A murder is announced in the Chipping Cleghorne Gazette. According to the report, this will take place on October 5 at seven o'clock in the evening in the cottage 'Little Paddock'. The people who live at that address, the retired secretary Miss Blacklock, her friend Miss Bunner, Miss Blacklock's distant cousin Patrick and Julia, and the gardener Mrs. Haymes, have no idea what the announcement is all about. Several villagers with all sorts of excuses come to watch the time in question to see what will happen.