The strange Mister Quin

The strange Mister Quin (original title The Mysterious Mr. Quin ) is a collection of short stories by Agatha Christie , which first appeared on April 4, 1930 in the United Kingdom at William Collins & Sons and later that same year in the USA at Dodd, Mead and Company has appeared. It was not until 1980 that Scherz Verlag published a German translation. In 1987 the new translation by Günter Eichel , which is still used today, was published .

The book contains twelve short stories, each of which treats a case for itself, but is also partly integrated into a framework.

introduction

The "investigating detective" is the elderly, rather quiet Mr. Satterthwaite - a somewhat curious British country gentleman with a penchant for comfort, gourmet restaurants and the fine arts, but also with an almost extravagant interest in the lives of other people and an unerring instinct for the dramatic Developments. In the beginning still as a mute spectator, in the course of the stories increasingly becoming one of the most important actors, he brings the entangled, unclear drama in the houses of his desperate friends to an end.

The name Satterthwaite has been changed to Sattersway in some translations to simplify it for German readers.

The second and much more interesting main character is the strange Mr. Harley Quin, a tall, skinny gentleman in a simple coat, who always appears when an accident has occurred. So Satterthwaite meets Mr. Quin, always on the trail of a human drama, when he and some acquaintances go through a long-time-barred tragic suicide story - and thanks to Mr. Quin's presence, he promptly finds the solution. Again and again, on his travels and when visiting the elite of the English nobility, Mr. Satterthwaite encounters the lonely wanderer in a harlequin costume - Quin.

Even so, one learns little about him because he comes and goes when and where he wants. His name is an allusion to the harlequin (English harlequin ) - Mr. Harley Quin.

In her autobiography, Agatha Christie writes that Mr. Quin and little Mr. Satterthwaite became two of her favorite characters. The latter reappeared in her Hercule Poirot novel Nicotine (original title Three Act Tragedy ).

Outside of this collection, Mr. Quin can only be found in two other stories - Die Murderische Teerunde (original title The Harlequin Tea Set ) and The clock was witness (original title The Love Detectives ). Both are included in the anthology from 1993 Die Murderische Teerunde , the latter also in the anthology Die Mörder-Maschen from 1982.

The short stories

The arrival of Mr. Quin

Original title: The Coming of Mr Quin

It's New Year's Eve and the older members of a house party at Royston Country House are gathering in the hall. Mr Satterthwaite is one of the guests. His hosts are Sir Tom Evesham and his wife, Lady Laura. Among the guests are Sir Richard Conway and Alex Portal with his Australian wife Eleanor, to whom he has been married for two years. Mr. Satterthwaite finds her very fascinating in many ways, in particular he notices that she dyes her blonde hair black, when most women do it the other way round.

The clock strikes midnight and everyone gathers by the fireplace. One remembers Derek Capel, the previous owner of Royston, who committed suicide ten years ago for no apparent reason. Tom Evesham abruptly ends the conversation and a few minutes later the women go to bed. Satterthwaite watches Eleanor intensely before she leaves.

Returning to their whiskey and the fire, the men resume the conversation about Capel. Suddenly there is a knock at the door and when it is opened a stranger is standing in front of it. The light casts a colorful pattern on his coat through the stained glass window of the door. He introduces himself as Mr. Harley Quin and asks to be let in while his chauffeur repairs a breakdown on his car.

He knows about this part of the country and also knew Derek Capel. He skillfully directs the conversation to the events on the night of his death and everyone discusses the question of why he took his own life. Satterthwaite can't help feeling that Quin's appearance that evening wasn't accidental. His gaze is distracted by a movement - a person crouches at the top of the stairs: Eleanor.

Capel told the guests on the evening of his death that he intended to get engaged. Everyone assumed it would be Marjorie Dilke, whom he had dated many times for a year before things fell asleep a bit. But the way he was keeping this a secret made Conway suspect that he was having a relationship with a married woman. Everyone agrees that Capel's appearance that night was that of a man who won a big game. And just ten minutes later he shot himself. After a few days in the snow chaos, the mail with letters and newspapers had arrived late that evening, but Capel had not opened any of the letters. A policeman had come into the house because one of the dogs was lost and was found in the snow. He was sitting in the kitchen when the shot was fired.

Quin urges the men by the fireplace to remember events that had happened during that time that might have been reported in the newspapers. The men remember the Appleton murder. Mr. Appleton was an old man who abused his much younger wife. Capel was a friend of the house. Appleton died of strychnine poisoning , which was only discovered after he was exhumed. On the evening of his death, his wife had dropped the carafe containing the port that her husband had last drunk - probably to cover up traces. She was tried but found innocent. She had left England anyway to avoid people's attention.

Now Quin is able to reconstruct the events of the evening: Capel read about the exhumation of Appleton in one of the newspapers delivered that evening and then saw the policeman approaching the house, not realizing that he was only coming because of the dog. Believing himself to have been the murderer of Appleton, he feared his arrest and shot himself.

His audience is stunned by the fact that Capel is believed to be the killer because he was not at Appleton's house on the day in question. But Quin points out that strychnine does not dissolve. It collected at the bottom of the carafe after Capel had poured it into the wine a week earlier. The question remains why Mrs. Appleton dropped the carafe. With Quin's help, Satterthwaite theorized that she only did it to protect Capel and not to cover her own tracks.

Quin says goodbye and wants to leave the house when Eleanor comes down the stairs and thanks him. Because she is Mrs. Appleton and her innocence was never proven by Capel's unsolved suicide. Only now is her name cleared again and she can assume her real identity again.

The cavalier at the window

Original title: The Shadow on the Glass

Mr. Satterthwaite is the guest of Mr. and Mrs. Unkerton at their home, Greenways House. The invited guests are an unfortunate mix, as some of them have had relationships with each other in the past. Mr. Richard Scott, here with his new wife Moira, is the best friend of another guest, Major John Porter. Both of them know Mrs. Iris Staverton from her big game hunts in Africa, who recently arrived at the house. She is a lovely woman who is said to have had a previous relationship with Richard Scott. Also present is Lady Cynthia Drage, a chatty society lady, and the young Captain Jimmy Allenson, who is loved by everyone and who met Lady Cynthia last year in Egypt , where the Scotts had also spent their honeymoon.

The atmosphere in the house is also tense because the house is said to be haunted: the ghost of a gentleman who was killed by his wife's lover and whose face now appears on a pane on the first floor. The pane has already been replaced several times, the face appears again and again. The window was covered with a wooden panel and a new window was installed in the room that is currently occupied by the Scotts.

While taking a walk, Mr. Satterthwaite shows Major Porter the window of a small, well-tended garden called the “secret garden”. The face is difficult to see from there, so the two of them walk on to a small hill. On the way back, the two overheard a conversation between Richard Scott and Mrs. Staverton, in which she says: “Jealousy - it makes you the devil! No she is the devil! It can drive you to the point of murder. Be careful Richard! For God's sake be careful! ”Satterthwaite senses the looming tragedy.

In the evening Mrs. Unkerton tells that she sent for the glazier again to replace the cursed pane again.

The next evening, Satterthwaite and Porter go to the hill again and find that the glazier has probably not yet been there, because the face can be seen again. On the way back they hear two shots. In the secret garden they meet Mrs. Staverton with a gun in hand and two dead people - Captain Allenson shot in the chest and Mrs. Scott in the back. Mrs. Staverton claims she was the first to arrive at the scene, found the two bodies, and took the discarded gun. While the police are being fetched, Mr. Satterthwaite discovers blood on Mrs. Scott's ear and sees that an earring is missing.

The police arrive and begin the investigation. The situation turns out to be difficult for Mrs. Staverton, since no one but her can have gone into the secret garden.

In the middle of this investigation, another guest arrives at the house - Mr. Harley Quin. Satterthwaite vouches for him and his ability to lead people to new perspectives. First, Satterthwaite, led by Mr. Quin, remarks that the injury to the ear could not have been caused by the fall. So she must have been shot twice, and one of them killed Captain Allenson. But that means that the two were close together. Was she in his arms or were they lovers?

When they question Mr. Unkerton, they learn that the glazier had come that morning. When they enter the room with the ghost window, they find a small ostrich feather in the panel, a feather from one of Mrs. Scott's hats.

Then Mr. Quin can solve the crime. Richard Scott saw his wife and her lover in the garden when he looked out the ghost window. He remembered the story with the Cavalier and put on his wife's hat in case anyone saw him at the window. Then he shot his wife and threw the gun on the lawn. He was very happy that Mrs. Staverton was suspected, because contrary to popular belief, she was not in love with him but with Porter.

The magic trick

Original title: At the Bells and Motley

Mr. Satterthwaite is on his way to friends when he ends up with a flat tire in the small town of Kirklington Mallet. While his chauffeur takes care of the repairs in the garage, he visits the local pub To the Bells and Fools . There he wants to eat and take shelter from the coming storm. He is delighted to meet Mr. Quin in the breakfast room. The landlord brings the food with the remark: "On a night like this, Captain Harwell brought his bride home, exactly the day before he disappeared forever."

Now Satterthwaite remembers the story that filled the papers three months ago. He now realizes why the name of the village sounded so familiar, and he and Mr. Quin begin to recap how the story was told:

About a year ago, the Ashley Grange manor was bought by Miss Eleanor Le Couteau, a French Canadian. She fell in love with Captain Richard Harwell. After two months they were engaged, after three they were married. After the honeymoon, they returned home on a stormy night. The next morning, after being seen by the gardener John Mathias, the captain disappeared.

The suspicion first fell on Stephen Grant, a young man who looked after Harwell's horses who had been released some time ago and had been seen nearby on the morning of the captain's disappearance. But you couldn't prove anything. The landlord's daughter is in love with him.

It was also very mysterious that no relatives of the captain could be found and that there were no traces of his past. Nor was he his wife's heir. Overwhelmed by the pain, Eleanor decided to sell the country estate, including its inventory and precious jewelry, to an American millionaire.

Quin reminds Satterthwaite of breaking into French castles, which were probably carried out by three artists - the Clondinis. They recognize the identities of the Clondinis: the alleged Eleanor, the captain and a maid. They acquired Ashley Grange and, within a few months, furnished it with the antiques and the remaining loot from their raids in order to monetize it. Her husband played both the captain and the gardener; the captain's disappearance served as a red herring and justification for selling the house.

Satterthwaite plans to have the police check the manor house. The landlord's daughter will be relieved when Stephen Grant's innocence is established.

The sign in the sky

Original title: The Sign in the Sky

Mr. Satterthwaite attends a trial at the Old Bailey Criminal Court and on the final day hears the jury's verdict - guilty - and the death sentence. He goes to one of his favorite places, the Arlecchino restaurant in Soho . There he meets Mr. Quin and tells about the case. Quin realizes that he does not yet have all the facts and asks Mr. Satterthwaite to tell him everything.

Lady Vivien Barnaby was Sir George Barnaby's younger wife, and was trapped in her loveless marriage. They both own the Deering Hill Estate. She made advances to a young man, Martin Wylde: “He didn't live a mile away. Agriculture, that was his job. "

This not only had a relationship with the lady, but also with the daughter of the local doctor, Sylvia Dale. Lady Barnaby discovered this relationship and reacts hysterically. On the morning of Friday the 13th, she sent him a letter calling him to Deering Hill at six o'clock while her husband would be out playing the bridge . Although Wylde refused at first, he went to Deering Hill and his fingerprints were found in the room where Lady Barnaby was killed by a shotgun at 6:20 pm.

The domestic workers heard the shot and ran into the room immediately. Nobody was there, just the dead lady of the house. After a few minutes of panic, they wanted to call the police. But the phone didn't work. One ran off on foot and met Sir George returning home. Everyone involved had secure alibis: Sir George left the game shortly before 6:30 p.m., Sylvia Dale accompanied a friend to the train, which left Deering Vale station at 6:28 p.m. Sir George's secretary, Henry Thompson, was in London on a business appointment. Wylde confirmed that he had taken his gun with him to Deering Hill, but left it outside and later forgotten it due to the heated argument with Lady Barnaby. He explained that the lady was still alive when he left the house and went home at 6:15 pm. But he has no witnesses for that.

Mr. Quin asks about a maid who gave evidence in the preliminary investigation but has now been out of court. He learns that she has emigrated to Canada. Since her testimony seems to be of vital importance, Satterthwaite travels to Canada. He meets Louise Bullard in Alberta , where she works in a hotel. She is a very easy to impress girl and tells what she saw just before the shot that night: “A train passed outside and the white smoke rose into the sky, and believe it or not, it looked like a huge one Hand. A huge white hand in the pink evening sky. The fingers were crooked as if trying to reach for something. Really scary! ”She also mentions that Henry Thompson got her the well-paying job in Canada.

Upon his return to England, Satterthwaite immediately went to the Arlecchino Restaurant, where he met Quin again. He is disappointed with his trip and tells the story with the hand of smoke. Quin immediately realized that this was the decisive lead: the trains passed Deering Hill just 10 minutes before and 28 minutes after the hour. So the shot couldn't have been fired at 6:20 p.m.

Satterthwaite remembers hearing that Sir George was a very petty man who set the clock in the house himself every Friday. He'd introduced them all by ten minutes to secure an alibi.

Satterthwaite gives the evidence to Sylvia Dale, who receives a written confession from Sir George, claiming that Louise Bullard's testimony is now available to the police.

The croupier's soul

Original title: The Soul of the Croupier

Mr. Satterthwaite spending, as well as in other years, the first few months of the year in Monte Carlo . He regrets the changing times when fewer and fewer members of the nobility are vacationing here. But he is very pleased when he discovers Countess Czarnova. She has been coming here for many years, often accompanied by royal and noble people. Many stories are told about the woman and her mysterious background. This year she is accompanied by Franklin Rudge, a Midwestern American who is obviously addicted to her.

Soon afterwards he meets another member of Rudge's group of travelers on the terrace - Elizabeth Martin, who does not have the sophistication of the Countess, but also does not really give the impression of innocence and naivete. She is very sensitive and has high ideals. So she cannot withhold her concerns about the Countess's relationship with Rudge in relation to Satterthwaite.

She leaves and Rudge comes out on the terrace himself. He is looking forward to his trip through Europe, even if he is a little disappointed with the casino and the games there. The conversation then goes on to the Countess, whom he praises and tells of her life with great interest. Satterthwaite doubts a little whether all the stories about diplomatic intrigues are true, but doesn't show anything. Rudge doesn't understand the resentment among women either, but attributes it to peculiarities typical of women. Shortly after Rudge leaves, the Countess joins them. The conversation babbles along, and Satterthwaite has the impression that the Countess is warning him, because she seems to see him as an obstacle in her plans with Rudge.

In the evening he sees the countess again at the roulette table. She wears the pearls of the Bosnian queen and he also meets his old friend, Mr. Harley Quin, whom he immediately lets in on everything mysterious.

The next evening the countess is playing in the casino again. Smiling, Mr. Satterthwaite made his last bet for the evening and placed the maximum on number 5. The Countess also leaned forward and placed the maximum on number 6. Number 5 was dropped. The croupier, who had raked away the remaining bets, pushed Mr. Satterthwaite the profit on the table. He reaches out his hand to take it. The countess does the same. The croupier alternately looks from one to the other. The countess takes the money and Mr. Satterthwaite retires as a gentleman.

Satterthwaite turns sorrowfully to Quin, who comforts him. He wants to arrange a meal at the artist café La Caveau at midnight , where everything should be cleared up. Satterthwaite arrives with Elizabeth. Rudge arrives with the Countess and Quin brings the croupier des casino, Pierre Vaucher. During the meal the croupier tells the unusual story of a Parisian jeweler who fell in love with a half-starved girl and married her. His family was always against marriage, and in the following two years he, too, realized that marriage was a big mistake. Eventually she left him, but returned another two years later, clad in beautiful clothes and hung with precious jewelry, only to mock him. After that, the man became addicted to alcohol and was ultimately only saved by discipline in the army during the war. He then became a croupier in a casino and met the woman again there. Her jewelry was so blatantly flawed that he suspected she was impoverished again. He therefore gave her someone else's profit.

When he arrives at this point in his story, the countess jumps up and calls out: “Why?” “Madame”, replies Vaucher, “there is such a thing as pity ...”. At that moment she offers him a fire for his cigarette with a rolled up piece of paper, jumps up and leaves the company. Only then does everyone realize that she started fire with a banknote. “A fifty thousand franc note. Do you understand? Your win tonight. What she still had now. And with that she lit my cigarette! Because she was too proud to be pityed. ”Vaucher follows her, Rudge realizes that he doesn't understand the countess and turns to Elizabeth. Quin and Satterthwaite are satisfied.

The end of the world

Original title: The World's End

Mr. Satterthwaite is in Corsica with the Duchess von Leith , a somewhat difficult, arrogant and stingy lady. After a stormy crossing from Cannes they move into their hotel and during the first meal the Duchess notices a young woman she knows - Naomi Carlton Smith. She is a distant relative and a bohemian artist who was in a relationship with a young writer who was involved in a jewel theft last year and is now in prison. She appears depressed and makes mysterious remarks.

The next day they want to go on a trip together and since Naomi's car is only an old two-seater, the Duchess speaks to Mr. Tomlinson, a retired judge from India, who has a four-seater. At the appointed time they go to the mountains - Naomi refuses to take Mr. Satterthwaite and insists on going alone. At the end of the road you come to a remote mountain town that Naomi calls "At the end of the world". There, much to Mr. Satterthwaite's delight, they meet Mr. Quin, who is sitting on a boulder and looking down at the sea. Somehow, Mr. Satterthwaite has the feeling that his friend always shows up at the right moment, but cannot put that feeling into words.

The group actually wants to have a picnic, but it starts snowing. They seek shelter in a small pub and meet three guests - three other Englishmen: the theater producer Vyse, the famous actress Rosina Nunn and her husband Mr. Judd. Both parties sit down to eat and the conversation also becomes absent-minded by Miss Nunn. She had already forgotten her pearls in a washing bag in the hotel and an opal was stolen from her.

Alec Gerard, a young author, was suspected of being a thief. Although the stone was never found on him, he was convicted, having deposited a substantial sum into his account the next day. He claimed that a friend had put on a horse for him, but he could not show the friend. Naomi then tries to leave the pub - apparently Alec Gerard is the writer she was friends with - but Quin holds her back.

Miss Nunn now rummages in her handbag and brings out some remarkable things. So also a wooden box. Mr. Tomlinson immediately recognizes an Indian puzzle box and shows the others with a piece of cheese how things disappear and reappear in the box. And suddenly the opal that has been missing for a year appears.

It is immediately clear to everyone that Alec Gerard is innocent in prison. Naomi gains new courage and offers Mr. Satterthwaite a place in her car for the return trip.

The voice from the dark

Original title: The Voice in the Dark

Mr. Satterthwaite is back on the French Riviera and enjoying the sunshine in Cannes with Lady Barbara Stranleigh, whom he has known since his youth. She is beautiful, unscrupulous, self-centered, and completely callous. She has been married four times and her family has suffered a number of tragedies and deaths. Her older sister Beatrice died in a shipwreck of the Uralia off the coast of New Zealand.

Lady Stranleigh tells Mr. Satterthwaite that she is concerned about her daughter who has stayed at home on Abbot's Mede: “Margery hears strange things and sees ghosts and things. I never thought Margery would have that much imagination. She is a dear child, always has been, just a little boring. ”Mr. Satterthwaite, who is planning to travel to England the next day, promises to take care of the matter.

On the train home he meets Mr. Quin, whom he immediately tells the story. Mr. Quin plans to stay nearby, in the inn "To the Bells and Fools", where the two have lived before.

Arriving at Abbot's Mede, Margery Satterthwaite says that for two months she has been hearing a voice from the dark in her bedroom that says once in a whisper, once louder: “Give me back what doesn't belong to you. Give me back what you stole! ". Because she was frightened, she had asked her mother's maid, Mrs. Clayton, to sleep in the room with her. But she did not hear the voices. The night before, Margery had dreamed that a sharp object was pressed to her neck and heard the voice again. When she called Clayton, she had the feeling that she could feel the breath of a ghost running out of the room. In the morning she had a wound on her neck.

Satterthwaite talks to Clayton, an elderly, blue-eyed, gray-haired lady and also a survivor of the Uralia shipwreck who thinks Margery's stories are crazy.

Satterthwaite is now interested in the guests of the house: These are Margery's best friend Marcia Keane and her cousin Roley Vavasour. Since both of them have been in the house since the voices began, they are suspected.

The mail arrives, including a letter from Lady Stranleigh thanking Margery for the chocolates and saying she has food poisoning. Margery tells Satterthwaite that she didn't send her mother any chocolates.

In addition to the guests already mentioned, Roley brought a spiritualist, Mrs. Casson, and her medium, Mrs. Lloyd, into the house. A séance is held. Through the medium speaks the voice of Lady Stranleigh's sister Beatrice. Mr. Satterthwaite, who knew Beatrice over forty years ago, asks the medium a question whose answer only he knows, and the medium answers correctly. Then 'Beatrice' speaks to the company: "Give me back what doesn't belong to you."

Very shocked by this event, Satterthwaite asks Margery about Roley and finds out that he will inherit the title should she and her mother die. He had asked Margery for her hand. She refused because she got engaged to a curate from the village against her mother's wishes.

Lady Stranleigh sends a telegram that she will return home tomorrow. Mr. Satterthwaite is going back to London because he thinks his job is not done, but finished. Things take a serious turn when he learns from the morning paper that Lady Stranleigh has been found dead in her bathroom at Abbots Mede. He drives back and meets Mr. Quin in the inn “To the Bells and Fools”. The latter cannot help him either, but says that only he can solve the problem.

He returns to Abbots Mede and finds a completely distraught Margery who wants to make her will. Clayton is the first witness and he is said to be the second witness. When he reads Clayton's full name on the will - Alice Clayton - he remembers forty years back and how he secretly kissed the two sisters' maid in the hallway - a lively, happy, brown-eyed girl. He immediately realizes that the blue-eyed Clayton is not the maid at the time, but Beatrice, Lady Stranleigh's sister. After the accident she had lost her memory and believed herself to be Alice until the memory slowly came back. Since Beatrice was the older, she would have received the uncle's inheritance and not Margery's mother. The two go up to Clayton's room and find her dead, dead of heart failure. Mr. Satterthwaite concludes, "Perhaps it is better that way."

The beautiful face

Original title: The Face of Helen

Mr. Satterthwaite purposely arrives at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden shortly before recess , only to see the subsequent performance of The Bajazzo in the second part , when he bumps into Mr. Quin. He invites him to his box and they both notice a girl in the stalls with a beautiful - Greek - head. During the next break, they observe that the girl is accompanied by a serious-looking young man and that another young man joins the group, whose arrival brings tension to the group.

At the end of the evening, Satterthwaite offers Quin to drive him home, but Quin refuses. On the way to his car, he sees the three young people again when the two men suddenly start arguing and fighting. Satterthwaite takes care of the girl and offers to drive her home. She thanks and they go to Chelsea . She introduces herself as Gillian West, the serious man is Philip Eastney and the other is Mr. Burns. She hopes Eastney didn't hurt Burns. Satterthwaite promises to find out and then give her a call.

The next Sunday, Satterthwaite is in Kew Gardens when his paths cross again with those of Gillian West and Charlie Burns. The two tell that they have just got engaged. Gillian is very nervous about how this news might affect Philip Eastney. Charlie says that lovesick men have lost their heads and done strange things.

The following Thursday, Satterthwaite has tea with Gillian. To their relief, Eastney took the news with composure and gave the two of them their wedding gifts: on the one hand a new radio and on the other a bulbous goblet made of thin green glass, on the edge of which rests a shimmering ball that looks like a large soap bubble. He had only made one request that Gillian should stay home tonight and listen to the music show on the radio.

Satterthwaite hopes to meet Mr. Quin at the Arlecchino restaurant. Quin isn't there, but he meets Eastney. The two men talk and Satterthwaite learns that the other was involved in the production and testing of poison gases during the war.

When he leaves the restaurant, he has a bad feeling. He buys a newspaper with the radio program for the evening, understands the context and knows that Gillian is in great danger. He rushes to her apartment and drags her out just before the tenor reaches the high notes while singing a shepherd's song. A cat runs into the apartment and is later found dead - killed by the poison gas from the glass sculpture that was broken by the high notes of the singing.

Satterthwaite meets Eastney on the banks of the River Thames in Chelsea and tells him that his plan has failed. The two men split up and a few minutes later a police officer asks Satterthwaite if he had heard something splash into the water - possibly a suicide.

The dead harlequin

Original title: The Dead Harlequin

Mr. Satterthwaite attends a vernissage by the young painter Frank Bristow. A painting entitled "The Dead Harlequin" shows a room with a dead man on the floor and the same person looking in through the window. Satterthwaite recognizes Harley Quin and the terrace room at Charnley House. He buys the painting and invites Bristlow to dinner. Also invited is Colonel Monkton, who tells how he was in Charnley 14 years earlier when Lord Charnley committed suicide during a masked ball: He went into the "oak room", watched by guests on the stairs, locked the door, then followed a shot. The guests broke open the door and found the dead lord. Alix, Lord Charnley's widow, was pregnant; her son became the heir, there was no other beneficiary.

Mr. Satterthwaite receives an unexpected visitor: Aspasia Glen wants to buy the painting from him. Alix Charnley also calls to buy the picture; he asks her to come immediately. Back in the dinner round, in which Miss Glen is now also participating, Mr. Quin has also arrived. You go over what happened again. Alix explains that the suicide was caused by a letter from a lover who claimed to be pregnant by the Lord. Satterthwaite wonders why Bristow's picture shows the dead in the terrace room and not in the adjacent oak room. He speculates that death occurred there, that it was murder, and that the body was then taken to the oak room. He suspects Miss Glen to have been the alleged mistress, and Axil then recognizes her. She had planned the murder with Hugo Charnley, the Lord's brother and heir, if Alix hadn't been pregnant. Hugo had gone into the oak room wearing the Lord's mask, simulated suicide, fired a shot and hid. Miss Glen admits she was involved in the act and rushes out of the house. Alix is ​​relieved, the letter was wrong, her husband is honorable. Mr. Quinn has disappeared.

The bird with the broken wing

Original title: The Bird with the Broken Wing

Mr. Satterthwaite is a guest of a company that receives the words Quin and Laidell as they move the table . He travels to the Laidell country estate where Madge Keeley is giving a party. She confides in him that she will become engaged to Roger Graham. Other participants are the brilliant but very inconspicuous mathematician David Keeley, Roger's mother Mrs. Graham, and Mabelle and Gerard Annesley. Mabelle reminds Satterthwaite of a "bird with a broken wing," but she tells him she is overjoyed. In the evening she plays on her ukulele for the group .

The next morning, Mabelle is found hanged on the door of her room. Inspector Winkfield, a friend of Satterthwaite, questions the guests. Madge had last seen Mabelle when she was about to get her ukulele from the living room. Gerard Annesley was already sleeping in the next room and heard nothing. Satterthwaite insists that Mabelle was murdered. The inspector confirms his suspicions that the rope around her neck is thicker than the choke marks. Satterthwaite finds half-burned love letters in the fireplace of Mrs. Graham's room; they are from Mabelle to Roger. Mrs Graham wanted to keep her son out of trouble, and Roger admits he was bewitched by Mabelle but has not yet told her the end of the affair.

Satterthwaite finds the ukulele. When trying to tune it, a string breaks, it's an A-string, a size too big. Satterthwaite realizes that the murder was done with the original string and confronts David Keeley with it. He had strangled Mabelle and brought the body into the bedroom at night. When asked why he did that, Keeley giggles insanely and says because it was so easy because nobody ever notices him.

Satterthwaite meets Quin on the train driving home. He's sad because he couldn't prevent Mabelle's death. Quin says he saved the two young men from false charges and asks if there aren't any greater evils than death. Satterthwaite closes his eyes, thinks of Mabelle, and when he opens his eyes, Quin is gone. Where he sat there is a blue stone bird figure.

The man in the sea

Original title: The Man From the Sea

Mr. Satterthwaite is staying in Tenerife , where he is visiting the garden of the apparently uninhabited Villa La Paz on a cliff above the sea. There he meets Anthony Cosden, who is disappointed that he is not alone. The night before he had already met someone here in a “harlequin-like” elevator - Satterthwaite is certain that this was Mr. Quin, whose appearance always heralds a revelation. Cosden says he still has six months to live and has apparently returned to this place, which he had visited 20 years earlier, to plunge into the sea. Satterthwaite asks him not to do this today so that he will not be suspected, and Cosden leaves.

On the way back, Satterthwaite curiously opens a shutter of the villa, behind it stands a lady. He stutters an apology, but she invites him to tea and tells him that she has lived here for 23 years. Initially with her husband, who abused her and drowned in the sea after a year. A little later, she had an affair with a young Englishman whom she never saw again, but had a son from him. He is now grown up, is planning to get married and would like to visit her soon to find out more about his parentage. To spare him the illegitimate birth scandal that threatens his marriage, she plans to commit suicide. Again, Satterthwaite has to persuade someone to postpone such a plan. He made a promise that she wouldn't lock the shutter and would wait in this room.

Back at the hotel, he tells Cosden about the unlocked shop. Cosden leaves, apparently intending to throw himself off the cliff. The next morning, Satterthwaite comes back to the villa and meets the lady who is full of happiness: Cosden had opened the shop, they both recognized each other and want to get married tomorrow. She can introduce her son to the father and is sure that Cosden will not die with her. Satterthwaite goes to the cliff where, as expected, he meets Mr. Quin. This indicates that he was sent by the drowned husband of the lady, who loved her in spite of everything and wanted to make amends for his deeds. As Satterthwaite leaves the place, he looks over his shoulder as Quin walks towards the edge of the cliff.

• Agatha Christie lived in 1927 with her daughter Rosalind in the north of Tenerife in Puerto de la Cruz in the Sitio Liter house , the story first appeared in 1929. The villa, which still exists today, Casa de la Paz is a listed building, and a cypress avenue, also protected, leads from its entrance through the now built-up garden to the cliff edge. ⊙

The Harlequin Street

Original title: Harlequin's Lane

Mr. Satterthwaite is invited by John Denham and his wife Anna, whom he saved during the Russian Revolution. Both are out of the house for a short time and so Mr. Satterthwaite decides to go for a walk. He comes to a street called Harlequin's Lane , which is also called "Street of Lovers", and meets Mr. Quin there. At the end of the street you will find a garbage dump and a derelict house that used to be inhabited by the Denhams. When they return to the house, they meet Molly Stanwell, actress from the local drama group, who is giving a performance of the Commedia dell'arte that evening , for which two professional dancers have been hired to play Harlequin and Colombina .

At dinner, the conversation revolves around dance, Russia and the loss of the gifted ballerina Kharsanova during the revolution. The Russian prince Sergius Oranoff arrives; he was in a car accident that injured the dancers. Anna surprisingly announces that she will take on the role of Colombina and Quin that of the harlequin. On the way to the theater, Satterthwaite and Anna see lovers on the street: Molly and John Denham.

Satterthwaite recognizes the missing Kharsanova in Anna during the performance. She tells him that she gave up dancing out of love for John. But now she will go to the one who has loved her all these years: “One is always looking for the one, perfect, eternal lover. It's the music of the harlequin. You are not satisfied with any lover in the long run, because all are mortal. Harlequin is just a myth, invisible, unless - his name is death! ”Later, Satterthwaite sees Anna and a person in a harlequin costume walking down the street. It's Quin who looks like a young John Denham. Oranoff, who also recognized Anna and had an appointment with her, is looking for her. A servant says Anna recently walked down the street alone. Concerned Satterthwaite walks with Oranoff to the end of the street, where they find her dead body in the garbage pit, in a triumphant pose. When Quin appears, Satterthwaite asks him why the servant couldn't see him, but he could. Quin says because he paid a high price for it. Because it was Quins Street, the “street of lovers”, and most people strode along it to find the house of dreams or rubbish at the end. Satterthwaite realizes that he has never walked this street, but can therefore see things that remain hidden to others - as a spectator of life.

• The rubbish dump is an allusion to the fairy tale The Happy Prince by Oscar Wilde , from which the quote that Satterthwaite makes at the beginning comes when he says when looking at the dump: "Bring me the two most beautiful things in this city".

Reviews

The review in the Times Literary Supplement of May 29, 1930 only discusses the relationship between Quin and Satterthwaite and states that the latter is always being helped “to solve old secrets, sometimes to bring happiness back to the unfortunate and to see or even to see future tragedies prevent".

Criticism in The New York Times Book Review of May 4, 1930 begins: “To call these narratives a collection of detective stories would be misleading. While all of them are concerned with mysteries, some of them with crimes, they are more like fairy tales. "Describing Mr. Satterthwaite and Mr. Quin, their relationship to the plot and each other, the anonymous critic concludes:" The book offers a rare treat for one the discerning reader. "

Major expenses

• 1930 first edition UK William Collins and Sons (London), 14 April 1930
• 1930 First edition USA Dodd Mead and Company (New York), 1930
• 1980 German first edition Scherz Verlag
• 1987 New translation by Günter Eicher, Scherz Verlag

First publications of the stories

The first publication is not documented for all stories and can therefore only partially be reconstructed:

• The Coming of Mr. Quin (The arrival of Mr. Quin) : as The Passing of Mr. Quin in issue 229 of the Grand Magazine in March 1924.
• The Shadow on the Glass (The Cavalier at the window) : Issue 236 of the Grand Magazine in October 1924.
• The Sign in the Sky (The signs in the sky) : as A Sign in the Sky in issue 245 of the Grand Magazine in July 1925.
• At the Bells and Motley (The Magic Trick) : as A Man of Magic in issue 249 of the Grand Magazine November 1925.
• The Soul of the Croupier (The soul of the dealer) : Issue 237 of The Story-Teller Magazine January 1927.
• The World's End (The End of the World) : as World's End in issue 238 of The Story-Teller magazine in February 1927.
• The Voice in the Dark (The voice from the dark) : Issue 239 of The Story-Teller magazine in March 1927.
• The Face of Helen (The beautiful face) : Issue 240 of The Story-Teller Magazine april 1927th
• Harlequin's Lane (The Street of the Harlequin) : Issue 241 of The Story-Teller magazine May 1927.
• The Dead Harlequin (The Dead Harlequin) : Issue 289 of the Grand Magazine in March 1929.
• The Man From the Sea (The man in the sea) : Volume 1, Number 6 of the Britannia and Eve magazine in October 1929.

dedication

Christie's dedication in the book reads: "To Harlequin the invisible" (German: For Harlequin, the invisible ).

This dedication is atypical in two ways; For one thing, it was not customary for Christie to dedicate collections of short stories, and for another, this book is the only one that Christie dedicated to one of her fictional characters.

Film adaptations

The Passing of Mr. Quin is a British film from 1928 based on the first short story this anthology The arrival of Mr. Quin (The Coming of Mr. Quin) . This film is the first film ever based on a work by Agatha Christie. The adaptation is by Hiscott, who directed the first film adaptation of a novel starring the better-known Hercule Poirot Alibi in 1931.

Audio books

• The strange Mr. Quin. (Two parts, 5 + 4 CDs). Only unabridged reading. Speaker: Hans Eckardt. Director: Ann-Sophie Weiß. Assistance: Veronika Schmidt. Translated from the English by Günter Eichel. Publishing house and studio for audio book productions, Marburg 2008, DNB 992050898 .

Web links

• The Mysterious Mr. Quin. on the official Agatha Christie website

Individual evidence

1. ^ The Observer. April 13, 1930, p. 9.
2. ^ John Cooper, BA Pyke: Detective Fiction - the collector's guide. 2nd Edition. Scholar Press, 1994, ISBN 0-85967-991-8 , pp. 82 and 87.
3. ↑ American Tribute to Agatha Christie
4. ↑ ^{a b} German first edition in the catalog of the German National Library
5. ^ ^{A b} New translation in 1987 in the catalog of the German National Library
6. ^ The murderous tea round (1993) in the catalog of the German National Library
7. ↑ Die Mördermaschen (1982) in the catalog of the German National Library
8. ^ The Times Literary Supplement. May 29, 1930, p. 461.
9. ^ The New York Times Book Review. May 4, 1930, p. 25.
10. ↑ The Passing of Mr. Quin (1928) at imdb.com.