The Mystery of Mrs. Christie

December 18, 1921

Agatha sits with Madge and Mummy before Christmas. Madge had wished to host, but Archie refused as he is uncomfortable in Madge’s wealthy home. Madge insults Archie to Agatha (although she disguises it as a compliment), claiming he “allows” Agatha to work, which Agatha considers to be Madge’s jealousy at Agatha’s literary success. Madge comments that while Archie is getting everything he wants, it comes at Agatha’s expense. The sisters quibble. Mummy turns the conversation to reflect on Auntie-Grannie’s recent passing, but Madge insists that Agatha is doing too much. Agatha sees this as ingenuine concern Archie calls to say he will arrive the next morning, instead of that evening, and Mummy reminds Agatha of the importance of tending to her husband. Madge asks why Mummy never gives her the same advice, and Mummy says, “[her] husband isn’t uncommonly sensitive or uncommonly handsome” (90).

December 7, 1926

Newspapers continue to report on Agatha’s disappearance. Archie suspects Kenward is feeding private details to the press, though he has no proof. His head aches with the stress. Kenward scolds Archie for being late for “the dredging,” but Goddard says that searching the nearby lakes for Agatha’s body is too gruesome for Archie. Goddard offers to instead spend time with Archie. Archie agrees, grateful it’s Goddard, if it has to be any police officer.

Over tea, Goddard asks Archie to describe Agatha. Archie begins to describe her physically, but Goddard clarifies he wishes to know about her personality. Archie is vague and unflattering, citing Agatha’s “artistic temperament.” Goddard subtly hints that someone with Agatha’s “high-strung” nature may have fled of her own accord, which Archie is pleased to hear.

Two police officers enter. Goddard is uncharacteristically angry to be interrupted. The Daily News has offered a reward for information leading to Agatha’s location, and abundant information has been pouring in, much of it contradictory. Goddard leaves to investigate.

February 15, 1922

On the South African leg of the 1924 “Empire Expedition,” a journey across segments of the English empire, Agatha entertains Archie’s boss’s wife. Archie is ill in their hotel room, and Agatha wishes to be writing. Her publishing career is taking off; she’s had 12 Hercule Poirot stories commissioned. Despite her eagerness, Agatha knows she must attend to wifely duties before professional ones, though she feels irritated when this means privileging Archie’s professional life. Agatha’s initial excitement for the trip, which she hoped would restore Archie’s spirits, has waned since learning that her task is to “babysit” Archie’s superiors and their wives. She also misses Rosalind whom she has left for a year. The other ladies have little interest in culture, and Agatha has been conscripted to tend Archie’s boss’s septic foot due to her experience as a war nurse.

Agatha spots Archie and thinks they might go surfing, a recent hobby they have enjoyed together, but he is summoned by his boss and she by the ladies. Nevertheless, Agatha feels optimistic that this trip will bode well for their marriage.

December 8, 1926

Once news of Agatha’s letter to Archie’s brother reaches the press, speculations as to why Agatha was ill begin to circulate. The papers blame Archie for Agatha’s flight. Reports of sightings continue to pour in. Archie, seeking normalcy, goes to his office. He is tempted to visit Nancy or Sam James, rationalizing that they will provide comfort, but realizes he is actually just worried about what they may have said to police.

Archie notices a car following him, even after he makes several evasive maneuvers. Archie feels optimistic about the normalcy of going to work until a coworker questions why he has come to the office while his wife is missing. Archie says the police don’t want him around—they believe he has murdered Agatha.

After several hours, Clive Baillieu, Archie’s boss and friend, shows Archie a newspaper that includes an article in which Sam defends Archie and the reporter speculates that Nancy is Archie’s mistress. Clive tells Archie to stay home until the situation is resolved. Archie agrees, thinking he must now face the press or risk his reputation, but that if he doesn’t follow the demands of the letter, he will lose that reputation anyway.

May 20, 1923

Agatha calls Rosalind and her new nurse, who was hired after Mummy fired Jessie while Agatha was away. Rosalind won’t go to her mother, not even after the nurse, Cuckoo, tells her to. Rosalind is angry about Agatha’s long absence, though she has forgiven Archie. Archie returns from his first day at a new job. He was fired after the Empire Tour and took six months to find new employment, during which the “old Archie,” who had resurfaced during the trip, disappeared once more. Agatha, jealous of the bond between her husband and daughter and feeling like an outsider in her own home, laments that Archie seems irritated by everything about her.

Archie thinks his new job might be illegal and dislikes his new coworkers. He remains terse and silent despite Agatha’s efforts to draw him into conversation, scarcely even responding when Agatha reports positive professional news. She has secured a literary agent who is helping her get out of her poor contract with Bodley Head and has secured a significant payment for her new book, The Man in the Brown Suit. Archie is offended, seeing the money as a slight against his own abilities to provide. He dismisses the money, describing their Empire Tour as a “year-long holiday,” and saying they must do “much to atone for [their] self-indulgence” (107).

December 9, 1926

Archie gives a statement to Jim Barnes, a reporter from the Daily Mail, whom he views as sympathetic to Archie. He emphasizes Agatha’s recent nerves, their frequent separate weekend plans, and his worries about his wife. Archie posits that the disappearance could be voluntary, due to memory loss, or (an option he finds less likely) death by suicide. He insists there was no disagreement between them prior to Agatha’s disappearance and that he will do anything to find her.

March 20, 1924-December 10, 1925

Agatha writes furiously in order to, as Archie said, “atone” for their Empire Tour. She enjoys her growing popularity as a writer, but focuses more on her family, and particularly on how financial security may help resurrect the “old Archie.” She has doubts, however, that her work is entirely for him; she feels most like herself when writing. She resolves to unite with her husband over a joint hobby and settles on golf.

Agatha and Archie search for a house near Archie’s favorite golf club. Agatha does not like golf itself but enjoys the pleasant time it affords her with Archie. His new job has improved his mood, but depression still follows him. Agatha does not like the new house, which seems to her a poor imitation of country living, but Archie does. They put in an offer and name the house Styles.

December 9, 1926

The day drags as police surveil Archie. He considers calling Madge, Agatha’s sister, but fears he will let something slip, so decides against it. He finds Charlotte holding a crying Rosalind in the front hall; a schoolmate has said Agatha is dead. Archie hates that even children know about the case and tells Rosalind this is “preposterous.” Rosalind asks if Archie killed Agatha, and he screams at her, demanding to know where she heard that. Children at school had chanted it. Archie regrets his emotional reaction, worried about Rosalind’s stress, how Charlotte will react, and his own feeling of being trapped in his own home.

April 5, 1926

Agatha works on The Murder of Roger Akroyd, pleased with the effect of the unreliable narrator she’s chosen for this novel. She is content with her life, mainly because Archie is happy. She calls for Charlotte, whom Rosalind has dubbed “Carlo,” a nickname Charlotte dislikes. She is pleased that Agatha has finished the novel, however, and the two toast Agatha’s success, since Archie dislikes hearing about Agatha’s work.

Agatha receives a letter. She worries it is from her mother who has been ill, but worse, it’s from Madge who reports that Mummy is dying.

December 9, 1926

Peg calls, demanding to know why Archie has given the “terrible interview” in the Daily Mail. She believes his interview, which Archie had thought measured and reasonable, shows him as unfeeling. She says the interview will convince the public that Archie is guilty.

Kenward and Goddard have questions, which they insist on asking in the kitchen. Archie passes Charlotte whispering with her sister; he hears “tell them” but nothing else. Kenward is pleased with the damning Daily Mail interview and reports a servant of the Jameses revealed that the weekend party was designed to celebrate Archie’s engagement to Nancy. Determined to protect Nancy, Archie refuses to say anything. The police officers ask how Archie can be engaged when he is still married, unless he knows that Agatha is dead.

April 18, 1926

Mummy dies before Agatha reaches Ashfield, which devastates Agatha. She wishes for comfort from Archie, but he telegrams to say he cannot return from Spain in time. Agatha recalls his “great dislike of emotion and grief,” and becomes suspicious of his absence (122). She is relieved when he returns home and struggles to keep her emotions under control. Archie discusses his work trip before asking only vaguely about Mummy’s funeral. When Agatha asks for comfort, he instead proposes she join him for a future business trip to Spain to “take [her] mind off all this” (124).

December 10, 1926

Charlotte and Rosalind act skittish around Archie, and he regrets his outburst from the previous day. Kenward and Goddard escort him to the police station to make an official statement. Their silence during the drive unsettles Archie, and he wonders about how to best seem innocent. In an interview room, Kenward reports that Sam James confirmed his knowledge of Archie’s affair with Nancy, which has gone on for at least six months. Archie does not confirm this outright, but states that the only bearing an affair would have on Agatha’s disappearance was the likelihood that she had decided to leave in anger. Goddard asks why Archie burned Agatha’s letter, stunning Archie. Charlotte has reported the letter to the police. Archie admits the letter existed, but insists it has no relevance to the disappearance. Kenward calls his behavior the work of a guilty man.