1 00:00:09,562 --> 00:00:20,362 Speaker 1: Originals. This is an iHeart original. Saturday, December fourth, nineteen 2 00:00:20,482 --> 00:00:25,762 Speaker 1: twenty six, a cool and misty morning in the British countryside. 3 00:00:26,202 --> 00:00:30,122 Speaker 1: Frederick Dor, a tester for a car maker, was out 4 00:00:30,122 --> 00:00:34,962 Speaker 1: for a spin. He traveled, as he did almost every morning, 5 00:00:35,442 --> 00:00:38,722 Speaker 1: from a car factory on the outskirts of London to 6 00:00:38,842 --> 00:00:44,882 Speaker 1: the rolling choklands of Surrey, thirty miles southwest of Buckingham Palace. 7 00:00:45,562 --> 00:00:50,682 Speaker 1: Around eight am, Door drove past Newland's Corner, a popular 8 00:00:50,922 --> 00:00:55,162 Speaker 1: beauty spot as the English would call it. Newland's Corner 9 00:00:55,322 --> 00:00:59,722 Speaker 1: is two hundred and sixty acres, a patchwork of downs 10 00:00:59,762 --> 00:01:04,682 Speaker 1: and woodland where ancient ewes and oak trees give refuge 11 00:01:04,722 --> 00:01:10,362 Speaker 1: to deer, green woodpeckers and tawny owls. It's a landscape 12 00:01:10,402 --> 00:01:14,522 Speaker 1: to behold, even at the dawn of winter. But that's 13 00:01:14,602 --> 00:01:18,602 Speaker 1: not what caught Door's eye. As he maneuvered his test 14 00:01:18,722 --> 00:01:23,362 Speaker 1: car off the road. In the distance, Door spotted an 15 00:01:23,482 --> 00:01:28,082 Speaker 1: abandoned vehicle near the edge of a quarry. He parked 16 00:01:28,162 --> 00:01:33,322 Speaker 1: and walked over. As he got closer, an alarming scene 17 00:01:33,522 --> 00:01:38,482 Speaker 1: came into focus. This was no fender bender. Door thought 18 00:01:38,562 --> 00:01:42,682 Speaker 1: it looked like the car a gray Morris Cowley had 19 00:01:42,762 --> 00:01:45,962 Speaker 1: been quote given a push at the top of the 20 00:01:46,042 --> 00:01:51,802 Speaker 1: hill and sent down deliberately. The car's undercarriage rested on 21 00:01:51,962 --> 00:01:56,202 Speaker 1: a cluster of bushes, with the rear end hovering slightly 22 00:01:56,242 --> 00:02:01,322 Speaker 1: above the ground. Door peered inside and observed a fur coat, 23 00:02:01,802 --> 00:02:06,842 Speaker 1: an attache case, and some scattered effects, but the dry 24 00:02:07,402 --> 00:02:11,002 Speaker 1: was nowhere to be seen. Door rushed off to fetch 25 00:02:11,042 --> 00:02:15,522 Speaker 1: a policeman. When the officer arrived, he examined the scene 26 00:02:15,642 --> 00:02:20,122 Speaker 1: more closely. According to the police report, the way the 27 00:02:20,162 --> 00:02:25,642 Speaker 1: car was positioned made the officer think quote some unusual 28 00:02:25,762 --> 00:02:29,722 Speaker 1: proceeding had taken place. On the bright side, it was 29 00:02:29,802 --> 00:02:34,042 Speaker 1: a relief not to find anyone who'd been injured or worse. 30 00:02:34,682 --> 00:02:39,682 Speaker 1: Then again, it was also rather peculiar, a mystery, you 31 00:02:39,762 --> 00:02:45,242 Speaker 1: might say. The policeman continued his inspection. In addition to 32 00:02:45,362 --> 00:02:49,482 Speaker 1: the fur coat, he saw several articles of women's clothing. 33 00:02:50,082 --> 00:02:54,162 Speaker 1: Did the garments belong to the driver? If so, where 34 00:02:54,322 --> 00:02:59,002 Speaker 1: was she? Better yet, who was she? An answer to 35 00:02:59,082 --> 00:03:03,922 Speaker 1: that question lay in the attache case, which contained several 36 00:03:04,002 --> 00:03:10,802 Speaker 1: papers and jackpot license. It revealed the identity of a 37 00:03:10,922 --> 00:03:14,842 Speaker 1: thirty six year old woman who lived about sixteen miles 38 00:03:14,922 --> 00:03:18,882 Speaker 1: north in a bucolic house in the village of Sunningdale. 39 00:03:19,482 --> 00:03:23,402 Speaker 1: She was married to a noted military officer, with whom 40 00:03:23,402 --> 00:03:27,202 Speaker 1: she shared a seven year old daughter. And there was 41 00:03:27,282 --> 00:03:31,922 Speaker 1: one more attribute of note. It just so happened that 42 00:03:32,042 --> 00:03:37,722 Speaker 1: this missing woman was a master of mysteries, mysteries not 43 00:03:38,002 --> 00:03:42,442 Speaker 1: unlike the one now unfolding on the downs near Newland Corner. 44 00:03:43,762 --> 00:03:49,842 Speaker 1: Her name was Agatha Christie. Welcome to very special episodes 45 00:03:49,882 --> 00:03:54,122 Speaker 1: and iHeart original podcast. I'm your host Danish Schwartz and 46 00:03:54,402 --> 00:03:58,962 Speaker 1: this is the case of the missing novelist. 47 00:04:03,842 --> 00:04:06,882 Speaker 2: Hello, and welcome to another very special episode. My name 48 00:04:07,082 --> 00:04:11,162 Speaker 2: is Jason English with me as always the great Danish Warts. Hello, Hello, 49 00:04:11,602 --> 00:04:15,762 Speaker 2: being comparables. Aaron Burnett. Hey, Hey, if you're new here, 50 00:04:16,202 --> 00:04:18,722 Speaker 2: we take you down a different rabbit hole every week, 51 00:04:18,802 --> 00:04:21,642 Speaker 2: and today's rabbit hole is about Agatha Christie. 52 00:04:21,682 --> 00:04:23,682 Speaker 1: I absolutely love this story. 53 00:04:23,962 --> 00:04:25,202 Speaker 3: Oh my god, I love this one. 54 00:04:25,282 --> 00:04:28,082 Speaker 1: And also what a great thing when it's an author 55 00:04:28,122 --> 00:04:30,682 Speaker 1: who tells some of the best stories actually living an 56 00:04:30,722 --> 00:04:32,082 Speaker 1: amazing story. 57 00:04:31,922 --> 00:04:34,082 Speaker 3: Totally and then like the Roaring Twenties of it all. 58 00:04:34,122 --> 00:04:35,722 Speaker 3: We always hear about the Rowing twenties, but we never 59 00:04:35,802 --> 00:04:38,162 Speaker 3: hear about it in the UK. It's like this great 60 00:04:38,202 --> 00:04:40,922 Speaker 3: time with social norms being upended, but also there's like 61 00:04:40,922 --> 00:04:42,322 Speaker 3: the delightful chaos to. 62 00:04:42,282 --> 00:04:44,682 Speaker 1: It, and it's just salacious. I mean, this is a 63 00:04:44,722 --> 00:04:51,202 Speaker 1: fantastic story. Before she was the best selling novelist of 64 00:04:51,242 --> 00:04:54,842 Speaker 1: all time, an author of sixty six detective books who 65 00:04:54,882 --> 00:04:58,762 Speaker 1: came to be known as the Queen of Crime, Agatha 66 00:04:58,882 --> 00:05:03,602 Speaker 1: Miller was a little girl with a big imagination. Born 67 00:05:03,722 --> 00:05:07,922 Speaker 1: to an English heir and his Ireland born wife, Agatha 68 00:05:07,962 --> 00:05:11,402 Speaker 1: grew up in a large home in the southern English 69 00:05:11,482 --> 00:05:16,002 Speaker 1: town of Torky. Torki is a region of seascapes of 70 00:05:16,162 --> 00:05:21,482 Speaker 1: rolling farmland and rugged moors, features that would inform the 71 00:05:21,522 --> 00:05:24,882 Speaker 1: settings of many of her celebrated novels. 72 00:05:25,522 --> 00:05:29,322 Speaker 4: We would think superficially that she seems well, say, very 73 00:05:29,362 --> 00:05:30,522 Speaker 4: well to do background. 74 00:05:31,242 --> 00:05:36,402 Speaker 1: That's Mark Aldridge, an academic who has researched Agatha extensively 75 00:05:36,802 --> 00:05:39,242 Speaker 1: and authored three books about her writing. 76 00:05:39,562 --> 00:05:42,282 Speaker 4: She lives in a house with servants, and she gets 77 00:05:42,282 --> 00:05:45,162 Speaker 4: to go to all of these occasions. But actually her 78 00:05:45,202 --> 00:05:47,602 Speaker 4: father was quite bad with money, and so there were 79 00:05:47,602 --> 00:05:50,242 Speaker 4: always concerns about where the money would come from. 80 00:05:50,682 --> 00:05:54,402 Speaker 1: Agatha was the youngest of three, but because her siblings 81 00:05:54,442 --> 00:05:59,882 Speaker 1: were considerably older. Her childhood was a relatively solitary one. 82 00:06:00,282 --> 00:06:02,842 Speaker 4: A lot of time was spent by herself, and so 83 00:06:03,042 --> 00:06:07,442 Speaker 4: she would have to invent games and invent story and 84 00:06:07,482 --> 00:06:10,282 Speaker 4: that is where a lot of her creativity came from. 85 00:06:10,402 --> 00:06:13,562 Speaker 4: She actually claimed that she taught herself to read, which 86 00:06:13,602 --> 00:06:14,442 Speaker 4: is quite a feait. 87 00:06:14,962 --> 00:06:19,802 Speaker 1: Agatha discussed her writerly origins in a rare BBC interview 88 00:06:20,042 --> 00:06:21,722 Speaker 1: circa nineteen fifty five. 89 00:06:23,362 --> 00:06:25,802 Speaker 5: We'll often ask me what made me take up writing. 90 00:06:26,322 --> 00:06:28,002 Speaker 5: I put it all down to the fact that I 91 00:06:28,082 --> 00:06:31,562 Speaker 5: never had any education. Perhaps I'd better qualify that by 92 00:06:31,602 --> 00:06:34,042 Speaker 5: admitting I did eventually go to school in Paris when 93 00:06:34,082 --> 00:06:38,002 Speaker 5: I was sixteen or thereabouts, But until then, apart from 94 00:06:38,042 --> 00:06:40,642 Speaker 5: being taught a little arithmetic, I'd had no lessons to 95 00:06:40,642 --> 00:06:44,842 Speaker 5: speak of at all. Although I was gloriously idle in 96 00:06:44,842 --> 00:06:47,242 Speaker 5: those days. Children had to do a good many things 97 00:06:47,242 --> 00:06:50,442 Speaker 5: for themselves. But I found myself making up stories and 98 00:06:50,562 --> 00:06:53,922 Speaker 5: acting different parts. And there's nothing like boredom to make 99 00:06:53,962 --> 00:06:54,402 Speaker 5: you write. 100 00:06:55,482 --> 00:06:59,602 Speaker 1: Encouraged by her mother, Agatha began putting pen to paper 101 00:06:59,762 --> 00:07:00,762 Speaker 1: as a teenager. 102 00:07:01,162 --> 00:07:03,522 Speaker 5: By the time I was sixteen or seventeen, I'd written 103 00:07:03,602 --> 00:07:06,922 Speaker 5: quite a number of short stories and one long Relly novel. 104 00:07:08,602 --> 00:07:13,722 Speaker 1: Her burgeoning literary pursuits seemed a perfectly healthy hobby, but 105 00:07:13,922 --> 00:07:17,042 Speaker 1: in those days, the dominant pursuit for a young lady 106 00:07:17,322 --> 00:07:21,842 Speaker 1: was marriage. In her early twenties, Agatha accepted a proposal 107 00:07:21,962 --> 00:07:26,922 Speaker 1: from Reginald Lucy. He suggested a two year waiting period. 108 00:07:27,642 --> 00:07:30,282 Speaker 1: Agatha would be free to break things off should a 109 00:07:30,322 --> 00:07:35,242 Speaker 1: better match present itself. Agatha held Reginald to his word 110 00:07:35,482 --> 00:07:39,362 Speaker 1: when in nineteen twelve she was swept off her feet 111 00:07:39,762 --> 00:07:44,202 Speaker 1: by a charming young British Army officer and pilot named 112 00:07:44,402 --> 00:07:50,122 Speaker 1: Archie Christie. It was a whirlwind romance interrupted by the 113 00:07:50,162 --> 00:07:54,562 Speaker 1: outbreak of World War I. The two married hastily on 114 00:07:54,722 --> 00:07:59,762 Speaker 1: Christmas Eve nineteen fourteen, while Archie was on leave. They 115 00:07:59,882 --> 00:08:04,242 Speaker 1: spent their honeymoon at the Grand Hotel in Agatha's hometown 116 00:08:04,322 --> 00:08:08,402 Speaker 1: of Torkey. Three days later, our she returned to the 117 00:08:08,402 --> 00:08:09,922 Speaker 1: battlefields of France. 118 00:08:10,922 --> 00:08:15,042 Speaker 4: That's an incredible thing for anyone to marry somebody and 119 00:08:15,082 --> 00:08:17,762 Speaker 4: then have to immediately say goodbye to them. But she 120 00:08:17,842 --> 00:08:19,882 Speaker 4: didn't just sit in a living room and wait for 121 00:08:19,962 --> 00:08:22,442 Speaker 4: him to come back. She works in all sorts of place, 122 00:08:22,482 --> 00:08:25,362 Speaker 4: including as a nurse in a dispensary doing lots of 123 00:08:25,442 --> 00:08:29,122 Speaker 4: volunteer works, and she tells stories in her autobiography about 124 00:08:29,122 --> 00:08:33,082 Speaker 4: things like having to throw discarded limbs to the furnace. 125 00:08:33,442 --> 00:08:34,562 Speaker 4: She saw a lot. 126 00:08:35,562 --> 00:08:39,402 Speaker 1: All the while, Agatha continued to write. One day, her 127 00:08:39,442 --> 00:08:42,922 Speaker 1: sister Madge made a bet that Agatha couldn't write a 128 00:08:42,922 --> 00:08:48,282 Speaker 1: good detective story. Agatha accepted the challenge, and she soon 129 00:08:48,482 --> 00:08:53,722 Speaker 1: presented her results. Quote. The intense interest aroused in the 130 00:08:53,762 --> 00:08:56,762 Speaker 1: public by what was known at the time as the 131 00:08:56,842 --> 00:09:02,322 Speaker 1: Styles Case has now somewhat subsided. Nevertheless, in view of 132 00:09:02,442 --> 00:09:06,802 Speaker 1: the worldwide notoriety which attended it. I have been asked 133 00:09:07,202 --> 00:09:11,162 Speaker 1: both by my friend Poirot and the family themselves to 134 00:09:11,322 --> 00:09:15,082 Speaker 1: write an account of the whole story. This, we trust 135 00:09:15,362 --> 00:09:21,362 Speaker 1: will effectually silence these sensational rumors which still persist. Those 136 00:09:21,602 --> 00:09:26,442 Speaker 1: are the opening lines of The Mysterious Affair at Styles, 137 00:09:26,962 --> 00:09:28,882 Speaker 1: Agatha's debut novel. 138 00:09:29,642 --> 00:09:31,882 Speaker 5: I'd sent it to one or two publishers who didn't 139 00:09:31,922 --> 00:09:35,562 Speaker 5: want it, and eventually it went to John day Well. 140 00:09:35,602 --> 00:09:39,082 Speaker 5: A year later I heard It's had been accepted. Well 141 00:09:39,162 --> 00:09:39,522 Speaker 5: Le's hi. 142 00:09:39,602 --> 00:09:43,802 Speaker 1: It's again published in nineteen twenty, a year after she 143 00:09:43,882 --> 00:09:48,202 Speaker 1: gave birth to her daughter, Rosalind. The novel introduced Agatha's 144 00:09:48,322 --> 00:09:53,682 Speaker 1: signature sleuth her Cule Poirot. The Mysterious Affair at Styles 145 00:09:53,762 --> 00:09:55,282 Speaker 1: enjoyed moderate. 146 00:09:54,922 --> 00:10:00,882 Speaker 4: Success within the parameters of an untested new writer. It 147 00:10:00,962 --> 00:10:03,722 Speaker 4: did well. I had a print run of two thousand initially, 148 00:10:03,722 --> 00:10:06,602 Speaker 4: and it sold out fairly quickly. But she also sold 149 00:10:06,602 --> 00:10:10,562 Speaker 4: a seer realization rights to a version of The Times newspaper, 150 00:10:10,762 --> 00:10:12,682 Speaker 4: and I think that's the sort of thing is more 151 00:10:12,722 --> 00:10:14,642 Speaker 4: of a success in a way than selling the books, 152 00:10:14,682 --> 00:10:16,962 Speaker 4: because it showed that this is a sort of story 153 00:10:17,002 --> 00:10:18,442 Speaker 4: that people really want to read. 154 00:10:18,922 --> 00:10:23,362 Speaker 1: Between nineteen twenty two and nineteen twenty five, another four 155 00:10:23,522 --> 00:10:27,682 Speaker 1: novels followed. Agatha's career was on the rise, and her 156 00:10:27,722 --> 00:10:32,482 Speaker 1: domestic life was a picture of charm and contentment. The 157 00:10:32,562 --> 00:10:37,322 Speaker 1: Christie's moved to Sunningdale, west of London, where the family 158 00:10:37,402 --> 00:10:42,002 Speaker 1: settled into a country house that they named appropriately Styles. 159 00:10:42,842 --> 00:10:48,322 Speaker 1: Life was good until it wasn't. On April fifth, nineteen 160 00:10:48,402 --> 00:10:51,682 Speaker 1: twenty six, Agatha was on a train to visit her 161 00:10:51,722 --> 00:10:56,402 Speaker 1: ailing mother, who had recently fallen ill with bronchitis. By 162 00:10:56,442 --> 00:11:00,762 Speaker 1: the time Agatha arrived, it was too late. Her mother, Clara, 163 00:11:01,122 --> 00:11:03,562 Speaker 1: had died at the age of seventy two. 164 00:11:04,202 --> 00:11:08,602 Speaker 6: It absolutely overwhelmed her with grief. She had been incredibly 165 00:11:08,642 --> 00:11:12,362 Speaker 6: close to her mother, so losing hum was absolutely shattering. 166 00:11:12,962 --> 00:11:17,082 Speaker 1: Laura Thompson is the author of the biography Agatha Christie, 167 00:11:17,122 --> 00:11:21,522 Speaker 1: A Mysterious Life, which includes a portrayal of Agatha in 168 00:11:21,562 --> 00:11:23,442 Speaker 1: the aftermath of Clara's death. 169 00:11:23,922 --> 00:11:28,042 Speaker 6: She then moved back down to the family home to grieve. Really, 170 00:11:28,082 --> 00:11:30,362 Speaker 6: and this is really when all the trouble began. 171 00:11:30,802 --> 00:11:35,282 Speaker 1: Because little did Agatha know that further heartbreak lay in store. 172 00:11:36,002 --> 00:11:39,602 Speaker 1: When Archie visited her toward the end of the summer, 173 00:11:39,962 --> 00:11:44,042 Speaker 1: he arrived with another shock for his bereaved spouse. 174 00:11:44,642 --> 00:11:48,762 Speaker 6: He came down and told her, completely out of the blue, 175 00:11:49,122 --> 00:11:51,802 Speaker 6: I've fallen in love with another woman and I want 176 00:11:51,842 --> 00:11:52,322 Speaker 6: a divorce. 177 00:11:53,242 --> 00:11:57,642 Speaker 1: This other woman was named Nancy Neil. And what made 178 00:11:57,682 --> 00:12:01,522 Speaker 1: the betrayal sting even more was that Agatha knew her, 179 00:12:02,002 --> 00:12:06,642 Speaker 1: she even liked her. She felt blindsighted. She had lost 180 00:12:06,642 --> 00:12:10,602 Speaker 1: her mother and now just months later she was losing 181 00:12:10,682 --> 00:12:17,522 Speaker 1: her husband. Her entire world seemed to be coming undone. Somehow, 182 00:12:17,562 --> 00:12:21,322 Speaker 1: though in the midst of all this personal turmoil, her 183 00:12:21,362 --> 00:12:27,242 Speaker 1: career was flourishing. Two months after Clara's death, Agatha had 184 00:12:27,242 --> 00:12:31,962 Speaker 1: published another novel. This wasn't just any novel. It was 185 00:12:32,002 --> 00:12:35,642 Speaker 1: her breakthrough, a novel that would define her as a 186 00:12:35,682 --> 00:12:40,042 Speaker 1: writer and become one of the most famous mystery stories 187 00:12:40,082 --> 00:12:44,602 Speaker 1: of all time, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. It told 188 00:12:44,642 --> 00:12:47,202 Speaker 1: the story of a man who was killed for knowing 189 00:12:47,282 --> 00:12:50,442 Speaker 1: too much, and it became an instant hit. 190 00:12:51,202 --> 00:12:54,002 Speaker 6: Nineteen twenty six was a huge year for her in 191 00:12:54,082 --> 00:12:56,602 Speaker 6: every way. Really, it's the moment that she goes from 192 00:12:56,682 --> 00:13:00,602 Speaker 6: kind of very gifted amateur to this person who's rewriting 193 00:13:00,882 --> 00:13:04,282 Speaker 6: the whole templated detective fiction. And this book is almost 194 00:13:04,322 --> 00:13:07,442 Speaker 6: lost in the midst of these personal tragedy as far 195 00:13:07,522 --> 00:13:12,762 Speaker 6: as she's concerned. Roger Ackroyd changed the game, but she 196 00:13:12,922 --> 00:13:15,122 Speaker 6: was not aware of it at the time because her 197 00:13:15,122 --> 00:13:16,322 Speaker 6: life was falling apart. 198 00:13:17,002 --> 00:13:21,642 Speaker 1: This brings us to the pivotal events of Friday, December third. 199 00:13:22,442 --> 00:13:26,562 Speaker 1: Despite Archie's wish for a divorce, Agatha had been trying 200 00:13:26,602 --> 00:13:30,122 Speaker 1: to make things work. She was hoping they could spend 201 00:13:30,242 --> 00:13:34,162 Speaker 1: the weekend away together up in Yorkshire. Archie, of course, 202 00:13:34,202 --> 00:13:38,042 Speaker 1: had no intentions of doing that. Instead, he planned to 203 00:13:38,202 --> 00:13:41,002 Speaker 1: spend the weekend at a house party with a group 204 00:13:41,082 --> 00:13:45,602 Speaker 1: of friends, including the woman he'd been having an affair with, Nancy. 205 00:13:46,322 --> 00:13:50,802 Speaker 1: Agatha and Archie probably argued, and Archie left the house. 206 00:13:51,242 --> 00:13:54,562 Speaker 6: They said high words. High words were had between the Christie's. 207 00:13:55,162 --> 00:13:59,562 Speaker 1: Later that night, sometime after nine o'clock, Agatha left the 208 00:13:59,642 --> 00:14:03,882 Speaker 1: house too, though not before writing a pair of letters, 209 00:14:04,482 --> 00:14:08,962 Speaker 1: one for her personal secretary and close friend, Charlotte and 210 00:14:09,042 --> 00:14:10,762 Speaker 1: the other for Archie. 211 00:14:11,082 --> 00:14:15,762 Speaker 6: She drove off in a Morris Kalika away from Styles 212 00:14:15,802 --> 00:14:18,682 Speaker 6: into the night. I would say it was fairly obiseit 213 00:14:18,962 --> 00:14:22,242 Speaker 6: something was not right. Agatha didn't return. 214 00:14:23,682 --> 00:14:27,002 Speaker 1: What was in those letters and what was going through 215 00:14:27,042 --> 00:14:32,282 Speaker 1: Agatha's mind when she sped away from Styles the following morning, 216 00:14:32,442 --> 00:14:36,762 Speaker 1: when her car was found sixteen miles away, part way 217 00:14:36,842 --> 00:14:42,482 Speaker 1: down a retigenous slope. The mystery would only begin to deepen. 218 00:14:47,802 --> 00:14:51,562 Speaker 1: After the discovery of Agatha's car on the morning of Saturday, 219 00:14:51,602 --> 00:14:56,602 Speaker 1: December fourth, nineteen twenty six, a sweeping investigation began in 220 00:14:56,682 --> 00:15:02,082 Speaker 1: Newland's Corner. Throughout the weekend, dozens of policemen scoured the 221 00:15:02,122 --> 00:15:06,602 Speaker 1: Misty Downs looking for any trace of the vanished novelist. 222 00:15:07,282 --> 00:15:12,002 Speaker 1: They visited every village hotel for miles around. They dredged 223 00:15:12,042 --> 00:15:16,562 Speaker 1: a nearby lake known as the Silent Pool. A missing 224 00:15:16,642 --> 00:15:22,202 Speaker 1: person poster distributed by the local constabulary implored citizens to 225 00:15:22,322 --> 00:15:26,402 Speaker 1: report any information about the events to the police station. 226 00:15:27,482 --> 00:15:31,802 Speaker 1: Nothing seemed to add up. Agatha's car had been found 227 00:15:31,922 --> 00:15:36,002 Speaker 1: roughly twelve hours after she'd left her house, but less 228 00:15:36,002 --> 00:15:40,282 Speaker 1: than twenty miles away. There were reported sightings of her, 229 00:15:40,762 --> 00:15:44,762 Speaker 1: but none that seemed to make sense with the timeline, 230 00:15:44,802 --> 00:15:49,322 Speaker 1: And in addition to understanding what happened in those intervening hours, 231 00:15:49,842 --> 00:15:53,202 Speaker 1: there was also the issue of the crash site. As 232 00:15:53,402 --> 00:15:55,682 Speaker 1: Laura Thompson explains. 233 00:15:55,682 --> 00:15:58,962 Speaker 6: It's quite a sinister place Nuon's Corner. On a summer'sday, oh, 234 00:15:58,962 --> 00:16:01,322 Speaker 6: it's very, very lovely. But if you go there on 235 00:16:01,362 --> 00:16:04,922 Speaker 6: a dark winter's night, which I did, it's damn scary. 236 00:16:05,682 --> 00:16:10,282 Speaker 1: Despite her rising prominent as an author, Agatha wasn't yet 237 00:16:10,482 --> 00:16:14,642 Speaker 1: the worldwide celebrity we know her as today, But when 238 00:16:14,642 --> 00:16:18,922 Speaker 1: the newspapers caught wind of her disappearance, it became an 239 00:16:18,922 --> 00:16:26,242 Speaker 1: instant sensation. Nonetheless, The Daily Mirror, Britain's pioneering tabloid, splashed 240 00:16:26,282 --> 00:16:29,442 Speaker 1: the story across the cover of its December seventh edition. 241 00:16:30,282 --> 00:16:34,042 Speaker 1: That same day, the story dominated the front page of 242 00:16:34,122 --> 00:16:40,322 Speaker 1: London's evening standard aeroplane searched for missus Christie blared the 243 00:16:40,522 --> 00:16:46,122 Speaker 1: full width headline intensive new hunt for missing novelist. Three 244 00:16:46,242 --> 00:16:50,082 Speaker 1: hundred men ten yards apart, comb five square miles of 245 00:16:50,122 --> 00:16:52,682 Speaker 1: the downs, every pond dragged. 246 00:16:54,202 --> 00:16:57,122 Speaker 6: Once a press got hold of the story and thought, oh, 247 00:16:57,122 --> 00:17:00,242 Speaker 6: my goodness, this woman may well be dead by her 248 00:17:00,282 --> 00:17:03,042 Speaker 6: own hands. She may well have been murdered by her husband. 249 00:17:03,482 --> 00:17:05,242 Speaker 6: It sort of grew from there. 250 00:17:06,162 --> 00:17:09,242 Speaker 4: It was hugh and it grew as it went on. 251 00:17:09,522 --> 00:17:13,002 Speaker 4: It's almost too good a story to believe that Agatha 252 00:17:13,042 --> 00:17:18,002 Speaker 4: Christie has left her home and that she has driven away, 253 00:17:18,362 --> 00:17:22,562 Speaker 4: and then her car is found abandoned, and nobody knows 254 00:17:22,642 --> 00:17:25,162 Speaker 4: where she's gone in some of her personal effects are 255 00:17:25,202 --> 00:17:28,162 Speaker 4: still in the car. It sounds like a mystery story. 256 00:17:28,442 --> 00:17:32,042 Speaker 4: And she is the greatest writer of mystery fiction. And 257 00:17:32,162 --> 00:17:35,442 Speaker 4: so you can understand that the tabloids really want to 258 00:17:35,442 --> 00:17:36,602 Speaker 4: get to the bottom of this. 259 00:17:37,202 --> 00:17:41,762 Speaker 1: In the absence of actual progress, newspapers kept their readers 260 00:17:41,802 --> 00:17:46,002 Speaker 1: hooked with any and every drop of intrigue they could 261 00:17:46,042 --> 00:17:50,922 Speaker 1: squeeze from the befuddling saga. This was the Roaring twenties, 262 00:17:51,002 --> 00:17:56,042 Speaker 1: after all, and the Agatha mystery embodied all the spectacle 263 00:17:56,242 --> 00:18:01,282 Speaker 1: of the age. The police received hundreds of letters claiming 264 00:18:01,322 --> 00:18:06,802 Speaker 1: Agatha's sightings. Archie fielded calls from clairvoyance, and a group 265 00:18:06,802 --> 00:18:12,002 Speaker 1: of spiritualists held a seance on the hilltop at Newland's Corner. 266 00:18:12,762 --> 00:18:17,122 Speaker 1: Archie brought Agatha's pet terrier to the spot, hoping that 267 00:18:17,242 --> 00:18:21,882 Speaker 1: the pup might sniff out some clue. Agatha's portrayal in 268 00:18:21,922 --> 00:18:26,362 Speaker 1: the media took on a predictably gendered tone. She was 269 00:18:26,442 --> 00:18:30,882 Speaker 1: a hysterical woman, the thinking went, who'd buckled under the 270 00:18:30,922 --> 00:18:34,082 Speaker 1: strain of her mother's death and the pressures of her 271 00:18:34,202 --> 00:18:39,842 Speaker 1: rapidly accelerating career. Archie encouraged this narrative when he theorized 272 00:18:39,842 --> 00:18:42,562 Speaker 1: to the press that his wife was suffering from a 273 00:18:42,682 --> 00:18:47,042 Speaker 1: nervous breakdown, and that, of course, wasn't even the whole story. 274 00:18:47,562 --> 00:18:51,802 Speaker 1: The newspapers were none the wiser about the acrimonious marital 275 00:18:51,922 --> 00:18:57,242 Speaker 1: discord percolating behind the scenes. As the case dragged into 276 00:18:57,322 --> 00:19:02,322 Speaker 1: its second week, things got even darker. The police now 277 00:19:02,602 --> 00:19:08,122 Speaker 1: seriously entertained the possibility that Agatha had committed sou suicide. 278 00:19:08,162 --> 00:19:11,882 Speaker 1: The New York Times inflamed this theory all the way 279 00:19:11,962 --> 00:19:14,802 Speaker 1: on the other side of the Atlantic quote. It is 280 00:19:14,882 --> 00:19:18,882 Speaker 1: stated by one of missus Christie's friends that the house 281 00:19:19,002 --> 00:19:23,442 Speaker 1: in which she lived at Sunningdale was getting on her nerves. 282 00:19:23,962 --> 00:19:27,442 Speaker 1: It stands in a lovely lane which has a reputation 283 00:19:27,642 --> 00:19:31,162 Speaker 1: of being haunted. The lane has been the scene of 284 00:19:31,242 --> 00:19:34,682 Speaker 1: the murder of a woman and the suicide of a man, 285 00:19:35,082 --> 00:19:39,882 Speaker 1: and its tragic associations were felt by missus Christie. And 286 00:19:40,082 --> 00:19:45,602 Speaker 1: of course there were those murmurs of foul play, particularly 287 00:19:45,802 --> 00:19:50,522 Speaker 1: after press caught wind of a long and mysterious police 288 00:19:50,642 --> 00:19:56,242 Speaker 1: conference between Archie Christie and the Deputy Chief Constable of Surrey. 289 00:19:57,242 --> 00:20:00,122 Speaker 6: The whole idea started to take a hold within the 290 00:20:00,202 --> 00:20:04,522 Speaker 6: journalistic community that if Archie were about to be arrested 291 00:20:04,522 --> 00:20:05,922 Speaker 6: for murder, it would be no surprise. 292 00:20:07,082 --> 00:20:11,442 Speaker 1: Archie insisted Agatha was still alive. He said that if 293 00:20:11,482 --> 00:20:14,922 Speaker 1: Agatha wanted to kill herself, she would have used poison, 294 00:20:15,482 --> 00:20:18,362 Speaker 1: which she knew a thing or two about from her novels. 295 00:20:18,922 --> 00:20:22,722 Speaker 1: But he was less forthcoming about what role he might 296 00:20:22,762 --> 00:20:26,562 Speaker 1: have played in her disappearance. One comment he gave to 297 00:20:26,602 --> 00:20:29,362 Speaker 1: the press included the following whopper. 298 00:20:30,322 --> 00:20:34,322 Speaker 7: It is absolutely untrue to suggest that there was anything 299 00:20:34,322 --> 00:20:36,402 Speaker 7: in the nature of a row or tiff between my 300 00:20:36,482 --> 00:20:37,482 Speaker 7: wife and myself. 301 00:20:38,602 --> 00:20:45,922 Speaker 1: So where was Agatha Christie or Agatha Christie's body? On Saturday, 302 00:20:46,002 --> 00:20:50,242 Speaker 1: December eleventh, the authorities took a rather drastic step in 303 00:20:50,282 --> 00:20:54,442 Speaker 1: their efforts to crack the case. They called on members 304 00:20:54,482 --> 00:20:57,762 Speaker 1: of the public to put on old clothes and heavy 305 00:20:57,802 --> 00:21:02,002 Speaker 1: boots and join them in combing the most densely wooded 306 00:21:02,042 --> 00:21:06,802 Speaker 1: swathes around Newland Corner down to campaign tomorrow, declared the 307 00:21:07,042 --> 00:21:11,442 Speaker 1: front page of London's Evening Standard. Police appeal to all 308 00:21:11,482 --> 00:21:16,762 Speaker 1: to help. Surrey's Deputy Chief Constable said quote, I have 309 00:21:16,882 --> 00:21:20,522 Speaker 1: police sergeants on duty there day and night, and I 310 00:21:20,602 --> 00:21:26,602 Speaker 1: expect hourly developments. The next day, thousands of civilians turned 311 00:21:26,682 --> 00:21:30,122 Speaker 1: up for what was declared as quote the greatest search 312 00:21:30,202 --> 00:21:33,402 Speaker 1: ever organized by the British police for a missing person. 313 00:21:34,242 --> 00:21:38,482 Speaker 1: They came with bloodhounds and German shepherds. They spread out 314 00:21:38,522 --> 00:21:42,882 Speaker 1: in fifty three search parties and strode over every inch 315 00:21:42,962 --> 00:21:46,322 Speaker 1: of earth within a two mile radius of Newland's Corner. 316 00:21:46,962 --> 00:21:51,522 Speaker 1: But there was still no trace of Agatha, dead or alive. 317 00:21:52,722 --> 00:21:54,602 Speaker 6: You've got the police, you've put the press, You've now 318 00:21:54,642 --> 00:21:57,642 Speaker 6: got the public, and the public were kind of loving it. 319 00:21:57,962 --> 00:22:01,322 Speaker 6: And all these people turned up, and they'd brought in bloodhounds, 320 00:22:01,362 --> 00:22:04,642 Speaker 6: and they'd brought in they had horses taking messages from 321 00:22:04,682 --> 00:22:07,202 Speaker 6: one part of Newland's corner to it. I mean, you 322 00:22:07,242 --> 00:22:11,002 Speaker 6: could never cover Nulan's corner. You couldn't cover all that undergrowth. 323 00:22:12,002 --> 00:22:14,082 Speaker 6: You could hunt for weeks and not find a body. 324 00:22:14,282 --> 00:22:17,962 Speaker 6: But the public were out there with their sticks hunting around. 325 00:22:18,442 --> 00:22:22,962 Speaker 6: It was a massive bonanza sort of day out. 326 00:22:23,962 --> 00:22:29,002 Speaker 1: While these good Samaritans trudged through the woods, intrigue surrounding 327 00:22:29,002 --> 00:22:32,362 Speaker 1: Agatha's whereabouts began to reach a fever pitch. 328 00:22:32,882 --> 00:22:36,882 Speaker 6: It was real hysteria, I would say, of the kind 329 00:22:36,922 --> 00:22:41,362 Speaker 6: that does occasionally take possession of the English, of the 330 00:22:41,402 --> 00:22:46,002 Speaker 6: English character, this supposedly phlegmatic character that we had, sometimes 331 00:22:46,002 --> 00:22:46,962 Speaker 6: we go hysterical. 332 00:22:48,722 --> 00:22:53,282 Speaker 1: Rumors swirled that Agatha had left behind a sealed envelope 333 00:22:53,602 --> 00:22:56,362 Speaker 1: only to be opened upon the discovery of her body, 334 00:22:56,722 --> 00:22:59,482 Speaker 1: that who was hiding in London disguised as a man, 335 00:23:00,122 --> 00:23:03,842 Speaker 1: even that her unfinished novel, The Mystery of the Blue 336 00:23:03,922 --> 00:23:08,962 Speaker 1: Train held a clue to her disappearance. The investigation eventually 337 00:23:09,042 --> 00:23:11,962 Speaker 1: found its way to a little bungalow in the woods, 338 00:23:12,402 --> 00:23:16,042 Speaker 1: where the police had been alerted to a mysterious appearance 339 00:23:16,322 --> 00:23:18,882 Speaker 1: by a woman who looked like Agatha. 340 00:23:19,362 --> 00:23:22,442 Speaker 6: They found a little hot not far from Newland's Corner, 341 00:23:22,482 --> 00:23:26,282 Speaker 6: where they'd found evidence that someone had been in habitation. 342 00:23:26,882 --> 00:23:29,762 Speaker 6: The floor was scattered with its sinister looking drug. There 343 00:23:29,762 --> 00:23:33,602 Speaker 6: were all these reports of Agatha being seen hither and thither. 344 00:23:34,162 --> 00:23:38,002 Speaker 6: She'd been seen on a bus in Piccadilly, She'd knocked 345 00:23:38,042 --> 00:23:42,002 Speaker 6: on someone's door in a hysterical state. They checked Archie's 346 00:23:42,002 --> 00:23:44,162 Speaker 6: wardrobe to see if she'd taken any clothes and was 347 00:23:44,162 --> 00:23:45,242 Speaker 6: living as a man. 348 00:23:45,802 --> 00:23:49,442 Speaker 1: The newspapers also took interest in those letters Agatha had 349 00:23:49,562 --> 00:23:53,322 Speaker 1: left for her secretary and husband the night she'd driven 350 00:23:53,402 --> 00:23:57,242 Speaker 1: off from the house in such a hurry. Archie insisted 351 00:23:57,282 --> 00:24:01,162 Speaker 1: that the letters, both of which had conveniently gone missing, 352 00:24:01,722 --> 00:24:06,882 Speaker 1: held no significance for the case, just plain old household affairs, 353 00:24:07,122 --> 00:24:12,322 Speaker 1: he said. But there was actually a third letter, one 354 00:24:12,362 --> 00:24:16,762 Speaker 1: that initially had seemed like a promising clue. A few 355 00:24:16,842 --> 00:24:21,322 Speaker 1: days prior to the massive search party, police caught wind 356 00:24:21,442 --> 00:24:25,002 Speaker 1: of a message Agatha had written to her brother in law, 357 00:24:25,322 --> 00:24:27,722 Speaker 1: Campbell Christie, who she was close to. 358 00:24:28,722 --> 00:24:32,602 Speaker 6: She posted this letter, or someone had posted the letter 359 00:24:33,082 --> 00:24:37,482 Speaker 6: on Saturday, the fourth of December from London in the morning. 360 00:24:38,522 --> 00:24:43,042 Speaker 1: This was around the time Agatha's car was found crashed 361 00:24:43,162 --> 00:24:47,082 Speaker 1: near the quarry in Newland's Corner, but the police were 362 00:24:47,162 --> 00:24:50,802 Speaker 1: never able to read what Agatha had written to Campbell. 363 00:24:51,282 --> 00:24:54,402 Speaker 6: He destroyed the letter, so presumably it was very damning 364 00:24:54,402 --> 00:24:55,562 Speaker 6: ab Archie Christie. 365 00:24:55,922 --> 00:25:00,282 Speaker 1: Campbell never explained his motives, but he did tell police 366 00:25:00,402 --> 00:25:03,362 Speaker 1: what Agatha had apparently conveyed to him. 367 00:25:03,682 --> 00:25:07,562 Speaker 6: The gist of it was, i am on happy and 368 00:25:07,802 --> 00:25:08,562 Speaker 6: in a bad way. 369 00:25:08,722 --> 00:25:11,922 Speaker 1: I'm going up north to a spa, to a spa 370 00:25:12,042 --> 00:25:17,402 Speaker 1: in Yorkshire specifically, and the detectives looked into it, but 371 00:25:17,602 --> 00:25:21,002 Speaker 1: after making some calls, they could find no evidence that 372 00:25:21,122 --> 00:25:25,202 Speaker 1: Agatha was hiding out up there. By mid December, the 373 00:25:25,242 --> 00:25:29,602 Speaker 1: authorities were no closer to clearing up Agatha's disappearance than 374 00:25:29,642 --> 00:25:32,962 Speaker 1: they had been when they first encountered her abandoned car 375 00:25:33,082 --> 00:25:38,282 Speaker 1: more than a week earlier. Dead alive murder suicide stunt. 376 00:25:38,722 --> 00:25:42,682 Speaker 1: They had no idea what had become of her. The solution, 377 00:25:43,322 --> 00:25:46,882 Speaker 1: as they were about to find out, was right under 378 00:25:47,002 --> 00:25:55,922 Speaker 1: their noses. While the Agatha Christie's circus carried on in 379 00:25:55,962 --> 00:26:01,002 Speaker 1: the wintry Surrey countryside, something fishy was going on. Two 380 00:26:01,082 --> 00:26:06,002 Speaker 1: hundred miles north. Employees at the Hydro Hotel in Harrowgate, 381 00:26:06,242 --> 00:26:10,962 Speaker 1: a fashion Yorkshire spa town, had been whispering about one 382 00:26:10,962 --> 00:26:15,082 Speaker 1: of the guests. They thought she bore a striking resemblance 383 00:26:15,482 --> 00:26:20,002 Speaker 1: to the mystery novelist whose picture was all over the newspapers. 384 00:26:20,682 --> 00:26:25,642 Speaker 6: So on the twelfth, rather ironically, while a large number 385 00:26:25,642 --> 00:26:31,322 Speaker 6: of people, some thousands, are searching the immense expanse of 386 00:26:31,402 --> 00:26:35,682 Speaker 6: Newland's Corner looking for a corpse in Harrogate, two members 387 00:26:35,722 --> 00:26:39,642 Speaker 6: of a hotel band had gone to the police and said, 388 00:26:40,362 --> 00:26:42,562 Speaker 6: we think Agatha Christie is living in this hotel. 389 00:26:43,362 --> 00:26:46,202 Speaker 1: The next day, local authorities paid a visit to the 390 00:26:46,282 --> 00:26:50,642 Speaker 1: Hydro to furtively observe the woman and talk to hotel staff. 391 00:26:51,122 --> 00:26:55,762 Speaker 1: Convinced she was indeed Agatha, they phoned their counterparts in Surrey, 392 00:26:56,162 --> 00:26:59,802 Speaker 1: the same ones who had already apparently inquired into this 393 00:27:00,002 --> 00:27:04,642 Speaker 1: possibility and had found nothing. But had that really been 394 00:27:04,682 --> 00:27:08,842 Speaker 1: the answer all along? Archie was at work in London 395 00:27:09,162 --> 00:27:13,322 Speaker 1: when he got word of the Harrowgate sighting on Tuesday 396 00:27:13,402 --> 00:27:18,042 Speaker 1: December fourteenth, eleven days after he'd last seen his wife. 397 00:27:18,282 --> 00:27:21,722 Speaker 1: He boarded a train and traveled north to confirm the 398 00:27:21,802 --> 00:27:26,282 Speaker 1: identity of the woman at the Hydro Hotel. Archie was 399 00:27:26,322 --> 00:27:29,722 Speaker 1: still in transit when the London Evening Standard got a 400 00:27:29,842 --> 00:27:34,002 Speaker 1: jump on the scoop Missus Christie, said to be in Harrowgate, 401 00:27:34,322 --> 00:27:38,842 Speaker 1: blaired the front page of that day's final edition. Archie 402 00:27:38,922 --> 00:27:42,922 Speaker 1: arrived in Harrowgate around six o'clock. He entered the lobby 403 00:27:42,922 --> 00:27:45,922 Speaker 1: of the Hydro and lowered himself into a chair in 404 00:27:45,962 --> 00:27:51,522 Speaker 1: the lounge. Soon guests began strolling in to retrieve copies 405 00:27:51,562 --> 00:27:55,242 Speaker 1: of the evening papers laid out on a nearby table. 406 00:27:56,122 --> 00:28:00,802 Speaker 1: Archie watched with a mix of astonishment and relief as 407 00:28:00,882 --> 00:28:06,202 Speaker 1: Agatha entered the lounge dressed in her evening finery. She 408 00:28:06,402 --> 00:28:11,402 Speaker 1: picked up newspaper bursting with coverage of her disappearance. When 409 00:28:11,602 --> 00:28:16,562 Speaker 1: Archie approached his wife, she nonchalantly introduced him to another 410 00:28:16,682 --> 00:28:20,322 Speaker 1: guest as her brother. Then she accompanied him into the 411 00:28:20,402 --> 00:28:21,242 Speaker 1: dining room. 412 00:28:21,482 --> 00:28:24,082 Speaker 6: She and Archie had dinner together, and one would really 413 00:28:24,202 --> 00:28:27,002 Speaker 6: like to have heard what happened at that dinner. Perhaps 414 00:28:27,042 --> 00:28:29,402 Speaker 6: they had nothing to say to each other. She then 415 00:28:29,442 --> 00:28:31,562 Speaker 6: went up to bed. They were in separate rooms, which 416 00:28:31,602 --> 00:28:34,322 Speaker 6: for sure was not her intention, and he then dealt 417 00:28:34,322 --> 00:28:36,842 Speaker 6: with an awful lot of journalists who had turned up. 418 00:28:37,362 --> 00:28:43,322 Speaker 1: Archie gave the assembled newshounds a statement about Agatha's psychological condition. 419 00:28:44,162 --> 00:28:47,682 Speaker 7: My wife has suffered from complete loss of memory and 420 00:28:47,802 --> 00:28:50,402 Speaker 7: I do not think she knows who she is. She 421 00:28:50,442 --> 00:28:52,322 Speaker 7: does not know me, and she does not know where 422 00:28:52,362 --> 00:28:55,562 Speaker 7: she is. I hope to take her to London tomorrow 423 00:28:55,642 --> 00:28:57,322 Speaker 7: to see a doctor and specialists. 424 00:28:58,322 --> 00:29:02,482 Speaker 1: Despite her apparently adult state of mind. It turned out 425 00:29:02,522 --> 00:29:05,362 Speaker 1: Agatha had been having a grand old time at the 426 00:29:05,402 --> 00:29:10,562 Speaker 1: Harrowgate Hydro, where she'd apparently been since December fourth, the 427 00:29:10,642 --> 00:29:15,202 Speaker 1: same day her car was discovered. She'd sang, she'd danced, 428 00:29:15,602 --> 00:29:19,242 Speaker 1: she'd mingled with guests in the ballroom, she'd even played 429 00:29:19,242 --> 00:29:23,762 Speaker 1: the occasional round of billiards. Except she wasn't there as 430 00:29:23,842 --> 00:29:28,842 Speaker 1: Agatha Christie. She was there under a different identity, Missus 431 00:29:29,042 --> 00:29:34,482 Speaker 1: Teresa Neil, of Cape Town, South Africa. It wasn't long 432 00:29:34,682 --> 00:29:39,082 Speaker 1: before the newspapers picked up on the significance of Agatha's 433 00:29:39,162 --> 00:29:45,482 Speaker 1: assumed surname Neil, and the fact that the weekend Agatha disappeared, 434 00:29:46,122 --> 00:29:50,402 Speaker 1: Archie had been at the house party Nancy Neil was at. 435 00:29:50,922 --> 00:29:53,562 Speaker 4: You don't have to be particularly astute to work out 436 00:29:53,482 --> 00:29:56,682 Speaker 4: that there were marital problems, even if that isn't necessarily 437 00:29:56,722 --> 00:29:59,162 Speaker 4: the way that it was explicitly phrased. 438 00:29:58,762 --> 00:30:04,042 Speaker 1: In the reports. Agatha's disappearance was a bit scandalous, but 439 00:30:04,162 --> 00:30:07,762 Speaker 1: in the end Archie hadn't murdered her nor had she 440 00:30:07,842 --> 00:30:13,402 Speaker 1: committed suicide. Still, as she began her recovery sequestered away 441 00:30:13,402 --> 00:30:16,722 Speaker 1: from the eyes of the public, there were more questions 442 00:30:16,842 --> 00:30:23,002 Speaker 1: than answers. Had Archie's infidelity precipitated a breakdown, What had 443 00:30:23,042 --> 00:30:26,722 Speaker 1: she done in those long hours between leaving her house 444 00:30:26,842 --> 00:30:31,322 Speaker 1: the night of December third and abandoning her Morris Cowley 445 00:30:31,442 --> 00:30:35,322 Speaker 1: the next morning, and how had she managed to get 446 00:30:35,362 --> 00:30:39,682 Speaker 1: from Newland's Corner all the way up to Yorkshire after 447 00:30:40,002 --> 00:30:43,962 Speaker 1: wrecking the car. In the immediate aftermath of the episode 448 00:30:44,162 --> 00:30:49,002 Speaker 1: and in the decades since, different theories about Agatha's disappearance 449 00:30:49,042 --> 00:30:53,562 Speaker 1: have been kicked around. The most cynical of these originated 450 00:30:53,642 --> 00:30:57,842 Speaker 1: with Archie himself. In an interview before his wife was discovered. 451 00:30:58,042 --> 00:31:02,122 Speaker 1: He said Agatha had talked about disappearing, but not out 452 00:31:02,122 --> 00:31:04,842 Speaker 1: of stress to help her own career. 453 00:31:05,642 --> 00:31:08,922 Speaker 7: Some time ago, she told her sister, I could disappear 454 00:31:09,082 --> 00:31:12,322 Speaker 7: if I wished and set about it carefully. That shows 455 00:31:12,362 --> 00:31:15,642 Speaker 7: the possibility of engineering a disappearance had been running through 456 00:31:15,642 --> 00:31:19,202 Speaker 7: her mind, probably for the purpose of her work. Personally, 457 00:31:19,402 --> 00:31:22,642 Speaker 7: I feel that is what happened. At any rate, I 458 00:31:22,682 --> 00:31:24,922 Speaker 7: am booying myself with that belief. 459 00:31:25,722 --> 00:31:30,162 Speaker 1: His comments sounded like an insult disguised as an expression 460 00:31:30,242 --> 00:31:34,522 Speaker 1: of hope and concern. There's also no proof they're true. 461 00:31:35,042 --> 00:31:39,282 Speaker 1: There's no doubt that the enormous attention surrounding Agatha's disappearance 462 00:31:39,722 --> 00:31:43,762 Speaker 1: furthered her reputation as an author. But scholars of the 463 00:31:43,802 --> 00:31:48,282 Speaker 1: case don't buy the publicity theory or an alternate theory 464 00:31:48,362 --> 00:31:52,082 Speaker 1: that she staged her disappearance as an act of revenge 465 00:31:52,282 --> 00:31:54,042 Speaker 1: on her philandering spouse. 466 00:31:54,722 --> 00:31:57,482 Speaker 4: There are lots of series about exactly what was going 467 00:31:57,522 --> 00:31:59,882 Speaker 4: on with Agatha Christie, and one of the reasons why 468 00:31:59,922 --> 00:32:03,002 Speaker 4: this is such an enduring mystery is only Agatha Christie 469 00:32:03,002 --> 00:32:06,362 Speaker 4: really ever knew. Definitely wasn't a publicity stunt because it 470 00:32:06,402 --> 00:32:09,562 Speaker 4: brought the publicity that she didn't want. And I don't 471 00:32:09,562 --> 00:32:11,962 Speaker 4: think there's any credible reason to believe that she was 472 00:32:11,962 --> 00:32:15,442 Speaker 4: in some way trying to embarrass or frame our husbands. 473 00:32:15,522 --> 00:32:19,002 Speaker 4: There's nothing in the events that make that seem realistic 474 00:32:19,122 --> 00:32:19,362 Speaker 4: to me. 475 00:32:20,202 --> 00:32:24,202 Speaker 1: In nineteen twenty eight, the Christie's divorced and Archie married 476 00:32:24,362 --> 00:32:29,162 Speaker 1: Nancy Neil That February, two years before Agatha would marry 477 00:32:29,202 --> 00:32:33,562 Speaker 1: her second husband, Max Mallowan. Agatha gave an interview to 478 00:32:33,602 --> 00:32:38,122 Speaker 1: the Daily Mail. It remains perhaps the closest we'll ever 479 00:32:38,202 --> 00:32:41,122 Speaker 1: get to the truth of her missing eleven days. 480 00:32:42,042 --> 00:32:46,242 Speaker 8: All that night, I drove aimlessly about. In my mind 481 00:32:46,802 --> 00:32:50,922 Speaker 8: there was the vague idea of ending everything. I drove 482 00:32:50,962 --> 00:32:54,162 Speaker 8: automatically down roads I knew, and made an head where 483 00:32:54,162 --> 00:32:57,042 Speaker 8: I looked at the river. I thought about jumping in, 484 00:32:57,522 --> 00:33:01,162 Speaker 8: but realize that I could swim too well to drown. 485 00:33:01,442 --> 00:33:03,762 Speaker 8: When I reached a point in the road, which I 486 00:33:03,762 --> 00:33:07,282 Speaker 8: thought was near the quarry, I turned the car down 487 00:33:07,322 --> 00:33:10,682 Speaker 8: the hill towards it. I left the wheel and let 488 00:33:10,722 --> 00:33:14,602 Speaker 8: the car run. The car struck something with a jerk 489 00:33:14,882 --> 00:33:18,442 Speaker 8: and pulled up. Suddenly I was flung against the steering 490 00:33:18,482 --> 00:33:21,882 Speaker 8: wheel and my head hit something. Up to this moment, 491 00:33:22,562 --> 00:33:24,882 Speaker 8: I was missus Christie. 492 00:33:25,682 --> 00:33:29,162 Speaker 1: That's when Agatha says she lost her sense of self. 493 00:33:29,482 --> 00:33:33,802 Speaker 8: For twenty four hours. I wandered in a dream and 494 00:33:33,842 --> 00:33:38,562 Speaker 8: then found myself at Harrogate, a well contented and perfectly 495 00:33:38,602 --> 00:33:41,602 Speaker 8: happy woman who believed she had just come from South Africa. 496 00:33:42,082 --> 00:33:46,482 Speaker 8: I had now become, in my mind Missus Tessa Neil. 497 00:33:47,322 --> 00:33:50,962 Speaker 1: Missus Neil was apparently following every twist and turn in 498 00:33:51,002 --> 00:33:54,682 Speaker 1: the story of the missing mystery writer in Harrogate. 499 00:33:54,842 --> 00:33:58,402 Speaker 8: I read every day about Missus Christie's disappearance and came 500 00:33:58,442 --> 00:34:01,802 Speaker 8: to the conclusion that she was dead. I regarded her 501 00:34:01,842 --> 00:34:05,362 Speaker 8: as having acted stupidly. I was greatly struck by my 502 00:34:05,522 --> 00:34:08,722 Speaker 8: resemblance to her, and pointed it out to other people 503 00:34:08,762 --> 00:34:11,642 Speaker 8: in the hotel. It never occurred to me that I 504 00:34:11,802 --> 00:34:12,442 Speaker 8: might be her. 505 00:34:14,402 --> 00:34:18,162 Speaker 1: In Laura Thompson's view, the disappearance was almost kind of 506 00:34:18,202 --> 00:34:22,522 Speaker 1: like Agatha conceiving of a plot in real time, like 507 00:34:22,562 --> 00:34:26,122 Speaker 1: a story she was trying to construct and take control of, 508 00:34:26,682 --> 00:34:30,122 Speaker 1: having last control of her life. 509 00:34:30,282 --> 00:34:32,722 Speaker 6: I was lucky enough to talk to her daughter, Rosalind, 510 00:34:32,722 --> 00:34:34,962 Speaker 6: who was in her eighties. When I spoke to her, 511 00:34:35,122 --> 00:34:37,202 Speaker 6: I was one hundred percent convinced from that that this 512 00:34:37,402 --> 00:34:40,842 Speaker 6: was about Archie, that this was about trying to get 513 00:34:41,082 --> 00:34:44,962 Speaker 6: Archie back. I regard that period at Harrogut as a 514 00:34:45,082 --> 00:34:48,242 Speaker 6: kind of loss of identity. You almost see her wandering 515 00:34:48,242 --> 00:34:50,322 Speaker 6: around that rather beautiful town like a ghost. 516 00:34:51,162 --> 00:34:54,282 Speaker 1: In fact, Thompson sees traces of this in some of 517 00:34:54,282 --> 00:34:55,722 Speaker 1: Agatha's later books. 518 00:34:56,122 --> 00:34:58,042 Speaker 6: If you read Five Little Pigs or Death on a 519 00:34:58,082 --> 00:35:01,842 Speaker 6: Nile or Sad Cypress, or any of those really high level, 520 00:35:02,122 --> 00:35:07,682 Speaker 6: emotional undertow detective fiction that she produced ten fifteen years 521 00:35:07,682 --> 00:35:10,962 Speaker 6: after the event, they're very much about a woman who 522 00:35:11,402 --> 00:35:13,362 Speaker 6: is prepared to do anything to get the man she 523 00:35:13,402 --> 00:35:13,962 Speaker 6: loves back. 524 00:35:14,442 --> 00:35:18,002 Speaker 1: At the same time, Thompson acknowledges the limit to any 525 00:35:18,122 --> 00:35:20,202 Speaker 1: theory about Agatha's state. 526 00:35:19,962 --> 00:35:22,522 Speaker 6: Of mind, but there is an element of this that 527 00:35:22,562 --> 00:35:26,482 Speaker 6: will never, ever, ever, ever be fully solved. 528 00:35:26,922 --> 00:35:31,682 Speaker 1: Mark Aldridge agrees. He also believes that Agatha's disappearance was 529 00:35:31,762 --> 00:35:35,762 Speaker 1: more than just a spectacle for a ravenous press and 530 00:35:35,842 --> 00:35:39,922 Speaker 1: a sensation hungry public. She might be rolling over in 531 00:35:39,962 --> 00:35:43,122 Speaker 1: her grave to hear this, but in a way, the 532 00:35:43,202 --> 00:35:46,962 Speaker 1: saga is as much a part of Agatha's legacy as 533 00:35:47,002 --> 00:35:48,442 Speaker 1: her beloved books. 534 00:35:48,762 --> 00:35:51,042 Speaker 4: We know that we're never going to get the full 535 00:35:51,402 --> 00:35:54,842 Speaker 4: solution that tells us absolutely everything about what went on. 536 00:35:55,282 --> 00:35:58,242 Speaker 4: So yes, that's one lasting mystery that she's left us with. 537 00:35:58,602 --> 00:36:05,082 Speaker 4: It is Agatha Christie's most enduring mystery. 538 00:36:02,802 --> 00:36:04,802 Speaker 2: All right again for the new people. At the end 539 00:36:04,842 --> 00:36:06,842 Speaker 2: of each episode, we try to cast it as a 540 00:36:06,922 --> 00:36:09,282 Speaker 2: if it were a movie. I say, Zaren is really 541 00:36:09,322 --> 00:36:11,522 Speaker 2: our casting director here, but I just want to say 542 00:36:11,522 --> 00:36:14,162 Speaker 2: before you do cast it that the most interesting part 543 00:36:14,162 --> 00:36:15,762 Speaker 2: of the movie version, to me is going to be 544 00:36:16,282 --> 00:36:20,162 Speaker 2: Agatha in the hotel trying to help the people give 545 00:36:20,202 --> 00:36:23,202 Speaker 2: them clues as to the disappearance, whether or not. It's 546 00:36:23,242 --> 00:36:25,842 Speaker 2: like a psychological thriller of what does she know? 547 00:36:26,522 --> 00:36:27,002 Speaker 5: Totally. 548 00:36:28,122 --> 00:36:30,602 Speaker 3: Also, I love when she's playing the piano, dancing to 549 00:36:30,722 --> 00:36:33,602 Speaker 3: Charleston and playing billiards for everybody, just living it up 550 00:36:33,602 --> 00:36:34,442 Speaker 3: in the Yorkshire spa. 551 00:36:34,962 --> 00:36:37,682 Speaker 1: In the fictional version of this story, she's also at 552 00:36:37,682 --> 00:36:39,762 Speaker 1: this hotel solving other mysteries. 553 00:36:40,282 --> 00:36:43,922 Speaker 2: Oh hell yes, yes. 554 00:36:43,202 --> 00:36:47,762 Speaker 1: Other people are having mysteries happen that she's solving for them. 555 00:36:47,762 --> 00:36:49,962 Speaker 3: But bringing him to her table, She's like, okay, tell 556 00:36:50,042 --> 00:36:53,162 Speaker 3: me all the details. Okay for casting. I thought about 557 00:36:53,242 --> 00:36:56,882 Speaker 3: Agatha Christie as Laura Lenny from the show Ozark. I 558 00:36:56,882 --> 00:36:59,002 Speaker 3: thought she would be perfect as Agatha Christie, even though 559 00:36:59,042 --> 00:37:00,882 Speaker 3: she's you know, not British an American. 560 00:37:01,282 --> 00:37:03,762 Speaker 1: Yeah. I was like, that's salacious. 561 00:37:03,242 --> 00:37:03,522 Speaker 2: I know. 562 00:37:03,722 --> 00:37:06,082 Speaker 3: I know, I thought about that, but I was like 563 00:37:06,122 --> 00:37:07,482 Speaker 3: thinking about it, I was like, I think she's got 564 00:37:07,482 --> 00:37:09,562 Speaker 3: the right spirit, So I was going off of spirit 565 00:37:09,642 --> 00:37:11,842 Speaker 3: more so than nationality. But I did get a brit 566 00:37:11,962 --> 00:37:15,562 Speaker 3: for Archie Chrisy Michael Fassbender. I thought he would be 567 00:37:15,642 --> 00:37:18,802 Speaker 3: like very militarized, like he seems like British military of 568 00:37:18,842 --> 00:37:20,602 Speaker 3: the day, and yet also decent and then a kind 569 00:37:20,642 --> 00:37:22,282 Speaker 3: of a liar. He kind of get everything from him. 570 00:37:22,322 --> 00:37:25,882 Speaker 1: I'm gonna go Clairefoy from the Crown for Agatha. 571 00:37:26,282 --> 00:37:27,882 Speaker 2: Ooh, I like. 572 00:37:27,922 --> 00:37:30,602 Speaker 1: That, okay, but the Mistress, the Mistress over the Mysteries. 573 00:37:30,722 --> 00:37:33,122 Speaker 3: Yeah, for Nancy Neil I was taken Anya Taylor Joy, 574 00:37:33,162 --> 00:37:35,802 Speaker 3: but once again not a brit So I defer to 575 00:37:36,242 --> 00:37:36,762 Speaker 3: Claire Foy. 576 00:37:36,842 --> 00:37:40,722 Speaker 2: I like that call any very special character nominations, hmm, 577 00:37:41,682 --> 00:37:43,682 Speaker 2: did you have any, Dana, Because I was like kind 578 00:37:43,682 --> 00:37:44,522 Speaker 2: of mulling around. 579 00:37:44,722 --> 00:37:47,202 Speaker 1: I feel like the very special character is Agatha. She's 580 00:37:47,242 --> 00:37:49,762 Speaker 1: the protagonist of her own life. Right to me, that 581 00:37:49,802 --> 00:37:50,842 Speaker 1: felt like a no brainer. 582 00:37:51,002 --> 00:37:52,962 Speaker 3: Yeah, I think you kind of gotta go with Agatha 583 00:37:52,962 --> 00:37:55,162 Speaker 3: on this one. And also Tessa Neil so like both 584 00:37:55,162 --> 00:37:56,002 Speaker 3: sides of Agatha. 585 00:37:56,042 --> 00:37:58,162 Speaker 2: A lot of dogs in this episode. I enjoyed that. 586 00:37:58,402 --> 00:38:00,682 Speaker 3: Totally, and also I think you know Dan to kind 587 00:38:00,682 --> 00:38:02,042 Speaker 3: of mentioned it up top, but I love that she 588 00:38:02,162 --> 00:38:04,002 Speaker 3: left us a mystery that cannot be solved. 589 00:38:05,922 --> 00:38:09,122 Speaker 2: Very Special Episode is made by some very special people. 590 00:38:09,722 --> 00:38:13,322 Speaker 2: This show was hosted by Danish Schwartz, Saren Burnett, and 591 00:38:13,442 --> 00:38:17,962 Speaker 2: Jason English. Today's episode was written by Joe Pompeo. This 592 00:38:18,042 --> 00:38:20,922 Speaker 2: is our first episode with Joe. He's an author and 593 00:38:20,962 --> 00:38:23,362 Speaker 2: a journalist who's work I've admired for a long time, 594 00:38:24,042 --> 00:38:25,962 Speaker 2: and we've got some more stuff in the works with Joe. 595 00:38:26,042 --> 00:38:29,442 Speaker 2: Stay tuned for that. Our producers always is Josh Fisher. 596 00:38:29,802 --> 00:38:33,722 Speaker 2: Our story editor is Marisa Brown. Editing and sam design 597 00:38:33,802 --> 00:38:37,562 Speaker 2: by Jonathan Washington and Josh Fisher. Mixing and mastering by 598 00:38:37,602 --> 00:38:41,122 Speaker 2: Beheth Fraser. Special thanks to our voice actors Brittey Joyner 599 00:38:41,162 --> 00:38:45,002 Speaker 2: and Steve Bradford, and also to the Library Agency. Original 600 00:38:45,082 --> 00:38:48,402 Speaker 2: music by Alisa McCoy, Research and fact checking by Joe 601 00:38:48,402 --> 00:38:53,882 Speaker 2: Pompeo and Austin Thompson. Show logo by Lucy Kintonia. Our 602 00:38:53,922 --> 00:38:57,082 Speaker 2: executive producer is Jason English. If you'd like to email 603 00:38:57,122 --> 00:39:00,082 Speaker 2: the show, you can reach us at Very Special Episodes 604 00:39:00,162 --> 00:39:03,962 Speaker 2: at gmail dot com Very Special Episodes is a production 605 00:39:04,042 --> 00:39:08,242 Speaker 2: of iHeart podcasts.