The Murder at the Vicarage

The Reverend Leonard Clement tells the story from his vicarage in St. Mary Mead. Colonel Protheroe is widely disliked, and then he is found shot in the vicar's study. The case quickly fills with people who had reason to resent him, including his wife Anne and her lover, the painter Lawrence Redding. Both Anne and Lawrence confess, but neither account fits the evidence well enough to end the case.

Inspector Slack follows the clues, while Miss Marple quietly tests what people say against what village life has taught her. The story moves through false alibis, a forged note, a shifted clock, a staged gunshot in the woods, and several private scandals. Leonard's account keeps the village funny and close at hand, even as each new clue makes the first simple answer less likely.

Miss Marple sees that Anne and Lawrence planned the murder together. Lawrence hid his pistol at the vicarage, Anne used it to shoot her husband, and Lawrence planted a false note to shift the time of death. An explosion in the woods supplied a later gunshot sound. Miss Marple then hints that someone saw a changed capsule, which makes Lawrence panic and seek Anne out at Old Hall. Police officers overhear their talk and confirm their guilt.

The trial is noted from a distance. Lettice leaves with her dying mother, Colonel Protheroe's first wife, and Griselda tells Leonard that she is pregnant. The vicarage returns to its ordinary life, though Leonard now knows how much St. Mary Mead can hide.