Sanctuary: A Miss Marple Short Story by Agatha Christie (1986)

Mrs. Harmon, the vicar's wife gathers flowers to fill vases in the church, enters to find a terrible misfortune. She finds a man lying on the floor with a dark stain on his clothing that is probably drying blood. His only word he spoke was 'sanctuary'. Checking his pulse, weak but rapid, she races to Dr.Griffith's practice nearby for help. When they arrive back in the sanctuary, he asses the man's health and calls the police and an ambulance. Sadly a few minutes later the man has passed away from the bullet wound.

When Sargent Hayes arrives he goes over the items the man had in his possession. A coat, watch, wallet and half a ticket for London. He tells Mrs. Harmom that a Mr. and Mrs. Eccles called in regards to this man, says that his name is Sandbourne, her brother. Apparently he left with Mr. Eccles's revolver and was very depressed. Just as Sargent Hayes left, The Eccles's arrived to speak with Mrs. Harmon. After talking with them in regards to her brother's depression, they insist on having his coat. The maid had already taken it in the back so Mrs. Harmon goes to find it. It was stained and very dirty but the couple insisted it was very important to them that they have it along with all of his last possessions. The police took the rest of his items as evidence to the station, so it was no longer there.

Mrs. Harmon goes to speak with her husband. She tells him how the man's family was not remorseful and very detached from the situation. She also asks him about the man's last word, 'sanctuary'. From A.D. 399 there have been motions for people seeking sanctuary in churches, and laws being implemented in England in A.D. 600.

After he is done speaking, she tells him that she wishes to go shopping for fabrics for the church and wants to visit Aunt Jane Marple to seek counsel on this ordeal.

Miss Marple was staying at her nephew Raymond's as him and his wife were on vacation in the America's for a while. Mrs. Harmon tells Aunt Jane of the events that unfolded in the church and asks for advice. Aunt Jane agrees with her that the couple that came to visit her were posing as family and probably had something to do with his death. She tells Aunt Jane that she noticed a small secret area on the coat when she was retrieving it. She found a cloak ticket from the train station, and held onto this and the couple did not know that she had taken it. After going shopping with Aunt Jane, they head to the train station to locate any items that were left at the cloak room. There was a suitcase. As Mrs. Harmon attempts to return home a man tries to steal her suitcase and insists that it is his. Thankfully a police constable witnesses this event and the man apologies for taking the bag. Mrs. Harmon and Aunt Jane switched suitcases at the cloak room, because Jane feared someone would attempt to steal it and she was correct.

The next day they are greeted by Inspector Craddock, someone that knew Miss Marple quite well. He explains to the two women that the man in the church, his name was Walter St. John and he had escaped from prison a few days prior to the incident in the church. He was charged with possible jewelry theft. Him and his wife had a daughter whom they had to give up and someone else had to raise her. But this did not explain why he entirely came to their town. After thinking, Mrs. Harmon remembered a young girl in town was being raised by two eldery people and both had been admitted for ill health and she was trying to find a new home to prevent her from going into foster care. After opening the suitcase they discovered what those men were after from Walter St. John.

This was quite an interesting murder. A small hand revolver in England at this time would have been a Webley (pictured above), which gained its popularity during World War II. The man was probably shot at about twenty feet away cause she indicated that the bullet was lodged if any closer it would have exited clean. At first I found it odd that the man had made his way to the church. The doctor was rather close to it. But after doing some research, those laws that the Vicar referred to are still implemented today, and people that seek sanctuary or safety can find this inside a church. Mentally, if he was being chased by the men that shot him he was more concerned about his safety over his health and knew that someone there could hopefully help him. What's sad is that he was trying to go and help his daughter, but wasn't able to do that. He may have made some poor choices to get him where he was, but he still had a good heart to help another person. It was great discovering that Jane has another niece. I know she has many nieces and nephew's which we hear about quite often. And its not everyday that your picking flowers and discover someone that needs your help. Sometimes the unexpected moments when we need to offer help are the most rewarding.