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Midwinter Murder

Page 27

by Agatha Christie


  ‘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.

  agathachristie.com

  Facebook: /OfficialAgathaChristie

  Twitter: @agathachristie

  Instagram: officialagathachristie

  Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at hc.com.

  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.

  Cover design and illustration © Matt Griffin

  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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