The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie

Frank Pemberton greets Flavia very casually. Flavia tries to act casually though she is terrified, but Pemberton is not fooled. He watches her face “the way a cat watches the family canary when they’re alone in the house” (303). Flavia waits for Pemberton to make his first move and wonders how she can escape.

Pemberton heard that Flavia’s father is a renowned philatelist. He makes up a story about his publisher asking for a history of an obscure stamp and says that perhaps Flavia’s father could take on the assignment: “I expect your father wouldn’t say no to a bit of pocket change to buy a New Guinea ha’penny thingummy, would he?” (304). Insulted by this pretense, Flavia thinks of throwing sand in his eyes and running away.

Pemberton stands and says he saw her at the Thirteen Drakes, looking at the register as he arrived. Flavia replies that her friends work there, and she sometimes visits them. Pemberton is not fooled: “And do you always rifle the guests’ rooms?” (305). Flavia blushes involuntarily, and Pemberton says that it is as he suspected—there was something taken from the room that belonged to him.

Flavia calls his bluff, asking, “Are you referring to that old stamp?” (306).