Title: Careless Words
Fandom: Miss Marple
Rating: G
Length: 450 words
Summary: Is Edith Waters truly guilty of the murder of her father?

"Jane, have you heard the news?” Her friend was scarcely through the door when Dolly Bantry accosted her.  “They’ve arrested Edith Waters for the murder of her father.  How on earth the police can imagine a slip of a girl like that can have killed that hulking brute I have no idea.”

Miss Marple remained much calmer.  “I imagine they are saying she encouraged her boyfriend to actually kill him.  That wouldn’t surprise me at all.”

“But that can’t be true.”

“Maybe not, but I presume the police have sufficient proof for the moment.  We’ve all heard Edith telling him that if he were any sort of man, he’d make sure her father would let them marry one way or another.”

“She can’t have meant the boy to murder Waters,” Dolly protested.

“Well, it won’t have helped that she was heard boasting to her friends that, ‘now the old man’s dead, I’ll be getting married soon.’”

“Hmm.  Come into the lounge, we’ll have coffee in there.  But do you think she’s in serious danger of being charged for the murder?  Surely that sort of behaviour would indicate a silly girl, rather than one with evil intent.”

“Oh, Edith’s definitely a silly girl.  And one would like to think that being held in a police cell, even if only as a temporary event, would knock some sense into her, but somehow I doubt it.  I expect it will all depend if they charge the boy, what is his name, Thomas Brown.  If they do then she will have grave problems.  Of course, they shouldn’t charge him, but you can never tell.”

“Why shouldn’t they charge him?”

“Edith isn’t the only Waters woman who wanted to be rid of the father.  Her mother has been seeing someone else for some months now, and it is far more likely that he is the guilty party.”

“But shouldn’t you do something, Jane?  Speak to the police and tell them?”

“I don’t think they’ll be interested in the views of an elderly spinster.  Although I did phone them up and mention seeing the greengrocer’s van parked down a side street when I was walking back from the flower festival meeting two night’s ago.  And Mrs Walters hadn’t been at the meeting, despite being on the committee.  Inspector Slack said he’d ensure it was followed up.”

“In which case I have every confidence that the right person will be charged in the end.  And I suppose that means Edith will be getting married soon.”

“Oh no, dear.  I very much doubt Thomas Brown will want to marry her now.  He’s not going to want to be associated with someone whose careless words have him arrested for murder.”