The Big Book of Christmas Mysteries Part 114

"You remember the line was out of order," said Miss Marple. "That was a piece of his work. He couldn't afford to have the police on the spot too soon. When they did come, they spent some time in the manager's office before going up to the bedroom. That was the weakest point-the chance that someone might notice the difference between a body that had been dead two hours and one that had been dead just over half an hour; but he counted on the fact that the people who first discovered the crime would have no expert knowledge."

Dr. Lloyd nodded.

"The crime would be supposed to have been committed about a quarter to seven or thereabouts, I suppose," he said. "It was actually committed at seven or a few minutes later. When the police surgeon examined the body it would be about half-past seven at earliest. He couldn't possibly tell."

"I am the person who should have known," said Miss Marple. "I felt the poor girl's hand and it was icy cold. Yet a short time later the inspector spoke as though the murder must have been committed just before we arrived-and I saw nothing!"

"I think you saw a good deal, Miss Marple," said Sir Henry. "The case was before my time. I don't even remember hearing of it. What happened?"

"Sanders was hanged," said Miss Marple crisply. "And a good job too. I have never regretted my part in bringing that man to justice. I've no patience with modern humanitarian scruples about capital punishment."

Her stern face softened.

"But I have often reproached myself bitterly with failing to save the life of that poor girl. But who would have listened to an old woman jumping to conclusions? Well, well-who knows? Perhaps it was better for her to die while life was still happy than it would have been for her to live on, unhappy and disillusioned, in a world that would have seemed suddenly horrible. She loved that scoundrel and trusted him. She never found him out."

"Well, then," said Jane Helier, "she was all right. Quite all right. I wish-" she stopped.

Miss Marple looked at the famous, the beautiful, the successful Jane Helier and nodded her head gently.

"I see, my dear," she said very gently. "I see."

Permissions Acknowledgments.

Catherine Aird: "Gold, Frankincense and Murder" by Catherine Aird, copyright 1995 by Catherine Aird. Reprinted by permission of K. H. McKintosh and Aitken Alexander a.s.sociates, Ltd.

Doug Allyn: "An Early Christmas" by Doug Allyn, copyright 2009 by Douglas Allyn. Reprinted by permission of the author.

Isaac Asimov: "The Thirteenth Day of Christmas" by Isaac Asimov, copyright 1981 by Isaac Asimov. Reprinted by permission of the Estate of Isaac Asimov.

Robert Barnard: "Boxing Unclever" by Robert Barnard, copyright 1995 by Robert Barnard. Reprinted by permission of Robert Barnard and Gregory and Company, Authors' Agents.

Josephine Bell: "The Carol Singers" by Josephine Bell, copyright 1964 by Josephine Bell. Reprinted by permission of Curtis Brown Group, Ltd., London, on behalf of the Estate of Josephine Bell.

Marjorie Bowen: "Cambric Tea" by Marjorie Bowen, copyright 1928 by Marjorie Bowen. Reprinted by permission of Mrs. Sharon Eden.

Agatha Christie: "The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding" by Agatha Christie, copyright 1923 by Agatha Christie and 1961 by Agatha Christie Limited. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Ltd.

Agatha Christie: "A Christmas Tragedy" by Agatha Christie, copyright 1932 by Agatha Christie Limited. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Ltd.

Mary Higgins Clark: "That's the Ticket" by Mary Higgins Clark, copyright 1989 by Mary Higgins Clark. Reprinted by permission of the author.

Max Allan Collins: "A Wreath for Marley" by Max Allan Collins, copyright 1995. First published in Dante's Disciples, edited by Edward Kramer and Peter Crowther; White Wolf Publis.h.i.+ng. Reprinted by permission of Max Allan Collins and Dominick Abel Literary Agency, Inc.

Joseph Commings: "Serenade to a Killer" by Joseph Commings, copyright 1957 by Joseph Commings. Reprinted by permission of the Archdiocese of St. Petersburg, Florida, on behalf of the author's sister's estate.

Colin Dexter: "Morse's Greatest Mystery" by Colin Dexter, copyright 1993 by Colin Dexter. Reprinted by permission of the author.

Stanley Ellin: "Death on Christmas Eve" by Stanley Ellin, copyright 1950 by Stanley Ellin. First appeared in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine. Reprinted by permission of Curtis Brown, Ltd.

Ed Gorman: "The Christmas Kitten" by Ed Gorman, copyright 1997 by Ed Gorman. First published in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine. Reprinted by permission of the author and Dominick Abel Literary Agency, Inc.

Ron Goulart: "A Visit from St. Nicholas" by Ron Goulart, copyright 1993 by Ron Goulart.

Cyril Hare: "Sister Bessie" by Cyril Hare, copyright 1949 by Cyril Hare. Reprinted by permission of the author's estate and A. P. Watt Ltd.

Edward D. Hoch: "The Christmas Client" by Edward D. Hoch, copyright 1996 by Edward D. Hoch. Reprinted by permission of Patricia M. Hoch.

H. R. F. Keating: "A Present for Santa Sahib" by H. R. F. Keating, copyright 1989 by H. R. F. Keating. Reprinted by permission of Sheila Mitch.e.l.l.

Andrew Klavan: "The Killer Christian" by Andrew Klavan, copyright 2007 by Amalgamated Metaphor. Reprinted by permission of the author.

Gillian Linscott: "A Scandal in Winter" by Gillian Linscott, copyright 1996. Reprinted by permission of the author.

d.i.c.k Lochte: "Mad Dog" by d.i.c.k Lochte, copyright 1993 by d.i.c.k Lochte. Reprinted by permission of the author.

Peter Lovesey: "The Haunted Crescent" by Peter Lovesey, copyright 1989 by Peter Lovesey. Reprinted by permission of Peter Lovesey and Gelfman-Schneider Literary Agency.

Peter Lovesey: "The Proof of the Pudding" by Peter Lovesey, copyright 1995 by Peter Lovesey. Reprinted by permission of Peter Lovesey and Gelfman-Schneider Literary Agency.

John Lutz: "The Live Tree" by John Lutz, copyright 1989 by John Lutz. First published in Mistletoe Mysteries, edited by Charlotte MacLeod, the Mysterious Press. Reprinted by permission of John Lutz and Dominick Abel Literary Agency, Inc.

John D. MacDonald: "Dead on Christmas Street" by John D. MacDonald, copyright 1952 by John D. MacDonald; copyright renewed 1980 by Maynard MacDonald. Reprinted by permission of Maynard MacDonald and Diskant a.s.sociates.

Ngaio Marsh: "Death on the Air" by Ngaio Marsh, copyright 1948. Reprinted by permission of the Estate of Ngaio Marsh and Aitken Alexander a.s.sociates, Ltd.

Ed McBain: "And All Through the House" by Ed McBain, copyright 1994 by Hui Corporation. Reprinted by permission of the author's estate and Gelfman-Schneider Literary Agency.

Susan Moody: "More Than Flesh and Blood" by Susan Moody, copyright 1995 by Susan Moody. Reprinted by permission of the author.

Bradford Morrow: "The Uninnocent" by Bradford Morrow, copyright 2011 by Bradford Morrow. Reprinted by permission of the author.

John Mortimer: "Rumpole and the Spirit of Christmas" by John Mortimer, copyright 1992 by John Mortimer. Reprinted by permission of the Estate of John Mortimer and United Agents.

Norvell Page: "Crime's Christmas Carol" by Norvell Page, copyright 1939 by Popular Publications, Inc. First published in Detective Tales; copyright renewed 1967 and a.s.signed to Argosy Communications, Inc. All rights reserved. Reprinted by arrangement with Argosy Communications, Inc.

Sara Paretsky: "Three-Dot Po" by Sara Paretsky, copyright 1984 by Sara Paretsky. First published in The Eyes Have It, edited by Robert J. Randisi, the Mysterious Press. Reprinted by permission of Sara Paretsky and Dominick Abel Literary Agency, Inc.

Ellis Peters: "The Price of Light" by Ellis Peters, copyright 1979 by Ellis Peters. First published in Winter's Crimes #11, Macmillan. Reprinted by permission of United Agents.

Ellis Peters: "The Trinity Cat" by Ellis Peters, copyright 1976 by Ellis Peters. First published in Winter's Crimes #8, Macmillan. Reprinted by permission of United Agents.

Ellery Queen: "The Adventure of the Dauphin's Doll" by Ellery Queen, copyright 1948 by The American Mercury, Inc.; copyright renewed 1975 by Ellery Queen. Reprinted by permission of Frederic Dannay Literary Trust and the Manfred B. Lee Family Literary Property Trust, represented by Joshua Bilmes.

Mary Roberts Rinehart: "The Butler's Christmas Eve" by Mary Roberts Rinehart, copyright 1944 by The Mary Roberts Rinehart Literary Trust. Reprinted by permission of The Mary Roberts Rinehart Award.

Peter Robinson: "Blue Christmas" by Peter Robinson, copyright 2005 by Eastvale Enterprises, Inc. First published by Crippen & Landru. Reprinted by permission of Peter Robinson and Dominick Abel Literary Agency, Inc.

Damon Runyon: "Dancing Dan's Christmas" by Damon Runyon, copyright 1932 by Damon Runyon. Copyright 2008 by American Rights Management Co., LLC. Reprinted by permission of Viking Penguin, a division of Penguin Group (USA), Inc.

Jonathan Santlofer: "The 74th Tale" by Jonathan Santlofer, copyright 2008 by Jonathan Santlofer. Reprinted by permission of the author.

Joseph Shearing: "The Chinese Apple" by Joseph Shearing, copyright 1949 by Joseph Shearing. Reprinted by permission of Mrs. Sharon Eden.

Rex Stout: "Christmas Party" by Rex Stout, copyright 1957 by Rebecca Stout Bradbury and Barbara Stout; copyright renewed 1985 by Rebecca Stout Bradbury and Barbara Stout. Reprinted by permission of Rebecca Stout Bradbury and Barbara Stout.

Julian Symons: "The Santa Claus Club" by Julian Symons, copyright 1960 by Julian Symons. Reprinted by permission of Curtis Brown Group, Ltd, London, on behalf of the Estate of Julian Symons.

Donald E. Westlake: "The Burglar and the Whatsit" by Donald E. Westlake, copyright 1996 by Donald E. Westlake. Reprinted by permission of the Estate of Donald E. Westlake and Einstein-Thompson Literary Management.

Ethel Lina White: "Waxworks" by Ethel Lina White, copyright 1930 by Ethel Lina White. Reprinted by permission of the Estate of Ethel Lina White and Pollinger, Ltd.

ALSO EDITED BY OTTO PENZLER..

The Big Book of Ghost Stories.

Zombies! Zombies! Zombies!.

The Big Book of Adventure Stories.

The Vampire Archives.

Agents of Treachery.

Bloodsuckers.

Fangs.

Coffins.

The Black Lizard Big Book of Black Mask Stories.

The Black Lizard Big Book of Pulps.

end.