"I want to know whether or not my husband is
poisoning me."
Whatever Mr. Parker Pyne had expected, it
wasn't this.
"That is a very serious accusation to make,
Lady Grayle."
"Well, I'm not a fool and I wasn't born yesterday.
I've had my suspicions for some time.
Whenever George goes away, I feel better. My
food doesn't disagree with me and I feel a different
woman. There must be some reason for
that."
"Do you want your suspicions proved right or
wrong?"
"Really, Mr. Pyne!" The lady rose to her feet,
quivering with indignation.
Mr. Parker Pyne nodded his head gently. "Yes,
yes," he said. "But that doesn't answer my question,
you know."
"The champion deceiver of our time."
reNEW YORK TIMES
Berkley books by Agatha Christie
APPOINTMENT WITH DEATH
THE BIG FOUR
THE BOOMERANG CLUE
CARDS ON THE TABLE
DEAD MAN'S MIRROR
DEATH IN THE AIR
DOUBLE SIN AND OTHER STORIES
ELEPHANTS CAN REMEMBER
THE GOLDEN BALL AND OTHER STORIES
THE HOLLOW
THE LABORS OF HERCULES
THE MAN IN THE BROWN SUIT
THE MOVING FINGER
MR. PARKER PYNE, DETECTIVE
THE MURDER AT HAZELMOOR
THE MURDER AT THE VICARAGE
MURDER IN MESOPOTAMIA
MURDER IN RETROSPECT
MURDER IN THREE ACTS
THE MURDER ON THE LINKS
THE MYSTERIOUS MR. QUIN
N OR M?
THE PATRIOTIC MURDERS
PARTNERS IN CRIME
POIROT LOSES A CLIENT
THE REGA'FA MYSTERY AND OTHER STORIES
SAD CYPRESS
THE SECRET OF CHIMNEYS
THERE IS A TIDE,..
THEY CAME TO BAGHDAD
THIRTEEN AT DINNER
THREE BLIND MICE AND OTHER STORIES
THE TUESDAY CLUB MURDERS
THE UNDER DOG AND OTHER STORIES
THE WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION AND OTHER STORIES
AGATHA
CHR TIE
Ig
BERKLEY BOOKS, NEW YORK
This Berkley book contains the complete
text of the original hardcover edition.
It has been completely reset in a typeface
designed for easy reading and was printed
from new film.
MR. PARKER PYNE, DETECTIVE
A Berkley Book / published by arrangement with
G. P. Putnam's Sons
PRINTING HISTORY
Dodd, Mead edition published 1934
Dell edition / February 1981
Berldey edition / April 1984
All rights reserved.
Copyright 1932, 1933, 1934 by Agatha Christie.
Copyright renewed 1958, 1960, 1961 by Agatha Christie Mailowan.
Book design by Virginia M. Smith.
This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part,
by mimeograph or any other means, without permission.
For information address: G. P. Putnam's Sons,
200 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016.
ISBN: 0425087700
A BERKLEY BOOK ®TM 757,375
Berkley Books are published by The Berkley Publishing Group,
200 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016.
The name "BERKLEY" and the "B" logo
are trademarks belonging to Berkley Publishing Corporation.
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
'
20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11
Contents
The Case of the Middle-Aged Wife
The Case of the Discontented Soldier
The Case of the Distressed Lady
The Case of the Discontented Husband
The Case of the City Clerk
The Case of the Rich Woman
Have You Got Everything You Want?
The Gate of Baghdad
The House at Shiraz
The Pearl of Price
Death on the Nile
The Oracle at Dlphi
1
17
38
51
66
83
101
117
135
151
166
183
'The Case of
the 3fiddle-A, qed 'l ife
Four grunts, an indignant voice asking why nobody
could leave a hat alone, a slammed door, and Mr. Pack-ington
had departed to catch the eight-forty-five to the
City. Mrs. Packington sat on at the breakfast table. Her
face was flushed, her lips were pursed, and the only
reason she was not crying was that at the last minute
anger had taken the place of grief.
"I won't stand it," said Mrs. Packington. "I won't
stand it!" She remained for some moments brooding,
and then murmured: "The minx. Nasty sly little cat!
How George can be such a fool!"
Anger faded; grief came back. Tears came into Mrs.
Packington's eyes and rolled slowly down her middle-aged
cheeks.
"It's all very well to say I won't stand it, but what can
I do?"
Suddenly she felt alone, helpless, utterly forlorn.
Slowly she took up the morning paper and read, not for
the first time, an advertisement on the front page.
2
Agatha Christie
"Absurd!" said Mrs. Packington. "Utterly absurd."
Then: "After all, I might just see..."
Which explains why at eleven o'clock Mrs. Packing-ton,
a little nervous, was being shown into Mr. Parker
Pyne's private office.
As has been said, Mrs. Packington was nervous, but
somehow or other, the mere sight of Mr. Parker Pyne
brought a feeling of reassurance. He was large, not to
say fat; he had a bald head of noble proportions, strong
glasses and little twinkling eyes.
"Pray sit down," said Mr. Parker Pyne. "You have
come in answer to my advertisement?" he added help-fully.
"Yes," gaid Mrs. Packington, and stopped there.
"And you are not happy," said Mr. Parker Pyne in a
cheerful, matter-of-fact voice. "Very few people are.
You would really be surprised if you knew how few peo-ple
are happy."
"Indeed?" said Mrs. Packington, not feeling,
however, that it mattered whether other people were
unhappy or not.
"Not interesting to you, I know," said Mr. Parker
Pyne, "but very interesting to me. You see, for thirty-five
years of my life I have been engaged in the compil-ing
of statistics in a government office. Now I have
retired, and it has occurred to me to use the experience
THE CASE OF THE MIDDLE-AGED WIFE
3
I have gained in a novel fashion. It is all so simple.
Unhappiness can be classified under five main heads
--no more, I assure you. Once you know the cause of a
malady, the remedy should not be impossible.
"I stand in the pla
ce of the doctor. The doctor first
diagnoses the patient's disorder, then he proceeds to
recommend a course of treatment. There are cases
where no treatment can be of any avail. If that is so, I
say frankly that I can do nothing. But I assure you, Mrs.
Packington, that if I undertake a case, the cure is practically
guaranteed."
Could it be so? Was this nonsense, or could it,
perhaps, be true? Mrs. Packington gazed at him
hopefully.
"Shall we diagnose your case?" said Mr. Parker
Pyne, smiling. He leaned back in his chair and brought
the tips of his fingers together. "The trouble concerns
your husband. You have had, on the whole, a happy
married life. Your husband has, I think, prospered. I
think there is a young lady concerned in the case--perhaps
a young lady in your husband's office."
"A typist," said Mrs. Packington. "A nasty made-up
little minx, all lipstick and silk stockings and curls."
The words rushed from her.
Mr. Parker Pyne nodded in a-soothing manner.
"There is no real harm in it--that is your husband's
phrase, I have no doubt."
"His very words."
"Why, therefore, should he not enjoy a pure friendship
with this young lady, and be able to bring a little
brightness, a little pleasure, into her dull existence?
Poor child, she has so little fun. Those, I imagine, are
his sentiments."
Mrs. Packington nodded with vigor. "Humbug--all
humbug! He takes her on the river--I'm fond of going
4
Agatha Christie
on the river myself, but five or six years ago he said it
interfered with his golf. But he can give up golf for her.
I like the theater--George has always said he's too tired
to go out at night. Now he takes her out to dance--
dance,t And comes back at three in the morning. I--I--"
"And doubtless he deplores the fact that women are
so jealous, so unreasonably jealous when there is ab-solutely
no cause for jealousy?"
Again Mrs. Packington nodded. "That's it." She
asked sharply: "How do you know all this?"
"Statistics," Mr. Parker Pyne said simply.
"I'm so miserable," said Mrs. Packington. "I've
always been a good wife to George. I worked my fingers
to the bone in our early days. I helped him to get on.
I've never looked at any other man. His things are
always mended, he gets good meals, and the house is
well and economically run. And now that we've got on
in the world and could enjoy ourselves and go about a
bit and do all the things I've looked forward to doing
some day--well, this!" She swallowed hard.
Mr. Parker Pyne nodded gravely. "I assure you I
understand your case perfectly."
"And--can you do anything?" She asked it almost in
whisper.
"Certainly, my dear lady. There is a cure. Oh, yes,
there is a cure."
"What is it?" She waited, round-eyed, and expec-tant.
Mr. Parker Pyne spoke quietly and firmly. "You will
place yourself in my hands, and the fee will be two hun-dred
guineas."
"Two hundred guineas!"
"Exactly. You can afford to pay such a fee, Mrs.
Packington. You would pay that sum for an operation.
Happiness is just as important as bodily health."
THE CASE OF THE MIDDLE-AGED WIFE
5
"I pay you afterwards, I suppose?"
"On the contrary," said Mr. Parker Pyne. "You pay
me in advance."
Mrs. Packington rose. "I'm afraid I don't see my
way--"
"To buying a pig in a poke?" said Mr. Parker Pyne
cheerfully. "Well, perhaps you're right. It's a lot of
money to risk. You've got to trust me, you see. You've
got to pay the money and take a chance. Those are my
terms."
"Two hundred guineas!"
"Exactly. Two hundred guineas. It's a lot of money.
Good morning, Mrs. Packington. Let me know if you
change your mind." He shook hands with her, smiling
in an unperturbed fashion.
When she had gone he pressed a buzzer on his desk. A
forbidding-looking young woman with spectacles
answered it.
"A file, please, Miss Lemon. And you might tell
Claude that I am likely to want him shortly."
"A new client"
"A new client. At the moment she has jibbed, but she
will come back. Probably this afternoon about four.
Enter her."
"Schedule A?"
"Schedule A, of course. Interesting how everyone
thinks his own case unique. Well, well, warn Claude.
Not too exotic, tell him. No scent and he'd better get his
hair cut short."
It was a quarter past four when Mrs. Packington once
more entered Mr. Parker Pyne's office. She drew out a
check book, made out a check and passed it to him. A
receipt was given.
"And now?" Mrs. Packington looked at him
hopefully.
6
Agatha Christie
"And now," said Mr. Parker Pyne, smiling, "you
will return home. By the first post tomorrow you will
receive certain instructions which I shall be glad if you
will carry out."
Mrs. Packington went home in a state of pleasant an-ticipation.
Mr. Packington came home in a defensive
mood, ready to argue his position if the scene at the
breakfast table was reopened. He was relieved, how-ever,
to find that his wife did not seem to be in a com-bative
mood. She was unusually thoughtful.
George listened to the radio and wondered whether
that dear child Nancy would allow him to give her a fur
coat. She was very proud, he knew. He didn't want to
offend her. Still, she had complained of the cold. That
tweed coat of hers was a cheap affair; it didn't keep the
cold out. He could put it so that she wouldn't mind,
perhaps...
They must have another evening out soon. It was a
pleasure to take a girl like that to a smart restaurant. He
could see several young fellows were envying him. She
was uncommonly pretty. And she liked him. To her, as
she had told him, he didn't seem a bit old.
He looked up and caught his wife's eye. He felt sud-denly
guilty, which annoyed him. What a narrow-minded,
suspicious woman Maria was! She grudged him
any little bit of happiness.
He switched off the radio and went to bed..
Mrs. Packington received two unexpected letters the
following morning. One was a printed form confirming
an appointment at a noted beauty specialist's. The sec-ond
was an appointment with a dressmaker. The third
was from Mr. Parker Pyne, requesting the pleasure of
her company at lunch at the Ritz that day.
Mr. Packington mentioned that he might not be home
THE CASE OF THE MIDDLE-AGED WIFE
to dinner that evening as he had to see a man on busi
ness. Mrs. Packington merely nodded absently, and Mr
Packington left the house congratulating himself of
; having escaped the storm.
The beauty specialist was impressive. Such neglect
Madam, but why? This should have been taken in han
years ago. However, it was not too late.
Things were done to her face; it was pressed
kneaded and steamed. It had mud applied to it. It ha¢
creams applied to it. It wts dusted with powder. Ther
were various finishing touches.
At last she was given a mirror. "I believe I do 1ool
younger," she thought to herself.
The dressmaking seance was equally exciting. Sh
emerged feeling smart, modish, up-to-date.
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