We stared at her. I really think that for a moment or two we really believed she was out of her mind. The accusation seemed so utterly preposterous.
Colonel Melchett was the first to speak. He spoke kindly and with a kind of pitying tolerance.
“That is absurd, Miss Marple,” he said. “Young Redding has been completely cleared.”
“Naturally,” said Miss Marple. “He saw to that.”
“On the contrary,” said Colonel Melchett dryly. “He did his best to get himself accused of the murder.”
“Yes,” said Miss Marple. “He took us all in that way—myself as much as anyone else. You will remember, dear Mr. Clement, that I was quite taken aback when I heard Mr. Redding had confessed to the crime. It upset all my ideas and made me think him innocent—when up to then I had felt convinced that he was guilty.”
“Then it was Lawrence Redding you suspected?”
“I know that in books it is always the most unlikely person. But I never find that rule applies in real life. There it is so often the obvious that is true. Much as I have always liked Mrs. Protheroe, I could not avoid coming to the conclusion that she was completely under Mr. Redding’s thumb and would do anything he told her, and, of course, he is not the kind of young man who would dream of running away with a penniless woman. From his point of view it was necessary that Colonel Protheroe