The mysterious disappearance of Agatha Christie: sophisticated revenge on her husband or brilliant PR?

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Agatha Christie went down in history as the author of the most interesting detective stories, but today few people remember that she not only described mysterious stories in books, but also embodied them in her own life. The biggest mystery of her life was disappearance story: One morning, the writer's car was found empty and with the headlights on, the owner of the car herself disappeared. The search lasted 11 days. During this time, the police put forward the most incredible versions of the fate of Christie, and the sales of the "last" detective of the writer skyrocketed …

The disappearance of Agatha Christie was news that swept across England and even rocked the United States. The police ran off their feet, looking for the writer; in the course of the investigation, more and more versions of what had happened arose. And it was like this: On December 4, 1926, the police department of the English town of Newlands Corner received a message that a local shepherd at dawn found an empty car at the very edge of the quarry. Nothing was known about the owner of the car, it was only clear that it was a woman, since her things remained in the cabin. Soon, investigators managed to establish the owner of the abandoned car. It turned out to be the writer Agatha Christie.

The first person to be informed of the incident was the husband of Agatha Christie, Colonel Archibald. For a number of reasons, he reacted very dissatisfied: first, he spent the night before his wife's disappearance with his mistress, and he did not want to make this information public. And, secondly, having gone home on a call from the police, he found an envelope with a message. The letter said that the culprit of all the troubles that happened to Agatha Christie is one person - her lawful husband. It became clear to Archibald that his wife clearly hoped that the envelope would fall into the hands of law enforcement officers. But that was not the case, things took a different turn.

Trying to protect himself from a loud scandal, Archibald made every effort and organized a thorough search. The police, in turn, did not understand Agatha's motives for a long time, the journalists escalated the situation, and soon the most incredible assumptions began to sound. They talked about possible suicide and death at the hands of intruders, it was assumed that she could simply lose her memory or deliberately fled the city. The popularity grew, the novels were sold out, everyone was eager to find out what happened to the writer. Many blamed her husband for her possible death, because he, losing his composure, told that he had left her on the eve of the incident. They talked about his betrayal more and more openly, the man forcibly fought off annoying reporters.

Writer Conan Doyle also took part in the investigation. The "father" of Sherlock Holmes was well aware of how to conduct a private investigation, and in search of an answer to the question that tormented everyone, he turned to a psychic specialist. Showing Agatha Christie's glove, he received the answer that the woman was alive and would soon appear. And so it happened, a few days later the police received information that a woman who looks very much like Agatha Christie is accommodated in one of the hotels. The lodger called herself Teresa Neal and assured that she was from South Africa in transit, and at the same time was well aware of the customs of modern England and danced incendiaryly to fashionable rhythms in the evenings.

Archibald, along with the police, arrived at the hotel for identification. Of course, he recognized his wife, who, in turn, tried to reassure everyone that she had temporary amnesia, and her memory began to return when she saw her husband.

In a personal conversation with Archibald, Agatha Christie admitted that the escape plan was invented by her when she accepted the inevitability of a divorce. She wanted to spite the man who had betrayed her, and the plan worked. At the same time, the writer made an excellent PR for her books, although she sincerely convinced Archie that she had not started all this for self-promotion purposes. After talking after the meeting, the couple made a wise decision to stay together temporarily (so that passions would subside in the press), and a year later to dissolve the marriage.

The real love in the life of Agatha Christie was the union with her second husband Max Mallowen … Their acquaintance was also preceded by an almost detective story!