Great Stapleton Police Office South
England
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On Saturday, October 16, 1993, I went to Snell's, the chemist's. I asked Mrs Snell if she had found a glove in her chemistry on Thursday afternoon. She nodded and when I was about to leave her shop she told me that Mrs Townsend loved Mr Reynolds, the architect.
After that surprise I went to Dr Sutton’s surgery. Mrs Tweed, his secretary, was already there. She thought that no glove had been left in the surgery. I asked her also about the other patients of that day and she gave me a list, which was full of names I didn’t know.
In the evening I decided to go to the "Horse and Jockey" because I hoped that Mrs Snell's information was true and , yes indeed, the landlord could tell me something about Mrs Townsend and her friendship with Mr Reynolds. I learned that it was true what Mrs Snell had told me. After the landlord had finished telling me Mr Reynold's turned up and sat down with us at the bar. The longer I talked to Mr Reynold's, the more certain I felt that he and Mrs Townsend were not the people I was after. They would have had a motive, it was true enough, but I was sure that Mrs Snell's suspicions were founded on pure conjecture. However, there was one rather strange thing: the landlord had been sure that Mrs Townsend had left the "Horse and Jockey" with the architect at half past ten on the night of the murder, but Mrs Townsend herself had told me that she had gone to bed half an hour earlier. Could she have made a mistake or had she lied on purpose? And if so - why? If there was nothing to hide, why say that she had been at home, in bed, half an hour before her husband usually left the chess club? Could Mrs Snell have been right after all ...?
On Sunday when I went home from Mr Sutton's place where I had been invited for dinner I heard a noise. It was no pet or any other animal. I didn't know precisely what it was that moment. Later I found out that it was a burglar who went to Dr Sutton's house, but he (or she) didn't steal anything.
On Monday I sent Constable Davis to the place of the theft and began some new investigations of my own. So I went to Mr Townsend's solicitor. The information he gave me was not quite what I had expected. Colonel Townsend had only left just over 5,000 pounds. He had left everything to his wife, expect 1,000 pounds which was to go to Mr Beedie, the vicar.
After that I went to Mrs Townsend because I wanted to ask her about Thursday evening. She told me, that she had lied about Thursday and that she was sorry about that lie. She also told me that her husband had got a legacy from his uncle, but she didn't know what had happened with the money. I went to her husband's secretary to inquire about the legacy. I found a blue envelope with the name and the address of the Colonel on the desk when I entered the empty and unlocked room.. I opened the envelope and found a short letter inside, written by hand. It was from Dorothy Weeks who had died two years before. She wrote that she was afraid that someone would kill her. She died May 4th, two days after she had written the letter to the Colonel. Mrs Weeks who had been very wealthy, had left her money to her daughter Joan. Some months later Joan got married.
The name of her husband was Dr Eric Sutton. Immediately I realized what the truth had to be; now I knew who had murdered Colonel Townsend! It was all quite clear in my mind. Yes, it was Dr Sutton; everything pointed to him. The Colonel had realized this, too, I supposed. He guessed that she had been murdered. Now we had to find some more details.
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