There seems absolutely no reason why she should
commit a sudden assault on a guest. She is, in any
case, extraordinarily stupid, almost half-witted.
Her story has never varied. She brought Mrs.
Rhodes her hot water bottle and says the lady was
drowsy--just dropping off to sleep. Frankly, I
cannot believe, and I am sure no jury would believe,
that she committed the crime."
Mr. Petherick went on to mention a few additional
details. At the head of the staircase in the
Crown Hotel is a kind of miniature lounge where
people sometimes sit and have coffee. A passage
goes off to the right and the last door in it is the
door into the room occupied by Mr. Rhodes. The
passage then turns sharply to the right again and
the first door round the corner is the door into
Mrs. Rhodes' room. As it happened, both these
doors could be seen by witnesses. The first door--that
into Mr. Rhodes' room, which I will call A,
could be seen by four people, two commercial
MISS MARPLE TELLS A STORY
135
travelers and an elderly married couple who were
having coffee. According to them nobody went in
or out of door A except Mr. Rhodes and the
chambermaid. As to the other door in passage B,
there was an electrician at work there and he also
swears that nobody entered or left door B except
the chambermaid.
It was certainly a very curious and interesting