Gladys Evans

Gladys Evans, later known as Mrs Roberts, is a former parlourmaid whose ordinary familiarity with a household turns her absence into a crucial clue. Because she would have recognized John Savage, her exclusion from the witnessing of his will helps Frankie Derwent and Bobby Jones uncover the suspected impersonation behind the forged document.

Identity and Employment

Evans had been in service at Tudor Cottage, where she worked for the Templetons for six months. The narrative identifies her as the house-parlourmaid, a role that brought her into regular contact with the people she served: unlike the cook, she waited on guests at dinner, called them, and brought them coffee. That close, routine access matters more than any formal authority she held.

By the time Frankie and Bobby search for her, Evans has returned to Wales and married. A post-office acquaintance identifies her married name as Roberts and says that she and her husband have gone into service together. The address she supplies is Mrs Roberts, The Vicarage, Marchbolt, Wales.

The Missing Witness

Frankie sees the importance of Evans’s position while reconsidering the arrangements for John Savage’s will. Mrs Templeton had sent for the gardener to witness it even though the house-parlourmaid was in the house. Bobby recognizes why the question matters: Evans would have known whether the man signing as Savage was really Savage.

Frankie concludes that Roger Bassington-ffrench impersonated Savage while the will was signed. In her reconstruction, the lawyer and witnesses could attest to the signature without being able to identify Savage reliably, whereas Evans’s familiarity with the household would have exposed the substitution. She suspects the real Savage was drugged and kept out of sight during the impersonation, then returned to his bed and given chloral before Evans found him dead. These details are Frankie’s explanation of the scheme, not independently confirmed knowledge attributed to Evans.

The distinction between household roles sharpens the clue: Frankie reasons that a house-parlourmaid, who regularly saw and served a visitor, could recognize him, while a cook might scarcely encounter him. The will’s choice of witnesses therefore looks less like a practical accident than a way of avoiding the one servant most likely to identify the impostor.

Rediscovery and Significance

Frankie and Bobby decide that they need to find Evans because she may be able to tell them what happened during her six months with the Templetons. They locate her through a conversation at a post office: Frankie mentions Gladys Evans, and the young woman recognizes the name, recalls her service at Tudor Cottage, and produces the address from a postcard Evans had sent.

The address brings the search unexpectedly back to Marchbolt. Evans is not merely a distant former servant whose testimony might be difficult to obtain; under her married name, she is listed at the local vicarage. Her importance to the mystery rests on the knowledge her work gave her: a servant’s everyday presence could supply the recognition that the lawyer and other witnesses lacked, and the effort to keep her from witnessing the will helps make the forgery legible.