I think that I can date my interest in the case from that first mention
of the A B C railway guide.Up till then I had not been able to raise much
enthusiasm.This sordid murder of an old woman in a back-street shop was so
like the usual type of crime reported in the newspapers that it failed to
strike a significant note.In my own mind I had put down the anonymous letter
with its mention of the 21st as a mere coincidence.Mrs Ascher，I felt
reasonably sure，had been the victim of her drunken brute of a husband.
But now the mention of the railway guide (so familiarly known by its
alphabetical order)sent a quiver of excitement through me.
Surely-surely this could not be a second coincidence?
The sordid crime took on a new aspect.
Who was the mysterious individual who had killed Mrs Ascher and left an
A B C railway guide behind him?
When we left the police station our first visit was to the mortuary to
see the body of the dead woman.A strange feeling came over me as I gazed
down on that wrinkled old face with the scanty grey hair drawn back tightly
from the temples.It looked so peaceful，so incredibly remote from violence.
"Never know who or what struck her，"observed the sergeant."That's what
Dr Kerr says.I'm glad it was that way，poor old soul.A decent woman she
was."
"She must have been beautiful once，"said Poirot.
"Really?"I murmured incredulously.
"But yes，look at the line of the jaw，the bones，the moulding of the
head."
Our next move was a brief interview with the police surgeon.
Dr Kerr was a competent-looking middle-aged man.He spoke briskly and
with decision.
"The weapon wasn't found，"he said.
"Impossible to say what it may have been.A weighted stick，a club，a
form of sandbag-any of those would fit the case."
"Would much force be needed to strike such a blow?"
The doctor shot a keen glance at Poirot.
"Meaning，I suppose，could a shaky old man of seventy do it?Oh，yes，
it's perfectly possible-given sufficient weight in the head of the weapon，
quite a feeble person could achieve the desired result."
"Then the murderer could just as well be a woman as a man?"
The suggestion took the doctor somewhat aback.
"A woman，eh?Well，I confess it never occurred to me to connect a woman
with this type of crime.But of course it's possible-perfectly possible.
Only，psychologically speaking，I shouldn't say this was a woman's
crime."
Poirot nodded his head in eager agreement.
"Perfectly，perfectly.On the face of it，highly improbable.But one must
take all possibilities into account.The body was lying-how?"
The doctor gave us a careful description of the position of the
victim.It was his opinion that she had been standing with her back to the
counter (and therefore to her assailant)when the blow had been struck.She
had slipped down in a heap behind the counter quite out of sight of anyone
entering the shop casually.
When we had thanked Dr Kerr and taken our leave，Poirot said:
"You perceive，Hastings，that we have already one further point in
favour of Ascher's innocence.If he had been abusing his wife and threatening
her，she would have been facing him over the counter.Instead she had her
back to her assailant-obviously she is reaching down tobacco or cigarettes
for a customer."
I gave a little shiver.
"Pretty gruesome."
Poirot shook his head gravely.
"Pauvre femme，"he murmured.
Then he glanced at his watch.
"Overton is not，I think，many miles from here.
Shall we run over there and have an interview with the niece of the dead
woman?"
"Surely you will go first to the shop where the crime took place?"
"I prefer to do that later.I have a reason."
He did not explain further，and a few minutes later we were driving on
the London road in the direction of Overton."
The address which the inspector had given us was that of a good-sized
house about a mile on the London side of the village.
Our ring at the bell was answered by a pretty dark-haired girl whose
eyes were red with recent weeping.
Poirot said gently:
"Ah!I think it is you who are Miss Mary Drower，the parlourmaid here?"
"Yes，sir，that's right.I'm Mary，sir."
"Then perhaps I can talk to you for a few minutes if your mistress will
not object.It is about your aunt，Mrs Ascher."
"The mistress is out，sir.Shen wouldn't mind，I'm sure，if you came in
here."
She opened the door of a small morning-room.We entered and Poirot，
seating himself on a chair by the window，looked up keenly into the girl's
face.
"You have heard of your aunt's death，of course?"
The girl nodded，tears coming once more into her eyes.
"This morning，sir.The police came over.Oh!
It's terrible!Poor auntie!Such a hard life as she'd had，too.And now
this-it's too awful."
"The police did not suggest your returning to Andover?"
"They said I must come to the inquest-that's on Monday，sir.But I've
nowhere to go there-I couldn't fancy being over the shop-now-and what with
the housemaid being away，I didn't want to put the mistress out more than
may be."
"You were fond of your aunt，Mary?"said Poirot gently.
"Indeed I was，sir.Very good she's been to me always，auntie has.I went
to her in London when I was eleven years old，after mother died.I started in
service when I was sixteen，but I usually went along to auntie's on my day
out.A lot of trouble she went through with that German fellow."My old devil，
"she used to call him.He'd never let her be in peace anywhere.Sponging，
cadging old beast."
The girl spoke with vehemence.
"Your aunt never thought of freeing herself by legal means from this
persecution?"
"Well，you see，he was her husband，sir，you couldn't get away from
that."
The girl spoke simply but with finality.
"Tell me，Mary，he threatened her，did he not?"
"Oh，yes，sir，it was awful the things he used to say.That he'd cut her
throat，and such like.Cursing and swearing too-both in German and in
English.And yet auntie says he was a fine handsome figure of a man when she
married him.It's dreadful to think，sir，what people come to."
"Yes，indeed.And so，I suppose，Mary，having actually heard these
threats，you were not so very surprised when you learnt what had happened?"
"Oh，but I was，sir.You see，sir，I never thought for one moment that he
meant it.I thought it was just nasty talk and nothing more to it.And it
isn't as though auntie was afraid of him.Why，I've seen him slink away like
a dog with its tail between its legs when she turned on him.He was afraid of
her if you like."
"And yet she gave him money?"
"Well，he was her husband，you see，sir."
"Yes，so you said before."He paused for a minute or two.Then he
said:"Suppose that，after all，he did not kill her."
"Didn't kill her?"
She stared.
"That is what I said.Supposing someone else killed her......Have you any
idea who that someone else could be?"
She stared at him with even more amazement.
"I've no idea，sir.It doesn't seem likely，though，does it?"
"There was no one your aunt was afraid of?"
Mary shook her head.
"Auntie wasn't afraid of people.She'd a sharp tongue and she'd stand up
to anybody."
"You never heard her mention anyone who had a grudge against her?"
"No，indeed，sir."
"Did she ever get anonymous letters?"
"What kind of letters did you say，sir?"
"Letters that weren't signed-or only signed by something like A B C."He
watched her narrowly，but plainly she was at a loss.She shook her head
wonderingly.
"Has your aunt any relations except you?"
"Not now，sir.One of ten shen was，but only three lived to grow up.My
Uncle Tom was killed in the war，and my Uncle Harry went to South America
and no one's heard of him since，and mother's dead，of course，so there's
only me."
"Had your aunt any savings?Any money put by?"
"She'd a little in the Savings Bank，sir-enough to bury her proper，
that's what she always said.Otherwise she didn't more than just make ends
meet-what with her old devil and all."
Poirot nodded thoughtfully.He said-perhaps more to himself than to her:
"At present one is in the dark-there is no direction-if things get
clearer-"He got up."If I want you at any time，Mary，I will write to you
here."
"As a matter of fact，sir，I'm giving in my notice.I don't like the
country.I satyed here because I fancied it was a comfort to auntie to have
me near by.But now"-again the tears rose in her eyes-"there's no reason I
should stay，and so I'll go back to London.It's gayer for a girl there."
"I wish that，when you do go，you would give me your address.Here is my
card."
He handed it to her.She looked at it with a puzzled frown.
"Then you're not-anything to do with the police，sir?"
"I am a private detective."
She stood there looking at him for some moments in silence.
She said at last:
"Is there anything-queer going on，sir?"
"Yes，my child.There is-something queer going on.Later you may be able
to help me."
"I-I'll do anything，sir.It-it wasn't right，sir，auntie being killed."
A strange way of putting it-but deeply moving.
A few seconds later we were driving back to Andover.
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