Pscycolgical exercise/The Christie Case

Chief Inspector Adrian Sole from New Scotland Yard was a man who never took any hobbies in his own free time. He felt that time drained his energy to do anything fun. He thought about going back to the 1930’s, but what can he do there? Nothing much.

“I doubt that someone from the 1930’s come to the front door and say that they got a problem on their own hands,” Sole muttered to himself as he stared blankly at the empty space until a door tapped loudly. His chest heaved for some time before he trudged at the door to see…

A young woman, dressed in black. Evidently 1930’s. Veil covered her face, she looked through Sole and coughed slightly at him. He stared at her, as though he demanded a name from her. She eventually gave her name when she opened her lips for the first time.

“My name is Margaret Frary Phillpotts, I’m Agatha’s older sister. I need your guidance, if that is possible,” she said, her lips trembled like an earthquake was about to erupt at any moment. Sole noted her lips and allowed her in.

“Do come in, ma’am… and make yourself comfortable. I take it you are referring to your sister’s untimely disappearance?” Sole asked as Mrs Phillpotts slowly nodded. She almost had tears in her eyes as she spoke.

“I care for her, and I think the worst thing could happen to her is… if she’s killed. I can’t bear the thought of her being killed, I really can’t,” she began quickly, but she wasn’t able to continue, due to her sobs that came after it. Sole understood the complications about the Christie case: an unhappy marriage, the mysterious retreat, and the untimely car accident that followed. He nodded and began to ask her a few questions.

“I see. When you’re quite settled down,” Sole gently said to her as he poured a glass of water and placed it in front of her to drink, “We’ll begin asking questions about your younger sister’s disappearance. Is that well with you?” He waited for her to respond, and the response came with a nod. He smiled a little and sat opposite, watching her eventually remove the veil and begins to drink that glass of water he offered. Mrs Phillpotts eventually composed herself, and looked at Sole with her tear-stained face. Sole took a deep breath and began the interview.

“As I understand it, you were at a family gathering in September, to celebrate your sister’s birthday. Can you try to recall on what happened on that day?” Sole asked as Mrs Phillpotts slowly nodded.

“Ah. It was around the sixth or seventh of August, 1926, when I visited the Christies for Agatha’s (Mrs Christie) birthday. Her daughter, Rosalind, came to me when they heard my rackety car coming towards the house.

‘Aunty Madge! Aunty Madge!’ she chortled out in joy when I got out of the car and was hugged by her. My sister and her husband followed her, just standing next to each other.

‘Well, it’s good to see you again, Madge. Where’s…’ Agatha began as I told her about his unfortunate illness that began to worsen and sends his apologies to the family for not attending. The Colonel, Mr Christie, shook my hand rather roughly as he greeted me. He hadn’t aged when I first met him, but something told me that his youth was exhausting him greatly.

‘Well, you can tell him I said that to get better soon. From what you wrote to my sister, it seemed that his illness is something more than she or I expected,’ he said smoothly, but what I can tell from my sister’s face is that of a disapproving look. She didn’t like what he said about my husband and his illness,” she began hesitantly, as Sole nodded sagely.

“And I suppose that you, Mr and Mrs Christie, and their daughter were the only people in the house, correct?” Sole asked as the woman shook her head.

“No, not quite. There’s the secretary, her two ‘faithful’ maids, the cook, the gardener and his wife, and the butler. Mainly the butler does most of the main jobs there,” she answered as Sole nodded and took a mental note of it down.

“I see. And during the course of your stay, including your sister’s birthday, was there anything, anything that might be considered as odd? Even if it’s something that’s not important,” he inquired as her sister thought long and hard.

“Yes. One time, a few days before Agatha’s birthday, she was arguing with her husband about her career. I was going down the stairs before she yelled at the top of her voice.

‘So, you believe that a woman’s place in society is in the kitchen and act like an ignorant fool? Can’t you see that I’m bringing in the money, and what do you bring? Nothing. Nothing to the table,’ she hollered at the top of her voice, and I stopped halfway to hear what he had to say.

‘For God’s sakes, Mary, don’t you see that this detective of yours is destroying our marriage? You spend your time in that blasted laboratory of yours,’ he yelled back at her, a thump on the table for emphasis, ‘Instead of spending time with your family. Do you really want our daughter to grow up without her mother? Not seeing her prospective fiancé, not her marriage, nor her children? I doubt it because she hardly even knows you anymore! She clearly hates you for who you are, Mary!’ and by the tone he set, she slapped him across the face. That was the time that I had to move my body as though nothing had happened. And then, it was her birthday. She was in high spirits on that morning, something that I could remember before chaos broke loose,” Mrs Phillpotts explained in full as Sole encouraged her to continue.

“Then, what happened on her birthday?” Sole asked as Mrs Phillpotts sipped a little more water. He noted her hands trembled as she began to introduce the next phase of the story.

“Agatha greeted me at the living room, and said my birthday greetings to her. She smiled and thanked me.

‘My dearest Madge. I am happy that you’re here with me, Archie and Rosalind. And… just to amuse you, Madge, I have another book to present to you,” she said as I arched my eyebrow with interest.

‘And, pray tell, Mrs Doyle (we joked about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle when we were younger) what is this next book about?’ I asked with amusement as she lowered her voice, as though it was a very tight secret.

‘Ah… well, here’s a hint: I have been playing with the idea that Watson should be a criminal. A murderer, as a matter of fact. A friend of mine suggested this to me, and I’m going to take the challenge. I may not be popular with the other crime writers, but I really don’t care about them. Really, these crime writers are very shallow about it, and I ask to myself why not? It would create a nice stir indeed,’ she giggled as I smiled big and wide. That was an idea that I would’ve dreamt of. That was until Mr Christie came in.

‘Well, ladies… I believe the others are waiting for you,’ he said coolly as we went outside like a bunch of giggling girls. She was happy and so kind… until the scandal came. It was a while later when the party started, and we saw a unfamiliar stranger, female, coming towards us. She shook our hands, politely, and introduced herself.

‘My apologies for interrupting your birthday, my dear Agatha… my name is Lady Highgain. Also known as Haley Painkin, the famous stage actress,’ she introduced herself quite rudely, but there was something in Agatha’s voice that wasn’t there before.

‘I don’t recall inviting you to my birthday party, Lady Highgain,’ she said coolly as the actress giggled at her. Really, she had very little intelligence whatsoever!

‘Well, lil’ old Archie did. Did he tell you that I am his fiancée? I think he told you that he renounced his engagement to me at first, but he… he renewed it, with very much enthusiasm,’ Lady Highgain told her, and I turned around to see him, quite upset, I think. It was at that point when Agatha returned to the house, not intending to come back at all. The rumors, at that point, began to spread,” she said as she took a deep, irregular breath from her lungs. Sole wrote everything down as she continued her narrative.

“The rumors took shape, and it was around in very late November when it happened. She wrote the whole incident to me, and how she reacted to the whole thing. Do you wish to see this letter? I haven’t send it to the police, just in case of scandal,” Mrs Phillpotts said quietly as Sole nodded.

“Please do. I will be more than happy to read it,” Sole said as she gingerly gave him the letter that contained Mrs Christie’s handwriting. Sole noted its elegance and the refined shapes on the paper, but he couldn’t help to notice the slight crookedness in some of the words that she wrote.





My dearest Madge,

The rumors were true. I thought, in my worst nightmares, that Archie was the masked gunman. He went towards the stairs, and I was standing there, not knowing what to do, on whether to run or to fight. I was like a trapped animal, Madge, until he told me those words.

‘Mary, I had enough. I want a divorce, and I want you to agree to it. It’s better for the both of us: you can go on your career alone, while I have a life with my new wife,’ he said quietly and calmly, while I stared at him.

‘So, the rumors were true, then,’ I said to him in a monotone voice. He nodded.

‘You’re supposed to be a crime and mystery writer, and you can’t tell that I was having an affair with Lady Highgain right in front of you? Bah! I told you that you weren’t good at this, and many mindless people buy your books because it amuses them. Admit it, Agatha, you are nothing to me, and I don’t want to know you any more, is that clear?’ he snarled as I slapped him and punched him as hard as I could before retiring to my bedroom to compose myself. The news didn’t sink in until I realized that I was losing Archie for real. Whatever happened to the Archie that I knew, the Archie who supported me when my first book was published? It seemed that everything else didn’t mattered anymore. For now, I am locking myself in my study with my secretary, Miss Holmes, and get the novel finished. Please send my well wishes to your husband, and hopefully will get better. Thank you for understanding in my time of grief.

Your loving sister,
Mary


Sole read the letter again, and nodded.

“And this was prior to her mysterious disappearance in December, as I believe it,” Sole said gently as she nodded.

“As far as I’m concerned, from what I heard from the butler, there were two people, and my sister who left the building without a trace and never returned. I don’t know what happened to her, and I’m anxious to find out what really happened to her when they found her car in the bushes!” she sobbed as Sole understood.

“Very well, I will do the very best as I can to find your sister. These events might help me have an advantage from what the police know at this point…”


Mr Archibald Christie, Agatha’s husband, sat in his chair, scoffingly smirked at the Indian detective as he looked at him.

“I don’t know why I should be interested in her disappearance, nor my involvement in it,” he said as Sole glared at him. His midnight eyes detected something that the young man was nothing more than ‘arrogant’. And, according to Sole, Mrs Christie had the perfect right to make him the most miserable man on earth.

“So, you weren’t aware that she left in the middle of the night?” Sole asked as Mr Christie snorted out loud.

“I was out with my new fiancée, with the good news. It took some time before the damn thing was processed, and I told her that everything was going to be smooth sailing from there onwards. She was delighted, and I stayed out until the morning. The maids were in utter shock when they told me the news about my ex wife disappearing like smoke. As if she wasn’t anything special,” he snorted as Sole growled at him.

“But if I find out that she’s murdered because she refused to agree to that divorce, you will be in more trouble than you could ever imagine, Colonel,” he warned as Mr Christie laughed out loud. For one thing, Sole thought that he looked like a drunken man, something that told him he was a dangerous sort of person to not mess around with.

“Ha! Me killing my ex wife for nothing? She has very little money to her name, and I really don’t give a damn about her miserable little life. But the earlier part about the divorce, sir… you were correct, which is very surprising that no-one even spotted that. She refused to give the divorce to me because she wanted to make me a miserable man. But I’m not going to let her do that. Oh no, she won’t,” he said, with a smug expression on his face. It looked as though he was going to have a tough battle on his hands…


When the two maids, the butler and the cook were busy in the kitchen, Sole looked at them for some time before he politely interrupted them. They stared at him, their eyes detected suspicion and their guard. Sole knew that the task wasn’t going to be easy, but still… he had to try.

“Who are yer, and what do you want with us?” the butler began as Sole smoothly introduced himself by bowing low before his introduction.

“My name is Adrian Sole. A private detective,” he said politely and authoritatively, handing over his business card. Even though he was a Chief Inspector in New Scotland Yard from the future, he was a private detective in the roaring twenties and the depressing thirties. The butler took his card at a cautious pace, and snorted.

“Sounds English enough. Is this about the mistress’s disappearance?” the butler asked suspiciously as Sole nodded. He knew that not much information could be given out, but…

“Yes, Hencraft, that is correct. Can you tell me more about your mistress’s odd behavior, or about the people that your mistress was with at the time,” Sole began quietly as the butler motioned the three of them to keep going with their own business.

“Well, the maids turned in early before the cook turned in, never went out due to her aching bones. Nothing much I can tell yer, other than the secretary, Mr Christie, the gardener and his wife, and I were out. That’s all I can remember,” he gruffly told him as he nodded.

“Very well… thank you for your time, then…”


It was a few days later that a body was found at the lake. A woman’s body, no doubt, around Christie’s height and age. Sole was there at the scene when it all happened. He looked at the lake for some time before he went to the investigating officer, Inspector Holograph. It seemed that he trusted Sole enough, unlike the others since he had the brain of a genius, like Hercule Poirot.

“It seems that her criminal tendencies got the better of her. Stabbed to death, at the base of the skull, her face smashed in to conceal her identity. Pretty ruthless, I might as well imagine,” Inspector Holograph added as Sole nodded.

“So the search ends here, right?” Sole asked as the Inspector nodded. The Inspector certainly looked grim on his face.

“Yes, quite right, old chap. And I think that if we figure out who’s in the car with her at the time, we might be lucky to uncover out her murderer. After all, it’s consistent with the bloodstains that we’d found in her car. Or what it looks like bloodstains. There’s also some at the steering wheel as well,” he explained as Sole nodded. He looked at the dead woman and hummed.

“Her hands… ink stain… and a soggy wet book in her pocket. Ugh,” Sole said as he picked it up gingerly and opened the book up to…

Miss Belinda Holmes. Sole closed the book and thought about it and his mind began to wonder…


The gardener and his wife were shocked to hear about her death.

“No… Mrs Christie can’t be dead… she has to be somewhere! She has to be!” he cried out as his wife joined in the chorus. Sole was surprised at this, but he listened to them, nevertheless.

“That is right, my dear… she never would allow anyone to kill her, she knew most things, and… she can’t be dead!” his wife added as Sole nodded.

“Well, a relative is on her way to identify her now. Perhaps you might like to tell me about the whereabouts on the night when she disappeared,” Sole said gently to them, a calm sound that was soothing for them. They nodded as soon as they got over their shock.

“Well, it was the night of our anniversary, (isn’t that right, Beatrice?) and we decided to go out for a change. None of that old, fancy-smancy stuff. I was about to tell the mistress about our anniversary, and she agreed, rather hastily.

‘Go, and don’t bother me!’ she told us and we left around nine and came back at eleven. Went to the nearest restaurant, and had that odd cuisine, what was that again?” the gardener began as his wife named Beatrice nodded.

“Yes, that’s right, George, and the odd thing is that she had the door closed. She didn’t know if she knew that we were on the other side or not,” Beatrice added as Sole nodded.

“And you don’t know if Mrs Christie was with someone at the time or if she was planning to leave in such a hurry?” Sole asked as the two shook their heads.

“Afraid not,” they chorused as Sole was left thinking…


Sole returned to the mansion, ready for more questions. He surveyed his surroundings, and felt as though evil just passed him by.

“Polite on the outside, but vulgar on the inside,” he muttered unconsciously before the butler named Hencraft opened the door.

“Who is this?” Hencraft asked as Sole presented his card to him.

“Can you show this to your master because I want to ask a few questions,” Sole asked as he also added, “And that includes you, Hencraft,” he added as Hencraft looked surprised at his response.

“Very good, sir,” he said quietly as he went back in for some time before Sole was officially invited. Well, partially invited. He saw an angry young man that stormed towards his direction as though he loathed him from the first time he saw him.

“I am not allowing foreign objects like you,” Mr Christie snarled as he pushed him outside of his house, “to ask any questions to my wife’s death,” he hollered at the end before he stopped pushing Sole.

“I see… so, you’re saying that you were in the car with your wife at the time before her disappearance?” Sole smirked as Mr Christie froze to the spot.

“What on earth do you mean?” he said, as though he was mesmerized by him. Sole began to explain with a snicker and a smirk.

“You so-called fiancée told me that you weren’t there at the time when she disappeared because you told her that you were taking Mrs Christie to a party on that very night. Meaning that you could’ve been the one who may have murdered your wife for marrying your fiancée?” he smirked as Mr Christie shook his head.

“That is not true… the… the… the cow! I told her that I was going to that damn party! She can’t even remember what I said to her! I was there for four hours!” he hissed through his teeth. Sole arched his eyebrows in amusement.

“So, she’s lying, you say? Are you sure?” Sole asked as Mr Christie nodded furiously.

“She is lying, I swear… and I believe that Hencraft was in the car at the time before I left…” he added as Sole turned his head around to see Hencraft’s reaction. It seemed that he was utterly shocked behind that cold exterior of his.

“Is that true, Hencraft? You don’t have to be loyal, since…” Sole looked at his master, cold and cruel as a savage dog, “he decided to betray you. So, Did you go out with your mistress on the night of her disappearance?” he asked at the end, in vain hopes that Hencraft would betray his master here and then. But he shook his head.

“No, I didn’t, sir. I went out to a friend’s place to have dinner. It was around eight when I left and returned around midnight,” Hencraft said quietly as Sole nodded.

“You had four hours at your friend’s place? I thought I’d leave after dinner… to attend to your duties and so forth, and dinner usually takes about an hour,” Sole pointed out as Hencraft looked at his master.

“I didn’t have much responsibilities on that particular night, sir… but Miss Holmes, the sectary, had a few responsibilities when she went out with my mistress,” Hencraft said to him as he nodded.

“Ah, very, very well…”


A phone call on the next day informed that a mysterious person, dressed in drabby clothes, appeared at a worn-down, not well furnished hotel. She appeared lost and confused. Her eyes were dull as it used to be, her hair was that of a wild, untamed beast. She blinked at the person who stood behind the counter. She murmured something incoherent to him.

“I… I… I’m hurt. I need help,” was all she said before she fainted on the floor. And then, there was chaos…


Sole arrived at the hotel. The woman looked familiar to him, her face was very distinguishable, despite the injuries caused to her face. He looked at her eyes before he began to speak.

“So, umm…” Sole began as she shrugged her shoulders.

“I don’t know my name. So, why do you want to talk to me?” she asked, not knowing what to do. Sole sat down and smiled.

“Very well. Do you remember about your birthday? When you were born?” he asked as she shook her head.

“Not particularly… but I do remember someone telling me about an affair… but I don’t know… sorry,” she began; her voice was filled with despair. Sole hurried on with the next few questions.

“And you can’t remember if you left the house and drove through the forest, right?” he asked as the young woman nodded.

“Eh? What are you talking about?” she asked, confused and innocent as she could muster. Sole had to give up on the matter. At the same time, her psychologist came into the room. He didn’t seem pleased that Sole was here, for that matter.

“Would you kindly get out of the room? Other than that damned butler nagging about hailing a taxi, get out!” he said coolly as Sole obeyed. There was something odd about the taxi booking.

“Hmmm… interesting…”


It was around lunchtime, a few weeks later, when Sole arrived with Inspector Holograph to arrest the person responsible for the murder of Mrs Christie. The two of them arrived at the mansion when it actually happened. Mrs Phillpotts, Mr Christie and his new wife along with the servants were very interested to hear what actually happened.

“Well, there are some conclusions that I have to draw in the last few weeks of this investigation. That from what I can see, someone is alive and well. However, there’s a dead body on our hands,” Sole began as he looked at the people surrounding him. He coughed a little and cleared his throat before he continued.

“And the first thing that I suspected was that why would someone flee in the middle of the night? And, who did book the so-called taxi? I think I know whom,” Sole explained as he looked at the room, the silent anticipation was almost as intense as each other. Sole continued.

“And the fact that someone’s lying… I think your loyalty to your master, must have come to par, Hencraft… since I’d figured that you’d be lying about the booking, because… there was none,” Sole smirked as Hencraft protested in his own, British terms.

“But why would I lie about that?” he asked as Sole smiled big and wide.

“ Because you wanted to make sure that she couldn’t have driven the car in such an upset state, and the fact that there were indications that she was contradict the investigation very cleverly! I believe she threatened on some occasions that she’d sack you if you didn’t do your job properly?” Sole asked as he blinked.

“Well, yes… but…” he began as Sole nodded. The Indian detective, as he faced the butler, eye to eye.

“And your master caught wind of the threats. He protected you because of your loyalty to him for many, many years, correct?” Sole asked as Mr Christie interrupted.

“So, what are you saying? That the woman that I saw in the newspapers was her?! My ex-wife?! The one that was found, alive?!” he hollered as Sole eventually nodded. The Indian detective felt like smirking since he loved to see the look on Mr Christie’s face.

“She gave me the answers that I needed. She vaguely remembers about the affair between you and Lady Highgate, that is a certainty… and there was the fact that the gardener and his wife were also out, but… there is something from their statements a few days later that I found useful,” Sole explained further as Mr Christie looked at him.

“And that being…” he began as Sole answered his question. He continued.

“The fact that the gardener and his wife saw one person carrying a heavy parcel and going towards the lake before they returned to the house at eleven. And furthermore, a person stated clearly that someone left and didn’t stay for four hours. I thought four hours was far too long to be at a friend’s place… so, the answer was obvious,” Sole smirked as he looked at the face of the murderer, “Not to mention that someone lost their gloves and had mud on their shoes a few days ago… it was an interesting thing… no wonder I wasn’t able to enter the room of this suspect… because they didn’t want me to know the fact that they were at the forest on that very evening… isn’t it right, Hencraft?” He turned towards the butler, who was pale and shook with fright. He wasn’t wearing any gloves at all and panicked by hiding them in his pockets. Sole continued, and allowed the Inspector to make his arrest.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if you also kept the murder weapon and intended to dispose of it a few days later… Miss Holmes kept a diary in her locked up room and had your name on it… I always knew that in any crime/mystery whodunit, that the butler always did commit the murder…”