The Corpse of St James's Read Online Free PDF Page A

brow, and sighed.
    Alan cleared his throat. ‘Chief Superintendent, let me introduce my wife, Dorothy Martin.’
    Mr Carstairs smiled broadly and held out a hand. ‘Ah, yes, the Miss Marple of Belleshire! Your reputation, too, has spread far and wide. I think your husband was gently reminding me, just now, that you might have some insights into this little matter.’
    â€˜Hardly,’ I said, and if I sounded frosty, I felt I had good excuse. ‘I’ve really seen nothing. From what Jonathan and Alan have said, I gather a young woman is under that bush. I must say, it seems a very odd place to leave a body. It was bound to be discovered soon.’
    â€˜We don’t yet know that there has been foul play, Mrs Martin.’
    â€˜Right. She crawled under there in the middle of the night, for reasons of her own, and just happened to die there.’
    â€˜Dorothy,’ said Alan, frowning.
    Carstairs held up a hand and said, ‘All right, all right! Obviously we must have a look at the lady, but I agree the circumstances are suspicious. To say the least,’ he added hastily. ‘For one thing, as the constable told you, this is an area of the park that is closed to the public. He said you found the gate open?’
    â€˜Ajar, at any rate,’ said Alan. ‘I saw no lock, and certainly no sign forbidding entry.’
    â€˜There is normally a sign, and a CCTV camera. Presumably the sign was removed and the camera vandalized by the murderer, assuming this is a murder.’
    By now, the small area was swarming with policemen, most of them in plain clothes, going methodically about the business of documenting the crime scene. One of them spoke to Carstairs. ‘Finished for now, sir. The body can be moved. There are some recent footprints; we’ve covered them and will take casts.’
    â€˜Those will probably be mine,’ said Alan. He sat down and held both feet out for examination. ‘Sorry to complicate your task, but I didn’t know this was a crime scene when I trampled over it. I’d give you my shoes straight away, but I’ve nothing else in London to wear, and we’re staying until tomorrow.’
    â€˜If you wouldn’t mind taking one off for a moment, sir, I can do a quick comparison.’
    It was done. The policeman nodded to Carstairs and returned the shoe. Alan put it back on and stood.
    â€˜Right,’ said Carstairs. ‘We can get on with it, then.’ He gave me a worried look. ‘Are you quite sure you’ll be all right, Mrs Martin?’
    â€˜If you’re expecting me to faint or be sick, I can assure you I’m not likely to do either. I have seen dead people before, you know. It isn’t my favourite thing, but I feel a vested interest in this one, and I’d like to know what I can. If there’s something really horrible you think I’d rather not see, tell me and I’ll look away.’
    â€˜Nothing like that, sir,’ said the policeman who was apparently in charge of the initial collecting of evidence. ‘Not that we could see, anyway.’
    â€˜Very well. Mind you, Mrs Martin, if you were anyone else, I’d turf you out of here. Right, Bob. Let’s have her out from under there and see what there is to see.’
    My first impression was that she was very young, too young to be dressed as she was. Her skirt was long and swirly and sophisticated, her top tight and low-cut, designed to display an impressive bust, not her slender, undeveloped form. The three-inch stilettos would have suited a woman of twenty-five. There was nothing especially terrible about her appearance, no obvious wounds, no visible blood. Her clothes were dusty and disarranged, but otherwise in good condition. She had long bleached-blonde hair, beginning to darken a bit at the roots, and wore quite a lot of make-up. Her fingernails were long and blood-red.
    â€˜Poor child,’ I said. ‘Trying so hard to be