Mr. and Mrs. Applegrove were cautious as they welcomed Mr. Baggins into their home; they were very much aware of what had brought him back to Gamwich, and both recalled that the last time he'd visited their farm, he had made their daughter cry by asking her questions. "We want to help over this awful business with that woman, Mr. Baggins, but I hope you an't going to be asking us upsetting questions this time," said Mrs. Applegrove.
"I hope I don't have to," Frodo replied politely. "I'm very sorry that I upset Miss Petula when I was last here. She hasn't held it against me all these years? If she has, then I would be more than happy to apologize to her if I'm given the opportunity."
At these words, the Applegroves began to relax. "Now, that's very kind of you, Mr. Baggins," said Mr. Applegrove. "I'm sure Pet would be glad to hear you say so--only, she isn't here."
"Not here?"
"No. She doesn't live with us any more."
"I don't suppose you've heard," added his wife. "Our Pet's married to a fine lad over in Nobottle. Her home's there now. She writes us now and again, she hasn't been back since she went away. That was last summer. She wasn't very happy here after all that trouble over that Glossum lad. I don't like to say so, seeing as how he was such a bad lot, but she took it hard, the terrible way he was killed."
The innocent and confiding tone of Mrs. Applegrove's speech told Frodo that she was still ignorant of the part her children had played in the murder of Malbo Glossum--although Petula, whom Frodo had believed to be the least involved, appeared to be the only one who felt any remorse about it. That Mr. Applegrove nodded in agreement and didn't try to stop his wife from speaking so unguardedly indicated that he was equally unaware of the truth. Now that they were assured that he hadn't come to disturb them with unpleasant, prying questions, they were no longer suspicious or wary of him. Frodo was dismayed. He suddenly felt certain that these two hobbits had nothing to hide.
"I'm sorry to have missed seeing her," he said. "I had the pleasure of meeting your elder daughter and her husband last night in the lane near old Mrs. Scuttle's place. You may have heard that her niece is staying there now."
Yes, the Applegroves had heard this news. With very little encouragement, they both spoke fondly of Lula Goodchild, as they'd known her when they were all young hobbits together. Yes, they acknowledged in answer to Frodo's question, they'd seen her when they'd attended Mrs. Scuttle's funeral. "But we didn't get a chance to speak," said Mrs. Applegrove. "I was hoping to afterwards when we went back to the old lady's house for refreshments, only we never got the chance. Once that other dead woman turned up the way she did, it spoiled everything. There was no thought of refreshments and we only wanted to go home. I expect I'll go over there in a day or two, once poor Lula's got her auntie's matters settled. I don't suppose you know if she's planning to stay on in Gamwich, do you, Mr. Baggins?"
After a few more minutes of seemingly innocuous chat, Frodo bid them good day and left the Applegrove farm in disappointment.
"There's nothing in it, Sam," he reported when he met his friend at the gate of the Scuttle smial; Sam had been keeping watch for his return. "Unless the Applegroves are the coolest pair of criminals I've ever met, they're simply prosperous, middle-aged farm-folk with no guilty knowledge of any kind. They know nothing of murder and aren't planning any sort of trickery. They both speak well of your aunt and mother. Mr. Applegrove didn't realize you were Bell Goodchild's son, by the way. He was delighted when I told him. I saw no sign that he bears any kind of a grudge toward your family or wishes them harm."
"What about that Leekey feller?" asked Sam.
"He does manage the orchard bookkeeping, but Mr. Applegrove doesn't seem to regard him as more than a useful man-of-business. Mr. Applegrove admits he has no good head for mathematics himself. There was never anything between Ramson Leekey and Petula." Frodo leaned upon the gate with both hands gripping the top rail and sighed. "She doesn't even live here anymore."
"So you were wrong about `em."
"Wrong," Frodo agreed. "Wrong from first to last. If someone did murder that woman in mistake for your aunt Lula, they had no part in it. Maybe I was wrong about that as well." Sam reached over the gate between them to pat him consolingly on the shoulder, and Frodo let his forehead rest upon his friend's breastbone. "We'll have to start over again at the beginning, Sam," he said without lifting his head. "We've still no idea who that woman is or how she came to be in Gamwich. How she 'came here to die,' but never expected to be murdered. The only thing we can look into is who might've known that that vault door was unlocked at the opportune time."
At that moment, he realized that it didn't matter. He'd wondered from the first about the coincidence of the vault's being left unlocked just when someone had needed a place to hide the body of the unknown woman, but he hadn't given that peculiar circumstance the attention it deserved. He'd let himself be distracted by the appearance of Silvanus and Pendira Woodbine and his suspicions of them and their family. Now, he saw that the murder didn't need to have occurred on that one night. It hadn't been. There was one person who could've unlocked the door to place the body inside the vault any time he liked after the cleaners had been there. They had very probably finished their task and returned the keys before the unfortunate woman had even come to Gamwich to be murdered.
"That's it! Sam, I've been a fool," Frodo cried out and lifted his head to kiss his startled friend. "She isn't a missing woman, but one who people believe is alive and well elsewhere. My dear, are you willing to take a little journey? I want you to ride to Cullodown Hills."
Sam was bewildered by this abrupt change in Frodo's demeanor, but he was always willing to undertake whatever errands Frodo required. "It's safe to go and leave Aunt Lula?" he asked.
"Perfectly safe, dear Sam," Frodo assured him. "She's never been in any danger at all. I'm sorry that I ever made her believe she was, and I'll go and apologize as soon as I see you off."
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