MowXml

Agatha Christie

A pocketful of rye - Agatha Christie

When wealthy businessman Rex Fortescue dies after drinking his morning tea, the police are called in to investigate. The cause of death is poisoning by taxine, an alkaloid poison obtained from the leaves or berries of the yew tree, not in his tea but ingested earlier at breakfast. Searching his clothing, the police find one pocket full of rye, a fact not easily explained. Rex's wife Adele is the main suspect in the murder. Son Lancelot and his wife Pat are travelling from Kenya to London, at the invitation of his father, per Lance. At Paris, he wires that he will be home next day. Police meet him at the airport. The day Lance arrives at Yewtree Lodge, leaving his wife in London, his stepmother, Adele, dies of cyanide in her tea, and a few hours later, the maid Gladys Martin is found strangled in the yard, with a clothes pin put on her nose.

Inspector Neele is working full-time with the aid of Sergeant Hay on these murders, interviewing all at the office and in the home. The older son, Percival, tells the Inspector that his father was erratic and ruining the business. After the story of the three murders is in the newspapers, Miss Marple arrives at Yewtree Lodge, as she can shed light on Gladys Martin. Gladys learned serving and cleaning at Miss Marple's home. Miss Ramsbottom invites Miss Marple to stay at Yewtree Lodge. Inspector Neele agrees to work with Miss Marple, seeing that she can talk with people in a different way than he can. Neele learns that the taxine was ingested in marmalade, with a new jar put out at breakfast, used by Rex alone. That jar was tossed in the yard and found by police. When Miss Marple and Inspector Neele discuss the case, he shares that information, and she asks him if he has asked about blackbirds, having seen the pattern of an old children's rhyme, Sing a Song of Sixpence. When he does, he learns of dead blackbirds on Rex's desk at home, a pie whose contents were removed and replaced with dead blackbirds, and from Lance, of the Blackbird Mine in Africa.

The Blackbird Mine was suspected of having gold, found by Mr MacKenzie. Rex Fortescue investigated the land after investing capital in it. He left MacKenzie there to die, returning alone and owning the land that he felt was of no value. The land is in east Africa. There had been a scene, when Mrs MacKenzie, decades earlier, charged Rex with her husband's death, promising to teach her children to avenge their father's death. Both the Inspector and Miss Marple suspect that the daughter is in the household under another name, as the son died in the war. The Inspector suspects Mary Dove, the housekeeper, and tells her so. Jennifer Fortescue tells Miss Marple she is, and the Inspector confirms it. Jennifer put out the dead blackbirds near Rex to remind him of his past offense. She knew her mother's vengeance lesson was wrong. Miss Marple and Inspector Neele realize this gave the theme to the murderer. Miss Marple explains what Gladys did: put the poison in the marmalade not knowing it was poison, and the rye in his pocket, at the direction of her boyfriend, Albert Evans. Dove immediately blackmails Jennifer; Inspector Neele says if Dove pays the money back, he will not charge her.

Miss Marple explains that Albert Evans is Lance, Rex's son. Lance wants money; the deed to the Blackbird mine will do, as uranium has been found there. He arranged the murder of his father to stop the loss of cash and to deal only with his brother. He murdered his stepmother because she inherited a large amount of cash, but only if she lived thirty days after her husband. The firm would not continue with so much cash going out, between his father's bad decisions and her inheritance. He had already killed Gladys, so she could tell no tales, leaving the clothes pin that so offends Miss Marple to match the line in the rhyme, "and pecked off her nose." Gladys was very easy to persuade to assist him, never questioning his motives, and flattered by his attentions. She believed she was adding a truth drug to the marmalade, to help Albert when he met with Rex. Miss Marple deduces this from knowing Gladys and seeing her things. When Miss Marple returns home, a letter from Gladys awaits her. She explains all she did and begs Miss Marple's help, as she does not know what to do. The letter was waylaid in the post. Enclosed is a photo of her and her Albert, clearly Lance Fortescue. Inspector Neele's case will be very strong.

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A pocketful of rye - Agatha Christie