Agatha Christie's Secret Notebooks

by John Curran

  B. Lover

  C. Rich uncle or guardian

  D. Another woman (jealousy)

  Who were the other people—Possibilities

  Servant—Irish girl rather dumb—Ellen

  Housekeeper—woman—reserved—practical—another Carlo

  Girl—15 at time (now 30 odd) (a Judy?)

  Man—English gentleman—fond of gardening etc.

  Woman—Actress?

  Miscellaneous

  Of the numerous references to nursery rhymes scattered through the Notebooks, sometimes the idea went no further than brief jottings, and in a number of cases it would seem that the rhyme defeated even Christie’s fertile imagination. In Notebook 31 we find the following list:

  1948 Short story for Nash’s [Magazine]

  A. Hickory Dickory Dock

  Complex about the word Dock—a terror story—danger—girl in job—finds out something—(the people who wanted to pull the hall down) starts in hotel—rich people—crooks

  B. Little Boy Blue

  Where are you going to my pretty maid?

  C. This is the way the gentlemen ride

  Little Brown Jug—(My wife likes coffee and I like tea she says she’s very fond of me)

  D. Ding Dong Dell

  E. Pussy Cat, Pussy Cat where have you been?

  F. Town Mouse Country Mouse

  G. Lucy Locket

  This is one of the few examples of a dated page. Unfortunately, it is only a year, giving no indication of when during the year it was written. It is likely that Christie rattled off the list of nursery rhymes with quick, jotted and somewhat cryptic notes attached, intending to work on them later. The reference to ‘Nash’s’ is something of a mystery: Christie published nothing in Nash’s later than 1933, when they published the final six Parker Pyne stories. She was obviously working on the idea of a theme based around nursery rhymes but, as we will see, the idea, for the most part, came to nothing. Perhaps she, or Nash’s, changed their minds and she subsequently abandoned the idea.

  The only rhymes to appear at all, and in very different guises at that, were the first two. ‘Hickory Dickory Dock’, as it appears above, seems to have little, if any, connection with the rhyme. A ‘complex’ is an intriguing idea but apart from Helen in Sleeping Murder and her terrifying association of ideas at the performance of The Duchess of Malfi, there are no examples of ‘complexes’ in Christie. The Hickory Dickory Dock that we know is much different to the speculations above. Perhaps the last six words (‘starts in hotel—rich people—crooks’) foreshadow At Bertram’s Hotel.

  ‘Little Boy Blue’ eventually appeared, although in much altered form and very briefly, in Taken at the Flood. Adela, the mystic of the Cloade family, receives the message ‘Little Boy Blue’ from her medium. She interprets this as a sign that Robert Underhay is still alive. This convoluted logic is due to the last line of the rhyme—‘under the haycock fast asleep’. Poirot wonders, not surprisingly, why the medium could not have conveyed this directly.

  Despite the fact that ‘Ding Dong Dell’ appears in Notebook 18 and again in Notebook 35 with the added note (see below), it was never used. And, apart from a brief reference to ‘Pussy-cat, Pussy-cat, where have you been’ in the final page of An Autobiography, none of the rest appear either.

  Three further references to nursery rhymes are scattered through the Notebooks:

  One, two, 3—4—5 Catching fishes all alive

  Ding Dong Dell—Pussy’s in the Well—? An old maid murdered

  Old King Cole?

  Although at first glance it seems that none of these were ever used, a closer look at the last one reveals that its last line provided the title for the last play Christie wrote—Fiddlers Three. The complicated genesis of this final theatre offering is discussed in Chapter 9.

  The early notes are a relatively accurate plan of what was to follow, but there are minor differences. Carla Lemarchant (‘the Girl’) is a Canadian rather than a New Zealander; and of the five sketches for possible characters one of them, ‘the dumb Irish servant girl Ellen’, is completely dropped. The ‘Girl’ and the ‘Man’ eventually became Angela and Meredith respectively; the ‘housekeeper’ is the prototype for Miss Williams and the ‘woman’ becomes Elsa Greer—although not a professional actress, she is in many ways the consummate performer.

  There are three references that may require explanation. The reference to ‘Bordens’ is to the infamous Lizzie Borden murder case in Fall River, Massachusetts in August 1892 when Mr and Mrs Borden were hacked to death in the family home while their daughter Lizzie and the Irish maid Bridget were in the house. Although Lizzie was tried for the brutal murders, she was acquitted and no one was ever convicted. To this day her guilt or innocence is still a matter of debate and argument. ‘Carlo’ is Carlo Fisher, Agatha Christie’s personal secretary and, ultimately, friend. She first came to her in 1924 and stayed for the rest of her working life. ‘Judy’ is in all probability Judith Gardner, the daughter of Agatha’s friend Nan Gardner (née Kon).

  We can immediately see a major problem with the set-up laid out above. There are four female characters and only one male. As the last three are obviously Angela, Meredith and Elsa respectively, the first two names are the ones to go. Subsequent attempts bring her closer to the final arrangement:

  The 5 people

  Miss Williams elderly Caro—devoted to Caroline

  Mrs Sargent—Caro’s elder half-sister—married money—etc.

  Lucy—husband’s sister—violently anti-Caro

  A. (Idea)—Caro has injured a sister or brother when a child owing to her ungovernable temper—she believes this s[ister] or b[rother] did crime—therefore feels that she is expiating and gains content

  Is s[ister] or b[rother] No 5—Wee-Wee

  And eventually she arrives at the five suspects in the novel itself. The following brief notes reflect accurately, apart from a name change of Carslake to Blake, the ‘five little pigs‘ and their inter-relationships:

  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 shoot
s 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…

  Last Scene

  Ph and M are there—Angela comes in—then W—finally Lady D—M is a little dismayed. Caroline had motive—she had means—now to hand takes coniine and it seems quite certain she did take it—has questioned Meredith if person could handily take it if 5 people in room—but she was last and M in doorway had his back to room—so we take it as proved that she took it

  Three Blind Mice (Radio Play 30 May 1947; Short Story 31 December 1948; Play 25 November 1952)

  Three blind mice, three blind mice

  See how they run, See how they

  run They all ran after the farmer’s wife

  She cut off their tails with a carving knife

  Did you ever see such a thing a thing in your life

  As three blind mice

  Monkswell Manor Guest House welcomes its first visitors, including the formidable Mrs Boyle and the mysterious Mr Paravacini, as well as amusing Christopher Wren and enigmatic Miss Casewell. But Sergeant Trotter arrives to warn them of a potential killer in their midst, just before one of the guests is murdered.

  As usual, Christie’s Autobiography is maddeningly vague about dates, so when she writes ‘About then the B.B.C. rang me up and asked me if I would like to do a short radio play for a programme they were putting on for some function to do with Queen Mary’, we must assume it was in 1946 as the ‘function’ was the eightieth birthday of Queen Mary on 30 May 1947. She duly presented them with Three Blind Mice, a half-hour radio play. The following 21 October it was broadcast as a 30-minute television play with the same name and script. She subsequently reworked it as a long short story, which appeared in a US magazine in 1948 and a UK one early in January 1949. It was collected, but only in the USA, in Three Blind Mice and other Stories in 1950. When the collection that ultimately appeared in the UK as The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding was in the planning stage, Christie made it clear that she did not want Three Blind Mice to be included as ‘masses of people haven’t seen it yet’ and she did not want to spoil their enjoyment.

  An amu
sing rebus in Notebook 56 heads the top of the first of only two pages to feature the most famous play in the world—Three Blind Mice (later The Mousetrap).

  In her Autobiography she continues, ‘The more I thought about Three Blind Mice, the more I felt that it might expand from a radio play lasting twenty minutes to a three act thriller.’ So she re-reworked it as a stage play, but when it came to presenting it a new title had to be found as the original was already the name of a play. Her son-in-law, the erudite Anthony Hicks, came up with The Mousetrap (from Act II, Scene ii of Hamlet) and it opened in London on 25 November 1952. The rest is history…

  The main changes between the different versions are in the very beginning. The radio and television versions feature the first murder, that of Mrs Lyon in Culver Street; the theatre version includes this only in sound effects on a darkened stage. The early draft of the script included an opening scene with two workmen sitting round a brazier who ask a passer-by for a match; the passer-by transpires to be the murderer on his way back from killing Mrs Lyon in nearby Culver Street and it is here that he drops the notebook containing the address of Monkswell Manor. Replacing this scene in the novella version is one set in Scotland Yard where the workmen describe the events of that evening.

  There is almost nothing showing the genesis of this most famous work as a radio play. Notebook 56 does, however, have two pages headed, amusingly, 3 (an eye crossed out) (a mouse). As the following passage indicates, these few notes refer to either the novella or the stage version:

  Arrival of Christopher Wren—his muffler—his dark overcoat—his light hat (throw on bench)—weight of suitcase—nothing in it? Some significant word between him and Molly. Police in London—Sergeant Dawes—the workmen—man was indistinct. The notebook—brought to S.Y. by one of them? The identification—Monkswell Manor. H’m—get me the Berkshire police. Mrs Bolton arrives—My dear, a formidable woman—very Memsahib