III
One of the girls rose at once as he entered the office.
“It’s Detective Inspector¹ Hardcastle, isn’t it?” she said. “Miss Martindale is expecting you.”
She ushered² him into the inner office. Miss Martindale did not wait a moment before attackinghim.
“It’s disgraceful, Inspector Hardcastle, absolutely disgraceful! You must get to the bottom ofthis. You must get to the bottom of it at once. No dilly-dallying about. The police are supposed togive protection and that is what we need here at this office. Protection. I want protection for mygirls and I mean to get it.”
“I’m sure, Miss Martindale, that—”
“Are you going to deny that two of my girls, two of them, have been victimized? There isclearly some irresponsible person about who has got some kind of—what do they call it nowadays—a fixture³ or a complex—about shorthand typists or secretarial bureaux. They are deliberatelymartyrizing this institute. First Sheila Webb was summoned by a heartless trick to find a deadbody—the kind of thing that might send a nervous girl off her head—and now this. A perfectlynice harmless girl murdered in a telephone box. You must get to the bottom of it, Inspector.”
“There’s nothing I want more than to get to the bottom of it, Miss Martindale. I’ve come to seeif you can give me any help.”
“Help! What help can I give you? Do you think if I had any help, I wouldn’t have rushed to youwith it before now? You’ve got to find who killed that poor girl, Edna, and who played thatheartless trick on Sheila. I’m strict with my girls, Inspector, I keep them up to their work and Iwon’t allow them to be late or slipshod. But I don’t stand for their being victimized or murdered. Iintend to defend them, and I intend to see that people who are paid by the State to defend them dotheir work.” She glared at him and looked rather like a tigress in human form.
“Give us time, Miss Martindale,” he said.
“Time? Just because that silly child is dead, I suppose you think you’ve all the time in theworld. The next thing that happens will be one of the other girls is murdered.”
“I don’t think you need fear that, Miss Martindale.”
“I don’t suppose you thought this girl was going to be killed when you got up this morning,Inspector. If so, you’d have taken a few precautions, I suppose, to look after her. And when one ofmy girls gets killed or is put in some terribly compromising position, you’ll be equally surprised.

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