The Christie Caper - Carolyn Hart [2]
The frail hand holding the envelope trembled. If she mailed this letter, if she attended the conference, wouldn’t it reawaken not only the anguish but the poisonous fury that had corroded her spirit when Bryan died?
Not unless she permitted it to do so. She had learned one painful lesson these past lonely years. The mind could be controlled. Not joyfully, perhaps, but effectively. Victoria had been forced to learn that lesson or go mad.
This conference, after all, was at least in part a tribute to Bryan’s greatness. Of course, its focus was upon Agatha Christie’s legacy to the world of the mystery, but Bryan was one of several authors of classic mysteries who were scheduled to be recognized in a retrospective for their contributions to the traditional mystery.
Bryan would be admired, praised. Once again his books would be talked about, valued.
She could hear the chug of the postman’s car, coming up the lane. Quickly, her heart pounding, Victoria yanked open the mailbox, thrust the letter inside.
AGATHA CHRISTIE
TITLE CLUE
Children’s laughter, bobbing apples;
Too much talk and murder strikes.
Henny Brawley paced her study. Where was that damn book? She’d had it in hand just a minute ago! Innumerable sheets from a yellow legal pad, covered with her neat, precise printing, were strewn from one end of the book-lined room to the other. Despite the hour—it was just past midnight—she whistled over and over a rollicking rendition of “Three Blind Mice.” She hadn’t had this much fun in years! Oh, there it was! Shifting a pile of Christie novels, part of her lovely new bound collection of the Crime Queen’s works, Henny flipped open the revised edition of The Agatha Christie Companion by Dennis Sanders and Len Lovallo. Yes, yes, yes, here it was, marked by her newest bookmark from Death on Demand, the island’s mystery bookstore.
She whistled now in sheer delight. Oh ho, nobody would ever answer some of these questions!
Racing back to the desk and her legal pad, she wrote briskly:
What gave Christie the idea for Thirteen at Dinner?
On a separate sheet entitled Answers to the Agatha Christie Trivia Quiz, Henny added:
The monologuist Ruth Draper, 1884–1956, became quite famous in London for stage presentations in which she portrayed a great variety of personalities, ranging from a nagging wife to a peasant girl kneeling in a cathedral. Intrigued by Draper’s successful impersonations, Christie’s fertile mind came up with yet another devilishly original plot.
Sighing happily, Henny reread her list of questions. Certainly this would be a popular pan of the upcoming conference. Be interesting to see how well Emma Clyde would fare. Not that Henny was trying to show that she knew more about Christie than the island’s most famous mystery author—although of course she did! As for that British writer—Henny’s eyes slitted—Lady Gwendolyn Tompkins, what made her such an authority on Christie? Not that Henny was jealous of Lady Gwendolyn’s prominence as a co-sponsor of The Christie Caper. Certainly not. Jealousy was beneath her.
But, dammit, who’d done all the work? Henny Brawley, that’s who!
AGATHA CHRISTIE
TITLE CLUE
Where was Agnes Woddell,
Or is this too ob-skewer?
Kathryn Honeycutt didn’t believe in astrology, of course. But sometimes, you had to admit, it was nothing short of uncanny. She read the horoscope column only occasionally, but this morning’s said, plain as day, “An unexpected message will come your way.” And here was the letter from Neil, inviting her to come as his guest to a celebration of the one hundredth anniversary of the birth of Agatha Christie. Kathryn would never have expected Neil to be interested in that kind of conference. Why, he’d always sneered at the Christie books, even said they were written with all the pizzazz of a Quaker Oats cereal box. Neil only liked those nasty, gory, brutal novels. Who wanted to read books like that? Kathryn could pick up her morning paper and wallow in rape, incest, and wife abuse, if she wished. She certainly didn’t wish. But Christie