Thirty-one
C olonel Melchett and I both stared at her.
“A trap? What kind of a trap?”
Miss Marple was a little diffident, but it was clear that she had a plan fully¹ outlined.
“Supposing Mr. Redding were to be rung up on the telephone and warned.”
Colonel Melchett smiled.
“‘All is discovered. Fly!’ That’s an old wheeze², Miss Marple. Not that it isn’t often successful! But I think in thiscase young Redding is too downy a bird to be caught that way.”
“It would have to be something specific. I quite realize that,” said Miss Marple. “I would suggest—this is just amere suggestion—that the warning should come from somebody who is known to have rather unusual views on thesematters. Dr. Haydock’s conversation would lead anyone to suppose that he might view such a thing as murder from anunusual angle. If he were to hint that somebody—Mrs. Sadler—or one of her children—had actually happened to seethe³ transposing of the cachets—well, of course, if Mr. Redding is an innocent man, that statement will mean nothingto him, but if he isn’t—”
“Well, he might just possibly do something foolish.”
“And deliver himself into our hands. It’s possible. Very ingenious, Miss Marple. But will Haydock stand for it? Asyou say, his views—”
Miss Marple interrupted him brightly.
“Oh, but that’s theory! So very different from practice, isn’t it? But anyway, here he is, so we can ask him.”
Haydock was, I think, rather astonished to find Miss Marple with us. He looked tired and haggard.
“It’s been a near thing,” he said. “A very near thing. But he’s going to pull through. It’s a doctor’s business to savehis patient and I saved him, but I’d have been just as glad if I hadn’t pulled it off.”
“You may think differently,” said Melchett, “when you have heard what we have to tell you.”
And briefly⁴ and succinctly⁵, he put Miss Marple’s theory of the crime before the doctor, ending up with her finalsuggestion.
We were then privileged to see exactly what Miss Marple meant by the difference between theory and practice.

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