‘Feel in my left-hand pocket, Mademoiselle.’
Jean thrust in an eager hand, and drew it out again with a squeal of triumph. She held aloft the great ruby in its crimson splendour.
‘You see,’ explained Poirot, ‘the other was a paste replica I brought with me from London.’
‘Isn’t he clever?’ demanded Jean ecstatically.
‘There’s one thing you haven’t told us,’ said Johnnie suddenly. ‘How did you know about the rag? Did Nancy tell you?’
Poirot shook his head.
‘Then how did you know?’
‘It is my business to know things,’ said M. Poirot, smiling a little as he watched Evelyn Haworth and Roger Endicott walking down the path together.
‘Yes, but do tell us. Oh, do, please! Dear M. Poirot, please tell us!’
He was surrounded by a circle of flushed, eager faces.
‘You really wish that I should solve for you this mystery?’
‘Yes.’
‘I do not think I can.’
‘Why not?’
‘Ma foi, you will be so disappointed.’
‘Oh, do tell us! How did you know?’
‘Well, you see, I was in the library—’
‘Yes?’
‘And you were discussing your plans just outside—and the library window was open.’
‘Is that all?’ said Eric in disgust. ‘How simple!’
‘Is it not?’ said M. Poirot, smiling.
‘At all events, we know everything now,’ said Jean in a satisfied voice.
‘Do we?’ muttered M. Poirot to himself, as he went into the house. ‘I do not—I, whose business it is to know things.’
And, for perhaps the twentieth time, he drew from his pocket a rather dirty piece of paper.
‘Don’t eat any plum-pudding—’
M. Poirot shook his head perplexedly. At the same moment he became aware of a peculiar gasping sound very near his feet. He looked down and perceived a small creature in a print dress. In her left hand was a dust-pan, and in the right a brush.
‘And who may you be, mon enfant?’ inquired M. Poirot.
‘Annie ’Icks, please, Sir. Between-maid.’
M. Poirot had an inspiration. He handed her the letter.
‘Did you write that, Annie?’
‘I didn’t mean any ’arm, Sir.’
He smiled at her.
‘Of course you didn’t. Suppose you tell me all about it?’
‘It was them two, Sir—Mr Levering and his sister. None of us can abide ’em; and she wasn’t ill a bit—we could all tell that. So I thought something queer was going on, and I’ll tell you straight, Sir, I listened at the door, and I heard him say as plain as plain, ‘This fellow Poirot must be got out of the way as soon as possible.’ And then he says to ’er, meaning-like, ‘Where did you put it?’ And she answers, ‘In the pudding.’ And so I saw they meant to poison you in the Christmas pudding, and I didn’t know what to do. Cook wouldn’t listen to the likes of me. And then I thought of writing a warning, and I put it in the ’all where Mr Graves would be sure to see it and take it to you.’
Annie paused breathless. Poirot surveyed her gravely for some minutes.
‘You read too many novelettes, Annie,’ he said at last. ‘But you have the good heart, and a certain amount of intelligence. When I return to London I will send you an excellent book upon le ménage, also the Lives of the Saints, and a work upon the economic position of woman.’
Leaving Annie gasping anew, he turned and crossed the hall. He had meant to go into the library, but through the open door he saw a dark head and a fair one, very close together, and he paused where he stood. Suddenly a pair of arms slipped round his neck.
‘If you will stand just under the mistletoe!’ said Jean.
‘Me too,’ said Nancy.
M. Poirot enjoyed it all—he enjoyed it very much indeed.
Bibliography
Agatha Christie’s short stories typically appeared first in magazines and then in her short story books, which tended to be different collections in the UK and the US. This list attempts to catalogue the first publication of each, and gives alternative story titles when used.
Christmas at Abney Hall
Excerpted from An Autobiography (1977).
Three Blind Mice
Originally broadcast as a radio play in the UK by the BBC in May 1947. First published in the US in Cosmopolitan magazine Vol. 124, No. 5, in May 1948. Reprinted in Three Blind Mice and Other Stories (US, 1950).
The Chocolate Box
First published in the UK as ‘The Clue of the Chocolate Box’ in The Sketch Number 1582 on 23 May 1924, and in the US in Blue Book Magazine Vol. 40, No. 4, in February 1925. Reprinted in Poirot Investigates (US edition, 1925) and Poirot’s Early Cases (UK, 1974).
A Christmas Tragedy
First published in the UK as ‘The Hat and the Alibi’ in Storyteller Vol. 46, No. 273 in January 1930. Reprinted in The Thirteen Problems (UK, 1932) aka The Tuesday Club Murders (US, 1933).
The Coming of Mr Quin
First published in the UK as ‘The Passing of Mr Quinn’ in The Grand Magazine No. 229 in March 1924 and in the US as ‘Mr Quinn Passes By’ in Muncey magazine Vol. 84, No. 2 in March 1925. Reprinted in The Mysterious Mr Quin (1930).
The Clergyman’s Daughter
First published in the UK as ‘The First Wish’ in The Grand Magazine No. 226 in December 1923. Reprinted in Partners in Crime (1929).
The Plymouth Express
First published in the UK as ‘The Mystery of the Plymouth Express’ in The Sketch No. 1575 on 4 April 1923, and in the US as ‘The Plymouth Express Affair’ in Blue Book Magazine Vol. 38, No. 3 in January 1924. Reprinted in The Under Dog and Other Stories (US, 1951) and Poirot’s Early Cases (UK, 1974).
Problem at Pollensa Bay
First published in the UK in Strand Magazine No. 539 in November 1935, and in the US as ‘Siren Business’ in Liberty on 5 September 1936. Reprinted in The Regatta Mystery and Other Stories (US, 1939) and Problem at Pollensa Bay and Other Stories (UK, 1991).
Sanctuary
First published in the UK in Woman’s Journal in October 1954, and in the US as ‘Murder at the Vicarage’ in This Week in September 1954. Reprinted in Double Sin and Other Stories (US, 1961) and Miss Marple’s Final Cases and Two Other Stories (UK, 1979).
The Mystery of Hunter’s Lodge
First published in the UK in The Sketch Number 1581 on 16 May 1923, and in the US as ‘The Hunter’s Lodge Case’ in Blue Book Magazine Vol. 39, No. 2, in June 1924. Reprinted in Poirot Investigates (UK, 1924; US 1925).
The World’s End
First published in the UK as ‘The World’s End’ in Storyteller magazine No. 238 in February 1927 and in the US in Flynn’s Weekly Vol. 19, No. 6 on 20 November 1926. Reprinted in The Mysterious Mr Quin (1930).
The Manhood of Edward Robinson
First published in the UK as ‘The Day of His Dreams’ in The Grand Magazine No. 238 in December 1924. Reprinted in The Listerdale Mystery and Other Stories (UK, 1934) and The Golden Ball and Other Stories (US, 1971).
Christmas Adventure
First published in the UK as ‘The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding’ in The Sketch No. 1611 in December 1923. Reprinted in While the Light Lasts and Other Stories (UK, 1997). This is its first official publication in the US.
About the Author
AGATHA CHRISTIE is the most widely published author of all time, outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare. Her books have sold more than a billion copies in English and another billion in a hundred foreign languages. She died in 1976, after a prolific career spanning six decades.
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Also by Agatha Christie
THE AGATHA CHRISTIE COL
LECTION
The Man in the Brown Suit
The Secret of Chimneys
The Seven Dials Mystery
The Mysterious Mr. Quin
The Sittaford Mystery
Parker Pyne Investigates
Why Didn’t They Ask Evans?
Murder Is Easy
The Regatta Mystery and Other Stories
And Then There Were None
Towards Zero
Death Comes as the End
Sparkling Cyanide
The Witness for the Prosecution and Other Stories
Crooked House
Three Blind Mice and Other Stories
They Came to Baghdad
Destination Unknown
Ordeal by Innocence
Double Sin and Other Stories
The Pale Horse
Star over Bethlehem: Poems and Holiday Stories
Endless Night
Passenger to Frankfurt
The Golden Ball and Other Stories
The Mousetrap and Other Plays
The Harlequin Tea Set
The Hercule Poirot Mysteries
The Mysterious Affair at Styles
The Murder on the Links
Poirot Investigates
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
The Big Four
The Mystery of the Blue Train
Peril at End House
Lord Edgware Dies
Murder on the Orient Express
Three Act Tragedy
Death in the Clouds
The A.B.C. Murders
Murder in Mesopotamia
Cards on the Table
Murder in the Mews and Other Stories
Dumb Witness
Death on the Nile
Appointment with Death
Hercule Poirot’s Christmas
Sad Cypress
One, Two, Buckle My Shoe
Evil Under the Sun
Five Little Pigs
The Hollow
The Labors of Hercules
Taken at the Flood
The Under Dog and Other Stories
Mrs. McGinty’s Dead
After the Funeral
Hickory Dickory Dock
Dead Man’s Folly
Cat Among the Pigeons
The Clocks
Third Girl
Hallowe’en Party
Elephants Can Remember
Curtain: Poirot’s Last Case
The Miss Marple Mysteries
The Murder at the Vicarage
The Body in the Library
The Moving Finger
A Murder Is Announced
They Do It with Mirrors
A Pocket Full of Rye
4:50 from Paddington
The Mirror Crack’d
A Caribbean Mystery
At Bertram’s Hotel
Nemesis
Sleeping Murder
Miss Marple: The Complete Short Story Collection
The Tommy and Tuppence Mysteries
The Secret Adversary
Partners in Crime
N or M?
By the Pricking of My Thumbs
Postern of Fate
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
AGATHA CHRISTIE®, POIROT®, MARPLE®, TOMMY AND TUPPENCE®, the Agatha Christie Signature and the AC Monogram Logo are registered trademarks of Agatha Christie Limited in the UK and elsewhere. All rights reserved.
MIDWINTER MURDER. Copyright © 2020 by Agatha Christie Limited. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
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FIRST EDITION
Digital Edition OCTOBER 2020 ISBN: 978-0-06-305548-3
Version 09032020
Print ISBN: 978-0-06-303036-7
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