Dorothy Spenlow

In the short story Tape-Measure Murder, Dorothy Spenlow was the wife of Arthur Spenlow. He was her second husband.

When Dorothy was young she worked as a between maid in the household of Sir Robert Abercrombie. She left her position and married the second gardener, with whom she opened a flower shop in London. The shop prospered, but her husband sickened and died before long. After his death she met Arthur, and they were married. Mr and Mrs Spenlow lived in Laburnum Cottage in St. Mary Mead. They seldom used the front room, preferring the small back sitting-room.

Rumours were that Mrs Spenlow had an affair with Ted Gerard, because he often came to see her. According to Miss Marple, quite a lot of people were convinced that Mrs Spenlow was infatuated with Ted, and had lent him quite a lot of money.

At the beginning of the story, Miss Politt knocked on the door of Laburnum Cottage, as she had an appointment with Mrs Spenlow for a dress fitting. She received no answer, and Mrs Spenlow was later found dead.

Mrs Spenlow was strangled, and the murder weapon had been taken away. She was found on the hearthrug in the sitting room, and there was a pin near her body.

It is revealed that Mrs Spenlow had been involved in a robbery at the house of Sir Robert Abercrombie, in which very valuable emeralds were stolen. She had started the flower shop with her share of the proceeds. After moving to St. Mary Mead, she encountered her accomplice.

Miss Marple surmises that Mrs Spenlow had been suffering from conscience, and was inclined to be emotionally religious. Ted Gerrard had probably urged her to "face up" and "come clean", and she was probably about to do it. However, her accomplice did not want to go to prison for a crime which had been committed years ago, so they killed Mrs Spenlow to prevent her from telling anyone.