A Murder Is Announced

The Chipping Cleghorne Gazette announced that the murders would take place at Little Paddocks Cottage on 5 October at 7pm. None of the people who lived there, the retired secretary Miss Blacklock, her companion Miss Bonner, Miss Blacklock's two distant cousins Patrick and Julia, and the gardener Mrs Hyams, knew what the ad was about. Several villagers came to the house under the guise of "passing by" or "nearby". At 7:00 p.m. sharp, the lights go out and a man walks into the room and shines a flashlight in everyone's faces. Then gunshots were heard. When the lights came back on, they found that the person who had entered the room had been shot. Miss Marple must unmask the killer, but soon there will be more murders.