Hickory Dickory Dock by Agatha Christie Essay Example for Free

hickory Dickory Dock by Agatha Christie Es verifyhickory tree Dickory Dock is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on October 31, 19551 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in November of the same year under the form of address of Hickory Dickory Death23. The UK edition retailed at ten shillings and sixpence (10/6)1 and the US edition at $3.003. It features her Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. The novel is notable for featuring Poirots efficient secretary, fell Felicity Lemon, who had previously only appeared in the Poirot short stories. Plot introductionAn outbreak of apparent kleptomania at a student hostel is not commonly the sort of crime that arouses Hercule Poirots interest. But when he sees the bizarre list of stolen and vandalized items including a stethoscope, some lightbulbs, some old flannel trousers, a box of chocolates, a slash rucksack, some boric powder and a diamond ring later found in a bowl of a soup he congratulates the warden, Mrs Hubbard, on a unique and beautiful problem. It is nevertheless not long before the crime of theft is the least of Poirots concerns.Explanation of the novels titleThe title is taken, as are other of Christies titles, from a nursery rhyme Hickory Dickory Dock. This is nevertheless one of her most tenuous links to the schoolmaster nursery rhyme, consisting of runty more than the name of a road.Plot summaryPoirots solution of the petty thefts is unsubtle but effective once he has threatened to describe in the police, Celia Austin quickly confesses to the pettier amongst the incidents. She denies specifically dealing Nigel Chapmans green ink and using it to deface Elizabeth Johnstons work taking the stethoscope, the light bulbs and boracic powder and cutting off up and concealing a rucksack. Celia appears to have committed the lesser thefts in order to attract the attention of Colin McNabb, a psychology student who at first regards he r as an interesting case study, and then almost immediately becomes engaged to her. Celia makes restitution for the crimes and is seemingly reconciled with her victims, but when she is discovered the pursuance morning dead from an overdose of morphine it does not take the investigators long to see through attempts to make her death seem like suicide. Several of the original incidents have not been solved by Celias confession.Inspector Sharpe quickly solves the mystery of the stolen stethoscope during his interviews with the inhabitants of the hostel. Nigel Chapman admits to having stolen the stethoscope in order to pose as a doctor and steal the morphine tartrate from the hospital dispensary as plowshare of a bet to acquire three deadly poisons. He claims that these poisons were then carefully disposed of, but cannot be sure that the morphine was not stolen from him while it was in his possession. Poirot turns his attention to the reappearance of the diamond ring, and confronts Valerie Hobhouse, in whose soup the ring was found. It seems that the diamond had been replaced with a zircon and, habituated the fact that it was difficult for anyone but Valerie to have put the ring into the soup, Poirot accuses her of having stolen the diamond.She admits to having done so, saying that she needed the money to pay off gambling debts. She also admits to having pose in Celias mind the entire idea of the thefts. Mrs. Nicoletis has been behaving very nervously, as if she were losing her nerve. One night someone gets her drunk and kills her. Poirot focuses his attention now on the cutting up of the rucksack. By comparing an example of the rucksack type destroyed with others, he identifies an unusual corrugated base, and suggests to the police that the rucksack may have been part of a clever international smuggling operation. The rucksacks were sold to innocent students, and then exchanged as a means of transporting drugs and gems. Mrs. Nicoletis had been bankrolling t he organisation, but was not the brain groundwork it. When the police visited Hickory Road on an unconnected issue, the murderer had cut up the rucksack to turn away its being found and removed light bulbs to avoid being recognised. Patricia Lane comes to Nigel and admits that, in an effort to keep a dangerous poison safe, she has taken the morphine from the store in his drawer and substituted for it bicarbonate of soda. Now, however, the bottle of bicarbonate of soda has been taken from her own drawer.While they are searching for this bottle Patricia mentions that she is intending to write to his father in order to reconcile the two. Nigel tells her that the reason for his disaffection from his father is that he discovered that his father had poisoned his mother. This is why he changed his name and carries two passports. Nigel comes to Inspector Sharpe and tells him about the missing morphine, but while he is there, Patricia telephones to say that she has discovered something f urther. By the magazine that Nigel and Sharpe get to the house, Patricia has been killed by a blow to the head. Mr. Akibombo comes to Sharpe and says that he had taken Patricias bicarbonate to ease a stomach illness when he took a teaspoonful of the bicarbonate, however, he had stomach pains and later discovered that the white powder was in fact the boracic powder.By the time Patricia had substituted the bicarbonate, the morphine had already been substituted by the stolen boracic powder. Poirot, whose suspicions about Valerie Hobhouses role in the smuggling operation have been proved correct by a police raid on her beauty shop, now closes the case. The murderer has been the most obvious person, Nigel Chapman, who was known to have the morphine in his possession. He killed Celia because she knew about his triplex identity and also knew that Valerie travelled abroad on a false passport. He killed Mrs. Nicoletis because she was sure to give the smuggling operation away under pressure , and killed Patricia because she was in all probability to draw to his fathers attention the recent events.When Poirot outlines to Nigels fathers solicitor the case against Nigel, the solicitor is able to provide final proof. Nigels mother had been poisoned, not by his father, but by Nigel himself. When the father discovered this he forced him to write a confession and left it with his solicitor unneurotic with a letter explaining that it should be produced were there any evidence of further wrongdoing by his son. Valerie confirms Poirots solution further. She has placed the call to the police station, patently from Patricia, after Nigel had already killed her. The green ink was a double-bluff intended to divert suspicion away from him. Valerie is willing to incriminate Nigel fully because Mrs. Nicoletis was actually her mother.Characters in Hickory Dickory Dock Hercule Poirot, the Belgian detective Inspector Sharpe, the investigating officer Miss Felicity Lemon, Poirots secreta ry Mrs. Christina Nicoletis, the owner of the student hostel at Hickory Road Mrs Hubbard, Miss Lemons sister and the warden of Hickory Road George, Poirots valet Celia Austin, chemist in the dispensary at St. Catherines Hospital Colin McNabb, a psychology student Nigel Chapman, a History student, a resident at Hickory Road Valerie Hobhouse, a resident at Hickory Road and partner in a beauty shop Sally Finch, a student resident at Hickory Road Elizabeth Johnston, a student resident at Hickory Road Patricia Lane, a student resident at Hickory Road Genevieve, a student resident at Hickory Road Leonard Bateson, a student resident at Hickory Road Mr. Chandra Lal, a student resident at Hickory Road Mr. Akibombo, a student resident at Hickory Road Maria, the cook at Hickory Road Geronimo, Marias husband