Agatha Christie: Murder in the Making: More Stories and Secrets From Her Notebooks (38 page)

B. Passenger to Frankfurt

Sir Rufus Hammersley – His cloak – med
[ium]
height – sharp jutting feminine chin. Fog in airport – flight diverted – the young woman – not noticeable – thinks he has seen her before – likeness – she will be killed – because of the fog – diverted elsewhere – Miss Karminsky – passenger – he is found in passage by loos – no money or papers

He gets money sent him – then asked to go to Intelligence. He has a sixth sense and a feeling of partisanship. His things searched. Advertisement – wants to see you again – Hungerford Bridge – Nov. 26th Ticket at concert. What is it all about

Probably because this novel did not involve clues and suspects and alibis, the usual components of a Christie detective novel, there is little in the way of notes or ideas that were considered and discarded. In fact, it is fair to say that there is little in the way of plot at all in
Passenger to Frankfurt.
Apart from speculation about rearranging some sections, the notes for the novel are mostly of the names of people and their countries and the interminable meetings that fill the book. The following early notes show uncertainty about the arrangement of some passages in the opening chapters. The seemingly odd reference ‘Lifeboat’ is to the name of the periodical used to conceal the safe return of Sir Stafford’s passport.

Chapter 3

Car incident p. 51 – or keep it as original – or keep it on p. 46

Last page rearranged – Start at breakfast – Interview at ministry. After ministry interview into Mrs. Worrit – clothes cleaned – man – panda?

Rings Matilda – arranges to go down next week. Dinner with Eric – on way home car business – Lifeboat – passport – advertisement idea

A passage of considerable interest is the one concerning the antecedents of Siegfried, ‘the young hero, the golden superman’ of Chapter 6. Chapter 17 of
Passenger to Frankfurt
contains distinct echoes of the ‘new’ version of ‘The Capture of Cerberus’, published in
Agatha Christie’s Secret Notebooks
. Remarkably, after a 30-year gap, the central idea of the short story is recycled in the novel – the asylum with its many incarnations of famous, and infamous, people. In each case there is confusion about the ‘fake’ and the ‘real’ Hitler (Hertzlein in the short story) and the eventual release of the ‘real’ one. A major difference in the short story is that the newly released character has become a force for good and not evil, as in the novel.

Are you suggesting he is Hitler?

No, but he believes he is.

Statistics – Borman hid him there – he married a girl – child was born – swastika branded on

child’s foot – Renata has birth certificate
[Chapter 17]

Some characters from earlier titles reappear. Mr Robinson, first mentioned in Chapter 3, and Colonel Pikeaway in Chapter 4, both appeared in both
Cat among the Pigeons
and Colonel Pikeaway also appeared in
At Bertram’s Hotel
; these two shadowy figures would make a further reappearance in
Postern of Fate
. Matilda Cleckheaton’s nurse, Amy Leatheran, on the other hand, is unlikely to be the same Amy Leatheran who narrated
Murder in Mesopotamia
; she is described in Chapter 20 of
Passenger to Frankfurt
as a ‘tactful young woman’. Other interesting passages include a discussion, in Chapter 6, of
The Prisoner of Zenda
, to be discussed again by Tommy and Tuppence in
Postern of Fate
; an inadvertent naming of two Christie plays in a paragraph of Chapter 11; and a distinct reference, in Chapter 22, to the basis of the 1948 radio play
Butter in a Lordly Dish
. More personally, Lady Matilda’s discussion of medicines in Chapter 15 is an echo of Christie’s own description, in her
Autobiography
, of her work in the dispensary in Torquay.

Overall, the decline that began with
Third Girl
reached its nadir with
Passenger to Frankfurt
; the superb
Endless Night
beams out like a shining light among the last half-dozen novels. But there can be little doubt that the only reason that
Passenger to Frankfurt
was even published was that it had the magic name ‘Agatha Christie’ on the title page.

Nemesis

18 October 1971

At the posthumous request of Mr Rafiel, from
A Caribbean Mystery
, Miss Marple joins a coach tour of ‘Famous Houses and Gardens’. She must use her natural flair for justice to right a wrong. But she is mystified by a lack of clues – until one of her fellow travellers is murdered.

Like its predecessors,
By the Pricking of my Thumbs
and
Hallowe’en Party
, and its successors,
Elephants Can Remember
and
Postern of Fate
,
Nemesis
is concerned with a mystery from the past. Retrospective justice is what Miss Marple is asked, by the deceased Mr Rafiel, to provide. And, similar to the letter received by Poirot at the outset of
Dumb Witness
, the posthumous correspondence from Mr Rafiel is very short on detail.

In one way
Nemesis
is the most surprising novel that Christie wrote in her declining years. As with most of the novels from her last decade
Nemesis
is rambling and repetitive, and it is disappointing as a detective novel. The coach tour, which promises much as a traditional Christie setting, is almost a red herring. And unlike the classic settings of
Murder on the Orient Express
,
Death in the Clouds
and
Death on the Nile
, where a mode of transport isolates a group of suspects, the vital characters in
Nemesis
, the three sisters, are all to be found outside the coach.

Yet, though it is not a great detective novel – clues to its solution are remarkable only by their absence – considered solely as a novel it is a revelation. Its theme is ‘Love – one of the most frightening words there is in the world’, according to Elizabeth Temple at the close of Chapter 6. The mainspring of the plot is the smothering, corrosive love of Clotilde Bradbury-Scott for the girl Verity. As a counterbalance to this claustrophobic situation there is the love of Verity for Michael Rafiel; but this love is also destined for tragedy. The doomed worship of Verity by Clotilde is the root cause of three deaths – the object of that love and the brutal killing of two innocent onlookers. This hitherto unexplored theme has powerful emotional impact, especially in the closing explanation which, unusually for Miss Marple, takes over 15 pages.

Like the novel itself, the notes for
Nemesis
are not very detailed. The bulk of them concern the crime in the past and its possible variations. The idea of the three sisters and the tomb disguised as a greenhouse seems to have been settled in the early stages of planning. This has distinct echoes of a similar plot device in
Hallowe’en Party
, where a sunken garden fills a similar role; and, earlier again,
Dead Man’s Folly
, which features a folly as a grave. The notes for
Nemesis
are in four Notebooks and, as can be seen from the first extract below, work on it began just a year before publication. Note the incorrect name ‘Raferty’ instead of Rafiel:

Oct. 1970

Chapter I

Miss Marple at home reading Times – glances at Marriages – then Deaths. A name she knows – can’t quite remember. Later in garden remembers Carribean
[sic]
– Raferty, the dying millionaire.

Chapter II Letter from lawyer in London.

The Three Sisters – invitations to Miss Marple – Mr. Rafiel – old manor house – a body concealed there

Clothilde

Lavender

Alicia

What kind of a house? What garden

A Greenhouse – wreathed over with polygnum – fell down or collapsed in war

This list of characters from Notebook 6 reflects, with the exception of the Denbys and Miss Moneypenny, that of the completed novel.

People on Tour

Mrs. Risely-Porter (Aunt Ann) Elderly dictatorial a snob

And niece Joanna Cartwright (27)

Emlyn Price (Welsh and revolutionary)

Miss Barrow and Miss Cooke (spinster friends)

Miss Moneypenny (Cats)
[possibly Miss Bentham or Lumley]

Mr and Mrs. Butler Americans middle-aged

Colonel and Mrs. Walker (Flowers? Horticulture)

Mr Caspar (Foreign) about 50

Elizabeth Peters
[Temple]
Retired headmistress

Schoolgirl and brother – Liz and Robert Denby

Professor Wanstead

A section of Notebook concerning the murder of Elizabeth Temple appears almost word for word in Chapter 11, ‘Accident’. Details differ – the school is Fallowfield, not Grove House Park, and it is Joanna Crawford and not Mr Caspar who provides most of the details of the rock fall – but in essence this extract is an accurate précis:

Death of Elizabeth Peters, late headmistress of Grove House Park Girls’ School – or is she in hospital? Does Miss M go and see her?

Does Emlyn Price come and tell Miss Marple of accident? She goes to local hotel to see other travellers – group talk and chat. Either Miss Cooke or Robert Denby describe what they saw – 4 or 5 boys climbing up – throwing stones – pushing a rock – local boys. Mr Caspar later says that was not what happened – it was a woman. Tells Miss Marple – he was a botanist and had wandered by himself. Professor Wanstead speaks to Miss Marple – mentions Mr. Rafiel – suggests Miss Marple should go and visit her. He stresses Rafiel told him about her

It must be said however that as a murder method, rolling a rock down a hillside in the hope of hitting a moving target is, at best, imprecise; 35 years earlier, on the banks of the Nile, Andrew Pennington discovered this when his murder attempt on Linnet Doyle failed, literally, to achieve its target. And for a middle-aged murderess it is also very unlikely and impractical.

The essence of the plot appears in Notebook 28 and, apart from a few details – Gwenda and Philip are forerunners of Verity and Michael – is reproduced in the book. It would seem to have been written early in the plotting as it appears directly ahead of a page dated ‘Jan. ’71’; and it is written straight off with no deletions or changes. The ruse of the ‘pinched’ car and the obliterated body has familiar echoes from
The Body in the Library
, 30 years earlier.

Elizabeth Peters 60 retired headmistress

A girl in her school – one of the 3 sisters had taken her up, trip abroad art galleries. Girl had finally come to live with her – girl was murdered by 19 or 20 years old young man – picked her up in car (evidence that he did). Body found 20 miles away – face disfigured – identified by Miss C – says a mole by elbow or above knee – a small silver cross or some other trinket – pregnant – 6 weeks only. A scarf (Persian? or Italian?) Red hair – auburn or black hair – Girl used to take local bus to nearby Town – meet Philip there – C
[lothilde]
finds out Gwenda and Philip – baby coming – going to marry. Strangles her – hides body in garden – plans another girl whom she knows – drugs her – drives her in car she has pinched 20 miles away in quarry – obliterates features – moles – jealous

Midway through Notebook 28 we find a touching note. In the New Year Honours list for 1971 Agatha Christie became Dame Agatha, a fact that she noted as she resumed work on
Nemesis
. On a more practical note, this means that she was less than halfway through the novel at the beginning of the year, with the submission date three months away. And she was 80 years of age.

D.B.E.
[Dame of the British Empire]

Nemesis – Jan 1971

Recap – death of Mr. Rafiel in Times – Miss Marple

Point reached – Elizabeth Peters retired headmistress – accident as climbing – stones and rocks rolling down hillside – concussion – hospital

Professor Wansted and Miss Marple

As she tidied the manuscript, to judge by the date, Christie listed the characters again, this time with a few additions. The final proofs were corrected by Dame Agatha while she recovered from a broken hip in June/July 1971, at which stage she also wrote the jacket blurb.

Notes on ‘Nemesis’ March 18th ’71

Elizabeth Temple School Fallowfield

Justin (?) Rafiel

Michael Rafiel – Verity Hunt

Miss Barrow – Miss Cooke – or Miss Caspar

The Old Manor – Jocelyn St. Mary

Clothilde Bradbury Scott – Lavinia – Anthea

Archdeacon Bradshaw Bradley Scott?

Emlyn Price

Joanna Crawford Mrs Riseley-Porter

Professor Wanstead

Broadribb and Schuster (Solicitors)

She also gives a proposed list of chapters, with some notes to herself:

Chapter I Births Marriages and Deaths

Chapter II Letter from Mr. Rafiel

Chapter III Note – a little cutting of this chapter?

Chapter IV Esther Waters

Chapter V Instructions from beyond – some cuts?

Chapter VI Elizabeth Temple

Chapter VII An Invitation

Chapter VIII The Three Sisters

This list is not exactly reflected in the novel, but the suggested title of the opening chapter here is surely better than that eventually decided upon. ‘Overture’ is not thematically inked with any other chapter, while ‘Births Marriages and Deaths’ is both accurate and intriguing.

Elephants Can Remember

6 November 1972

At a literary dinner, Mrs Oliver is asked to investigate the double death years earlier of Sir Alistair and Lady Ravenscroft. Did he kill her and then himself or was it the other way round? Hercule Poirot journeys into the past to arrive at the truth.

The adage ‘Old sins have long shadows’ runs like a motif through
Elephants Can Remember
, the last Poirot novel that Agatha Christie wrote. At its heart is a plot involving typical Christie ploys – mistaken identity, impersonation and misconstrued deaths – culminating in a last chapter reminiscent of the closing scene in
Five Little Pigs
with a group of people gathering at the scene of an earlier tragedy in order to learn the poignant truth. If it had been written 20 years earlier there can be little doubt that the plot would have been developed in a more ingenious fashion. As it is, the book is a series of conversations, with little action; and like its successor,
Postern of Fate
, the chronology of the earlier crimes will not bear close examination, a fault for which the elderly Christie’s editors must accept some responsibility.