Sixteen
A s I went out I ran into Haydock on the doorstep. He glanced sharply after Slack, who was just passing through thegate, and demanded: “Has he been questioning her?”
“Yes.”
“He’s been civil, I hope?”
Civility, to my mind, is an art which Inspector¹ Slack has never learnt, but I presumed that according to his ownlights, civil he had been, and anyway, I didn’t want to upset Haydock any further. He was looking worried and upsetas it was. So I said he had been quite civil.
Haydock nodded and passed on into the house, and I went on down the village street, where I soon caught up to theinspector. I fancy that he was walking slowly on purpose. Much as he dislikes me, he is not the man to let dislike standin the way of acquiring any useful information.
“Do you know anything about the lady?” he asked me point blank.
I said I knew nothing whatever.
“She’s never said anything about why she came here to live?”
“No.”
“Yet you go and see her?”
“It is one of my duties to call on my parishioners,” I replied, evading² to remark that I had been sent for.
“H’m, I suppose it is.” He was silent for a minute or two and then, unable to resist discussing his recent failure, hewent on: “Fishy business, it looks to me.”
“You think so?”
“If you ask me, I say ‘blackmail.’ Seems funny, when you think of what Colonel Protheroe was always supposed tobe. But there, you never can tell. He wouldn’t be the first churchwarden who’d led a double life.”
Faint remembrances of Miss Marple’s remarks on the same subject floated through my mind.
“You really think that’s likely?”
“Well, it fits the facts, sir. Why did a smart, well-dressed lady come down to this quiet little hole? Why did she goand see him at that funny time of day? Why did she avoid seeing Mrs. and Miss Protheroe? Yes, it all hangs together.
Awkward for her to admit—blackmail’s a punishable offence. But we’ll get the truth out of her. For all we know itmay have a very important bearing on the case. If Colonel Protheroe had some guilty secret in his life—somethingdisgraceful—well, you can see for yourself what a field it opens up.”
I suppose it did.
“I’ve been trying to get the butler to talk. He might have overheard some of the conversation between ColonelProtheroe and Lestrange. Butlers do sometimes. But he swears he hasn’t the least idea of what the conversation wasabout. By the way, he got the sack through it. The Colonel went for him, being angry at his having let her in. Thebutler retorted by giving notice. Says he didn’t like the place anyway and had been thinking of leaving for some time.”

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