A Murder Is Announced

Miss Marple spots Dora entering the village café and follows her in. She asks about Dora’s childhood friendship with Letitia Blacklock, and Dora describes Letitia as “pretty” but suggests that intelligence was her best attribute. She also describes her friend in contradictory terms, saying Letitia always enjoyed life but had a “sad” situation. Dora becomes emotional when she reveals how hard her life was before Miss Blacklock took her in. She wants to be helpful to her friend but sometimes gets confused.

Dora claims that Patrick takes advantage of Miss Blacklock and that he has asked her for money several times. She recently saw Patrick with a cup of oil and a feather in the garden, and while he claimed to have just found the items, Dora did not believe him. She also suspects Patrick of rigging the lamp in the drawing-room to short the lights. However, as she explains that “it was the shepherdess—not the shepherd” (165), she stops talking, realizing that Miss Blacklock is standing behind her. Miss Blacklock declares it is time for them to leave just as Mrs. Harmon enters the café. Dora agrees, noting she first needs to buy aspirin from the chemist.

Miss Marple tells Mrs.