Third Girl by Agatha Christie

我是個膽小鬼，大部份時間不能受驚嚇。但女人是矛盾而呢樣果樣的，所以我雖然蛇gwaai，卻又喜歡緊張大師希治閣及謀殺天后亞嘉莎。

[第三個女郎]橋段不新奇，簡單來說就是掩眼法，但因為內容圍繞「三個」獨立在倫敦找生活的女孩子，所以我有特別的體會。

話說回來，雖然橋舊，但讀者很受，這就是阿嘉莎的魅力了。

睡前讀阿嘉莎，我又發惡夢了。

The Body in the Library and The Jackie O in the Tribunal

We were watching on the TV how Jackie O was accused of murder and finally found guilty at the tribunal. I opined that the Jackie O showed up at the tribunal was a fake one. My boyfriend burst out laughing. He wrapped me with his strong arms and whispered "Sweet heart, you are way too creative."

I am not creative. I am just educated by Agatha Christie over her novel "The Body in the Library". A swap of identity is a common trick.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Body_in_the_Library

Plot summary

The story starts with Mrs Dolly Bantry waking up from a pleasant dream, and noticing that the maid has not been in yet. Suddenly, the maid, Mary, dashes in, tearful and breathless, and informs Dolly that there is a body in the library, before running out again.

Colonel Arthur Bantry then goes downstairs and learns from his butler, Lorrimer, that there is indeed a body in the library, sees it, calls PoliceConstable Billy Palk, and then Mrs Bantry calls her friend, Miss Marple (revealing that the victim has been strangled).

Miss Marple is picked up by Mrs Bantry and her chauffeur, Muswell, and taken to Gossington Hall. There she sees the body. It is a very young girl withplatinum blonde hair, with lipstick and painted nails like a gash, wearing a old but glittery, satin, cheap, black and white evening dress of rather poor quality, with silver sandals. The girl is also wearing a considerable amount of make-up. Soon, the police arrive, the senior officers being DetectiveInspector Slack and the Chief Constable of the County, Colonel. Terence Melchett. Nobody in the household recognises the body, though.

Miss Marple states to Mrs Bantry, that a good suspect in the Bantry's neighbour, Basil Blake, the son of an old school friend of Mrs Bantry's, who is mutually disliked intensely by Colonel Bantry. Basil is well known for dating a young platinum blonde girl, called Dinah Lee. Colonel Melchett visits Basil, but soon discovers that Dinah is not dead, as she comes and argues with Basil.

The autopsy arrives, revealing that the girl was strangled with the belt of her own dress, and that death took place between 10:00 and 12:00 at nighttime. She was also heavily drugged first. Despite her appearance, she died a virgin.

Finally, the body is identified as "Ruby Keene" (her real name being "Rosy Legge"), an 18 year old dancer who worked at a hotel called the Majestic in Danemouth. The body is identified by Ruby's great-cousin and colleague Josephine "Josie" Turner, who explains that she is dance and bridge hostess at the Majestic, but required Ruby to fill in a as dance hostess, due to Josie suffering injuries sustained to her ankle, whilst sunbathing. Ruby would just do the dancing with men, and the exhibition dances with Raymond Starr, the tennis and dancing pro. But the previous night, Ruby went missing, and Josie was forced to do the dance.

After Josie has visited Gossington, Mrs Bantry realises that the one who called the police was Conway Jefferson, an old friend of the Bantry's. Conway had a wife, a son, and a daughter (Margaret, Frank and Rosamund) all of whom were killed in a plane crash. Conway had both legs so badly injured, they were amputated. He lives with Frank's widow, Adelaide, Rosamund's widower, Mark Gaskell, and Peter Carmody, Adelaide's son from her first marriage. And then there is Edwards, Conway's valet. Mrs Bantry then decides that she and Miss Marple will go to Danemouth, stay at the Majestic, and find the killer.

Meanwhile, Melchett has appointed a new assistant, Detective Superintendent Harper. Together they interview Conway and discover that he was going to adopt Ruby, disinherit Mark and Adelaide, and settle £50,000 on her. Despite this, Mark and Adelaide both have alibis. They were playing bridge watching Ruby dancing.

Melchett and Harper interview George Bartlett, who was the last one to see Ruby alive, and who has had his car stolen.

Conway, now tired, orders Edwards to call Sir Henry Clithering. When Sir Henry arrives, Conway asks him to investigate. Sir Henry tells him about Miss Marple. Later after dining, Miss Marple tells Sir Henry that if the case is not solved, the Bantry's lives will be ruined forever.

The police suspect that Ruby went to change to meet a boyfriend, who found out about her and Conway, making him panic and strangle her, leaving her at the Gossington library, and drives away to London. Sir Henry interviews Edwards, who tells him that he saw a snapshot of Basil Blake fall out of Ruby's handbag, making Conway and the reader suspect that Ruby had a lover.

Then, Bartlett's Minoan 14 car is found burning in Venn's Quarry, with a charred and blackened corpse inside. With a few scraps of clothing surviving burning, it is identified as Pamela Reeves, a 16 year old Girl Guide reported missing a few days. Pamela was last seen going to Wallworths. Miss Marple interviews Pamela's friends, and discovers that Pamela was actually going to a hotel, for a film test, after being approached by a "film producer", but Pamela never returned from this appointment.

Miss Marple then goes to Basil Blake's house and informs Dinah Lee that she has discovered that she and Basil are married and that Basil will be arrested for killing Ruby. Basil returns and confesses that after getting drunk and fighting with Dinah at a studio party, he returned and found Ruby lying strangled to death on "his" hearthrug. Panicking, he dumped Ruby in the Bantry's library. The police arrive and Basil is arrested.

Miss Marple, Sir Henry and the Bantrys once again book into the Majestic (they had briefly left), but this time with Colonel Bantry, Melchett and Harper. Miss Marple makes a quick trip toSomerset House (something about marriages) and ask Conway to tell Mark and Adelaide that he is leaving the money to a hostel for young dancers in London, and that he will visit a solicitor to finalize the details tomorrow. Conway does so, and they ask Det. Supt. Harper to keep a watch on people, with his men. Then the Bantrys and Miss Marple (along with the staff and other guests) retire for the night.

At 3:00 in the morning, someone breaks into Conway's bedroom, via the window and balcony, and tries to murder Conway by injecting him with poison, through a needle, but the attacker is stopped by Melchett, Harper and Clithering. But the intruder is not named.

Miss Marple then reveals all to the Bantrys, the Blakes, Melchett, Harper, Clithering, and the Jeffersons. Although nail clippings were found in Ruby's room, the girl in the library had bitten hers, which meant that the body in the library was not Ruby's. When Dinah mentioned Somerset House-marriage, Miss Marple found out that Mark was married to Josie. Upon finding out about Conway and Ruby, they decided to murder her and frame Basil. Mark and Josie approached Pamela regarding a film test, and when she accepted, they bleached her hair, put make-up on her, varnished her nails, put her into one of Ruby's dresses, and drugged her. Mark then slipped away to write letters, and drove down to the sea-front. But that was when he drove Pamela to Basil Blake's house, and strangled her. So when the doctor said the time she died, Mark and Josie had solid alibis, they were playing bridge watching the real Ruby Keene alive and dancing, and they did not leave the table until after midnight. Josie told Ruby to go and lie down in Josie's room. Ruby, as well, had been drugged. When changing for the dance, Josie murdered Ruby, either by strangulation, a poisonous injection, or a blow on the back of her head. In the early hours of the morning, Josie dressed Ruby in Pamela's Girl Guide uniform, stole Bartlett's car, drove to Venn's Quarry, and incinerated the lot.

ABC 謀殺案

中學上心理學堂，Mr. Bean 教我們 1+1 不一定等如 2。比如說數個明滅明滅的燈泡，獨立來看就只是一明一滅，但把這些明滅明滅的燈泡順序排成一行，便是一個閃燈訊號。

ABC 謀殺案 (The ABC Murders）是我首本 Agatha Christie 的書。

名偵探白羅正面臨一個挑戰。挑戰者可能是一個連環殺手。殺手好像是順著一本按英文字母排列的英國火車時刻表來殺人：安多弗(Andover)的阿雪爾( Ascher)首先死於棒擊，接著是少女巴納德( Bernnard)在貝斯希爾(Bexhill)海濱被勒死，兇器似乎是少女自己的皮帶。第三起謀殺案即將來臨，是哪個城市哪個人呢？

:-)

我喜歡看 Agatha Christie，因為我喜歡從微小的事物看全局；又或相反，考考自己，跳出作者的佈局，合縱連環，由大前題推理出小節的前文後理。

agatha christie

十月號的 Jet Magazine 談推理小說。其中一個雙連頁列出了古今中外推理偵探--沒有 Agatha Christie 筆下的白羅和瑪波小姐。

我實在不明白。

金田一那個悲報島的故事，是抄 Agatha Christie 的 "Ten Little Indians"。東野圭吾的【容疑者Xの獻身】那個死者不是死者的橋段，Agatha Christie 在 "The Body in the Library" 中一早做用了。

就小說而言，令我最著迷的是“ABC Murder", " A Murder is Announced"，和“ The Murder of Roger Ackroyd“。

而在白羅和瑪波小姐之間，我比較偏好後者。瑪波小姐認為人與人之間的差異是相當微小的，只要你對人生有足夠的體驗，再加上細心一點的觀察，你會發現任何人的行為都是有跡可尋的。

我喜歡觀察別人，亦對 unreconcilable 的細節非常敏感。我曾經想做 forensic accounting 的工作，但沒有機會入行。噢。

嘿。