Miss Williams elderly Caro—devoted to Caroline
Mrs Sargent—Caro’s elder half-sister—married money—etc.
Lucy—husband’s sister—violently anti-Caro
A. (Idea)—Caro has injured a sister or brother when a child owing to her ungovernable temper—she believes this s[ister] or b[rother] did crime—therefore feels that she is expiating and gains content
Is s[ister] or b[rother] No 5—Wee-Wee
And eventually she arrives at the five suspects in the novel itself. The following brief notes reflect accurately, apart from a name change of Carslake to Blake, the ‘five little pigs‘ and their inter-relationships:
Philip Carslake—George‘s Hill—Prosperous—his best friend—Amyas—virulent against Caro—Describes how the injured step sister—as instance of her temper—induced to write an account—
Meredith—his home—takes P up to house—(now a hostel for youth) ghosts—he explains—will write—hedges about Elsa—shares picture of her—I did find she could have done it—her daughter
Elsa—rich woman—Changed from picture—frozen—virulent against Caro—vindictive—talks a little—sends her account. You want truth? You shall have it (says drama to vent spleen)
Miss Williams—elderly—room in London—Violently pro Caro—but admits she knows—about Angela—P persuades her truth is best—She agrees—will write—
Wee Wee woman of brains—character—successful archaeologist—welcomes P’s intervention—quite convinced —explains why Caro couldn’t have done it—because of what she did to her
All of the details of the crime were arrived at only after numerous attempts. Through much of the notes the murder method was to be a shooting rather than a poisoning, and even though this was not pursued it is interesting to see how much of the attendant detail was retained:
A. Pistol—(Amyas’s) wiped clean of prints except his—but they are wrong—also her prints in blood on table—Miss W covers for Angela?—saw her doing this—Angela in boat? But is returning)
Did someone pretend to be Wee-wee—steal up to him from behind and use her voice—press pistol against his head and fire—C thinks it is W[ee-wee] has heard voice—picks up pistol and wipes it
Caro heard Angela—speaking to Amyas pressed revolver into his back—sporty playacting—(she had peashooter)…she got there found him dead. Picked up pistol—wiped it—put it in his hand—but suicide not possible and one of her fingerprints on butt
Caroline went down to call Amyas for lunch—shot—but before she got there—Caro seen to take pistol from drawer of desk
Caro comes—Elsa springs up, snatches revolver—and shoots him—then rushes away—Caroline—sees her— thinks it is Angela—horrified—stunned at find—Elsa goes up to house—drops jersey on path—Miss Williams comes down—picks up jersey—then hears shot—she goes on—sees Caro—pressing his hand over revolver
In the novel the vital clue that convinces Poirot, in the course of his questioning, of Caroline’s innocence is her wiping of the beer bottle and the subsequent superimposition of Amyas’s fingerprints on it, as witnessed by Miss Williams. As can be seen in four of the extracts, this wiping was originally intended for a gun. And the detail of Caroline being seen taking a pistol is retained in the novel by her being seen taking the poison from Meredith’s laboratory. In three of these extracts we also see the vital factor of Caroline’s mistaken belief that the culprit is Angela, thereby paving the way for the ultimate sacrifice after her arrest.
The rejection of a gun in favour of poison is no surprise, as Christie knew little about the former but had a professional knowledge of the latter. She used poison more than any other murder method and more than any of her contemporaries, resorting to firearms infrequently. When Christie does decide on poison her fertility of invention is once again very evident in both the type of poison and its method of administration:
Nucleus—poison in port—husband had a glass in his room (analysed and full of it)—Caro seen washing out port decanter (by maid)
Poison—Sherry—One person poured it out, Caro took glass to Am—later cyanide found in glass, or belladonna
Possibilities of poison
A—Poison put into sherry at time when ‘shut your eyes etc’ is done—C has brought sherry to him—she finds him (having heard WW) later dead—wipes glass—puts dead man’s fingers on it—(seen by Miss W)
B—Sherry pure—cyanide in strawberry—Caro still does her act—murderer adds cyanide to sherry—dregs with pipette—latter is found
C—Medicine—HCN—added to sherry by Caro—capsule is already taken
D—Capsule altered to AC from PC
Coniine—in capsule?
Result—he appears drunk—staggers about—double vision—(P’s evidence)—E. sits down and watches him die—somebody comes—she gets up and speaks to him—joins other person—he shakes his head—or—seen sitting behind a table
A decanter—port?—Caroline washed it out afterwards
Box of cachets—before meals
HCN and bismuth mixture—extra HCN? Beer?
It is notable that even when she decides on coniine, the capsule idea in the above list is not used.
Other important plot points, and clues, are mentioned. The danger of a mistaken interpretation of overheard remarks is emphasised in the first two extracts; the final moving letter written by Caroline from her prison cell to her daughter, in the third extract, is another example of misinter-pretation. Angela’s penchant for practical jokes, as evidenced by the slug and, later, the valerian, is an important factor in Caroline’s supposition of her guilt. And the all-important wiping of the glass (beer bottle in the book) surfaces again:
Case against Caroline—Quarrelled with husband that morning—said ‘I’d love to kill you. Someday I will’
Don’t you worry—I’ll see to her packing (send her packing) heard between Caro and Amyas
A’s—including parting note from C in prison my darling I am quite content—going to Amyas—also important about C’s lover—Meredith?
Miss W—re Angela and slug
