Murder by Matchlight by Edith Caroline Rivett

None of the tenants at Belfort Grove had telephones in their flats, but there was a call-box in the hall. This was answered by the housekeeper, Mrs. Maloney, when she happened to hear it. Mrs. Maloney disliked climbing stairs—a not unreasonable aversion since her age was nearer to the constable’s guess of eighty than the sixty-five years which she claimed officially. In order to save her legs, she was careful to observe when the tenants went out, so that she need not mount the stairs unnecessarily if a telephone call came for them. Over the telephone, as over much else, Mrs. Maloney “obliged.” It was not part of her official duty to answer the telephone, but it was a profitable sideline for her, for the tenants were quite willing to pay a few pence for her trouble when she fetched them for a call or took a message for them. The afternoon was generally a peaceful time for her, for most of the tenants were out and she had the place to herself.

On this particular afternoon she was “doing” Mrs. Rameses’ bedroom: she knew that everybody was out except Mr. Carringford, and when she heard the telephone bell she disregarded it. The bell went on ringing, however, with quite unusual persistence, and at last, in sheer exasperation, she went to answer it, and having grasped the purport of the message she toiled up to Mr. Carringford’s flat and rang his bell.