Eighteen
BINDWEED
M iss Marple bent¹ down on the terrace outside the french window and dealt with some insidious² bindweed. It wasonly a minor³ victory, since beneath the surface the bindweed remained in possession as always. But at least thedelphiniums knew a temporary deliverance.
Mrs. Cocker appeared in the drawing room window.
“Excuse me, madam, but Dr. Kennedy has called. He is anxious to know how long Mr. and Mrs. Reed will beaway, and I told him I couldn’t take it upon myself to say exactly, but that you might know. Shall I ask him to comeout here?”
“Oh. Oh, yes please, Mrs. Cocker.”
Mrs. Cocker reappeared shortly afterwards with Dr. Kennedy.
Rather flutteringly, Miss Marple introduced herself.
“—and I arranged with dear Gwenda that I would come round and do a little weeding while she was away. I think,you know, that my young friends are being imposed upon by their jobbing gardener, Foster. He comes twice a week,drinks a great many cups of tea, does a lot of talking, and not—so far as I can see—very much work.”
“Yes,” said Dr. Kennedy rather absently. “Yes. They’re all alike—all alike.”
Miss Marple looked at him appraisingly⁴. He was an older man than she had thought from the Reeds’ description ofhim. Prematurely⁵ old, she guessed. He looked, too, both worried and unhappy. He stood there, his fingers caressing⁶ thelong, pugnacious⁷ line of his jaw⁸.
“They’ve gone away,” he said. “Do you know for how long?”
“Oh, not for long. They have gone to visit some friends in the North of England. Young people seem to me sorestless, always dashing about here and there.”
“Yes,” said Dr. Kennedy. “Yes—that’s true enough.”

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