Chapter Twenty-Four
II n the train on the way down to Baydon Heath, Inspector¹ Neele had singularly little success doing The Timescrossword. His mind was distracted by various possibilities. In the same way he read the news with only half his braintaking it in. He read of an earthquake in Japan, of the discovery of uranium deposits in Tanganyika, of the body of amerchant seaman³ washed up near Southampton, and of the imminent⁴ strike among the dockers. He read of the latestvictims of the cosh and of a new drug that had achieved wonders in advanced cases of tuberculosis⁵.
All these items made a queer kind of pattern in the back of his mind. Presently he returned to the crossword² puzzleand was able to put down three clues in rapid succession.
When he reached Yewtree Lodge⁶ he had come to a certain decision. He said to Sergeant⁷ Hay:
“Where’s that old lady? Is she still there?”
“Miss Marple? Oh, yes, she’s here still. Great buddies⁸ with the old lady upstairs.”
“I see.” Neele paused for a moment and then said: “Where is she now? I’d like to see her.”
Miss Marple arrived in a few minutes’ time, looking rather flushed and breathing fast.
“You want to see me, Inspector Neele? I do hope I haven’t kept you waiting. Sergeant Hay couldn’t find me at first.
I was in the kitchen, talking to Mrs. Crump. I was congratulating her on her pastry⁹ and how light her hand is, andtelling her how delicious the soufflé was last night. I always think, you know, it’s better to approach a subjectgradually, don’t you? At least, I suppose it isn’t so easy for you. You more or less have to come almost straight awayto the questions you want to ask. But of course for an old lady like me who has all the time in the world, as you mightsay, it’s really expected of her that there should be a great deal of unnecessary talk. And the way to a cook’s heart, asthey say, is through her pastry.”

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