Surprise Surprise.pdf

ONE FOR THE MONEY

Thirteen of the finest spellbinders that Agatha

Christie ever wrote.

TWO FOR THE SHOW

Here is the pleasure of the marvelous plotmaking

of the mistress of mystery coupled with the irresistible

personalities of her star sleuths.

THREE TO GET READY

You'll want to lock, bolt, and chain your door for a

triple guarantee that no one will interrupt your

enjoyment of these riveting gems of suspense.

FOUR TO GO :.

Hercule Poirot, Miss Jane Marple, Harley Quin, and

Mr. Parker Pyne join forces to form a matchless

quartet of crime solvers supremely qualified to be

your guide through the darkest realms of evil and

most dazzling triumphs of mind over menace.

Surprise!

AGATHA CHRISTIE

A DELL BOOK

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Published by / yS:. ' i ':K t ^Si^: ^:

DELL PUBLISHING CO., INC. '"" <--' K' ^ ' l 1 Dag Hammarskjold Plaza ' ;

New York, New York 10017 ?1? Copyright

1957 by Agatha Christie

by Agatha Christie Mallowan.

79 Madison Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10016.

Dell ® TM 681510, Dell Publishing Co., Inc. . ^

ISBN: 0440183898

Reprinted by arrangement with

Dodd, Mead & Company, Inc. .-/' ' ;:

Printed in the United States of America

Previous Dell Edition #8389

New Dell Edition

First printing--January 1979

Contents

DOUBLE SIN

From Double Sin and Other Stories 9

THE ARCADIAN DEER

From The Labors of Hercules 24

THE ADVENTURE OF JOHNNIE WAVERLY

From Three Blind Mice and Other Stories 40

WHERE THERE'S A Will

From The Witness for the Prosecution and

Other Stories 54

GREENSHAW'S FOLLY

From Double Sin and Other Stories 69

THE CASE OF THE PERFECT MAID

From Three Blind Mice and Other Stories 93

AT THE BELLS AND MOTLEY

From The Mysterious Mr. Quin 106

THE CASE OF THE DISTRESSED LADY

From Mr. Parker Pyne, Detective 124

THE THIRD FLOOR FLAT

From Three Blind Mice and Other Stories 135

THE PLYMOUTH EXPRESS

From The Under Dog and Other Stories 154

THE MYSTEBT OF THE SPANISH SHAWL

From The Witness for the Prosecution

and Other Stories 169

THE CORNISH MYSTERY ^ '' From The Under Dog and Other Stories ' 187

THE WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION

From The Witness for the Prosecution

and Other Stories 202

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PREFACE

in this uniqub collection of mystery stories, a superb

raconteur presents thirteen surprise-ending masterpieces. In

each of them she leads the reader gently down the garden

path of her tale, planting clues right and left before his eyes

while she deftly diverts his attention elsewhere. And each

conclusion comes as a surprise, as logical as it is unexpected.

Young people, good and bad as in real life, play an important

part in these stories, and young readers will enjoy matching

wits with them in these thirteen baffling mysteries.

R.T.B.

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|| DOUBLE SIN

I had called in at my friend Poirot's rooms to find him

sadly overworked. So much had he become the rage that

every rich woman who had mislaid a bracelet or lost a pet

kitten rushed to secure the services of the great Hercule

Poirot. My little friend was a strange mixture of Flemish

thrift and artistic fervor. He accepted many cases in which

he had little interest owing to the first instinct being predominant.

He also undertook cases in which there was a little or no

monetary reward sheerly because the problem involved interested

him. The result was that, as I say, he was overworking

himself. He admitted as much himself, and I

found little difficulty in persuading him to accompany me

for a week's holiday to that well-known South Coast resort,

Ebermouth.

We had spent four very agreeable days when Poirot came

to me, an open letter in his hand.

"Mon ami, you remember my friend Joseph Aarons,

the theatrical agent?"

I assented after a moment's thought. Poirot's friends are

so many and so varied, and range from dustmen to dukes.

"Eh bien, Hastings, Joseph Aarons finds himself at Charlock

Bay. He is far from well, and there is a little affair

that it seems is worrying him. He begs me to go over and

see him. I think, mon ami, that I must accede to his request.

He is a faithful friend, the good Joseph Aarons, and

has done much to assist me in the past."

"Certainly, if you think so," I said. "I believe Charlock

Bay is a beautiful spot, and as it happens I've never been

there." . . - " '?

10 AGATHA CHRISTIE

"Then we combine business with pleasure," said Poiri

"You will inquire the trains, yes?"

"It will probably mean a change or two," I said with

grimace. "You know what these cross-country lines a

To go from the South Devon coast to the North Dev

coast is sometimes a day's journey."

However, on inquiry, I found that the journey could

accomplished by only one change at Exeter and that 1

trains were good. I was hastening back to Poirot With t

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