Poirot is drawn to a case of the murder of a poor housekeeper who was apparently murdered by her lodger, and the young man was subsequently sentenced to death for it. However, even at the 11th hour, Poirot begins to investigate.
Summary
Mrs. McGinty ran a maid service, what Christie calls a "charwoman" where she cleans wealthy people's houses. She was fond of looking at the photos in the Sunday Comet newspaper and one week read a story commenting on two local women who ran into problems 20 years previously and had to leave the area because of the scandal.
Mrs. McGinty recognized one of the photos from one of her houses and began talking about it when she was doing her regular rounds. One of the people who overheard her was going to be implicated in the scandal if it was all brought up again, and so murdered Mrs. McGinty to keep her from talking.
There were two photos in the paper. Eva Crane was involved in a murder scandal and her husband was convicted of it. She fled to Canada, pregnant with her first child. Lily Gamboll, as a young girl of 10, in a fit of rage hit her elderly relative in the head with an butcher knife, and she eventually died. The girl was sent to a reformatory boarding school.
1. The Doctor. Dr. Rendell, who employs both a housekeeper and Mrs McGinty "for scrubbing floors."
2. The Energetic Young Woman. Maude Williams is the friend of the accused young man, James Bentley. She works in a real estate office in a neighboring town.
3. The Batty Eccentric. Maureen Summerhays "It's the ministry of Agriculture form about the bloody pig." She is a poor cook, terribly disorganized, and generally not a very perceptive person. Geese fly in and out of her kitchen.
3.5 The Cloud-headed Girl. Lily Gamble (Eva Cane), the story runs, as a child wanted to go to the movies but her mother forbade her, so she killed her mother with an axe.
4. The Temptrix. Eve Carpenter used to be an exotic dancer at the Cactus Club in Soho. But now is married to an aspiring politician. "And did you go to Mrs Upward? Eve: "Why in the hell should I? Damn dreary old woman"
5. The Young Specialist.
6. The Housekeeper.
6.5. The Maid. Mrs. McGinty herself. She was a "charwoman" and filled the same role, going in and out of many houses, all secrets reveal to her. No one questions her presence. And everyone reports that she was a hard worker.
7. The Industrialist.
8. The Legal Mind.
9. The Efficient Professional.
10. The Rake.
11. The Rival.
12. The Daughter. In this story, the daughter is a son. "Robin is as good as a daughter to me," said Mrs Upward. The daughter in hiding is Evelyn Hope.
13. The Vicar.
14. The Politician. Guy Carpenter, running for Parliament. Looks down on all servants. "Who has a great sense of his own importance."
15. The Overseas Connection. Maureen and John Somerhays have been away for many years in India. Miss Sweetiman grew up "abroad, never you mind where." Mrs. Upward fled to Australia and then has returned more recently.
21. The Mirror Poirot points out that there are three women who are the right age to be the daughter Evelyn Crane. In the end, Evelyn turns out to be a man.
16. The Loving/Lonely Wife.
18. The Cantankerous Old Woman/ Cruel Old Man. Mrs Upward
19. The Social Outcast.
20. The Shopkeeper: Miss Sweetiman runs the local general store and post office. be Eva Cane.
Tropes
A. The Ominous Event.
B. The Time Gap. Mrs McGinty read a newspaper article that showed photographs of women from the past who somehow met tragic ends. Because of someone or something that she saw in the photographs of that article, McGinty was murdered. Poirot has to track down the stories of each of these women and find how they relate to the current members of the village. So Poirot has to investigate now, a murder that took place a year ago, that referenced photographs from 20 years prior.
C. The Obscure Relationship. It appears that everyone in this story was given up for adoption. Everyone has obscure parentage that no one is really clear on and everyone is trying to hide.
D. The Convoluted Will. Bessie Burch inherited the house from her aunt, Mrs. McGinty, when she was murdered.
No comments:
Post a Comment