Chapter Twenty-Six
I nspector Neele stared at Miss Marple and slowly shook his head.
“Are you saying,” he said incredulously, “that Gladys Martin deliberately² murdered Rex Fortescue? I’m sorry,Miss Marple, but I simply don’t believe it.”
“No, of course she didn’t mean to murder him,” said Miss Marple, “but she did it all the same! You said yourselfthat she was nervous and upset when you questioned her. And that she looked guilty.”
“Yes, but not guilty of murder.”
“Oh, no, I agree. As I say, she didn’t mean to murder anybody, but she put the taxine in the marmalade. She didn’tthink it was poison, of course.”
“What did she think it was?” Inspector³ Neele’s voice still sounded incredulous.
“I rather imagine she thought it was a truth drug,” said Miss Marple. “It’s very interesting, you know, and veryinstructive—the things these girls cut out of papers and keep. It’s always been the same, you know, all through theages. Recipes for beauty, for attracting the man you love. And witchcraft⁴ and charms and marvellous happenings.
Nowadays they’re mostly lumped together under the heading of Science. Nobody believes in magicians anymore,nobody believes that anyone can come along and wave a wand and turn you into a frog. But if you read in the paperthat by injecting certain glands⁵ scientists can alter your vital tissues and you’ll develop froglike characteristics, well,everybody would believe that. And having read in the papers about truth drugs, of course Gladys would believe itabsolutely when he told her that that’s what it was.”
“When who told her?” said Inspector Neele.
“Albert Evans,” said Miss Marple. “Not of course that that is really his name. But anyway he met her last summerat a holiday camp, and he flattered her up and made love to her, and I should imagine told her some story of injusticeor persecution⁶, or something like that. Anyway, the point was that Rex Fortescue had to be made to confess what hehad done and make

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