The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie

As Flavia rides to Hinley, she wonders how the police can think her father killed Horace Bonepenny. At a bus stop along the way, Flavia sees Maximilian Brock, a neighbor and retired musician. Maximilian calls out to her, and she feels obligated to stop and talk.

Maximilian asks after Flavia’s health and that of her family. Flavia asks Maximilian if he has ever visited Stavanger, to find out where it is. Maximilian confirms that it is in Norway, which excites Flavia. Maximilian launches into a long description of a concert tour he had in Norway. Flavia manages to learn the port by which one would travel to Stavanger, which is Newcastle-upon-Tyne. The bus arrives, and Flavia resumes her ride to Hinley.

The Hinley police station is in an old coach house. Flavia enters and tries to walk past the desk sergeant, who stops her and then grabs her arm when she tries to keep walking. Flavia cries to elicit sympathy, and the sergeant, Constable Glossop, comforts her. Flavia asks to see her father, and the friendly constable tells her to wait in a shabby room.

Thinking that this was all a mistake, Flavia gets up to leave. Making her way outside, Flavia sees that Gladys is gone; “I looked this way and that, and somehow, frighteningly, the streets seemed suddenly different now that I was on foot” (166-67).