Agatha Christie's Secret Notebooks

And in a later note:

Mrs Van Schuyler—a well known confidence trickster

Miss Harmsworth—girl companion to Miss Van Schuyler

The only character to remain as described—with a modification from Mrs to Miss—is Miss Van Schuyler, although her idiosyncrasy changes from confidence trickery to kleptomania. Miss Harmsworth became Cornelia Robson, the unfortunate niece of that ghastly snob.

Mrs Pooper cheap novelist

The unhappily named Mrs Pooper eventually became Salome Otterbourne, who specialised in outspoken novels of love and sex. One of her titles, ‘Snow upon the Desert’s Face’, is almost the same as the early, unpublished non-crime novel written by Agatha Christie herself, Snow upon the Desert. This was probably a personal joke inserted by Christie for the amusement of her family.

Rosalie Curtis sickly girl

Rosalie Curtis may well have changed to Rosalie Otterbourne, daughter of the ill-fated Salome.

Some possible plot developments are sketched on the pages following the cast list. Note that ‘P’, i.e. Poirot (‘but P proves that…’), has now firmly replaced Miss Marple:

Dr. Pfeiffer’s wife has been recognised—he decides to do away with Mrs. Oger

Wife of (Dr. Pfeiffer) herself is thief or murderer etc.—makes up story that someone has stolen ring or poison etc. and brooch A.M. seen in glass. She knows that A.M. is in lounge with others at that time but P proves that M.A. is real lettering

or

M.A. idea and yellow dress M.A. has not yellow dress—woman with yellow dress has not initial A.M.

Dr. Elbes—very ill man—had known her at St. John’s prison Pfeiffer mentions his researches the castor oil plant

Now then A. Who killed her?

B. Why?

Although the Pfeiffers were never to feature in any Christie work, some of these ideas were to resurface in other books—a stolen ring in Hickory Dickory Dock and the prison wardress in Appointment with Death.

But the main idea is the symmetrical letters of the alphabet and how confusion can arise depending on whether they are seen directly or through a mirror. A half page of Notebook 30 lists all of these letters, ‘H M A W I O T U V Y’, and a further list of possible female names starting with each one. (X is omitted presumably on the basis that names beginning with X are rare.) Christie finally settled on Isabel Oger, hence the reference to Mrs Oger above. This idea was eventually incorporated into Dumb Witness, also published in 1937, although with completely different names. Whether it was ever in fact intended as a plot device for Death on the Nile is debatable, despite the fact that the scenario Christie sketched involved the Pfeiffers from the list of characters for that novel. Adding to this doubt is the fact that there are no characters on the list with either the initials AM or MA.

Almost the final note for this title in Notebook 30 reads:

The Plan

Nellie is heard saying ‘I wish she were dead—will never be free till she’s dead.

Nellie is one of the names appearing on the list of reversible initials (‘Helen, Wilhelmina’) but the words she utters are very similar to the opening line, overheard by Hercule Poirot, of Appointment with Death. ‘You do see, don’t you, that she’s got to be killed?’ This, taken in conjunction with the Mrs P’s former profession and the make-up of her family, can be seen to form the basis of the later novel.

Four-Fifty from Paddington 4 November 1957

While travelling to visit her friend Miss Marple, Elspeth McGillicuddy witnesses a murder committed on a train running parallel with hers. During the search for the body, attention focuses on Rutherford Hall, home of the Crackenthorpe family. Miss Marple and her agent Lucy Eylesbarrow investigate.

All the notes for this title are contained in four Notebooks—3, 22, 45 and 47—amounting to 40 pages. Four-Fifty from Paddington was received at Collins in late February of 1957. The date at which it is set, and its writing, are contemporaneous. The story opens on 20 December (1956)—‘It was quite dark now, a dark dreary, misty December day—Christmas was only five days away’ (Chapter 1)—but apart from Miss Marple attending Christmas dinner at the Vicarage where she discusses local maps with Leonard Clement, the vicar’s son, there is no further mention, or atmosphere, of the holiday season.

This book went through more title changes than any other of her books. At various times it was 4.15, 4.30 and 4.54, before eventually becoming Four-Fifty from Paddington. The manuscript is headed ‘4.54 from Paddington’, mainly because, as Christie explained in a letter to her Edmund Cork dated 8 April (1957), there was no actual train at that time. She agreed that ‘Four-Fifty from Paddington’ or even ‘5 o’clock from Paddington’ were better titles.

The extract below from Notebook 47 would seem to predate similar notes as this one has no names (apart from Miss Marple), but the basic idea is the one followed in the finished novel. The blackly comic final question is a classic musing of Christie the arch-plotter. A few pages later notes for ‘Greenshaw’s Folly’ and The Unexpected Guest are pursued and the train idea is shelved. As ‘Greenshaw’s Folly’ was first published in December 1956, this supports the contention that the notes for Four-Fifty from Paddington did not pre-date its composition by very much.

Train—seen from a train? Through window of house. Or vice versa?

Train idea

Girl coming down by train to St. Mary Mead sees a murder in another train drawn up alongside—a woman strangled. Gets home—talks about it to Miss Marple—Police? Nobody strangled—no body found.

Why—2 possible trains one to Manchester—one a slow local. Where can you push a body off a train

Notebook 3 sketches the basic idea (with Mrs Bantry in place of Mrs McGillicuddy) but Notebook 45 has a succinct and accurate version of the opening chapter of the novel:

The Train

Mrs McGillicuddy—a friend of Miss Marple’s—going to stay with her—in train from Paddington—another train on other line—but same direction—that’s overtaken—hang together for a moment, through window of compartment level with hers—a man strangling blonde girl—then—train goes on.

Mrs MG very upset—tells ticket collector—Station master? Oh! Jane I’ve seen a murder

Uniquely among Christie’s books, we are informed from the outset of Four-Fifty from Paddington that the murderer is a man. A mere four pages into Chapter 1 the reader is told: ‘Standing with his back to the window and to her was a man. His hands were round the throat of a woman who faced him and he was slowly, remorselessly, strangling her.’ With such an unequivocal statement the possibility that the figure seen could have been a woman in disguise is never seriously considered and Christie knew her readers well enough to know that they would feel totally cheated if that transpired to be the solution. Therefore, with the exception of Emma Crackenthorpe (the motive) and Lucy Eylesbarrow (the investigator), all the main characters are male. The problem this presented was to make the men broadly similar as physical beings while distinguishing them as characters. She reminds herself of this in Notebook 22:

Must get clear on men

Three dark men—all roughly 5ft 10 to 6 ft Loose jointed

People Cedric eldest?

Harold married no children

Alfred

Bryan Eastley Ex pilot—Husband of Edith (dead)

Father of Alistair or stepfather?