Late, Late in the Evening

LATE, LATE IN THE EVENING

Gladys Mitchell

CHIVERS

THORNDIKE

This Large Print edition is published by BBC Audiobooks Ltd, Bath, England and by Thorndike Press, Waterville, Maine, USA.

Published in 2004 in the U.K. by arrangement with the author's estate.

Published in 2004 in the U.S. by arrangement with Gregory & Company Author's Agents.

U.K. Hardcover ISBN 0-7540-7688-1 (Chivers Large Print)

U.K. Softcover ISBN 0-7540-7689-X (Camden Large Print)

U.S. Softcover ISBN 0-7862-5948-5 (General)

Copyright © 1976 by Gladys Mitchell

The moral rights of the author have been asserted.

All rights reserved.

All situations in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to living persons is purely coincidental.

The text of this Large Print edition is unabridged.

Other aspects of the book may vary from the original edition.

Set in 16 pt. New Times Roman.

Printed in Great Britain on acid-free paper.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data available

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Mitchell, Gladys, 1901-

Late, late in the evening / Gladys Mitchell.

p. cm.

ISBN 0-7862-5948-5 (lg. print: sc : alk. paper)

1. Bradley, Beatrice Lestrange (Fictitious character)-Fiction.

2. Women detectives-England-Oxfordshire-Fiction.

3. Oxfordshire (England)-Fiction. 4. Large type books. I. Title.

PR6025.I832L38 2004

823'.912-dc22 2003060182

To REG,

with happy memories of Auld Lang Syne

CONTENTS

Part One: Evidence

1 Margaret and Kenneth

2 Mr Ward

3 The Sheepwash

4 Tea-Party and After

5 Mrs Kempson Puts Pen to Paper

6 All the Fun of the Fair

7 Margaret, Kenneth and Lionel

8 Mrs Kempson Again

9 Letters

10 The Hermit's Cottage

11 Our Special Correspondent

Part Two: Verdict

12 Mrs Lestrange Bradley Takes a Hand

13 The Children's Crusade

14 The Hill Village Irregulars

15 Mrs Lestrange Bradley Again

16 The Wrongful Heir

17 No Alibis

18 The Penny Drops

19 Margaret and Kenneth

Part One: Evidence

CHAPTER ONE