The dog playing ball
The ball playing dog (original title Dumb Witness ) is the 21st detective novel by Agatha Christie . It first appeared in the UK on July 5, 1937 at the Collins Crime Club and later that year in the US at Dodd, Mead and Company under the title Poirot Loses a Client . The German first edition was published by Talverlag (Vienna, Leipzig) in 1938 in a translation by Anna Schober.
Hercule Poirot is investigating . It is the penultimate novel in which Arthur Hastings appears as the narrator - the last being the Curtain , published in 1975 .
introduction
The novel is set in Berkshire . At its center is Emily Arundell, a wealthy single lady who lives with her companion Miss Lawson and is regularly visited by her nieces and nephews. She is lying in bed injured after an accident in which she probably tripped over a ball from her Fox Terrier Bob. Two weeks later, she is believed to have died of natural causes. All of her fortune goes to Miss Lawson, to the surprise of her relatives. In the papers that were left there is also a letter to Poirot in which she asks him for help and which now goes to the post office with some delay. Poirot can no longer save Emily Arundell's life, but is on the trail of her killer.
action
The will that makes Miss Lawson sole heir was drawn up by Emily Arundell shortly before her death and nobody in the house knew about it. Thus, all relatives who were previously the beneficiaries are suspect.
The family doctor has classified her death as natural because she had had liver disease for many years . Poirot goes to Berkshire and contacts Miss Lawson on the pretext that he is interested in the Arundell house. From her he learns that she and the Tripp sisters held a séance with Emily Arundell on the day she died , during which a glowing figure, a kind of ghost, rose from Emily Arundell's mouth.
Poirot is hired by Theresa and Charles because they feel cheated of their inheritance. He realizes that Emily Arundell was poisoned with phosphorus , which triggered the glowing apparition. Little by little, everyone comes under suspicion. Especially one woman who wore a brooch with the letters "TA" on it. Everyone thinks that it could only be Theresa Arundell. Poirot can conclude, however, that Bella Tanios is the murderer, because the brooch was seen in the mirror and the letters could therefore be read as "AT" - Arabella Tanios. Lacking all evidence, he writes down his theory and gives the letter to Bella, who then, plagued by remorse, takes her life.
Also tormented by her conscience, Miss Lawson decides to share the inheritance with Theresa, Charles and Bella's children. Hastings becomes the new owner of Bob.
people
- Hercule Poirot, the Belgian detective
- Emily Arundell, the victim
- Theresa Arundell, a niece of the victim
- Dr. Rex Donaldson, Theresa's fiancé
- Charles Arundell, a nephew of the victim
- Bella Tanios, a niece of the victim
- Dr. Jacob (in the German translation Basil) Tanios, Bella's husband
- Wilhelmina Lawson, the victim's companion and her heir
- Captain Hastings, Poirot's somewhat dubious companion
- The Tripp siblings (also called Kipp in a German translation), two amateur spirits whose enthusiasm is greater than their ability
dedication
Christie dedicated this novel to her fox terrier Peter, who is also shown on the cover of the original English edition. The dog died at age 14 a year after the novel was published. The novel The Blue Express also contains a dedication to him.
References to other works
- In addition to this novel, a spiritualistic session is also held in The Secret of Sittaford . Here as there, however, Christie leaves no doubt that she thinks séances are humbug.
- This novel is one of those Poirot novels in which the perpetrator is given the opportunity to evade an impending execution by suicide . This also includes Alibi and Das Haus an der Düne . There are always perpetrators who have a certain understanding of their motive and its history and the Poirot are not unsympathetic. Such pity does not appear in Miss Marple novels.
Film adaptations
Agatha Christie's Poirot
The novel was filmed in 1996 for the television series Agatha Christie's Poirot with David Suchet as Hercule Poirot .
Important English and German language editions
- 1937 Collins Crime Club (London), July 5, 1937
- 1937 Dodd Mead and Company (New York)
- 1938 German first edition by Talverlag (Leipzig; Vienna) in the translation by Anna Schober
- 2015 New translation under the title The dog playing the ball by Christa Schuenke, Hamburg: Atlantic
Audio books
- 2003 The dog playing the ball (6 CDs): unabridged reading. Speaker: Martin Maria Schwarz . Director: Hans Eckardt Verlag and studio for audio book productions (Marburg / Lahn)
Web links
- Dumb Witness on the official Agatha Christie website
- Dumb Witness (1996) in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ The Observer July 4, 1937 (Page 6)
- ↑ John Cooper and BA Pyke. Detective Fiction - the collector's guide : Second Edition (Pages 82 and 86) Scholar Press. 1994. ISBN 0-85967-991-8
- ↑ American Tribute to Agatha Christie
- ↑ a b German first edition in the catalog of the German National Library
- ^ Cover picture on the official Agatha Christie website
- ↑ Audiobook (complete) in the catalog of the German National Library