J o h n e s c o t t agatha Christie

Agatha disappears
the crowd. Reporters shouted questions at them and 
took pictures, but neither Archie nor Agatha said a word.
And for the rest of her life, Agatha never again spoke 
about Harrogate, the Hydro Hotel, or ‘Teresa Neele’. 
But what really happened that night after she left
The ‘woman of mystery’
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Agatha Christie, Woman o f Mystery
Styles? Why did she leave her car? How did she get to 
Harrogate? It was always a mystery.
It still is.
CHAPTER 7
A young archaeologist
D
uring the first weeks of 1927, Agatha went to stay 
with Madge and her husband in Cheadle, near 
Manchester. Archie stayed at Styles, but he wanted to 
marry Nancy Neele, and he asked Agatha for a divorce. At 
first she would not agree, but at last she said yes, and they 
were divorced in April 1928. Rosalind lived with Agatha.
T don’t want to use the name “ Christie” again,’ Agatha 
told her publishers. T will think of another name to use.’ 
‘But you can’t change it now,’ they said. ‘Your readers 
know “Agatha Christie” - that’s why they buy your books. 
If you change your name, nobody will know who you are!’ 
In the end, Agatha agreed to keep the name Christie, 
but she was not happy about it. But William Collins was 
right. Thousands of people in England (and America) 
were reading Agatha’s books now.
Then, in the autumn of 1928, Agatha decided to visit the 
West Indies. Rosalind was at school, and Agatha wanted a 
holiday in the sun, so she got tickets for a ship to Jamaica.
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Л young archaeologist
Two days before she left England, Agatha went to 
dinner with some friends. During the evening, she talked 
to some people who were just back from Baghdad, in 
Iraq. Their names were Commander and Mrs Howe.
‘People always say that Baghdad is a terrible place,’ 
said Mrs Howe. ‘But we loved it.’
She went on talking about the city, and Agatha 
listened with great interest. She soon decided that she 
wanted to see Baghdad for herself.
‘How do you get there?’ she said. ‘By sea?’
‘You can go by train,’ said Mrs Howe. ‘On the Orient 
Express.’
‘The Orient Express!’ said Agatha. ‘I’ve always wanted 
to ride on that famous train. I’ll go to Baghdad, not the 
West Indies!’
The Howes were very helpful and wrote down the 
names of interesting places for Agatha to visit. ‘And you 
must go to Ur,’ Commander Howe said.
Next day, Agatha changed her tickets for the West 
Indies for tickets to Istanbul by the Orient Express, and 
then on across the desert to Baghdad.
It was an exciting journey for her, travelling alone for 
the first time. And later it gave her the idea for another of 
her most famous books - Murder on the Orient Express.
While she was staying in Baghdad, she remembered 
Commander Howe’s words, ‘You must go to Ur.’
31

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Agatha Christie, Woman o f Mystery
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ALBERT FWNEY 
LAUREN BACALL 
MARTIN BALSAM 
INGRD BERGMAN 
JACQUELJNE BtSSET 
JEAN PtRRE CASSEL 
SEAN CONNERY
JOHN GKLGUO 
WENDY HUER 
ANTHONY PERNNS 
VANESSA REDGRAVE 
RACHEL ROBERTS 
RKHAROWIDMARK 
MICHAEL YORK