“I’ll keep the technical details for the inquest,” he said. “All you want to know is that death was practically instantaneous. Silly young fool, what did he want to do it for? Amazing, by the way, that nobody heard the shot.”
“Yes,” said Melchett, “that surprises me.”
“The kitchen window gives on the other side of the house,” I said. “With the study door, the pantry door, and the kitchen door all shut, I doubt if you would hear anything, and there was no one but the maid in the house.”
“H’m,” said Melchett. “It’s odd, all the same. I wonder the old lady—what’s her name—Marple, didn’t hear it. The study window was open.”
“Perhaps she did,” said Haydock.
“I don’t think she did,” said I. “She was over at the Vicarage just now and she didn’t mention anything of the kind which I’m certain she would have done if there had been anything to tell.”
“May have heard it and paid no attention to it—thought it was a car backfiring.”
It struck me that Haydock was looking much more jovial and good-humoured this morning. He seemed like a man who was decorously trying to subdue unusually good spirits.
“Or what about a silencer?” he added. “That’s quite likely. Nobody would hear anything then.”
Melchett shook his head.
“Slack didn’t find anything of the kind, and he asked Redding, and Redding didn’t seem to know what he was talking about at first and then