John Curran - Agatha Christie's Secret Notebooks

Philip Carslake—George‘s Hill—Prosperous—his best friend—Amyas—virulent against Caro—Describes how the injured step sister—as instance of her temper—induced to write an account—

Meredith—his home—takes P up to house—(now a hostel for youth) ghosts—he explains—will write—hedges about Elsa—shares picture of her—I did find she could have done it—her daughter

Elsa—rich woman—Changed from picture—frozen—virulent against Caro—vindictive—talks a little—sends her account. You want truth? You shall have it (says drama to vent spleen)

Miss Williams—elderly—room in London—Violently pro Caro—but admits she knows—about Angela—P persuades her truth is best—She agrees—will write—

Wee Wee woman of brains—character—successful archaeologist—welcomes P’s intervention—quite convinced —explains why Caro couldn’t have done it—because of what she did to her

All of the details of the crime were arrived at only after numerous attempts. Through much of the notes the murder method was to be a shooting rather than a poisoning, and even though this was not pursued it is interesting to see how much of the attendant detail was retained:

A. Pistol—(Amyas’s) wiped clean of prints except his—but they are wrong—also her prints in blood on table—Miss W covers for Angela?—saw her doing this—Angela in boat? But is returning)

Did someone pretend to be Wee-wee—steal up to him from behind and use her voice—press pistol against his head and fire—C thinks it is W[ee-wee] has heard voice—picks up pistol and wipes it

Caro heard Angela—speaking to Amyas pressed revolver into his back—sporty playacting—(she had peashooter)…she got there found him dead. Picked up pistol—wiped it—put it in his hand—but suicide not possible and one of her fingerprints on butt

Caroline went down to call Amyas for lunch—shot—but before she got there—Caro seen to take pistol from drawer of desk

Caro comes—Elsa springs up, snatches revolver—and shoots him—then rushes away—Caroline—sees her—thinks it is Angela—horrified—stunned at find—Elsa goes up to house—drops jersey on path—Miss Williams comes down—picks up jersey—then hears shot—she goes on—sees Caro—pressing his hand over revolver

In the novel the vital clue that convinces Poirot, in the course of his questioning, of Caroline’s innocence is her wiping of the beer bottle and the subsequent superimposition of Amyas’s fingerprints on it, as witnessed by Miss Williams. As can be seen in four of the extracts, this wiping was originally intended for a gun. And the detail of Caroline being seen taking a pistol is retained in the novel by her being seen taking the poison from Meredith’s laboratory. In three of these extracts we also see the vital factor of Caroline’s mistaken belief that the culprit is Angela, thereby paving the way for the ultimate sacrifice after her arrest.

The rejection of a gun in favour of poison is no surprise, as Christie knew little about the former but had a professional knowledge of the latter. She used poison more than any other murder method and more than any of her contemporaries, resorting to firearms infrequently. When Christie does decide on poison her fertility of invention is once again very evident in both the type of poison and its method of administration:

Nucleus—poison in port—husband had a glass in his room (analysed and full of it)—Caro seen washing out port decanter (by maid)

Poison—Sherry—One person poured it out, Caro took glass to Am—later cyanide found in glass, or belladonna

Possibilities of poison

A—Poison put into sherry at time when ‘shut your eyes etc’ is done—C has brought sherry to him—she finds him (having heard WW) later dead—wipes glass—puts dead man’s fingers on it—(seen by Miss W)

B—Sherry pure—cyanide in strawberry—Caro still does her act—murderer adds cyanide to sherry—dregs with pipette—latter is found

C—Medicine—HCN—added to sherry by Caro—capsule is already taken

D—Capsule altered to AC from PC

Coniine—in capsule?

Result—he appears drunk—staggers about—double vision—(P’s evidence)—E. sits down and watches him die—somebody comes—she gets up and speaks to him—joins other person—he shakes his head—or—seen sitting behind a table

A decanter—port?—Caroline washed it out afterwards

Box of cachets—before meals

HCN and bismuth mixture—extra HCN? Beer?

It is notable that even when she decides on coniine, the capsule idea in the above list is not used.

Other important plot points, and clues, are mentioned. The danger of a mistaken interpretation of overheard remarks is emphasised in the first two extracts; the final moving letter written by Caroline from her prison cell to her daughter, in the third extract, is another example of misinter-pretation. Angela’s penchant for practical jokes, as evidenced by the slug and, later, the valerian, is an important factor in Caroline’s supposition of her guilt. And the all-important wiping of the glass (beer bottle in the book) surfaces again:

Case against Caroline—Quarrelled with husband that morning—said ‘I’d love to kill you. Someday I will’

Don’t you worry—I’ll see to her packing (send her packing) heard between Caro and Amyas

A’s—including parting note from C in prison my darling I am quite content—going to Amyas—also important about C’s lover—Meredith?

Miss W—re Angela and slug

Miss W saw Caro wipe glass or cleaning revolver prints

After an admonition to herself, Christie eventually arrives at the plot we know:

Go over the morning again

Dinner with Meredith night before—the drugs—Valerian—coniine etc.—Caroline takes coniine—Elsa sees her—Talk between Meredith and Amyas—one more day—row between Angela and Amyas—School—next day Meredith discovers coniine has been taken—rings up Philip—(? Is Philip somewhere and Elsa with him—she hears?) Elsa is sitting With to M—says she is cold—goes up to house (gets coniine)—(Did Caroline and Amyas have row after breakfast—? Did Elsa hear them—did she say to Philip ‘conjugal quarrel’)—sits—come out—presently A comes out and says come down and sit.

Elsa tests him—Caroline comes down—Elsa is cold—goes to get jersey (gets coniine)—Caro and Amyas have row—some of it overheard by P and M (But their evidence—I’ll kill you etc.—heard by Philip and E). ‘Haven’t I told you I’ll send her packing’—Comes out—sees them and says school—Angela etc.—Elsa reappears this time has jersey—he drinks off beer—Says (after looking down to sea)—they turn round—Elsa is there—He drinks off beer—says hot and disgusting—Caro goes away says she’ll bring him some down iced—she goes to get it—finds Angela at refrigerator—doing something to beer—Caro takes bottle from her—Caro goes down with it—she pours it out and gives it to him—he drinks it off.

Miss Williams—Meredith looks at Elsa—sitting there—her eyes—once or twice she speaks—(she has put some coniine in dregs of glass—not bottle)—We’re going to be married aren’t we?—looks up and sees Meredith—acts her part. M sees A from door—queer expression—doesn’t say anything—one of his moods—M says I hear you were over at my place this morning—A says Yes—I wanted—something?

Caroline and Miss W find him—C sends Miss W for police doctor—she then smashes his beer bottle and replaces it by another. Findings—beer in glass had coniine in it—and his fingers superimposed on hers—but not as they could have been

Oddly, there is little of Poirot’s final scene, the explanation of the events of 16 years ago and the revelation of the real killer of Amyas Crale. For all practical purposes, the necessary detail for that scene is included in the above extract and Christie probably felt confident of writing the closing chapter without the need for further detailed notes. And the conclusion is somewhat ambivalent. Even though Poirot is certain he has arrived at the truth, he realises that there is no proof…