1 00:00:05,920 --> 00:00:15,080 Speaker 1: On Diversion Audio. A note this episode contains mature content 2 00:00:15,560 --> 00:00:19,520 Speaker 1: and descriptions of suicidal audiation that may be disturbing for 3 00:00:19,560 --> 00:00:33,680 Speaker 1: some listeners. Please take care in listening. In the early 4 00:00:33,760 --> 00:00:38,320 Speaker 1: morning hours of December fourth, nineteen twenty six, a dazed 5 00:00:38,360 --> 00:00:42,640 Speaker 1: looking woman made her way up to the Clanden railway platform. 6 00:00:43,360 --> 00:00:47,000 Speaker 1: The small outdoor train station was just three miles from 7 00:00:47,000 --> 00:00:51,159 Speaker 1: the rolling green hills of Newland's Corner. It was a 8 00:00:51,200 --> 00:00:55,160 Speaker 1: scenic slice of the English countryside, but the woman who 9 00:00:55,200 --> 00:00:59,200 Speaker 1: stumbled out of the fields that day contrasted with her surroundings. 10 00:01:00,120 --> 00:01:03,920 Speaker 1: She wore a gray skirt and a thin cardigan, clothing 11 00:01:04,120 --> 00:01:06,640 Speaker 1: not warm enough for the harsh chill of the winter day. 12 00:01:08,040 --> 00:01:10,759 Speaker 1: Her shoes were caked in mud, and there were smears 13 00:01:10,760 --> 00:01:13,880 Speaker 1: of blood on her face and hands. She must have 14 00:01:13,959 --> 00:01:16,279 Speaker 1: slumped and shivered as she stood there in the frigid 15 00:01:16,360 --> 00:01:20,600 Speaker 1: morning air. Her head was injured and her shoulders were 16 00:01:20,600 --> 00:01:24,039 Speaker 1: in terrible pain. But despite all of that, no one 17 00:01:24,040 --> 00:01:29,119 Speaker 1: gave her a second glance. Something about this woman seemed 18 00:01:29,160 --> 00:01:32,679 Speaker 1: to defy the interest of the people around her. They 19 00:01:32,680 --> 00:01:36,039 Speaker 1: went about their business, and she slipped unnoticed onto a 20 00:01:36,120 --> 00:01:40,039 Speaker 1: train bound for Waterloo. No one at the station would 21 00:01:40,080 --> 00:01:44,039 Speaker 1: remember her. They wouldn't realize that they had just encountered 22 00:01:44,040 --> 00:01:49,680 Speaker 1: the famous mystery writer Agatha Christie, or that she was 23 00:01:49,720 --> 00:01:54,360 Speaker 1: about to become the single most famous missing person in 24 00:01:54,480 --> 00:02:14,400 Speaker 1: all of British history. Welcome to the greatest true crime 25 00:02:14,480 --> 00:02:19,440 Speaker 1: Stories ever told. I'm Mary Kay McBrayer. Today's episode, we're 26 00:02:19,440 --> 00:02:24,840 Speaker 1: calling Agatha Christie, the original Gone Girl, to jog your memory. 27 00:02:25,440 --> 00:02:28,680 Speaker 1: She's the beloved crime fiction writer who created some of 28 00:02:28,720 --> 00:02:33,280 Speaker 1: the twentieth centuries most cherished and enduring characters in over 29 00:02:33,440 --> 00:02:38,200 Speaker 1: sixty detective novels, titles that are still being adapted, like 30 00:02:38,880 --> 00:02:41,840 Speaker 1: Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile. 31 00:02:42,880 --> 00:02:45,960 Speaker 1: But what many people don't know is that in nineteen 32 00:02:46,000 --> 00:02:51,000 Speaker 1: twenty six, Christie starred in her own real live mystery, 33 00:02:51,760 --> 00:02:57,360 Speaker 1: A true story of love, loss and betrayal more after 34 00:02:57,400 --> 00:03:14,800 Speaker 1: the Break. Okay, listeners, we're a true crime podcast. But 35 00:03:15,600 --> 00:03:19,480 Speaker 1: I know you know Agatha Christie. She's one of the 36 00:03:19,520 --> 00:03:23,920 Speaker 1: most prolific crime fiction writers ever. I'd even go so 37 00:03:24,040 --> 00:03:26,560 Speaker 1: far as to say her writing is typically the gold 38 00:03:26,639 --> 00:03:30,160 Speaker 1: standard of the genre. And even though what we share 39 00:03:30,200 --> 00:03:33,640 Speaker 1: in this show is true crime, it would be ridiculous 40 00:03:33,680 --> 00:03:36,680 Speaker 1: to deny that her plot lines are nearly always the 41 00:03:36,720 --> 00:03:41,160 Speaker 1: starting formula for any mystery narrative, whether consciously or not. 42 00:03:42,320 --> 00:03:46,920 Speaker 1: In summation, Agatha Christie has had a huge influence on 43 00:03:47,040 --> 00:03:51,520 Speaker 1: how we view crime narrative. Also, one could argue that 44 00:03:51,640 --> 00:03:55,640 Speaker 1: this story isn't true crime. I'd counter argue that one. 45 00:03:55,760 --> 00:04:00,520 Speaker 1: It's pretty damn close. We're talking about ethics, cruelty, emotional 46 00:04:00,520 --> 00:04:04,000 Speaker 1: abuse and its consequences and how it impacted one of 47 00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:07,960 Speaker 1: the greatest crime fiction writers ever. Plus we still have 48 00:04:08,040 --> 00:04:12,440 Speaker 1: a big intrigue involving a disappearance and a potential murder 49 00:04:12,640 --> 00:04:23,599 Speaker 1: without a body, So let's go. Agatha Christie was not 50 00:04:23,760 --> 00:04:27,279 Speaker 1: always the respected and self assured icon she became in 51 00:04:27,320 --> 00:04:31,120 Speaker 1: her old age, and the journey from Agatha Miller to 52 00:04:31,600 --> 00:04:36,320 Speaker 1: Dame Agatha Christie was a long and tumultuous one. It 53 00:04:36,440 --> 00:04:39,360 Speaker 1: involved the death of both her parents, a world war, 54 00:04:39,600 --> 00:04:42,479 Speaker 1: a bad husband, and a disappearance that would have the 55 00:04:42,560 --> 00:04:52,360 Speaker 1: whole world watching. Agatha was born into a tight knit, 56 00:04:52,520 --> 00:04:57,240 Speaker 1: upper middle class British family in September of eighteen ninety. 57 00:04:57,440 --> 00:04:59,960 Speaker 1: Her father, Frederick, was the kind of person who lived 58 00:05:00,160 --> 00:05:05,400 Speaker 1: did his occupation as gentlemen and his favorite activity as 59 00:05:06,080 --> 00:05:09,800 Speaker 1: doing nothing. In spite of this level of privilege, Agatha's 60 00:05:09,839 --> 00:05:13,960 Speaker 1: father was a good guy, and Agatha's mother, Clara, adored him. 61 00:05:14,520 --> 00:05:20,200 Speaker 1: From the outside, Agatha's childhood seemed idyllic, but nothing is perfect. 62 00:05:20,880 --> 00:05:23,880 Speaker 1: In fact, Frederick's wealthy upbringing left him with a sense 63 00:05:23,920 --> 00:05:28,240 Speaker 1: that money was an infinitely renewable resource. He had a 64 00:05:28,320 --> 00:05:32,839 Speaker 1: terrible weakness for shopping in parties. He'd once hosted six 65 00:05:32,960 --> 00:05:36,640 Speaker 1: hundred guests at the Waldorf for his eldest daughter's coming 66 00:05:36,680 --> 00:05:40,279 Speaker 1: out party, which I mean, if you got money for that, 67 00:05:40,640 --> 00:05:44,160 Speaker 1: do it up and then invite me please. In nineteen 68 00:05:44,200 --> 00:05:46,839 Speaker 1: oh one, one of the trustees for the family fund 69 00:05:46,920 --> 00:05:51,200 Speaker 1: committed suicide after making a series of bad financial decisions. 70 00:05:52,320 --> 00:05:55,880 Speaker 1: Suddenly the family needed to cut corners, but Frederick Miller 71 00:05:56,360 --> 00:05:59,400 Speaker 1: had no idea how to do that. His solution was 72 00:05:59,440 --> 00:06:01,840 Speaker 1: to rent out the estate and take his family to 73 00:06:01,880 --> 00:06:05,080 Speaker 1: stay in a series of hotels in France. When that, 74 00:06:05,200 --> 00:06:09,400 Speaker 1: somehow didn't make them less broke, Frederick was forced to 75 00:06:09,440 --> 00:06:14,320 Speaker 1: do the unthinkable look for a job. Anyone who's hunted 76 00:06:14,320 --> 00:06:17,800 Speaker 1: a job knows how stressful it can be, especially when 77 00:06:17,839 --> 00:06:21,200 Speaker 1: you need the money. There's the old joke that finding 78 00:06:21,240 --> 00:06:24,320 Speaker 1: a job is a job, and it really does require 79 00:06:24,520 --> 00:06:28,600 Speaker 1: serious tenacity. I can't imagine having to do that for 80 00:06:28,640 --> 00:06:32,320 Speaker 1: the first time when I was in my fifties. Soon 81 00:06:32,360 --> 00:06:35,480 Speaker 1: after beginning the job hunt, Agatha's father had a series 82 00:06:35,520 --> 00:06:38,159 Speaker 1: of small heart attacks that ultimately led to his death 83 00:06:38,160 --> 00:06:40,840 Speaker 1: in nineteen oh one at the age of fifty five. 84 00:06:42,200 --> 00:06:46,240 Speaker 1: Clara was heartbroken, not destitute, but still poorer than she'd 85 00:06:46,279 --> 00:06:51,800 Speaker 1: ever imagined being. For eleven year old Agatha, all this 86 00:06:51,960 --> 00:06:55,000 Speaker 1: meant that her idyllic childhood came to a crashing halt. 87 00:06:56,080 --> 00:06:58,960 Speaker 1: In truth, she was always somewhat of an anxious child, 88 00:06:59,000 --> 00:07:03,600 Speaker 1: which can relate. My childhoods stress dreams were of my 89 00:07:03,720 --> 00:07:07,320 Speaker 1: dad dying in freak accidents, like a gas station billboard 90 00:07:07,360 --> 00:07:10,920 Speaker 1: falling on him and squashing him flat like wily coyote. 91 00:07:11,240 --> 00:07:15,880 Speaker 1: But my worst childhood imagining had kind of already happened 92 00:07:16,120 --> 00:07:28,840 Speaker 1: to little Agatha. As a girl, she suffered from recurring 93 00:07:28,920 --> 00:07:34,960 Speaker 1: nightmares that she called the gunman. Usually in her stress dreams, 94 00:07:35,360 --> 00:07:39,200 Speaker 1: Agatha was doing something ordinary and comfortable. When she felt 95 00:07:39,280 --> 00:07:43,720 Speaker 1: a creeping sense of unease, she'd look up and a 96 00:07:43,760 --> 00:07:47,600 Speaker 1: one armed man in eighteenth century military garb would appear 97 00:07:47,840 --> 00:07:51,760 Speaker 1: carrying an old fashioned musket. As soon as she looked 98 00:07:51,760 --> 00:07:54,640 Speaker 1: into his pale blue eyes, Agatha would wake up screaming. 99 00:07:55,880 --> 00:07:58,320 Speaker 1: Other times, the gunman would take the form of a 100 00:07:58,360 --> 00:08:02,280 Speaker 1: beloved family member. Agatha would be sitting across from her 101 00:08:02,280 --> 00:08:06,040 Speaker 1: mother or sister, and when she looked up, they'd transform 102 00:08:06,080 --> 00:08:11,239 Speaker 1: into the gunman. In the biography Agatha Christie An Elusive Woman, 103 00:08:11,800 --> 00:08:14,760 Speaker 1: author Lucy Worsley points out how the themes of this 104 00:08:14,920 --> 00:08:18,840 Speaker 1: dream played out in Agatha's life again and again. Something 105 00:08:18,880 --> 00:08:24,480 Speaker 1: comfortable and familiar transformed into a nightmare. I was not 106 00:08:24,600 --> 00:08:28,240 Speaker 1: surprised at all to learn that her stress dreams intensified 107 00:08:28,320 --> 00:08:31,920 Speaker 1: after her father died. Her older brother and sister both 108 00:08:32,040 --> 00:08:34,920 Speaker 1: moved out at that point, and Clara was forced to 109 00:08:35,000 --> 00:08:39,160 Speaker 1: lay off many of the household staff. Agatha found herself 110 00:08:39,200 --> 00:08:44,800 Speaker 1: trapped alone with her grieving mother. Her once beloved childhood 111 00:08:44,800 --> 00:08:49,800 Speaker 1: home was transformed. In spite of her turbulent childhood, The 112 00:08:49,840 --> 00:08:52,960 Speaker 1: next six years saw Agatha growing into a well adjusted 113 00:08:53,000 --> 00:08:57,400 Speaker 1: young woman. The tragedy and hardship did bring Agatha and 114 00:08:57,440 --> 00:09:01,440 Speaker 1: her mother closer together. Clara was determined that, in spite 115 00:09:01,480 --> 00:09:05,280 Speaker 1: of everything, her daughter was going to pursue the greatest 116 00:09:05,360 --> 00:09:11,280 Speaker 1: goal a Victorian woman could aspire to marrying up. Clara 117 00:09:11,480 --> 00:09:15,680 Speaker 1: enrolled Agatha in several French finishing schools. From what I understand, 118 00:09:15,720 --> 00:09:19,319 Speaker 1: these were boarding schools, but instead of learning science and math, 119 00:09:19,440 --> 00:09:23,080 Speaker 1: she studied etiquette, which forks to use, and how to 120 00:09:23,080 --> 00:09:26,320 Speaker 1: make small talk about the Empire. Although to be fair, 121 00:09:26,400 --> 00:09:31,640 Speaker 1: Agatha's education also entailed a rigorous music curriculum centered around 122 00:09:31,640 --> 00:09:35,559 Speaker 1: singing in piano, and for her part, Agatha didn't seem 123 00:09:35,559 --> 00:09:39,240 Speaker 1: opposed to the role her mother chose for her. As 124 00:09:39,280 --> 00:09:42,920 Speaker 1: Agatha put it in her autobiography, that was what made 125 00:09:42,960 --> 00:09:46,760 Speaker 1: being a woman so exciting. You were waiting for the man, 126 00:09:47,600 --> 00:09:52,480 Speaker 1: and when the man came, he would change your entire life. 127 00:09:52,559 --> 00:09:56,319 Speaker 1: And on October twelfth, nineteen oh six, the man showed up. 128 00:10:08,559 --> 00:10:12,959 Speaker 1: Archie Christie was not the refined gentleman Clara pictured for 129 00:10:13,040 --> 00:10:16,480 Speaker 1: her daughter. He was the son of an English lawyer 130 00:10:16,840 --> 00:10:20,480 Speaker 1: who died of syphilis in an asylum when Archie was 131 00:10:20,520 --> 00:10:25,079 Speaker 1: only seven. After that, Archie's Irish mother raised him until 132 00:10:25,120 --> 00:10:27,760 Speaker 1: he joined the British Air Force at the age of 133 00:10:27,800 --> 00:10:32,200 Speaker 1: twenty three. He was a tough young pilot who drove 134 00:10:32,240 --> 00:10:36,360 Speaker 1: a motorbike, spoke his mind, and was mysterious about his 135 00:10:36,520 --> 00:10:42,120 Speaker 1: tragic past or. As biographer Lucy Worsley puts it, he 136 00:10:42,200 --> 00:10:46,720 Speaker 1: was incredibly hot. Agatha was already engaged to someone else 137 00:10:46,800 --> 00:10:49,400 Speaker 1: when she first met Archie, but when Archie asked her 138 00:10:49,440 --> 00:10:51,760 Speaker 1: to break it off and marry him instead, she didn't 139 00:10:51,800 --> 00:10:55,960 Speaker 1: think twice naturally, her mother disapproved of the match, not 140 00:10:56,080 --> 00:10:59,640 Speaker 1: only because of Archie's social status, but because there was 141 00:10:59,679 --> 00:11:03,959 Speaker 1: something about him that seemed off. Would try to explain 142 00:11:04,000 --> 00:11:08,200 Speaker 1: that to a teenager. In later years, Agatha wrote a 143 00:11:08,240 --> 00:11:12,960 Speaker 1: semi autobiographical novel about her life, using pseudonyms for herself 144 00:11:13,000 --> 00:11:17,520 Speaker 1: and all her relatives. In that book, the mother character 145 00:11:17,640 --> 00:11:21,000 Speaker 1: confesses that she believed her daughter's fiance to be a 146 00:11:21,120 --> 00:11:25,600 Speaker 1: cruel and ruthless man whose heart was quote like a rock. 147 00:11:26,840 --> 00:11:30,240 Speaker 1: In Agatha's defense, I would like to state from personal 148 00:11:30,280 --> 00:11:34,640 Speaker 1: experience that sometimes it's hard to distinguish between a tough 149 00:11:34,640 --> 00:11:38,360 Speaker 1: guy with the heart of gold and a well mannered asshole. 150 00:11:39,240 --> 00:11:44,040 Speaker 1: But Agatha was undeterred by her mother's reservations. On Christmas Eve, 151 00:11:44,120 --> 00:11:47,800 Speaker 1: nineteen fourteen, Agatha and Archie were married in a last 152 00:11:47,840 --> 00:11:52,440 Speaker 1: minute ceremony at a small chapel in Bristol. Thanks to 153 00:11:52,480 --> 00:11:55,840 Speaker 1: the outbreak of World War One, Archie and Agatha spent 154 00:11:55,960 --> 00:11:59,760 Speaker 1: the first four years of their marriage part He served 155 00:11:59,760 --> 00:12:03,840 Speaker 1: as a transport and equipment officer in France. Meanwhile, she 156 00:12:03,920 --> 00:12:07,200 Speaker 1: lived at home, volunteering at a hospital and working on 157 00:12:07,240 --> 00:12:12,360 Speaker 1: her writing. In nineteen sixteen, during the Great War, Agatha 158 00:12:12,400 --> 00:12:16,480 Speaker 1: began work on her first detective novel, The Mysterious Affair 159 00:12:16,600 --> 00:12:20,559 Speaker 1: at Styles. It's a story about a fictional country mansion 160 00:12:20,840 --> 00:12:23,840 Speaker 1: where the members of an upper middle class household must 161 00:12:23,840 --> 00:12:26,840 Speaker 1: come to terms with the lies and denials that drove 162 00:12:26,920 --> 00:12:30,680 Speaker 1: them to murder. Stiles was not so different from the 163 00:12:30,679 --> 00:12:34,600 Speaker 1: place where Agatha herself grew up. Both homes featured an 164 00:12:34,640 --> 00:12:38,360 Speaker 1: overbearing mother figure who held her children back with, as 165 00:12:38,400 --> 00:12:56,200 Speaker 1: Agatha put it, a dangerous intensity of affection. In nineteen eighteen, 166 00:12:56,720 --> 00:12:59,400 Speaker 1: the war ended and Agatha got the chance to move 167 00:12:59,400 --> 00:13:03,240 Speaker 1: out from under her mother's shadow. She and Archie rented 168 00:13:03,280 --> 00:13:06,560 Speaker 1: a small flat in London and were living together at last. 169 00:13:08,080 --> 00:13:10,920 Speaker 1: Before long, Agatha gave birth to their first child, a 170 00:13:10,960 --> 00:13:15,120 Speaker 1: little girl named Roslin. Shortly afterwards, she received news that 171 00:13:15,160 --> 00:13:18,959 Speaker 1: her novel was accepted by a publisher. The Mysterious Affair 172 00:13:19,040 --> 00:13:22,000 Speaker 1: at Styles was a roaring success, and it soon led 173 00:13:22,040 --> 00:13:26,920 Speaker 1: to a book deal for five future publications. Archie saw 174 00:13:26,960 --> 00:13:29,800 Speaker 1: professional success as well. He was invited to come on 175 00:13:29,840 --> 00:13:33,120 Speaker 1: a world tour and serve as the financial officer for 176 00:13:33,160 --> 00:13:36,400 Speaker 1: a project that would quote showcase the products of the 177 00:13:36,400 --> 00:13:40,960 Speaker 1: British Empire. So Agatha and Archie sailed around the world 178 00:13:41,040 --> 00:13:44,719 Speaker 1: on a refurbished prisoner of warship named the S S. 179 00:13:44,960 --> 00:13:51,960 Speaker 1: Kildonan Castler. They visited South Africa, Australia, Hawaii and New Zealand. 180 00:13:52,920 --> 00:13:55,559 Speaker 1: Agatha swam in the ocean and learned how to surf. 181 00:13:56,800 --> 00:14:01,120 Speaker 1: The couple was happy together by all accoun ounce that 182 00:14:01,280 --> 00:14:12,040 Speaker 1: was the last time. When Agatha and Archie returned to England, 183 00:14:12,480 --> 00:14:14,480 Speaker 1: she was well on her way to becoming a public 184 00:14:14,520 --> 00:14:17,760 Speaker 1: figure as a crime fiction writer. All three of her 185 00:14:17,800 --> 00:14:22,400 Speaker 1: novels received rave reviews. They sold well too, and now 186 00:14:22,600 --> 00:14:27,160 Speaker 1: newspapers and magazines asked her for interviews. The couple decided 187 00:14:27,200 --> 00:14:29,720 Speaker 1: to move out of the city and into a large 188 00:14:29,760 --> 00:14:34,360 Speaker 1: country estate in the posh suburb of Sunningdale. The wealthy 189 00:14:34,360 --> 00:14:37,040 Speaker 1: township seemed like the right place to be given their 190 00:14:37,080 --> 00:14:41,680 Speaker 1: newfound prosperity, and offered Archie ample opportunity to pursue his 191 00:14:41,840 --> 00:14:45,760 Speaker 1: passion for golf. The house they moved into was an 192 00:14:45,760 --> 00:14:51,200 Speaker 1: imposing Tudor style mansion, with three massive double chimneys rising 193 00:14:51,320 --> 00:14:56,240 Speaker 1: above the half timbered exterior. Igeta decorated the home in 194 00:14:56,280 --> 00:14:58,680 Speaker 1: a style that was all her own. It was stuffed 195 00:14:58,680 --> 00:15:03,240 Speaker 1: to the brim with books souvenirs from her travels nineteen 196 00:15:03,320 --> 00:15:08,240 Speaker 1: twenty's Maximalism at its finest. The couple decided to name 197 00:15:08,280 --> 00:15:11,400 Speaker 1: their new home after the ill fated estate from Agatha's 198 00:15:11,440 --> 00:15:16,360 Speaker 1: first novel. At Archie's suggestion, they called it The Styles, 199 00:15:16,960 --> 00:15:21,400 Speaker 1: after the book that brought her quote a stake in life. 200 00:15:21,840 --> 00:15:25,440 Speaker 1: Agatha hated it nearly from day One. Of the home's 201 00:15:25,520 --> 00:15:29,320 Speaker 1: previous owners, rumor had it that one went bankrupt and 202 00:15:29,400 --> 00:15:34,120 Speaker 1: another was murdered. Agatha found all this gloomy and morbid. 203 00:15:34,480 --> 00:15:37,600 Speaker 1: She also complained that the lane where the estate sat 204 00:15:37,800 --> 00:15:40,800 Speaker 1: was lonely, and the house itself got on her nerves. 205 00:15:41,680 --> 00:15:45,960 Speaker 1: I completely understand that the suburbs really and truly bummed 206 00:15:45,960 --> 00:15:49,200 Speaker 1: me out to but The Styles was not really to 207 00:15:49,280 --> 00:15:54,920 Speaker 1: blame for Agatha's unhappiness. The real problem was Archie. Ever 208 00:15:54,960 --> 00:15:58,320 Speaker 1: since the couple had moved to Sunningdale, they'd grown further apart. 209 00:15:59,440 --> 00:16:02,280 Speaker 1: Archie spent all day working in the city, and when 210 00:16:02,280 --> 00:16:04,960 Speaker 1: he came home, he claimed he was too tired to 211 00:16:04,960 --> 00:16:08,560 Speaker 1: spend time with Agatha. He was too tired to host 212 00:16:08,640 --> 00:16:11,800 Speaker 1: guests or go out to dinner with their new neighbors. 213 00:16:12,480 --> 00:16:15,800 Speaker 1: He was never too tired to go golfing on the weekends, though, 214 00:16:16,560 --> 00:16:19,640 Speaker 1: and this was something he preferred to do without Agatha. 215 00:16:20,680 --> 00:16:24,240 Speaker 1: Apparently her novice golf game would only drag him down. 216 00:16:24,560 --> 00:16:27,360 Speaker 1: I didn't know that this stereotype of an unfeeling suburban 217 00:16:27,440 --> 00:16:30,280 Speaker 1: husband dressed in pastels, leaving his wife stranded with all 218 00:16:30,280 --> 00:16:33,120 Speaker 1: the childcare and housework was over one hundred years old, 219 00:16:33,520 --> 00:16:38,520 Speaker 1: did you. Just like in her old childhood nightmares, Archie 220 00:16:38,560 --> 00:16:42,720 Speaker 1: was changing into someone who Agatha barely recognized. He had 221 00:16:42,760 --> 00:16:47,760 Speaker 1: become a cold, distant and threatening stranger, someone who seemed 222 00:16:47,800 --> 00:16:51,840 Speaker 1: capable of anything, maybe even murder. At least that's how 223 00:16:51,880 --> 00:16:55,120 Speaker 1: Agatha seemed to feel. It seems like a bit of 224 00:16:55,160 --> 00:16:57,040 Speaker 1: a leap. I mean, he can be a jerk and 225 00:16:57,080 --> 00:17:01,000 Speaker 1: not a killer. But soon enough people would agree with 226 00:17:01,040 --> 00:17:25,560 Speaker 1: her assessment. By the spring of nineteen twenty six, Agatha's 227 00:17:25,640 --> 00:17:29,800 Speaker 1: career was thriving. Her most recent novel, The Murder of 228 00:17:29,920 --> 00:17:33,119 Speaker 1: Roger Ackroyd was one of the most talked about books 229 00:17:33,119 --> 00:17:37,359 Speaker 1: in the country. The devious twist ending made her into 230 00:17:37,359 --> 00:17:40,520 Speaker 1: a household name and proved that she didn't always need 231 00:17:40,520 --> 00:17:44,400 Speaker 1: to play by the rules. But while Agatha's career was thriving, 232 00:17:45,040 --> 00:17:48,719 Speaker 1: her personal life was falling apart. The problems in her 233 00:17:48,720 --> 00:17:51,520 Speaker 1: marriage had only gotten worse in the last few years. 234 00:17:52,160 --> 00:17:55,560 Speaker 1: Agatha was isolated at the Styles. She'd made few friends 235 00:17:55,560 --> 00:17:59,280 Speaker 1: in Sunningdale, perhaps because Archie prevented her from entertaining guests 236 00:17:59,280 --> 00:18:02,800 Speaker 1: at the estate. He claimed that visitors ruined his weekends. 237 00:18:04,200 --> 00:18:06,840 Speaker 1: The isolation and stress of her failing marriage began to 238 00:18:06,880 --> 00:18:11,560 Speaker 1: weigh on Agatha. Her health was declining and she developed insomnia. 239 00:18:13,000 --> 00:18:16,520 Speaker 1: If this sounds like the second act of a Gothic novel, well, 240 00:18:18,240 --> 00:18:23,000 Speaker 1: then Agatha's mother passed away. Clara had been suffering from bronchitis, 241 00:18:23,040 --> 00:18:26,520 Speaker 1: but the death still came as a surprise. When Agatha 242 00:18:26,560 --> 00:18:29,440 Speaker 1: got the news that her mother was dying, she rushed 243 00:18:29,440 --> 00:18:44,760 Speaker 1: to her bedside, but she didn't arrive in time. Agatha 244 00:18:44,800 --> 00:18:48,280 Speaker 1: loved her mother deeply. Clara had been the pillar of 245 00:18:48,320 --> 00:18:51,200 Speaker 1: Agatha's life for as long as she could remember. Now 246 00:18:51,200 --> 00:18:53,640 Speaker 1: it felt as though everything she knew was falling down 247 00:18:53,640 --> 00:18:57,600 Speaker 1: around her. Perhaps one of the most devastating parts of 248 00:18:57,640 --> 00:19:02,160 Speaker 1: losing her mother was her husband's reaction, and Agatha likely 249 00:19:02,200 --> 00:19:04,840 Speaker 1: expected that Archie would not be there to support her 250 00:19:04,880 --> 00:19:08,320 Speaker 1: when things got rough. As she wrote in her autobiography, 251 00:19:09,200 --> 00:19:12,240 Speaker 1: I had always realized that he had a violent dislike 252 00:19:12,359 --> 00:19:16,560 Speaker 1: of illness, death and trouble of any kind, But she 253 00:19:16,640 --> 00:19:19,679 Speaker 1: never could have imagined the depth of his indifference, or 254 00:19:19,720 --> 00:19:23,280 Speaker 1: how much it would sting. Archie was in Spain for 255 00:19:23,320 --> 00:19:26,320 Speaker 1: work at the time of Clara's death, and he couldn't 256 00:19:26,320 --> 00:19:29,560 Speaker 1: be bothered to come home early for the funeral. When 257 00:19:29,600 --> 00:19:32,280 Speaker 1: he did return to England, his initial reaction was to 258 00:19:32,320 --> 00:19:35,680 Speaker 1: try and cheer her up. He suggested his wife come 259 00:19:35,720 --> 00:19:38,399 Speaker 1: back to Spain with him so she could be distracted. 260 00:19:39,320 --> 00:19:43,159 Speaker 1: But Agatha was grieving a massive loss, not overreacting to 261 00:19:43,240 --> 00:19:46,840 Speaker 1: some minor disappointment. This kind of grief could not be 262 00:19:46,880 --> 00:19:51,440 Speaker 1: shrugged off with a trip to Spain, so instead Agatha 263 00:19:51,480 --> 00:19:54,200 Speaker 1: took their daughter and went back to her childhood home 264 00:19:54,320 --> 00:19:58,200 Speaker 1: to clear out her mother's things. Archie's response to this 265 00:19:58,680 --> 00:20:02,879 Speaker 1: was to retreat even further from his grieving wife. His 266 00:20:02,960 --> 00:20:06,359 Speaker 1: letters to Agatha became few and far between, and the 267 00:20:06,359 --> 00:20:08,680 Speaker 1: ones he did send, he talked about golf and his 268 00:20:08,720 --> 00:20:12,920 Speaker 1: new partner on the Links, Nancy Neil, an attractive woman 269 00:20:13,000 --> 00:20:16,760 Speaker 1: ten years younger than thirty six year old Agatha. When 270 00:20:16,880 --> 00:20:19,560 Speaker 1: Archie agreed to come visit Agatha at her parents' house 271 00:20:19,640 --> 00:20:22,879 Speaker 1: for their daughter's seventh birthday, the mood was tense and 272 00:20:22,960 --> 00:20:26,919 Speaker 1: strained between them. After a day and a half of questioning, 273 00:20:27,440 --> 00:20:30,679 Speaker 1: Archie came out with the truth he was having an 274 00:20:30,680 --> 00:20:34,760 Speaker 1: affair with his golf partner, Nancy Neil. He wanted a divorce. 275 00:20:35,880 --> 00:20:38,960 Speaker 1: In the weeks that followed, Agatha moved back to the Styles, 276 00:20:39,000 --> 00:20:42,840 Speaker 1: but nothing changed between her and her husband. He started 277 00:20:42,880 --> 00:20:46,000 Speaker 1: spending several nights a week in London, and Agatha sank 278 00:20:46,040 --> 00:21:06,480 Speaker 1: deeper into her depression. Friday, December third, nineteen twenty six, 279 00:21:07,200 --> 00:21:11,400 Speaker 1: dawned bright and cold. Archie left the Styles by the train, 280 00:21:11,480 --> 00:21:13,960 Speaker 1: as he always did, taking the nine fifteen into the 281 00:21:14,000 --> 00:21:18,120 Speaker 1: city for work. Shortly after that, Agatha took her daughter 282 00:21:18,200 --> 00:21:22,280 Speaker 1: for a drive up to her grandmother's. Archie's mother noted 283 00:21:22,320 --> 00:21:25,680 Speaker 1: that Agatha was acting odd at tea that day. At 284 00:21:25,680 --> 00:21:28,240 Speaker 1: one point, she saw that Agatha was no longer wearing 285 00:21:28,280 --> 00:21:32,760 Speaker 1: her wedding ring. When asked about it, Agatha did not 286 00:21:32,880 --> 00:21:37,399 Speaker 1: initially respond. Instead, she stared off into space for a moment, 287 00:21:38,280 --> 00:21:43,119 Speaker 1: and then she gave an eerie, unhinged laugh and turned away. 288 00:21:43,240 --> 00:21:46,120 Speaker 1: Agatha returned home from her mother in law's around six 289 00:21:46,200 --> 00:21:49,719 Speaker 1: pm that evening. She took a phone call from her 290 00:21:49,800 --> 00:21:54,680 Speaker 1: living secretary, Carlo. Carlo was worried about Agatha and wanted 291 00:21:54,720 --> 00:21:58,240 Speaker 1: to make sure that she was all right. After the call, 292 00:21:58,640 --> 00:22:01,639 Speaker 1: Agatha sat down to write so several letters, kissed her 293 00:22:01,720 --> 00:22:04,959 Speaker 1: daughter good night, and bade goodbye to her beloved terrier. 294 00:22:06,119 --> 00:22:08,680 Speaker 1: Then she went out to her car and drove off 295 00:22:08,720 --> 00:22:17,199 Speaker 1: into the night. Carlo was distressed when she returned that 296 00:22:17,280 --> 00:22:21,240 Speaker 1: evening to find Agatha gone, and when she read the 297 00:22:21,320 --> 00:22:24,560 Speaker 1: letter that Agatha had left for her, her fears only grew. 298 00:22:25,640 --> 00:22:28,480 Speaker 1: We still don't know exactly what Agatha wrote in that letter, 299 00:22:29,200 --> 00:22:31,840 Speaker 1: though the coming week saw plenty of rumors and wild 300 00:22:31,920 --> 00:22:35,919 Speaker 1: speculation about its contents. What we do know is that 301 00:22:35,960 --> 00:22:39,600 Speaker 1: the letter asked Carlo to cancel Agatha's upcoming stay at 302 00:22:39,600 --> 00:22:43,080 Speaker 1: a hotel in Yorkshire, and it made Carlo concerned enough 303 00:22:43,119 --> 00:22:45,320 Speaker 1: that she called Archie and asked him to come home. 304 00:22:46,400 --> 00:22:49,520 Speaker 1: When he arrived back at the Styles, Archie noticed a 305 00:22:49,600 --> 00:22:52,879 Speaker 1: letter addressed to him sitting on the whole table. This 306 00:22:53,040 --> 00:22:55,679 Speaker 1: letter was even more mysterious than the one written to Carlo. 307 00:22:56,800 --> 00:22:59,560 Speaker 1: The only thing Archie ever said about it was that 308 00:22:59,600 --> 00:23:03,679 Speaker 1: it was personal. That letter itself no longer exists because 309 00:23:03,760 --> 00:23:07,480 Speaker 1: Archie destroyed it the moment he was done reading to me, 310 00:23:07,720 --> 00:23:10,199 Speaker 1: that sounds a lot like something someone would do in 311 00:23:10,240 --> 00:23:14,919 Speaker 1: an Agatha Christie novel. The following morning, a local constable 312 00:23:15,040 --> 00:23:18,200 Speaker 1: phoned the Styles to report that Agatha's car was discovered 313 00:23:18,200 --> 00:23:22,399 Speaker 1: at the edge of a quarry fifteen miles away. The 314 00:23:22,440 --> 00:23:25,960 Speaker 1: car seemingly careened off the road and down the steep 315 00:23:26,000 --> 00:23:30,240 Speaker 1: slope toward the perilous pit below. It was found crashed 316 00:23:30,240 --> 00:23:32,840 Speaker 1: into a hedge, with its front wheels hanging over the 317 00:23:32,960 --> 00:23:38,160 Speaker 1: edge of the quarry. Agatha's coat, packing case, and briefcase 318 00:23:38,520 --> 00:23:41,360 Speaker 1: were all inside the car, along with her driver's license, 319 00:23:42,440 --> 00:23:46,720 Speaker 1: but Agatha herself was nowhere to be found. At this point, 320 00:23:46,760 --> 00:23:50,800 Speaker 1: the search for Agatha began in Earnest. Police interviewed suspects 321 00:23:50,800 --> 00:23:54,000 Speaker 1: and potential witnesses. They put out a description of Agatha 322 00:23:54,040 --> 00:23:58,040 Speaker 1: in the newspaper, dragged a nearby pond and flew planes 323 00:23:58,080 --> 00:24:01,600 Speaker 1: over the countryside to look for her. Soon, the story 324 00:24:01,640 --> 00:24:04,680 Speaker 1: that one of the most famous crime fiction writers disappeared 325 00:24:05,240 --> 00:24:09,040 Speaker 1: caught the attention of the national press. As the days 326 00:24:09,080 --> 00:24:12,720 Speaker 1: passed with still no trace of Agatha, the Superintendent of 327 00:24:12,760 --> 00:24:16,239 Speaker 1: the Surrey Constabulary became more and more convinced that they 328 00:24:16,280 --> 00:24:20,240 Speaker 1: were looking for a body, and his suspicions fell squarely 329 00:24:20,359 --> 00:24:24,960 Speaker 1: on Archie Christie. Archie was cagy about everything from the 330 00:24:25,000 --> 00:24:27,960 Speaker 1: contents of Agatha's letter to his reasons for spending the 331 00:24:28,040 --> 00:24:31,360 Speaker 1: night away from home. As it turned out, Archie had 332 00:24:31,400 --> 00:24:34,960 Speaker 1: good reason to lie about this last detail. When he 333 00:24:35,000 --> 00:24:37,720 Speaker 1: claimed to be spending the weekend celebrating with his friends, 334 00:24:38,520 --> 00:24:40,560 Speaker 1: he failed to mention that one of those friends was 335 00:24:40,600 --> 00:24:45,359 Speaker 1: his mistress, Nancy Neil. He also didn't specify that what 336 00:24:45,480 --> 00:24:50,960 Speaker 1: they were celebrating was their engagement. Fortunately for Archie, three 337 00:24:51,040 --> 00:24:54,679 Speaker 1: days after Agatha's disappearance, there came a development that seemed 338 00:24:54,680 --> 00:24:59,280 Speaker 1: to absolve him of any suspicion. Archie's brother, Campbell, claimed 339 00:24:59,280 --> 00:25:01,639 Speaker 1: he'd gotten a letter from Agatha saying she'd gone to 340 00:25:01,720 --> 00:25:05,040 Speaker 1: a spa in Yorkshire to recuperate from her ill health. 341 00:25:06,359 --> 00:25:08,000 Speaker 1: At the time, he hadn't thought much of it and 342 00:25:08,040 --> 00:25:11,040 Speaker 1: actually lost the letter itself, but he still had the envelope. 343 00:25:11,720 --> 00:25:13,800 Speaker 1: It might have seemed like the end of the whole thing, 344 00:25:14,760 --> 00:25:18,520 Speaker 1: but when police and journalists reached out to spas in Yorkshire, 345 00:25:19,160 --> 00:25:23,920 Speaker 1: they came away empty handed. No one named Agatha Christie 346 00:25:23,960 --> 00:25:29,160 Speaker 1: appeared to be staying anywhere in Yorkshire. The mystery deepened, 347 00:25:29,440 --> 00:25:43,240 Speaker 1: and the media frenzy grew by the minute. This news 348 00:25:43,280 --> 00:25:48,720 Speaker 1: caused the investigation to expand exponentially. Two thousand volunteers came 349 00:25:48,760 --> 00:25:52,760 Speaker 1: out to help search the area around Agatha's home. Police 350 00:25:52,800 --> 00:25:55,040 Speaker 1: even brought her dog to the spot where her car 351 00:25:55,119 --> 00:25:57,440 Speaker 1: was found, in hopes that he might follow her scent. 352 00:25:58,200 --> 00:26:02,720 Speaker 1: He did not. Terriers don't great search dogs. And then 353 00:26:02,720 --> 00:26:06,240 Speaker 1: there were the spiritualists. If there was a hot mystery 354 00:26:06,280 --> 00:26:09,480 Speaker 1: in the nineteen twenties, you could bed the spiritualists were 355 00:26:09,480 --> 00:26:13,680 Speaker 1: not far behind it. People held seances and conjured visions, 356 00:26:13,680 --> 00:26:16,720 Speaker 1: trying to communicate to Agatha, or at least her spirit. 357 00:26:17,960 --> 00:26:22,879 Speaker 1: Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes and known spiritualist, 358 00:26:23,600 --> 00:26:27,760 Speaker 1: visited Styles with his personal medium. She held one of 359 00:26:27,800 --> 00:26:30,880 Speaker 1: Agatha's gloves and then announced that Agatha was not dead 360 00:26:30,880 --> 00:26:33,280 Speaker 1: at all. And they would all hear from her the 361 00:26:33,320 --> 00:26:37,800 Speaker 1: following Wednesday. In spite of the good news, Archie did 362 00:26:37,840 --> 00:26:42,800 Speaker 1: not seem reassured. Everything he'd done since his wife's disappearance 363 00:26:43,320 --> 00:26:47,520 Speaker 1: was to protect the reputation of his new fiance. If 364 00:26:47,600 --> 00:26:49,640 Speaker 1: it came out that the two were seeing each other 365 00:26:50,200 --> 00:26:53,680 Speaker 1: while Archie and Agatha were still married, the scandal could 366 00:26:53,760 --> 00:26:58,800 Speaker 1: ruin Nancy's reputation. But in spite of his best efforts, 367 00:26:58,920 --> 00:27:01,240 Speaker 1: the press could not be kept at bay for long. 368 00:27:14,880 --> 00:27:19,600 Speaker 1: On December eighth, the Westminster Gazette reported on the young 369 00:27:19,680 --> 00:27:23,040 Speaker 1: woman friend who had been staying with Archie when his 370 00:27:23,080 --> 00:27:28,080 Speaker 1: wife disappeared. Nancy had been outed, and now Archie seemed 371 00:27:28,080 --> 00:27:31,520 Speaker 1: to have a very good motive for murder. I just 372 00:27:31,560 --> 00:27:35,680 Speaker 1: want to take a moment to admire this twist. Agatha 373 00:27:35,720 --> 00:27:39,840 Speaker 1: got to ruin the reputation of her husband's mistress without 374 00:27:39,920 --> 00:27:44,560 Speaker 1: being the snitch herself. And I love that suddenly police 375 00:27:44,600 --> 00:27:47,280 Speaker 1: were tailing Archie in London and calling him in to 376 00:27:47,320 --> 00:27:51,639 Speaker 1: be questioned. At this point, the letter from Agatha to 377 00:27:51,720 --> 00:27:56,960 Speaker 1: his brother only made things look worse. How convenient that 378 00:27:57,080 --> 00:28:00,840 Speaker 1: Campbell lost the letter that happened to exonerate his beloved 379 00:28:00,880 --> 00:28:05,160 Speaker 1: brother there was no doubt about it. Archie was getting sweaty. 380 00:28:10,560 --> 00:28:14,480 Speaker 1: Newspaper reporters harassed him for interviews, and the police posted 381 00:28:14,480 --> 00:28:16,480 Speaker 1: a guard outside his home to make sure he didn't 382 00:28:16,520 --> 00:28:20,240 Speaker 1: try to run. Archie needed a way out, He needed 383 00:28:20,240 --> 00:28:23,919 Speaker 1: a way to cast suspicion on to someone else. On 384 00:28:24,000 --> 00:28:27,280 Speaker 1: the evening of the eighth, Archie agreed to an interview 385 00:28:27,320 --> 00:28:30,280 Speaker 1: with The Daily Mail, where he floated the idea that 386 00:28:30,440 --> 00:28:34,280 Speaker 1: maybe Agatha wasn't dead at all, Maybe she decided to 387 00:28:34,320 --> 00:28:38,400 Speaker 1: put her clever and conniving mind to use. She could 388 00:28:38,480 --> 00:28:41,440 Speaker 1: have saved up a secret cash of money and created 389 00:28:41,440 --> 00:28:44,560 Speaker 1: this whole media circus just to drum up sales for 390 00:28:44,640 --> 00:28:48,800 Speaker 1: her new book. Imagine how silly he sounded when he 391 00:28:48,880 --> 00:28:52,880 Speaker 1: suggested that Agatha Christie was never the mild mannered lady 392 00:28:52,920 --> 00:28:57,520 Speaker 1: that everyone thought they knew, but was instead someone else entirely. 393 00:28:59,120 --> 00:29:03,040 Speaker 1: I love this moment too. Is there anything more satisfying 394 00:29:03,120 --> 00:29:07,400 Speaker 1: than watching the bastard deny it? Even proclaiming your innocence 395 00:29:07,760 --> 00:29:38,840 Speaker 1: makes you look guilty. On December eighth, nineteen twenty six, 396 00:29:39,520 --> 00:29:44,200 Speaker 1: Teresa Neil of South Africa awoke in a ground floor 397 00:29:44,280 --> 00:29:49,320 Speaker 1: room at the Harrogate hydropathic hotel in Yorkshire, feeling calm. 398 00:29:50,480 --> 00:29:54,320 Speaker 1: Her stay there was pleasant and RESTful. She'd spent her 399 00:29:54,400 --> 00:29:58,720 Speaker 1: days wandering the manicured lawns, soaking her injured shoulders in 400 00:29:58,800 --> 00:30:04,160 Speaker 1: the hotel's health spot in shopping. The shopping was as 401 00:30:04,200 --> 00:30:07,800 Speaker 1: much out of necessity as anything else. Teresa came to 402 00:30:07,840 --> 00:30:10,120 Speaker 1: the hotel with little more than the clothes on her back, 403 00:30:10,640 --> 00:30:13,360 Speaker 1: and she needed the proper attire for dining and dancing 404 00:30:13,360 --> 00:30:16,960 Speaker 1: in the hotel's ballroom. It must have seemed odd to 405 00:30:17,000 --> 00:30:20,520 Speaker 1: come to a hotel without even a toothbrush, but Teresa 406 00:30:20,560 --> 00:30:24,240 Speaker 1: tried not to think about it too much. Teresa was 407 00:30:24,280 --> 00:30:28,120 Speaker 1: a widow with a son who died very young. Somehow, 408 00:30:28,160 --> 00:30:33,120 Speaker 1: those tragedies seemed distant. Here they were over. She came 409 00:30:33,160 --> 00:30:37,600 Speaker 1: to this hotel to rest and recuperate. That morning, Teresa's 410 00:30:37,600 --> 00:30:40,720 Speaker 1: maid brought her the paper along with her breakfast, just 411 00:30:40,760 --> 00:30:44,719 Speaker 1: as she had yesterday and the day before that. Teresa 412 00:30:44,800 --> 00:30:47,640 Speaker 1: drank her tea and flipped through an interview with the 413 00:30:47,760 --> 00:30:52,080 Speaker 1: husband of that missing author. She thought missus Christy had 414 00:30:52,120 --> 00:30:55,400 Speaker 1: acted quite stupidly, and it seemed likely that the writer 415 00:30:55,560 --> 00:30:59,200 Speaker 1: was dead. Still, there was something familiar about the woman 416 00:30:59,280 --> 00:31:03,200 Speaker 1: pictured in the news paper. Teresa couldn't help thinking that 417 00:31:03,200 --> 00:31:06,520 Speaker 1: they looked quite a bit alike. She pointed this out 418 00:31:06,520 --> 00:31:09,160 Speaker 1: to several other guests at the hotel, and they had 419 00:31:09,200 --> 00:31:12,840 Speaker 1: all agreed with her. But she couldn't help feeling there 420 00:31:12,880 --> 00:31:16,000 Speaker 1: was something else there, something at the edge of her mind. 421 00:31:17,320 --> 00:31:19,560 Speaker 1: Whenever she tried to think of it, her head ached 422 00:31:19,600 --> 00:31:22,600 Speaker 1: with the strain of trying to remember, so she didn't. 423 00:31:23,520 --> 00:31:27,000 Speaker 1: Maybe there were things she couldn't understand or remember, but 424 00:31:27,120 --> 00:31:30,400 Speaker 1: Teresa Neil was a happy woman. She didn't want to 425 00:31:30,440 --> 00:31:34,520 Speaker 1: do anything to change that. Unfortunately for the woman calling 426 00:31:34,560 --> 00:31:39,920 Speaker 1: herself Teresa Neil, her happiness could not last. The world 427 00:31:39,960 --> 00:31:43,320 Speaker 1: she left behind when she checked into the Harrogate Hydropathic 428 00:31:43,320 --> 00:31:47,560 Speaker 1: Hotel was about to come crashing back down, and once 429 00:31:47,600 --> 00:32:06,760 Speaker 1: it did, Teresa Neil would disappear forever. On Monday, December thirteenth, 430 00:32:07,080 --> 00:32:11,120 Speaker 1: the police arrived at the Harrogate Hydropathic. They were acting 431 00:32:11,120 --> 00:32:13,440 Speaker 1: on a tip from two members of the hotel band 432 00:32:13,840 --> 00:32:18,040 Speaker 1: who recognized Agatha Christie after she made requests for songs. 433 00:32:18,760 --> 00:32:22,400 Speaker 1: After making a few inquiries, the police discovered that Agatha 434 00:32:22,680 --> 00:32:26,640 Speaker 1: was indeed staying at the hotel under the name Teresa Neil. 435 00:32:27,680 --> 00:32:30,080 Speaker 1: You might think that when Archie arrived at the hotel, 436 00:32:30,720 --> 00:32:33,840 Speaker 1: Agatha took one look at him and snapped back into reality, 437 00:32:34,680 --> 00:32:38,400 Speaker 1: but that's not how it went. Even after being reunited 438 00:32:38,400 --> 00:32:41,680 Speaker 1: with her husband, Agatha still seemed to have no idea 439 00:32:41,720 --> 00:32:45,080 Speaker 1: who she was. She introduced Archie to the other guests 440 00:32:45,120 --> 00:32:49,080 Speaker 1: as her brother. Later, when she arrived back at Styles, 441 00:32:49,720 --> 00:33:01,720 Speaker 1: she couldn't remember her own daughter. On the night she disappeared, 442 00:33:02,400 --> 00:33:06,840 Speaker 1: Agatha Christie had entered into a dissociative fugue, a state 443 00:33:06,880 --> 00:33:12,000 Speaker 1: of amnesia brought on by stress and trauma. Agatha literally 444 00:33:12,040 --> 00:33:15,000 Speaker 1: lost her identity, and it would take her a while 445 00:33:15,080 --> 00:33:19,000 Speaker 1: to get it back. As we know, Agatha had been 446 00:33:19,040 --> 00:33:21,760 Speaker 1: in a state of deep depression ever since her mother's death, 447 00:33:22,280 --> 00:33:26,480 Speaker 1: and Archie's affair compounded things. When she drove her daughter 448 00:33:26,520 --> 00:33:30,600 Speaker 1: home in the afternoon before she disappeared, Agatha passed by 449 00:33:30,600 --> 00:33:33,720 Speaker 1: the quarry where her car would later be found. For 450 00:33:33,800 --> 00:33:37,080 Speaker 1: a moment she considered driving into it. Of course she didn't, 451 00:33:37,800 --> 00:33:40,480 Speaker 1: but the implications of that thought shook her to her core. 452 00:33:41,680 --> 00:33:44,360 Speaker 1: She was so depressed that her first thought was of 453 00:33:44,520 --> 00:33:47,560 Speaker 1: ending her own pain rather than of her daughter sitting 454 00:33:47,560 --> 00:33:51,680 Speaker 1: in the backseat. When Agatha arrived home that evening, she 455 00:33:51,800 --> 00:33:55,120 Speaker 1: learned that Archie went to stay with Nancy, and something 456 00:33:55,160 --> 00:33:58,920 Speaker 1: in her broke. Agatha took her car back to the 457 00:33:58,960 --> 00:34:02,440 Speaker 1: quarry that she'd seen her earlier that afternoon. She turned 458 00:34:02,440 --> 00:34:04,640 Speaker 1: the car off the road and let the wheel slip 459 00:34:04,640 --> 00:34:09,560 Speaker 1: from her hands. Agatha was lucky the car careened into 460 00:34:09,560 --> 00:34:11,600 Speaker 1: a hedge that stopped it from going off the edge 461 00:34:11,640 --> 00:34:15,480 Speaker 1: of the cliff. Agatha escaped with some bruises and a 462 00:34:15,480 --> 00:34:20,839 Speaker 1: mild head injury. After that point, her recollections become somewhat fragmented. 463 00:34:22,200 --> 00:34:26,000 Speaker 1: By Agatha's account, this is the moment that entered into 464 00:34:26,040 --> 00:34:30,040 Speaker 1: her dissociated fugue. Or else she put it, she lost 465 00:34:30,040 --> 00:34:34,400 Speaker 1: her memory. Look, I believe women, I do. And yet 466 00:34:34,719 --> 00:34:37,640 Speaker 1: the storyteller part of my brain, the part of me 467 00:34:37,760 --> 00:34:41,720 Speaker 1: who is a big fan of Agatha Christie's work, sees 468 00:34:41,880 --> 00:34:45,279 Speaker 1: this fugue state as a lot like the one that 469 00:34:45,360 --> 00:34:49,000 Speaker 1: Walter White had in Breaking Bad, And by that I 470 00:34:49,120 --> 00:34:54,120 Speaker 1: mean absolute genius. The nobler interpretation of these events is 471 00:34:54,160 --> 00:34:57,359 Speaker 1: to believe Agatha's story at face value, and even if 472 00:34:57,360 --> 00:34:59,520 Speaker 1: we do take it at that, we have to at 473 00:34:59,600 --> 00:35:03,319 Speaker 1: least acknowledge that some part of her mind had to 474 00:35:03,360 --> 00:35:08,040 Speaker 1: be concocting the situation that one portrayed her cheating husband 475 00:35:08,120 --> 00:35:13,760 Speaker 1: as a murder suspect, two ruined the reputation of his mistress, 476 00:35:13,800 --> 00:35:17,600 Speaker 1: and three completely absolved her of causing either of the 477 00:35:17,640 --> 00:35:21,960 Speaker 1: other two things. All while she rested in anonymity in 478 00:35:22,040 --> 00:35:26,319 Speaker 1: a spa in Yorkshire under the maiden name of her 479 00:35:26,480 --> 00:35:31,000 Speaker 1: husband's future wife. She only recalled her time at the 480 00:35:31,080 --> 00:35:36,360 Speaker 1: hydro Gate after working with a hypnotherapist. While there, Agatha 481 00:35:36,400 --> 00:35:41,319 Speaker 1: created an alternative personality for herself. The persona of Miss 482 00:35:41,440 --> 00:35:44,920 Speaker 1: Teresa Neil was South African. She was from one of 483 00:35:44,960 --> 00:35:48,040 Speaker 1: the last places that Agatha and Archie had been happy together. 484 00:35:49,160 --> 00:35:52,920 Speaker 1: She was free from Agatha's burdensome memories of later occurrences, 485 00:35:53,280 --> 00:35:56,719 Speaker 1: and as a result, she could stay happy. But as 486 00:35:56,719 --> 00:36:00,480 Speaker 1: Agatha started to gain her own memories back, the shame 487 00:36:00,560 --> 00:36:16,120 Speaker 1: and depression came back along with them. Making everything worse 488 00:36:16,520 --> 00:36:22,120 Speaker 1: was the continuing media coverage of Agatha's disappearance. Newspapers picked 489 00:36:22,200 --> 00:36:26,000 Speaker 1: up Archie's depiction of Agatha and ran with it. Of course, 490 00:36:26,040 --> 00:36:28,200 Speaker 1: the papers added to the narrative in a way that 491 00:36:28,719 --> 00:36:33,280 Speaker 1: Archie did not intend. They'd given Agatha a motive beyond 492 00:36:33,320 --> 00:36:38,600 Speaker 1: trying to sell books revenge on an unfaithful husband. Agatha 493 00:36:38,640 --> 00:36:42,120 Speaker 1: went from a tragic victim to a callous master of deception, 494 00:36:42,760 --> 00:36:46,319 Speaker 1: and when she was finally found, things got worse. As 495 00:36:46,320 --> 00:36:49,440 Speaker 1: far as the public was concerned. Agatha was living it 496 00:36:49,520 --> 00:36:52,200 Speaker 1: up at a spa while the whole country tore itself 497 00:36:52,200 --> 00:36:54,960 Speaker 1: apart looking for her, and she'd done it just to 498 00:36:55,000 --> 00:36:59,200 Speaker 1: spite her husband. This mentality must have been a very 499 00:36:59,640 --> 00:37:03,880 Speaker 1: era specific attitude, because I can't imagine a contemporary public 500 00:37:03,920 --> 00:37:07,839 Speaker 1: responding this way. I can imagine them rallying with her, 501 00:37:08,160 --> 00:37:11,240 Speaker 1: and in my opinion, a publicity stunt to sell books 502 00:37:11,320 --> 00:37:14,720 Speaker 1: is way less respectable than indirectly shaming a cheating spouse, 503 00:37:15,640 --> 00:37:19,280 Speaker 1: regardless of what I think. As Agatha came back to reality, 504 00:37:19,400 --> 00:37:22,640 Speaker 1: she found herself at her lowest point yet. But when 505 00:37:22,640 --> 00:37:25,080 Speaker 1: you hit bottom, the only way to go is up. 506 00:37:26,160 --> 00:37:29,279 Speaker 1: Agatha still loved Archie and it wouldn't be easy to 507 00:37:29,360 --> 00:37:33,080 Speaker 1: move past their relationship, but agreeing to a divorce was 508 00:37:33,080 --> 00:37:37,520 Speaker 1: a good first step in the process of separating. Agatha 509 00:37:37,560 --> 00:37:40,680 Speaker 1: gave an interview to The Daily Mail where she recounted 510 00:37:40,719 --> 00:37:46,239 Speaker 1: everything that happened during those eleven days in nineteen twenty six. Well, 511 00:37:46,280 --> 00:37:49,640 Speaker 1: the interview itself must have been painful. Telling her side 512 00:37:49,640 --> 00:37:53,160 Speaker 1: of the story went a long way towards repairing Agatha's 513 00:37:53,160 --> 00:37:58,440 Speaker 1: tattered reputation. In April of nineteen twenty eight, Archie finally 514 00:37:58,520 --> 00:38:03,960 Speaker 1: got his divorce. Soon after he married Nancy, Agatha was 515 00:38:04,000 --> 00:38:08,880 Speaker 1: free to move on, and she did. The silver lining 516 00:38:08,920 --> 00:38:12,279 Speaker 1: from the events of nineteen twenty six was that Agatha's 517 00:38:12,280 --> 00:38:16,319 Speaker 1: disappearance did have a significant impact on the sale of 518 00:38:16,320 --> 00:38:20,759 Speaker 1: her books. Novels that were doing pretty well before sold 519 00:38:20,880 --> 00:38:25,680 Speaker 1: thousands of copies. For Agatha, this sudden success was a 520 00:38:25,719 --> 00:38:30,120 Speaker 1: mixed bag. While it was good to have the extra money, 521 00:38:30,239 --> 00:38:32,960 Speaker 1: she couldn't help feeling that she didn't deserve it, that 522 00:38:33,040 --> 00:38:36,080 Speaker 1: her books were only selling because of her celebrity status. 523 00:38:37,360 --> 00:38:40,359 Speaker 1: While that was true in the short term, I think 524 00:38:40,400 --> 00:38:43,359 Speaker 1: the reason they continued to sell was because Agatha had 525 00:38:43,480 --> 00:38:47,319 Speaker 1: genuine skill. I mean as recently as twenty twenty three, 526 00:38:47,400 --> 00:38:49,920 Speaker 1: one of her novels was adapted into a film starring 527 00:38:49,960 --> 00:38:54,000 Speaker 1: director Kenneth Brannaw and Tina Fey. You probably saw Haunting 528 00:38:54,080 --> 00:38:59,239 Speaker 1: and Venice. I did. It was gorgeous anyway. Ever since 529 00:38:59,239 --> 00:39:03,359 Speaker 1: Agatha was a til she had this incredible imagination. Her 530 00:39:03,440 --> 00:39:07,680 Speaker 1: characters felt like actual people. I think it's interesting to 531 00:39:07,760 --> 00:39:10,680 Speaker 1: note that some people who go into a dissociated fugue 532 00:39:11,040 --> 00:39:14,680 Speaker 1: do not develop any kind of alter ego. They simply 533 00:39:14,760 --> 00:39:17,840 Speaker 1: erased their past and move forward as a blank slate. 534 00:39:19,320 --> 00:39:21,880 Speaker 1: But for Agatha, even in her low estate, she was 535 00:39:21,920 --> 00:39:25,759 Speaker 1: able to invent a person who seemed so real that 536 00:39:25,840 --> 00:39:29,360 Speaker 1: for eleven days no one could figure out that she wasn't. 537 00:39:30,280 --> 00:39:34,160 Speaker 1: Agatha always put down herself in her writing. For decades 538 00:39:34,400 --> 00:39:38,719 Speaker 1: she listed her occupation as married rather than writer, But 539 00:39:38,880 --> 00:39:44,160 Speaker 1: now there was no denying her profession. In nineteen thirty, 540 00:39:44,880 --> 00:39:49,279 Speaker 1: Agatha signed a six book deal with her publisher, and 541 00:39:49,320 --> 00:39:52,799 Speaker 1: she used the proceeds to travel to Iraq, where she 542 00:39:52,880 --> 00:39:57,239 Speaker 1: lived in the Expedition House for an archaeological dig excavating 543 00:39:57,280 --> 00:40:02,360 Speaker 1: the ancient city of Or. Two years later, Agatha returned 544 00:40:02,400 --> 00:40:10,600 Speaker 1: to Orr and met an attractive young archaeology student named Max. Look, 545 00:40:10,880 --> 00:40:15,080 Speaker 1: I'll say it even hotter. This was the man who 546 00:40:15,120 --> 00:40:18,520 Speaker 1: became her second husband, and with whom she would travel 547 00:40:18,560 --> 00:40:21,239 Speaker 1: the world and use the material to write some of 548 00:40:21,280 --> 00:40:25,480 Speaker 1: her most famous novels. Agatha and Max would have many 549 00:40:25,520 --> 00:40:29,520 Speaker 1: happy years together I mean talk about marrying up. Look 550 00:40:29,520 --> 00:40:33,000 Speaker 1: at her now, Clara, But Max wasn't there on that 551 00:40:33,040 --> 00:40:37,719 Speaker 1: first trip to Iraq. On that trip, Agatha focused on 552 00:40:37,760 --> 00:41:08,719 Speaker 1: rediscovering herself. Thank you to Lucy Worsley for her biography 553 00:41:09,080 --> 00:41:12,600 Speaker 1: Agatha Christie an Elusive Woman, which was a great help 554 00:41:12,640 --> 00:41:16,799 Speaker 1: in writing this episode. Other sources include Agatha Christie, the 555 00:41:16,840 --> 00:41:21,759 Speaker 1: Finished Portrait by Andrew Norman, and several news articles. All 556 00:41:21,840 --> 00:41:23,960 Speaker 1: of these sources are linked in our show notes. If 557 00:41:23,960 --> 00:41:27,759 Speaker 1: you want to learn more, join me next week on 558 00:41:27,880 --> 00:41:31,440 Speaker 1: the Greatest True Crime Stories Ever Told for a story 559 00:41:31,480 --> 00:41:36,160 Speaker 1: about a photojournalist who truly did whatever it took to 560 00:41:36,239 --> 00:41:41,400 Speaker 1: get the shot. Her name was Letitia Battaglia and she 561 00:41:41,640 --> 00:41:55,400 Speaker 1: was the Sicilian photographer who shot the Italian Mafia. The 562 00:41:55,480 --> 00:41:58,319 Speaker 1: Greatest True Crime Stories Ever Told is a production of 563 00:41:58,360 --> 00:42:02,759 Speaker 1: Diversion Audio. Your host is me Mary Kay mcbraer and 564 00:42:02,880 --> 00:42:07,719 Speaker 1: this episode was written by Zoe Louisa Lewis. Our show 565 00:42:07,800 --> 00:42:11,400 Speaker 1: is produced by Emma Dumouth and edited by Antonio Enriquez. 566 00:42:12,280 --> 00:42:16,040 Speaker 1: Our theme music is by Tyler Cash. Executive produced by 567 00:42:16,040 --> 00:42:16,800 Speaker 1: Scott Waxman.