1 00:00:03,760 --> 00:00:07,840 Speaker 1: Our world is full of the unexplainable, and if history 2 00:00:08,039 --> 00:00:11,480 Speaker 1: is an open book, all of these amazing tales right 3 00:00:11,520 --> 00:00:16,640 Speaker 1: there on display, just waiting for us to explore. Welcome 4 00:00:17,760 --> 00:00:29,040 Speaker 1: to the Cabinet of Curiosities. On a cold December night, 5 00:00:29,560 --> 00:00:33,880 Speaker 1: Mary vanished. She had left to note describing a last 6 00:00:33,920 --> 00:00:36,760 Speaker 1: minute trip north, and then seemed to have fallen off 7 00:00:36,800 --> 00:00:40,440 Speaker 1: the edge of the world. Mary's friends and family began 8 00:00:40,520 --> 00:00:43,319 Speaker 1: asking around, but no one had seen any sign of her. 9 00:00:43,680 --> 00:00:47,199 Speaker 1: Her own husband, retired colonel, tried pulling a few strings, 10 00:00:47,479 --> 00:00:50,840 Speaker 1: but she still remained undiscovered. It wasn't until a couple 11 00:00:50,840 --> 00:00:52,960 Speaker 1: of days later, when her car was found that people 12 00:00:53,120 --> 00:00:57,920 Speaker 1: really began to worry. The car had been abandoned, along 13 00:00:57,960 --> 00:01:01,520 Speaker 1: with clothing and her i d on a small country road. 14 00:01:02,160 --> 00:01:05,880 Speaker 1: Those with overactive imaginations began to suspect something more than 15 00:01:05,920 --> 00:01:09,520 Speaker 1: a simple mistake or even a practical joke. They believed 16 00:01:09,560 --> 00:01:13,840 Speaker 1: Mary had been kidnapped, possibly even killed, and they knew 17 00:01:14,040 --> 00:01:18,800 Speaker 1: just who had committed the crime. Mary's husband, you see, 18 00:01:18,840 --> 00:01:21,039 Speaker 1: he was already in a bit of hot water, so 19 00:01:21,120 --> 00:01:23,880 Speaker 1: to speak. A few months earlier, he had requested a 20 00:01:23,880 --> 00:01:26,680 Speaker 1: divorce from Mary, and in the weeks since they had 21 00:01:26,720 --> 00:01:30,679 Speaker 1: been fighting constantly. He had found another woman, and Mary 22 00:01:30,840 --> 00:01:34,039 Speaker 1: was standing in the way of that happiness. If you'd asked, 23 00:01:34,080 --> 00:01:36,440 Speaker 1: some of them might have even suggested that he was 24 00:01:36,480 --> 00:01:39,360 Speaker 1: a bit resentful of that. It was easy to connect 25 00:01:39,360 --> 00:01:43,880 Speaker 1: the dots and label him as a suspect, which is 26 00:01:44,000 --> 00:01:47,840 Speaker 1: what the police did. They questioned him and his mistress, 27 00:01:47,960 --> 00:01:50,240 Speaker 1: but in the end they didn't think that he had 28 00:01:50,240 --> 00:01:53,880 Speaker 1: committed the crime, and in the meantime, search parties were 29 00:01:53,920 --> 00:01:57,200 Speaker 1: expanding their reach. At one point, at least a thousand 30 00:01:57,320 --> 00:02:02,520 Speaker 1: law enforcement officials and fifteen thousand and civilian volunteers painstakingly 31 00:02:02,640 --> 00:02:06,440 Speaker 1: examined the region Mary had disappeared from, all while being 32 00:02:06,480 --> 00:02:11,800 Speaker 1: shadowed by a number of airplanes. Her disappearance was covered 33 00:02:11,840 --> 00:02:15,960 Speaker 1: by The New York Times. Celebrity mystery writers even got involved, 34 00:02:16,000 --> 00:02:19,440 Speaker 1: spinning their own theories of what happened, and one man 35 00:02:19,639 --> 00:02:22,960 Speaker 1: hired a medium to examine one of Mary's gloves in 36 00:02:23,080 --> 00:02:25,280 Speaker 1: hopes that it would lead them in the right direction. 37 00:02:25,919 --> 00:02:30,440 Speaker 1: But it didn't work. Don't worry, though, The story does 38 00:02:30,639 --> 00:02:34,200 Speaker 1: have a happy ending, and that's because eleven days after 39 00:02:34,280 --> 00:02:37,600 Speaker 1: she vanished, Mary was found over two hundred and thirty 40 00:02:37,639 --> 00:02:40,880 Speaker 1: miles to the north. She checked into a hotel under 41 00:02:40,919 --> 00:02:44,200 Speaker 1: a different name and claimed she had no memory of 42 00:02:44,240 --> 00:02:49,480 Speaker 1: the entire ordeal. Some people believed Mary was telling the truth, 43 00:02:49,919 --> 00:02:52,960 Speaker 1: that yes, she had somehow lost touch with reality for 44 00:02:53,160 --> 00:02:56,360 Speaker 1: a week and a half. Psychologists call it a fugue state, 45 00:02:56,560 --> 00:03:00,400 Speaker 1: where a person going through a traumatic experience subconsciously creates 46 00:03:00,400 --> 00:03:04,560 Speaker 1: an entirely new reality where the stress no longer exists. 47 00:03:04,600 --> 00:03:07,480 Speaker 1: But others thought there was something more going on. They 48 00:03:07,480 --> 00:03:10,240 Speaker 1: believe Mary actually knew what she was doing, and that 49 00:03:10,320 --> 00:03:12,960 Speaker 1: the purpose behind the whole ordeal was to have her 50 00:03:13,040 --> 00:03:16,560 Speaker 1: husband charged with her murder. People who believe this theory 51 00:03:16,680 --> 00:03:19,440 Speaker 1: claimed that once he had been executed for her murder, 52 00:03:19,800 --> 00:03:22,079 Speaker 1: she would have strolled back out of the darkness and 53 00:03:22,240 --> 00:03:26,520 Speaker 1: claimed amnesia. They believe, in a sense that Mary was 54 00:03:26,600 --> 00:03:30,200 Speaker 1: a master of deception and planning, something pulled straight out 55 00:03:30,200 --> 00:03:33,080 Speaker 1: of the pages of a dime store novel. But like 56 00:03:33,160 --> 00:03:35,800 Speaker 1: a lot of things in life, will never know for sure, 57 00:03:36,240 --> 00:03:39,640 Speaker 1: because she never talked about it or explain herself ever. Again, 58 00:03:40,160 --> 00:03:45,400 Speaker 1: it was all just one big mystery. Whatever the truth was, 59 00:03:45,560 --> 00:03:49,440 Speaker 1: she recovered nicely enough. She went on to Mary an archaeologist, 60 00:03:49,560 --> 00:03:53,560 Speaker 1: which I find rather ironic because archaeologists at the basic level, 61 00:03:53,880 --> 00:03:56,200 Speaker 1: are really just people who dig around for clues that 62 00:03:56,240 --> 00:03:59,840 Speaker 1: tell a story, and Mary's life was built around clues. 63 00:04:00,800 --> 00:04:04,080 Speaker 1: In fact, without her, popular literature wouldn't be what it 64 00:04:04,200 --> 00:04:07,200 Speaker 1: is today. She's still the best selling author in history, 65 00:04:07,360 --> 00:04:11,360 Speaker 1: ahead of J. K. Rowling, Stephen King, and even William Shakespeare, 66 00:04:11,400 --> 00:04:15,280 Speaker 1: with over two billion books sold. Nearly everything she wrote 67 00:04:15,320 --> 00:04:18,960 Speaker 1: has been adapted in some form or another. And you've 68 00:04:18,960 --> 00:04:23,159 Speaker 1: heard about her your entire life, just not as Mary. 69 00:04:23,760 --> 00:04:27,960 Speaker 1: That's because she has been, still is, and always will 70 00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:34,200 Speaker 1: be the Queen of the mystery novel Agatha. Mary Christie 71 00:04:48,360 --> 00:04:52,040 Speaker 1: Peter Carpon was a spy. There was no question about it. 72 00:04:52,880 --> 00:04:54,839 Speaker 1: He had been captured by the French as he was 73 00:04:54,880 --> 00:04:58,000 Speaker 1: trying to slip into their country in nineteen fourteen, just 74 00:04:58,160 --> 00:05:01,200 Speaker 1: as the First World War was big inning. Maybe his 75 00:05:01,279 --> 00:05:05,080 Speaker 1: papers were clearly forged, or perhaps there was something about 76 00:05:05,160 --> 00:05:07,800 Speaker 1: his accent or the way he shifted his eyes when 77 00:05:07,800 --> 00:05:10,960 Speaker 1: they asked him questions. We don't know why he was captured, 78 00:05:11,480 --> 00:05:15,400 Speaker 1: only that he was, which meant that the French had 79 00:05:15,440 --> 00:05:18,239 Speaker 1: a problem on their hands. They could toss him in jail, 80 00:05:18,480 --> 00:05:22,000 Speaker 1: which they did right away. But then what alert the 81 00:05:22,080 --> 00:05:25,560 Speaker 1: Germans that their spy had been captured. That was only 82 00:05:25,600 --> 00:05:28,680 Speaker 1: going to force them to send another spy, or perhaps 83 00:05:28,760 --> 00:05:31,480 Speaker 1: more than one. The French would have to be more 84 00:05:31,560 --> 00:05:34,600 Speaker 1: diligent with their border patrols after that, and no one 85 00:05:34,680 --> 00:05:37,480 Speaker 1: wanted to do that. There were too many other things 86 00:05:37,520 --> 00:05:42,600 Speaker 1: that needed their time and resources. There was another option, though, 87 00:05:43,200 --> 00:05:47,279 Speaker 1: but it was risky. Someone proposed actually keeping Peter Carpon's 88 00:05:47,400 --> 00:05:50,919 Speaker 1: capture a secret from the Germans. They could send fake 89 00:05:51,000 --> 00:05:55,120 Speaker 1: intelligence reports back to the man's superiors in Berlin and 90 00:05:55,160 --> 00:05:57,840 Speaker 1: try to fool them into believing that Carpon was doing 91 00:05:57,920 --> 00:06:02,600 Speaker 1: his job. So that's what they did. For three years, 92 00:06:02,640 --> 00:06:05,880 Speaker 1: they sent back reports, and for three years the Germans 93 00:06:05,920 --> 00:06:09,839 Speaker 1: replied with more instructions and requests. Of course, the French 94 00:06:09,880 --> 00:06:13,120 Speaker 1: were feeding the Germans one false report after another, but 95 00:06:13,160 --> 00:06:17,040 Speaker 1: the Germans hadn't noticed. They were even making military decisions 96 00:06:17,080 --> 00:06:22,080 Speaker 1: based on those false reports. It was brilliant. It gets better, though, 97 00:06:22,520 --> 00:06:25,960 Speaker 1: you see, Peter Carpin needed an income to survive in France, 98 00:06:26,160 --> 00:06:29,400 Speaker 1: so the Germans were sending him money on a regular basis. 99 00:06:29,800 --> 00:06:32,880 Speaker 1: Sometimes it was for his own personal expenses, while other 100 00:06:32,960 --> 00:06:35,400 Speaker 1: times it was funding for the projects that they were 101 00:06:35,440 --> 00:06:39,040 Speaker 1: tasking him with and every time Germany sent that money, 102 00:06:39,200 --> 00:06:42,320 Speaker 1: the French were intercepting it and putting it into a 103 00:06:42,360 --> 00:06:49,120 Speaker 1: bank account. In nineteen seventeen, though, Peter Carpin escaped. I 104 00:06:49,120 --> 00:06:51,720 Speaker 1: don't know how, but he managed to slip out of 105 00:06:51,839 --> 00:06:54,960 Speaker 1: wherever they were holding him and vanish into the depths 106 00:06:55,000 --> 00:06:57,640 Speaker 1: of France. More than likely he was going to head 107 00:06:57,640 --> 00:07:00,600 Speaker 1: straight back to Germany, but without his money and papers. 108 00:07:00,880 --> 00:07:03,760 Speaker 1: That was going to take some time. Oh and speaking 109 00:07:03,800 --> 00:07:06,719 Speaker 1: of money, that was when the French decided to spend 110 00:07:06,720 --> 00:07:09,560 Speaker 1: the cash they had been covertly stealing from the Germans. 111 00:07:10,480 --> 00:07:13,600 Speaker 1: They bought a brand new car with it fancy right. 112 00:07:14,360 --> 00:07:18,560 Speaker 1: A few years later in France sent forces to an 113 00:07:18,560 --> 00:07:21,280 Speaker 1: area of Germany that the Treaty of Versailles had declared 114 00:07:21,320 --> 00:07:24,400 Speaker 1: to be a demilitarized zone. The Germans had failed to 115 00:07:24,440 --> 00:07:26,960 Speaker 1: make all of the World War One reparation payments that 116 00:07:27,000 --> 00:07:29,600 Speaker 1: they had agreed to, and had instead formed a sort 117 00:07:29,600 --> 00:07:33,840 Speaker 1: of passive resistance that was creating tension. The French arrived 118 00:07:33,880 --> 00:07:37,480 Speaker 1: as a sort of peace keeping measure. They brought the 119 00:07:37,480 --> 00:07:40,000 Speaker 1: car with them, which was a bit poetic. I think 120 00:07:40,400 --> 00:07:43,640 Speaker 1: a car purchased by the French with German funds and 121 00:07:43,680 --> 00:07:46,440 Speaker 1: now it was in Germany. Now, I don't know the 122 00:07:46,520 --> 00:07:50,360 Speaker 1: exact circumstances, but at some point in the French occupation 123 00:07:50,400 --> 00:07:54,560 Speaker 1: there in Ninete, that car was involved in an accident. 124 00:07:55,120 --> 00:07:58,000 Speaker 1: Maybe it was used in crowd control, or perhaps it 125 00:07:58,040 --> 00:08:01,000 Speaker 1: was just being driven through the streets like anyone today 126 00:08:01,000 --> 00:08:04,640 Speaker 1: would enjoy. Whatever the reason, the car had from moving, 127 00:08:05,000 --> 00:08:08,400 Speaker 1: it tragically struck a German citizen down, throwing him to 128 00:08:08,400 --> 00:08:11,320 Speaker 1: the ground like a rag doll. The French driver of 129 00:08:11,320 --> 00:08:15,360 Speaker 1: the car quickly climbed out, panic and grief painted across 130 00:08:15,440 --> 00:08:18,200 Speaker 1: his face, and approached the body of the man he'd hit. 131 00:08:18,920 --> 00:08:23,400 Speaker 1: It was too late, though, the man was dead. Checking 132 00:08:23,480 --> 00:08:26,000 Speaker 1: his papers for anything that would help them contact the 133 00:08:26,040 --> 00:08:29,600 Speaker 1: man's relatives and inform them of the tragic accident, the 134 00:08:29,680 --> 00:08:34,320 Speaker 1: French soldiers discovered something amazing. This man they had hit, 135 00:08:34,720 --> 00:08:37,079 Speaker 1: the one who now lay dead in the street after 136 00:08:37,160 --> 00:08:41,480 Speaker 1: being struck by the German funded automobile, wasn't the random 137 00:08:41,520 --> 00:08:47,800 Speaker 1: stranger they expected him to be. In fact, they knew him. 138 00:08:47,800 --> 00:08:55,600 Speaker 1: It was the spy himself. Peter Carpon. I hope you've 139 00:08:55,640 --> 00:08:59,600 Speaker 1: enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe 140 00:08:59,640 --> 00:09:02,280 Speaker 1: for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the 141 00:09:02,280 --> 00:09:07,040 Speaker 1: show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was 142 00:09:07,160 --> 00:09:10,960 Speaker 1: created by me Aaron Mankey in partnership with how Stuff Works. 143 00:09:11,400 --> 00:09:14,560 Speaker 1: I make another award winning show called Lore, which is 144 00:09:14,640 --> 00:09:18,040 Speaker 1: a podcast, book series, and television show, and you can 145 00:09:18,120 --> 00:09:20,440 Speaker 1: learn all about it over at the World of Lore 146 00:09:20,720 --> 00:09:24,440 Speaker 1: dot com. And until next time, stay curious.