Hercule Poirots Christmas
Hercule Poirot's Christmas (original title Hercule Poirot's Christmas ) is the 24th detective novel by Agatha Christie . It first appeared in the UK on December 19, 1938 at the Collins Crime Club (although the copyright of the first edition is dated 1939). In the United States , the novel was published by Dodd, Mead and Company in February 1939 under the title Murder for Christmas . The German first edition was published by Scherz Verlag in 1961 . The new translation by Michael Mundhenk used today was published by Atlantik Verlag in 2015 .
Hercule Poirot is investigating a murder case in a " locked room ". The time frame for action extends from December 22nd to December 28th.
action
The old, frail Simeon Lee, who lives with his son Alfred and his wife Lydia in Gorston Hall , a large house in England , invites his entire family over for Christmas , including some "lost" family members. These are three other sons in detail: David, who blames his father for the death of his mother, with his wife Hilda, Harry, who was believed to be dead and who has long-standing antipathy for Alfred, the stingy and greedy parliamentarian George and his prodigal wife Magdalene and a still unknown granddaughter from Spain , Pilar Estravados. Simeon also receives an unexpected visit from Stephen Farr, who introduces himself as the son of a former business partner in South Africa, and invites him to his house over Christmas. On Christmas Eve , after a phone call with his lawyer and in the presence of all family members, Simeon announced that he wanted to change his will . Everyone suspects that Pilar and Harry will be the beneficiaries.
The short-sighted butler Tressilian had previously noticed a resemblance between Stephen Farr and Harry Lee. When he sees a similar person again, he doubts his understanding; but it's only a county police officer. When Horbury, Simeon Lee's servant, learns that a policeman is there, he drops a cup from the family chinaware in shock. But Inspector Sugden allegedly only wants to collect donations for the police welfare and leaves after a short talk with Simeon. Afterwards, Simeon wishes, as often in the evening, not to be disturbed anymore. Late in the evening one hears a bloodcurdling, unreal scream and the furniture apparently falling over in a fight; everyone runs upstairs to Simeon Lee's room. The door is locked from the inside and is broken open by Harry and Stephen. Simeon Lee is lying in a pool of blood with his throat slit. Furniture has been knocked over and blood is everywhere. Far too much blood, to which Lydia Lee quotes in a whisper from Macbeth : "Who could think that the old man still had so much blood in him ...?" A quote that Poirot also took up several times later. At this moment, Inspector Sugden arrives again. In the dead man's room, Sugden notices how Pilar picks up two small objects made of rubber and wood and asks her to hand them over to him.
After solving another case in the same county, the Belgian master detective Hercule Poirot is visiting Police Chief Colonel Johnson, who is called to the Lees by Inspector Sugden. Poirot accompanies him. Inspector Sugden now explains to them that in reality he did not come to collect money, but was called by Simeon himself. Some rough diamonds were stolen from him, whereupon the old man suspected two people. He asked the inspector to come back later because he would then know who stole the diamonds. When Sugden returned at half past seven, the murder had just been discovered.
Tressilian tells the investigation team about Horbury's strange behavior. But this was in the cinema at the time of the crime, which is finally confirmed by his girlfriend and the usher . Alfred seems to be the only one who mourns his father. He had stayed in the dining room arguing with Harry after dinner. Lydia was in the living room and looked out the window, which in turn is confirmed by Tressilian. Hilda and David claim to have been in the music room. David played the piano what was heard from Lydia, Alfred and Harry. There is no proof of Hilda's presence alone; only one of the two spouses could have been in the music room. Stephen was in the dance-room playing records which the servants heard all along; he was waiting for Pilar, who was supposedly in her room. George claims to have been on the phone in Alfred's study. But this is exactly what his wife Magdalene says. However, neither of the two wants to have seen the other. From the statements Poirot learns that Pilar wanted to pick up something from the floor in the murder room, but the inspector got ahead of her. It is a wooden nail and a small piece of rubber cut from Simeon's toilet bag, which Sugden and Johnson do not attach importance to.
Alfred finally assigns Poirot to catch his father's murderer. Pilar and Harry are the only ones who were at a disadvantage from Simeon's death, as Simeon probably wanted to bequeath something to them. When the will is opened, however, it is learned that Harry was never disinherited. Only Pilar comes away empty-handed. Lydia suggests that something should be written over to her, since her mother would actually have inherited. Except for George and Magdalene, everyone agrees.
As it turns out, Pilar was not in her room at the time of the murder, but hid in an alcove between statues, from where she saw a woman standing in front of the murder room. George made the phone call, but only for about five minutes, and then went through Alfred's desk. Magdalene hid in the broom closet because she was afraid they would see her on the stairs and think she had committed the murder. During the day, Tressilian suddenly notices that an ornamental cannonball has disappeared from the garden. The diamonds were already found in the rock garden Lydia had laid out . Stephen and Pilar seem to fall in love with each other. They had met on a train before Christmas. When the two of them are playing with balloons, one of which bursts on a holly, Pilar says casually that she found something similar in Simeon's room. A little later she is almost killed by the cannonball that was placed above her room door.
On December 27, Poirot resolved the case: initially only Alfred and Hilda were suspect. However, he soon realized that he was wrong. Stephen Farr's name is actually Stephen Grant, and he is actually one of Simeon Lee's illegitimate sons. Pilar, on the other hand, is not Lee's granddaughter, but just a friend of the real Pilar, who died in the Spanish Civil War . The murderer was Inspector Sugden, also an illegitimate son of the landlord. Simeon had never called him. Sugden killed his father on his first visit to the house. He stole the diamonds to drop the suspicion of robbery, piled the furniture on top of each other, attached a loudly squeaking balloon to it, tied everything to a rope that he hung out of the window, and pulled on it later that evening (which the supposed "Scream" of the victim and the noise of falling furniture). When he left the house for the first time, he locked the door by turning the key inside with a pair of tweezers. Unfortunately for him that Pilar found the burst balloon, which is why he tried to kill her, and that Tressilian noticed the resemblance between Stephen, Harry and him. “Pilar”, whose real name is Conchita Lopez, and Stephen go to South Africa to get married. Colonel Johnson is once again amazed at how Poirot solved this case.
people
- Hercule Poirot, the Belgian master detective
- Colonel Johnson, the county police chief
- Inspector Sugden, Johnson's best associate
- Simeon Lee, old rich man
- Alfred Lee, his son
- Lydia Lee, Alfred's wife
- Tressilian the butler
- Horbury, Simeon's servant
- David Lee, Simeon's son
- Hilda Lee, David's wife
- George Lee, Simeon's son, MP
- Magdalene Lee, George's wife
- Harry Lee, Simeon's son
- Pilar Estravados, alleged granddaughter of Simeon, but in reality Conchita Lopez, her friend
- Stephen Farr, son of Simeon's former friend and business associate, but actually Stephen Grant and Simeon's illegitimate son
References to other works
The case that Poirot previously solved in the same county and that is occasionally mentioned is nicotine . Sir Charles Cartwright and Sir Bartholomew Strange from nicotine are also mentioned.
Film adaptations
- The book was filmed in 1995 as the first episode of the sixth season of the television series Agatha Christie's Poirot with David Suchet in the lead role.
- Under the title Petits Meurtres en famille , a 4-part television film was made in France, which was initially broadcast on France 2 in 2006 and 2009 (German 2017 under the title Agatha Christie: Invitation to Murder ).
Audio books
- Hercule Poirot's Christmas (6 CDs), only unabridged reading. Read by Martin Maria Schwarz . Director: Hans Eckardt. Publishing house and studio for audio book productions, Marburg 2006.
- Hercule Poirot's Christmas (3 CDs), abridged reading. Read by Klaus Dittmann. Director: Guido A. Schick. The Hörverlag, Munich 2009.
Web links
- Hercule Poirot's Christmas on the official website for Agatha Christie's work
- Hercule Poirot's Christmas in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ The Times Literary Supplement , Dec. 17, 1938, p. 805.
- ↑ Chris Peers, Ralph Spurrier, and Jamie Sturgeon: Collins Crime Club. A checklist of First Editions . Second edition. Dragonby Press, 1999, p. 15.
- ↑ The Classic Years: 1935-1939 , on the website An American Tribute to Agatha Christie .
- ^ German first edition in the catalog of the German National Library
- ^ German first edition of the new translation in the catalog of the German National Library
- ^ Audio book (complete) in the catalog of the German National Library
- ^ Audiobook (abridged) in the catalog of the German National Library