Maple investigates Kate’s home

Miss Maple investigates Kate’s home by making a solitary journey through the village and secretly listening outside Kate’s house. The excursion puts her in danger, but yields a revealing account of Kate’s grief and her furious rejection of Lilly, whose late apology exposes a painful conflict around George.

The Solo Investigation

Miss Maple tells the flock that she went to Kate’s house alone. On the way, a car nearly ran her over and a large red dog chased her. Rather than approach the house openly, she hid beneath a gorse bush outside it and listened through an open window. The investigation is both literal and risky: Miss Maple crosses the village, evades danger, and remains concealed to hear what is being said inside.

Her account also complicates the flock’s idea of an investigating detective. The sheep recognize the word from a detective story, where investigation means delving into other people’s business and getting into difficulties. Miss Maple’s experience fits that description closely. When Heather asks whether she was frightened, Miss Maple admits that she was; fear kept her under the bush for so long that the journey took much of the day. Her courage lies not in being unafraid, but in continuing to listen despite being afraid.

What She Overhears

Miss Maple reports that people had been visiting Kate in small groups from midday onward. They offered sympathy and urged Kate to be strong, while Kate, crying into a large piece of cloth, answered mostly with brief yeses and noes. The repeated condolences establish the public response to George’s death; Kate’s sparse replies show how little she can manage to say amid her grief.

Very late in the evening, Lilly arrives at the door. Kate stops crying and confronts her. Lilly says she only wanted to apologize, but Kate replies that at least Lilly had not had George, then slams the door in her face. Miss Maple compares Kate’s anger to that of an angry cat. The exchange makes the apology ineffective: Lilly’s attempt to express remorse meets a rejection sharpened by Kate’s accusation and grief.

Return and Significance

Miss Maple returns exhausted only when the moon is high. The sheep have waited outside for her, and Cloud licks her face as she approaches. Once they are gathered in the hay barn, Miss Maple shares what she heard, but the flock soon loses interest in the account and turns to its own worries. Her report therefore brings human sorrow and conflict into the sheep’s investigation without resolving either: Kate remains grieving, Lilly has been turned away, and Miss Maple has only what she could overhear from hiding.