1 00:00:00,200 --> 00:00:02,080 Speaker 1: All right, who do you think is the number one 2 00:00:02,240 --> 00:00:06,360 Speaker 1: best selling author in human history. It's the Queen of mystery, 3 00:00:06,559 --> 00:00:10,680 Speaker 1: Agatha Christie. She has sold well over two billion copies 4 00:00:10,720 --> 00:00:13,680 Speaker 1: of her stories and they continue to sell. But in 5 00:00:13,760 --> 00:00:19,120 Speaker 1: nineteen twenty six, she actually became an international mystery herself. 6 00:00:19,600 --> 00:00:24,280 Speaker 1: I'm Patti Steele, Agatha Christie's vanishing act. The world's obsession 7 00:00:24,320 --> 00:00:28,160 Speaker 1: with finding her and figuring out where she's gone. That's 8 00:00:28,240 --> 00:00:35,080 Speaker 1: next on the backstory, the book. The backstory is back. 9 00:00:35,640 --> 00:00:39,800 Speaker 1: If you're a fan of classic mysteries, you know Agatha Christie. 10 00:00:39,960 --> 00:00:42,960 Speaker 1: Maybe you love the movie Murder on the Orient Express 11 00:00:43,240 --> 00:00:45,880 Speaker 1: or the TV show Murder she wrote, which was based 12 00:00:45,920 --> 00:00:49,879 Speaker 1: on her stories. Agatha Christie is the Queen of mystery, 13 00:00:50,000 --> 00:00:54,160 Speaker 1: the architect of perfect crime puzzles, and the best selling 14 00:00:54,240 --> 00:00:58,040 Speaker 1: novelist in human history. But in December of nineteen twenty six, 15 00:00:58,520 --> 00:01:01,920 Speaker 1: she didn't just write a mystery. She became one. For 16 00:01:01,960 --> 00:01:05,119 Speaker 1: eleven days, it seemed the entire world was searching for her. 17 00:01:05,440 --> 00:01:09,400 Speaker 1: As the police looked for clues, newspaper headlines screamed about 18 00:01:09,440 --> 00:01:12,959 Speaker 1: every lead, and fans wondered how could the most famous 19 00:01:13,120 --> 00:01:17,959 Speaker 1: mystery writer on earth simply disappear. Okay, it's the evening 20 00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:22,200 Speaker 1: of December third, nineteen twenty six. Agatha kisses her little 21 00:01:22,200 --> 00:01:24,920 Speaker 1: girl good night. She then walks out of her home 22 00:01:24,959 --> 00:01:30,000 Speaker 1: in Berkshire, England, and simply vanishes into the cold night air. 23 00:01:30,840 --> 00:01:34,279 Speaker 1: Hours later, her abandoned car is found near a chalk 24 00:01:34,319 --> 00:01:37,399 Speaker 1: pit and a small lake. Inside the car is her 25 00:01:37,440 --> 00:01:42,160 Speaker 1: fur coat, a suitcase and her expired driver's license. But 26 00:01:42,280 --> 00:01:45,360 Speaker 1: Agatha is nowhere to be found. Did she drown in 27 00:01:45,360 --> 00:01:49,560 Speaker 1: a lake? Was it an accident, a suicide or even murder? 28 00:01:50,160 --> 00:01:53,240 Speaker 1: Sounds like one of her books. Right Within days, over 29 00:01:53,280 --> 00:01:57,920 Speaker 1: a thousand police officers with tracking dogs and fifteen thousand 30 00:01:58,000 --> 00:02:02,760 Speaker 1: volunteers are scouring the countryside. Planes search from the air, 31 00:02:03,200 --> 00:02:06,640 Speaker 1: Trains are stopped, divers are sent down into the depths 32 00:02:06,680 --> 00:02:11,560 Speaker 1: of nearby lakes, and everyday newspapers run front page updates. 33 00:02:12,240 --> 00:02:15,079 Speaker 1: It's not just a missing person case. It's a national 34 00:02:15,120 --> 00:02:19,320 Speaker 1: obsession in the UK and internationally, with US papers like 35 00:02:19,320 --> 00:02:22,840 Speaker 1: The New York Times splashing the story across their covers. 36 00:02:23,320 --> 00:02:26,240 Speaker 1: Of course, one detail the press loves and dives into. 37 00:02:26,840 --> 00:02:31,320 Speaker 1: Agatha's husband, Colonel Archibald Christie, had recently asked her for 38 00:02:31,360 --> 00:02:35,240 Speaker 1: a divorce, he'd fallen in love with another woman. Is 39 00:02:35,280 --> 00:02:38,639 Speaker 1: that some kind of a motive for her disappearance? Maybe? 40 00:02:39,160 --> 00:02:42,800 Speaker 1: Does it provide some clues? It good, But if this 41 00:02:42,960 --> 00:02:46,359 Speaker 1: is one of Agatha's own novels, it's really just the setup. 42 00:02:46,919 --> 00:02:50,440 Speaker 1: Despite the massive search, the mystery is only getting deeper. 43 00:02:51,080 --> 00:02:54,959 Speaker 1: Some witnesses say they saw a woman matching Agatha's description 44 00:02:55,360 --> 00:02:58,519 Speaker 1: getting on a bus miles away. Another said she was 45 00:02:58,560 --> 00:03:03,400 Speaker 1: spotted in London and joyously taking in the Christmas decorations 46 00:03:03,600 --> 00:03:07,880 Speaker 1: at Herod's department store. Other folks think she's simply wandering 47 00:03:07,919 --> 00:03:11,000 Speaker 1: the countryside in a daze. For the first time in 48 00:03:11,040 --> 00:03:15,840 Speaker 1: British history, famous writers joined the hunt. Sir Arthur Canan Doyle, 49 00:03:15,919 --> 00:03:19,240 Speaker 1: who created Sherlock Holmes, of course, wants to help. He 50 00:03:19,360 --> 00:03:23,080 Speaker 1: takes one of Agatha's gloves to a psychic medium, but 51 00:03:23,400 --> 00:03:26,760 Speaker 1: they turn up nothing. Where could she be? Then the 52 00:03:26,800 --> 00:03:30,919 Speaker 1: public starts getting suspicious and angry. Accusations start to fly. 53 00:03:31,560 --> 00:03:34,680 Speaker 1: Is this a publicity stunt? Is she staging her own 54 00:03:34,760 --> 00:03:37,920 Speaker 1: murder to light a fire under a new book. Maybe 55 00:03:37,920 --> 00:03:40,839 Speaker 1: she's doing it to punish her husband, or is there 56 00:03:41,040 --> 00:03:45,000 Speaker 1: something much darker going on? It's such a huge story 57 00:03:45,200 --> 00:03:48,280 Speaker 1: that even the BRIT's Home Secretary gets a daily briefing. 58 00:03:48,880 --> 00:03:52,000 Speaker 1: All of Britain is worried about their young national treasure, 59 00:03:52,640 --> 00:03:58,640 Speaker 1: but she is absolutely nowhere. Then, eleven days after she disappeared, 60 00:03:59,040 --> 00:04:02,880 Speaker 1: a hotel musician in the Spa town of Harrogate walks 61 00:04:02,920 --> 00:04:06,880 Speaker 1: past the hotel lounge and freezes. He sees a woman 62 00:04:06,960 --> 00:04:10,600 Speaker 1: sitting quietly reading a newspaper. On the front page of 63 00:04:10,640 --> 00:04:14,760 Speaker 1: that paper is a photo of Agatha Christie. Talk about 64 00:04:14,760 --> 00:04:17,679 Speaker 1: a scene straight out of a movie, right. The musician 65 00:04:17,760 --> 00:04:20,560 Speaker 1: tells the hotel staff and they call the cops. When 66 00:04:20,600 --> 00:04:26,280 Speaker 1: detectives arrive, Agatha is calm, composed, polite, but she's registered 67 00:04:26,320 --> 00:04:30,240 Speaker 1: at the hotel under a different name, Teresa Kneel, the 68 00:04:30,279 --> 00:04:34,200 Speaker 1: same last name as her husband's lover. They start to 69 00:04:34,320 --> 00:04:37,880 Speaker 1: question her and she seems confused. She tells them she 70 00:04:37,920 --> 00:04:41,120 Speaker 1: didn't know she was Agatha Christie, doesn't know how she 71 00:04:41,160 --> 00:04:44,960 Speaker 1: got to Harrogate and remembers nothing of the past eleven days. 72 00:04:45,640 --> 00:04:48,680 Speaker 1: When her husband finally arrives on the scene, she looks 73 00:04:48,720 --> 00:04:52,120 Speaker 1: at him as if he's a complete stranger. The public 74 00:04:52,160 --> 00:04:55,760 Speaker 1: wants to know is she lying or is something broken 75 00:04:55,800 --> 00:04:59,279 Speaker 1: inside of her? She offers a brief and not very 76 00:04:59,320 --> 00:05:02,920 Speaker 1: convincing it explanation, at least not very satisfying. She says 77 00:05:02,960 --> 00:05:06,760 Speaker 1: she has amnesia triggered by emotional trauma. Of course, her 78 00:05:06,800 --> 00:05:10,280 Speaker 1: doctors support the claim. Friends say she has been under 79 00:05:10,279 --> 00:05:13,200 Speaker 1: a ton of stress since her mother had just died, 80 00:05:13,320 --> 00:05:16,800 Speaker 1: and to top it off, her marriage is collapsing. A 81 00:05:16,839 --> 00:05:20,320 Speaker 1: Lot of folks, though, don't buy the story. Again. They 82 00:05:20,320 --> 00:05:23,200 Speaker 1: say it was a planned disappearance. Maybe she was trying 83 00:05:23,240 --> 00:05:26,120 Speaker 1: to embarrass her cheating husband or even make it look 84 00:05:26,240 --> 00:05:29,680 Speaker 1: like he had murdered her. Or possibly she was gathering 85 00:05:29,720 --> 00:05:32,600 Speaker 1: material for a new book. Or it could have been 86 00:05:32,600 --> 00:05:35,520 Speaker 1: a cry for help that just spiraled out of control. 87 00:05:36,160 --> 00:05:39,880 Speaker 1: One of her biographers claims she went into a fugue state, 88 00:05:40,480 --> 00:05:44,279 Speaker 1: a rare form of reversible amnesia in which someone forgets 89 00:05:44,279 --> 00:05:49,120 Speaker 1: who they are. But here's what makes this mystery so mysterious. 90 00:05:49,839 --> 00:05:54,120 Speaker 1: Agatha Christie never spoke of her disappearance again. She never 91 00:05:54,200 --> 00:05:58,640 Speaker 1: addressed it in interviews, her autobiography makes no reference to 92 00:05:58,680 --> 00:06:01,880 Speaker 1: those eleven days, and there isn't even a mention of 93 00:06:01,920 --> 00:06:05,120 Speaker 1: it in her private letters. She never even spoke about 94 00:06:05,120 --> 00:06:08,480 Speaker 1: it to her daughter Rosalind, who always maintained that her 95 00:06:08,520 --> 00:06:13,400 Speaker 1: mother truly remembered absolutely nothing. Her husband only referred to 96 00:06:13,440 --> 00:06:17,359 Speaker 1: it as a mental health crisis. Agatha had locked the 97 00:06:17,440 --> 00:06:22,599 Speaker 1: truth away permanently, but after her disappearance she did rebuild 98 00:06:22,640 --> 00:06:26,240 Speaker 1: her life. She divorced Archie and in nineteen thirty got 99 00:06:26,279 --> 00:06:30,440 Speaker 1: remarried to a man she adored, Sir Max mallowan an 100 00:06:30,560 --> 00:06:34,920 Speaker 1: archaeologist who absolutely adored her. For the rest of her life. 101 00:06:35,520 --> 00:06:38,160 Speaker 1: Agatha went on to write some of the most popular 102 00:06:38,200 --> 00:06:41,920 Speaker 1: novels and short stories of all time in the aftermath. 103 00:06:42,400 --> 00:06:45,960 Speaker 1: They include Murder on the Orient Express and Then There 104 00:06:46,080 --> 00:06:49,040 Speaker 1: Was None, Death on the Nile, and The mouse Trap, 105 00:06:49,080 --> 00:06:51,920 Speaker 1: to name just a few. They've been turned into over 106 00:06:52,000 --> 00:06:55,839 Speaker 1: thirty movies, as well as video games, graphic novels, and 107 00:06:55,920 --> 00:06:59,720 Speaker 1: of course, the hugely successful TV show Murder. She wrote 108 00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:03,440 Speaker 1: and one of her plays, the aforementioned Mousetrap running in 109 00:07:03,520 --> 00:07:07,840 Speaker 1: London's West End, holds the world's record for most consecutive 110 00:07:07,839 --> 00:07:12,160 Speaker 1: performances in history, with well over thirty thousand so far, 111 00:07:12,640 --> 00:07:15,520 Speaker 1: and she is the most translated author of all time. 112 00:07:16,200 --> 00:07:20,600 Speaker 1: Agatha Christie, the greatest mystery writer in history, managed to 113 00:07:20,640 --> 00:07:24,760 Speaker 1: take her greatest, most personal mystery to the grave, dying 114 00:07:24,800 --> 00:07:27,800 Speaker 1: in nineteen seventy six at the age of eighty five. 115 00:07:28,480 --> 00:07:32,880 Speaker 1: But her nineteen twenty six disappearance is a really ghostly 116 00:07:33,000 --> 00:07:37,040 Speaker 1: chapter one her fans are still trying to untangle. Was 117 00:07:37,080 --> 00:07:41,360 Speaker 1: it trauma, a fugue state, a message to a faithless husband, 118 00:07:42,040 --> 00:07:46,080 Speaker 1: or the one plot even Agatha didn't want solved In 119 00:07:46,120 --> 00:07:49,120 Speaker 1: the end, maybe the truth doesn't matter, just the art 120 00:07:49,160 --> 00:07:53,320 Speaker 1: of the story, because for eleven days, Agatha Christie lived 121 00:07:53,440 --> 00:07:57,800 Speaker 1: inside a mystery that even Sherlock Holmes couldn't crack. It 122 00:07:57,920 --> 00:08:02,280 Speaker 1: was her one final story where the author herself became 123 00:08:02,320 --> 00:08:05,920 Speaker 1: the missing piece of her own puzzle. Hope you like 124 00:08:06,000 --> 00:08:09,280 Speaker 1: the Backstory with Patty Steele. Please leave a review. I'd 125 00:08:09,280 --> 00:08:12,080 Speaker 1: love it if you'd subscribe or follow for free to 126 00:08:12,080 --> 00:08:15,760 Speaker 1: get new episodes delivered automatically, and feel free to dm 127 00:08:15,800 --> 00:08:17,560 Speaker 1: me if you have a story you'd like me to cover. 128 00:08:17,920 --> 00:08:22,120 Speaker 1: On Facebook, It's Patty Steele and on Instagram Real Patty Steele. 129 00:08:25,440 --> 00:08:30,240 Speaker 1: I'm Patty Steele. The Backstories a production of iHeartMedia, Premiere Networks, 130 00:08:30,400 --> 00:08:34,280 Speaker 1: the Elvis Durand Group and Steel Trap Productions. Our producer 131 00:08:34,320 --> 00:08:37,640 Speaker 1: is Doug Fraser, Our writer Jake Kushner. We have new 132 00:08:37,679 --> 00:08:41,200 Speaker 1: episodes every Tuesday and Friday. Feel free to reach out 133 00:08:41,200 --> 00:08:44,679 Speaker 1: to me with comments and even story suggestions on Instagram 134 00:08:44,880 --> 00:08:47,880 Speaker 1: at real Patty Steele and on Facebook at Patty Steele. 135 00:08:48,280 --> 00:08:51,240 Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to the Backstory with Patty Steele, the 136 00:08:51,320 --> 00:08:54,280 Speaker 1: pieces of history you didn't know you needed to know.