Sir Malcolm was a young man, Mr. Petherick
said, very up to date in his methods, and he had
indicated a certain line of defense. But with that
line of defense Mr. Petherick was not entirely
satisfied.
"You see, my dear lady," he said, "it is tainted
with what I call the specialist's point of view. Give
Sir Malcolm a case and he sees only one point--
MISS MARPLE LLS A STORY
133
the most likely line of defense. But even the best
line of defense may ignore completely what is, to
my mind, the vital point. It takes no account of
what actually happened."
Then he went on to say some very kind and flattering
things about my acumen and judgment and
my knowledge of human nature, and asked permission
to tell me the story of the case in the hopes
that I might be able to suggest some explanation.
I could see that Mr. Rhodes was highly skeptical
of my being of any use anl that he was annoyed at
being brought here. But Mr. Petherick took no
notice and proceeded to give me the fasts of what
occurred on the night of March 8th.
Mr. and Mrs. Rhodes had been staying at the
Crown Hotel in Barncheater. Mrs. Rhodes who
(so I gathered from Mr. Petherick's careful language)
was perhaps just a shade of a hypochondriac,
had retired to bed in, mediately after dinner.
She and her husband occupied adjoining rooms