Free Devious Murder by George Bellairs

with a huge Bible and a carafe of stale-looking water on it. ‘Love One Another’ in large letters on the wall behind the lectern. There was a shabby carpet on the floor and the walls were painted a dismal brown.
    â€˜I trust this will be convenient,’ said Mr. Binder, without explaining the function of the room or his connection with whatever normally went on in it. It later turned out that in addition to his domestic agency Mr. Binder was head of the London branch of a wealthy American religious organisation, the Pentecostal Baptists, who gathered in his spare room for services and frequently adjourned to a tributary of the Thames which flowed through Mr. Binder’s garden at Chiswick, there to plunge and immerse themselves to initiate new members of the body. It was financed by a huge legacy from a pious multi-millionaire and Mr. Binder was a trustee for the United Kingdom and Southern Ireland. His earthly reward for such services was substantial.
    Littlejohn, Cromwell and Miss Blower made themselves as comfortable as possible on the steel-framed chairs and sat looking like three penitents awaiting conversion.
    Marlene Blower was a small well-developed woman approaching her forties. She wore the brave, faded look of one who worries about where her next engagement is coming from. Her hair was auburn and dyed to hide the grey. She seemed dependable and ready for a good day’s work. Littlejohn, depressed by their puritan surroundings, got on with the interview without delay.
    â€˜This won’t take long, Miss Blower.…’
    â€˜When I’m in service, sir, I’m known as Molly.…’
    She looked surprised at the formal address and would obviously be more at ease by her working-name.
    â€˜We won’t keep you long, Molly. How long have you been in service at
The Limes
?’
    â€˜Two months, sir. I finished yesterday morning.’
    â€˜After Mrs. Havenith had left?’
    â€˜Yes, all the extra staff finished then. I’m free for another job now.’
    â€˜Had you ever been there before?’
    â€˜Yes. Quite a lot. I get on well with Mrs. Morgan. She always asks Mr. Binder, for me when they need extra staff.’
    â€˜What were your duties there?’
    â€˜I was engaged as a parlour maid, but actually I did other work as well.’
    â€˜What was the nature of it?’
    She paused, thinking what she was expected to say.
    â€˜Well … whenever there was a party I waited at table. All of us did.’
    â€˜How many extras were employed at such times?’
    â€˜Whenever Mrs. Havenith was in residence four of us were engaged. You see, some of her friends sometimes stayed the night and we had to do bedroom service. We didn’t have set duties. We just did what Mrs. Morgan told us.’
    â€˜Which of the four of you was what we might call head maid?’
    â€˜After Mrs. Morgan, the housekeeper, I was senior.’
    â€˜Did being senior call for any special duties?’
    â€˜Yes, sir. Mrs. Morgan acted as personal maid to Mrs. Havenith. Unusual for. a housekeeper, but that’s the way it was. At home, in America, Mrs. Havenith had her own maid, a French girl, but in
The Limes
she preferred Mrs. Morgan and left Lucille, that’s the French girl, at home in Texas.’
    â€˜I gather Mrs. Havenith is in the Cotswolds at present. Who is her personal maid there?’
    â€˜I don’t know her name, but it’s some local girl she’s taken a fancy to. Mrs. Morgan never goes with her to Far Hills Manor. That’s the Cotswold house.’
    â€˜A queer arrangement’
    â€˜Mrs. Havenith had her own ways of doing things. It’s not up to us to criticise.’
    She said it obediently, like a child who’d learned its place.
    â€˜Did you ever assist Mrs. Morgan in dressing Mrs. Havenith, Molly?’
    â€˜Yes. If Mrs. Morgan ever wanted help she sent for me and I reached and fetched things, like dresses and