of rally, but alternatively, as the lawyers say.§
※Me?§ I exclaimed lively astonishment.
※Well, yes. I do apologize 每 and, indeed, I never really thought 
每 But there was the question of these disappearing sums of money. Either you or Mr. 
Lawes must be guilty, and Mrs. Price Ridley was going about everywhere hinting that you 
were the person in fault 每 principally because you objected so vigorously to any kind of 
inquiry into the matter. Of course, I myself was always convinced it was Mr. Hawes 每 he 
reminded me so much of that unfortunate organist I mentioned 每 buy all the same one 
couldn＊t be absolutely sure＃§
※Human nature being what it is. ※I ended grimly.
※Exactly. And then, of course, there was dear Griselda.§
※But Mrs. Clement was completely out of it, ※interrupted Melchett. 
※She returned by the six 每 fifty train.§
※That＊s what she said,§ retorted Miss Marple. ※One should never 
go by what people say. The six 每 fifty was half an hour late that night. But at a 
quarter past seven I saw her with my own eyes starting for Old Hall. So it followed that 
she must have come by the earlier train. Indeed she was seen 每 but perhaps you know 
that?§
She looked at me inquiringly.
Some magnetism in her glance impelled me to hold out the last anonymous 
letter, the one I had opened so short a time ago. I set out in detail that Griselda had 
been seen leaving Lawrence Redding＊s cottage by the back window at half past six on the 
fatal day.
I said something then or at any time of the dreadful suspicion that had 
for one moment assailed my mind. I had seen it in nightmare terms 每 past intrigue 
between Lawrence and Griselda, the knowledge of it coming to Protheroe＊s ear, his 
decision to make me acquainted with the facts 每 and Geiselda, desperate, stealing the 
pistol and silencing Prtheroe. As I say 每 a nightmare only 每 but invested for a few 
long minutes with a dreadful appearance of reality.
I don＊t know whether Miss Marple had any inkling of all this. Very 
probably she had. Few things are hidden from her.
She handed me back the note with a little nod.
※That＊s been all over the village,§ she said. ※And it did look 
rather suspicious, didn＊t it? Especially with Mrs. Archer swearing at the inquest that 
the pistol was till in the cottage when she left at midday.§
She paused a minute and then went on.
※But I＊m wandering terribly from the point. What I want to say- and 
I believe it my duty 每 is to put my own explanation of the mystery before you. If you 
don＊t believe it 每 well, I shall have done my best. Even as it is, my wish to be quite 
sure before I spoke may have cost poor Mr. Hawes his life.
Again she paused, and when she resumed, her voice held a different 
note. It was less apologetic, more decided.
※This is my own explanation of the facts. By Thursday afternoon the 
crime had been fully planned down to the smallest detail. Lawrence Redding first called on 
the Vicar, knowing him to be out. He had with him the pistol which he concealed in that 
pot in the stand by the window. When the Vicar came in, Lawrence explained his visit by a 
statement that he had made up his mind to go away. At five 每 thirty, Lawrence Redding 
telephoned from the North Lodge to the Vicar, adopting a woman＊s voice. You remember 
what a good amateur actor he was.§
※Mrs. Protheroe and her husband had just started for the village. And 
每 a very curious thing (though no one happened to think of it that way) 每 Mrs. 
Protheroe took no handbag with her. Really a most unusual thing for a woman to do. 
Just before twenty past six she passes my garden and stops and speaks, so as to give me 
every opportunity of noticing that she has no weapon with her, and also that she is quite 
her normal self. They realized, you see, that I am a noticing kind of person. She 
disappears round the corner of the house to the study window. The poor Colonel is sitting 
at the desk writing his letter to you. He is deaf as we al know. She takes the pistol from 
the bowl, where it is waiting for her, comes up behind him and shoots him through the 
head, throws down the pistol and is out again like a flash, and going down the garden to 
the studio. Nearly anyone would swear that there couldn＊t have been time!§
※But the shot?§ objected the Colonel. ※You didn＊t hear the 
shot?§
※There is, I believe, an invention called a Maxim silencer. So I 
gather from detective stories. I wonder if, possibly, the sneeze that the maid Clara heard 
might have actually been the shot? But no matter. Mrs. Protheroe is met at the studio by 
Mr. Redding. They go in together 每 and 每 human nature being what it is 每 I＊m 
afraid they realize that I shan＊t leave the garden till they come out again!§
I had never liked Miss Marple better than at this moment, with her 
humorous perception of her own weakness.
※When they do come out, their demeanor is gay and natural. And there, 
in reality, they make a mistake. Because if they had really said good 每 by to each 
other, as they pretended, they would have looked very different. But you see, that was 
their weak point. They simply dare not appear upset in any way. For the next ten 
minutes they are careful to provide themselves with what is called an alibi, I believe. 
Finally Mr. Redding goes to the Vicarage, leaving it as late as he dares. He probably saw 
you on the footpath from far away and was able to time matters nicely. He picks up the 
pistol and the silencer, leaves the forged letter with the time on it written in a 
different ink and apparently in a different hand 每 writing. When the forgery is 
discovered it will look like a clumsy attempt to incriminate Anne Protheroe.
※But when he leaves the letter, he finds the one actually written by 
Colonel Protheroe 每 something quite unexpected. And, being a very intelligent young man, 
and seeing that this letter many come in very useful to him, he takes it away with him. He 
alters the hands of the clock to the same time as the letter 每 knowing that it is always 
kept a quarter of an hour fast. The same idea 每 attempt to throw suspicion on Mrs. 
Protheroe. The he leaves, meeting you outside the gate, and acting the part of someone 
nearly distraught. As I say, he is really most intelligent. What would a murderer who had 
committed a crime try to do? Behave naturally, of course. So that is just what Mr. Redding 
does not do. He gets rid of the silencer, but marches into the police station with the 
pistol and makes a perfectly ridiculous self 每 accusation which takes everybody in.§
There was something fascinating in Miss Marple＊s resume of the case. 
She spoke with such certainty that we both felt that in this way and in no other could the 
crime have been committed.
※What about the shot heard in the woods?§ I asked. ※Was that the 
coincidence to which you were referring earlier this evening?§
※Oh, dear, no.§ Miss Marple shook her head briskly. ※That wasn＊t 
a coincidence 每 very far from it. It was absolutely necessary that a shot should be 
heard 每 otherwise suspicion of Mrs. Protheroe might have continues. How Mr. Redding 
arranged it, I don＊t quite know. But I understand that picric acid explodes if you drop 
a weight on it, and you will remember, dear Vicar, that you met Mr. Redding carrying a 
large stone just in the part of the woods where you picked up that crystal later. 
Bentleman are so clever at arranging things 每 the stone suspended above the crystals and 
then a time fuse 每 or do I mean a slow match? Something that would take about twenty 
minutes to burn through 每 so that the explosion would come about six 每 thirty when he 
and Mrs. Protheroe had come out of the studio and were in full view. A very safe device 
because what would there be to find afterward 每 only a big stone! But even that he tried 
to remove 每 when you came upon him.§
※I believe you are right,§ I exclaimed, remembering the start of 
surprise Lawrence had given on seeing me that day. It had seemed natural enough at the 
time, but now 每 Miss Marple seemed to read my thoughts, for she nodded her head 
shrewdly.
※Yes,§ she said, ※it must have been a very nasty shock for him to 
come across you just then. But he turned it off very well 每 pretending he was bringing 
it to me for my rock gardens. Only＃§ Miss Marple became suddenly very emphatic. ※It 
was the wrong sort of stone for my rock gardens! And that put me on the right track!§
All this time Colonel Melchett had sat like a man in a trance. Now he 
showed signs of coming to. He snorted once or twice, blew his nose in a bewildered 
fashion, and said, ※Upon my word! Well, upon my word!§
Beyond that, he did not commit himself. I think that he, like myself, 
was impressed with the logical certainty of Miss Marple＊s conclusions. But for the 
moment he was not willing to admit it.
Instead, he stretched out a hand, picked up the crumpled letter, and 
barked out, ※ all very well. But how do you account for this fellow Hawes? Why, he 
actually rang up and confessed.§
※Yes 每 that was what was so providential. The Vicar＊s sermon, 
doubtless. You know, dear Mr. Clement, you really preached a most remarkable sermon. It 
must have affected Mr. Hawes deeply. He could bear it no longer, and felt he must confess 
每 about the misappropriations of the church funds.§
※What?§
※Yes 每 and that, under Providence, is what has saved his life. For 
I hope and trust it is saved. Doctor Haydock is so clever. As I see the matter, Mr. 
Redding kept this letter 每 a risky thing to do, but I expect he hid it in some safe 
place 每 and waited till he found out for certain to whom it referred. He soon made quite 
sure that it was Mr. Hawes. I understand he came back here with Mr. Hawes last night and 
spent a long time with him. I suspect that he then substituted a cachet of his own for one 
of Mr. Hawes＊s gown. The poor young man would swallow the fatal cachet in all innocence 
每 after his death his things would be gone through and the letter found and everyone 
would jump to the conclusion that he had shot Colonel Protheroe and taken his won life out 
of remorse. I rather fancy Mr. Hawes must have found the letter tonight just after taking 
the fatal cachet. In this disordered state, it must have seemed like something 
supernatural, and, coming on top of the Vicar＊s sermon, it must have impelled him to 
confess the whole thing.§
※Upon my word,§ said Colonel Melchett. ※Upon my word! Most 
extraordinary! I 每 I 每 don＊t believe a word of it.§
He had never made a statement that sounded more unconvincing. It must 
have sounded so in his own ears for he went on.
※And can you explain the other telephone call 每 the one from Mr. 
Redding＊s cottage to Mrs. Price Ridley?§
※Ah!§ said Miss Marple. ※That is what I call the coincidence. 
Dear Griselda sent that call 每 she and Mr. Dennis between them, I fancy. They had heard 
the rumors Mrs. Price Ridley was circulating about the Vicar, and they thought of this 每 
perhaps rather childish 每 way of silencing her. The coincidence lies in the fact that 
the call should have been put through at exactly the same time as the fake shot from the 
wood. It led one to believe that the two must be connected.§
I suddenly remembered how everyone who spoke of the shot had described 
it as different from the usual shot. They had been right. Yet how hard to explain just in 
what way the difference of the shot consisted.
Colonel Melchett cleared his throat.
※Your solution is a very plausible one, Miss Marple,§ He said. ※But 
you will allow me to point out that there is not a shadow of proof.§
※I know,§ said Miss Marple. ※But you believe it to be true, don＊t 
you?§
There was a pause, then the Colonel said almost reluctantly. ※Yes, I 
do. Dash it all, it＊s the only way the thing could have happened. But there＊s no proof 
每 not an atom.§
Miss Marple coughed. ※That is why I thought perhaps 每 under the 
circumstances＃§
※Yes?§
※A little trap might be permissible.§
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