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Grave Mistake
Ngaio Marsh
HARPER
an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF
Published by HarperCollinsPublishers 2009
FIRST EDITION
Grave Mistake first published in Great Britain by Collins 1978
Ngaio Marsh asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of these works
Copyright © Ngaio Marsh Ltd 1978
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Source ISBN: 9780006512301
Ebook Edition © DECEMBER 2009 ISBN: 9780007344857
Version: 2019-02-04
For Gerald Lascelles
Verity Preston—Of Keys House, Upper Quintern
The Hon. Mrs Foster (Sybil)—Of Quintern Place, Upper Quintern
Claude Carter—Her stepson
Prunella Foster—Her daughter
Bruce Gardener—Her gardener
Mrs Black—His sister
The Rev. Mr Walter Cloudesley—Vicar of St Crispin-in-Quintern
Nikolas Markos—Of Mardling Manor, Upper Quintern
Gideon Markos—His son
Jim Jobbin—Of Upper Quintern Village
Mrs Jim—His wife. Domestic helper
Dr Field-Innis, MB—Of Upper Quintern
Mrs Field-Innis—His wife
Basil Schramm (neé Smythe)—Medical incumbent, Greengages Hotel
Sister Jackson—His assistant
G. M. Johnson Marleena Biggs }—Housemaids, Greengages Hotel
The Manager—Greengages Hotel
Daft Artie—Upper Quintern Village
Young Mr Rattisbon—Solicitor
Chief Superintendent Roderick Alleyn—CID
Detective-Inspector Fox—CID
Detective-Sergeant Thompson—CID Photographic Expert
Sergeant Bailey—CID Fingerprint Expert
Sergeant McGuiness—Upper Quintern Police Force
PC Dance—Upper Quintern Police Force
A Coroner
A Waiter
Table of Contents
CHAPTER 5 Greengages (II) Room 20
‘ “Bring me,” ’ sang the ladies of Upper Quintern, ‘ “my Bow of Burning Gold.” ’
‘ “Bring me,” ’ itemized the Hon. Mrs Foster, sailing up into a thready descant, ‘ “my Arrows of Desire.” ’
‘ “Bring me,” ’ stipulated the vicar’s wife, adjusting her pince-nez and improvising into seconds, ‘ “my Chariot of Fire.” ’
Mrs Jim Jobbin sang with the rest. She had a high soprano and a sense of humour and it crossed her mind to wonder what Mrs Foster would do with Arrows of Desire or how nice Miss Preston of Keys House would manage a Spear, or how the vicar’s wife would make out in a Chariot of Fire. Or for a matter of that how she herself, hard-working creature that she was, could ever be said to rest or stay her hand, much less build Jerusalem here in Upper Quintern or anywhere else in England’s green and pleasant land.
Still, it was a good tune and the words were spirited if a little far-fetched.