Agatha Raisin and the Murderous Marriage

got those old-fashioned filing cabinets. I bet the records about the time of Jimmy’s visit are still in one of those.’ He tried a top drawer of one. It slid open easily. ‘Good,’ he muttered. ‘Let’s hope there’s something under Raisin.’ He searched all the files in both cabinets without finding anything.
    ‘Now what?’ he asked.
    ‘Try under Gore-Appleton,’ urged Agatha. ‘Jimmy could never afford a place like this, so it stands to reason she would make the booking and pay for it.’
    He grunted and went back to his searching while Agatha stood looking through the office window into the hall in case anybody came.
    At last he said, ‘Got it! Gore-Appleton, 400a Charles Street, Mayfair. Booking for a Mr J. Raisin. Five years ago.’
    Agatha groaned. ‘But how do we find out who was resident at the same time?’
    ‘Damn, I didn’t think of that. We signed a book, a register. It was a fairly new one. The old ones must be somewhere.’
    ‘What about that cupboard over there?’
    ‘Locked,’ said James. ‘But simple to pick.’
    Agatha waited while he fiddled with the lock, growing more nervous by the minute. Surely their luck could not continue to hold. And would she hear anyone coming? The whole place was thickly carpeted.
    ‘Here we are,’ said James. He took a small notebook out of his pocket and began to write.
    ‘Hurry up,’ pleaded Agatha.
    ‘That’s it,’ he said after a few more agonizing minutes. ‘Let’s put it all back and lock up.’
    Agatha heaved a sigh of relief when they were outside the office and back in the hall.
    ‘What did you get?’ she was asking when a smooth voice from the direction of the stairs made them both jump.
    ‘Is there anything you need?’ Mr Adder stood there in a black dressing-gown with a gold cord, his eyes gleaming behind his spectacles.
    ‘No, no,’ said James airily. ‘Just been for a run.’
    ‘Indeed,’ said Mr Adder, approaching them, his eyes fastening on the notebook which James was shoving back into his pocket. ‘How did you get outside? The doors are locked at midnight.’
    ‘Up and down the stairs,’ said Agatha.
    ‘Up and down the stairs?’
    ‘I am so silly,’ gushed Agatha. ‘I have these step things at home. You know, one of those exercise machines. Well, it’s vanity. I really wanted to be trim and fit for my medical in the morning, so I said to James, “Let’s run up and down the stairs.” They are so thickly carpeted, I knew we wouldn’t disturb anyone.’
    Mr Adder’s eyes were uncomfortably shrewd. ‘You are therefore in better condition than I would have believed, Mrs Raisin. You are not out of breath, neither are you sweating.’
    ‘Oh, thank you !’ said Agatha. ‘I must really be quite fit, although I do confess to feeling a teensy bit tired. Bed, darling?’
    ‘Good idea,’ said James. ‘See you in the morning, Mr Adder.’
    He blocked their way. ‘You must not try to run your own programme or this whole stay will be a waste of your money and our time. Do not wander about during the night.’
    ‘Right,’ said James, putting an arm around Agatha’s shoulders. They walked on past Mr Adder.
    Agatha looked back as they gained the stairs. Mr Adder was trying the office door to make sure it was locked.
    ‘Phew,’ she said, when they were back in their room. ‘Think he swallowed that?’
    ‘No, but he probably thought we were looking for the kitchens and tried the office door just to be sure. Now I chose the names out of the register of the people who live near Mircester who were here at the same time as Jimmy.’ He flipped open the notebook. ‘We have Sir Desmond Derrington and Lady Derrington, a Miss Janet Purvey, and a Mrs Gloria Comfort. When we get out of here, however, the first thing we do is to go up to Charles Street in London and see if Mrs Gore-Appleton is still at the same address. Then we’ll start on these names.’
    ‘Have you paid for the whole week in advance?’ asked Agatha.
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘So don’t you think we should stay the whole week and get our money’s worth?’
    ‘I should die of boredom,’ said James, turning away to pick up his pyjamas and so missing the look of naked hurt in Agatha’s eyes. ‘May as well both get our medical check-up, have a swim or a massage or something, and then get the hell out of here.’
    Agatha found at her medical the following morning that her blood pressure and cholesterol levels were both a bit high. After a breakfast of