A Pocket Full of Rye

A Pocket Full of Rye / by Agatha Christie / 65,000words / YL 9 / ★★★★★

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Rex Fortescue, the head of a Investments Trust, died in his office.
Inspector Neele started investigations into the case.
The cause of death was "Taxin." Taxin is the alkaloid of a yew tree.
So Mr. Fortescue was poisoned. And there was one thing that's odd.
The right-hand pocket of his jacket was full of rye.

It seemed that he took it at breakfast. Inspector Neele decided to go to his house.
The name of the house was "Yewtree Lodge."

There were many suspicious people in the house.
Three people only, had had breakfast with Mr. Fortescue.
His young second wife, his daughter and his daughter-in-law (Percival's wife and she was a hospital nurse).

Mrs. Fortescue─Adale was about thirty years younger than he was.
She was very good-looking─a real sexy piece. Adele married him for money, of course.
And she had a young lover.
The daughter was mixed up with a young man whom her father didn't want her to marry.
And he definitely wasn't marrying her unless she had the money.
Mr. Fortescue lately shouted at his son─Percival, and he said
"I shall get Lance (Percival's younger brother) home again. He's worth ten of you─and he's married well.

There were a housekeeper and servants in the house at the time, too
but Inspector Neele didn't see how any of them could have a chance.

Then Mrs. Fortescue was murdered. A half-eaten scone spread with honey was beside her
and her tea cup was still half-full. It was potassium cyanide in the tea.

And the very day, Gladys─the maid was murdered, too.
There was a clothes peg clipped on her nose.
This death called for Miss Marple. Because she trained Gladys for domestic service.
Miss Marple felt that she ought to come and see if there was anything she could do about it.

Miss Marple was explained the circumstances from Inspector Neele.
He said that the hole thing is a nasty bit of unnecessary bravado.
Without rhyme or reason in it.
But Miss Marple said “Hardly unnecessary. It does all make a pattern.
It’s the rhyme that strikes one, isn’t it?”
She recited the “Sing a song of sixpence.”
She went on “Have you gone into the question of blackbirds?”

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“Sing a song of sixpence” is one of my favorite Mother Goose.
I was very curious to know how Agatha Christie arranged this rhyme in her mystery.
I really got satisfaction.
I knew that Rex means King. Wow. In his Counting House. I got it!
I enjoyed both Inspector Neele and Miss Marple’s method of the investigation.
Inspector Neele was a highly imaginative thinker, and one of his methods of investigation was to propound to himself
fantastic theories of guilt which he applied to such persons as he was interrogating at the time.
I could see clearly what he’s looking at there.
Miss Marple's was one level higher than Neele’s.
She was very knowledgeable about human nature.
She had great deal of unnecessary talk with everybody and she got the whole picture.
She was completely solved the case.
She had a brilliant ability. Amazing!