Agatha Christie, "The Perfect Maid"

Miss Marple tries to clear the name of young Gladys, the maid accused of attempting to steal a brooch from Miss Skinner.

(from Three Blind Mice, on loan from Inspector Ryan and Miss Jessica)

It’s not that the maid is too perfect. I don’t know what it is. Really, the ending makes sense except for motivation (unless the wrongdoer is just daffy) and how exactly what this person did was a crime. Egad, I’ve already said too much. I’ll not be a spoiler!
But, it’s my first Agatha Christie experience (outside the made-for-gogglebox fare, of course) and just my luck I picked a story without a murder. Oh well. No I didn’t solve the mystery. I thought the culprit was climbing through ventilation ducts. Anyway, it’s a funny little story, though every single character is ridiculously high brow.
Okay, my poppets, read the story here and explain it to me. While you’re at it, tell me what they mean by “smut.” Cause that word doesn’t make sense to me the way they’re using it.

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