The Mysterious Affair at Styles Trivia

1. "The Mysterious Affair at Styles" introduced the world to, not only the great detective Hercule Poirot, but also his assistant Captain Hastings and which inspector from Scotland Yard who is in charge of investigating the murder of Emily Inglethorpe?

From Quiz The Mysterious Affair at Styles

Answer: Inspector Japp

Christie modeled her main investigative characters in the format set by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in the Sherlock Holmes series. Hercule Poirot was the eccentric detective like Holmes whereas Hastings was the smart assistant who was not imaginative enough and often missed crucial clues. Inspector Japp is the somewhat dimwitted police inspector in charge of the case. Like his Sherlock counterpart, Inspector Lestrade, Japp is often overshadowed by the private detective. Indeed, in "The Mysterious Affair at Styles", Japp is often brushed aside by Poirot who is really the person who solves the case.

From Quiz The Mysterious Affair at Styles

Answer: Cynthia Murdoch

This story was Christie's first, and it outlined a case of Hercule Poirot as told by Captain Hastings. Hastings arrived in Styles St. Mary while on sick leave from the war. During his first few weeks residing with his old friend, John Cavendish, at Styles Manor, he learned a few things about the people there. John is strapped for cash, and his brother, Lawrence, can't be asked for any as he too squandered his cash away. Cynthia Murdock is a family friend who was orphaned. Murdock was left with nothing as well because of this. Local socialite and John and Lawrence's mother, Emily, remarried to Alfred Inglethorp, a man hated by nearly everyone else at Styles. This is especially true of Emily's friend, Evelyn Howard, who finds the man unbearable, and if anything, nothing more than a person who's after her money.

From Quiz "The Mysterious Affair at Styles" Quiz

Answer: Sussex

Hastings is invalided home from World War One, and a friend of his, John Cavendish, invites him to stay at Styles Court. John is married and also has a younger brother, Lawrence. They all live at Styles Court, which belongs to John's stepmother Mrs Emily Inglethorp. Emily has recently married Alfred Inglethorp who is many years younger than her, which is not popular with the other inhabitants of Styles Court.

From Quiz "The Mysterious Affair at Styles"

Answer: 25 pounds

Christie's first novel sold about 2000 copies, which was not bad for a novice author, but she got only the meager sum of 25 pounds for it- not from royalties, but from the serial rights which had been sold to "The Weekly Times" for 50 pounds. Christie, understandably, found this amount rather paltry and was rather discouraged, though not enough to stop writing, fortunately.

From Quiz The Mysterious Affair at Styles

Answer: Strychnine

Emily Inglethorpe took a liquid medication that contained a small, nonlethal amount of strychnine as long as she took the proper dosage. However, after taking her medication one night, Mrs. Inglethorpe begins screaming and convulsing in pain. She eventually dies from strychnine poisoning even though the local pharmacist insists there was nothing wrong with her medication.

From Quiz The Mysterious Affair at Styles

Answer: Dorcas

Dorcas was a faithful parlourmaid who Hastings called 'one of a dying breed'. She was one of the few who were strongly affected by the loss of Mrs. Inglethorp, who, on one tragic night, passed away in her bedroom. On that night, Hastings was awakened by Lawrence, who woke up to hear his mother in pain in her room. After the house had awakened, they attempted to get into her room, but all of the doors were bolted. They broke through the door and stood in shock as Mrs. Inglethorp lay convulsing in her bed. She passed away that night, and the guests couldn't help but realize that the deceased's new husband, Alfred Inglethorp, was not present. When Hastings left the house, he found Alfred walking back to the building. Having just heard the news, the man was shaken, but he explained that he stayed at a place in town, having forgotten his latch-key at home. Hasting continued back to town to ask Poirot to investigate.

From Quiz "The Mysterious Affair at Styles" Quiz

Answer: July

Hastings likes Mary Cavendish, John's wife, immediately, and also Cynthia Murdoch. Cynthia lives at Styles, her mother was a friend of Mrs Inglethorp's, but she isn't really one of the family. Cynthia works in the dispensary of the local hospital. There is also Evelyn (Evie) Howard, Mrs Inglethorp's secretary and a distant relation to Alfred Inglethorp.

From Quiz "The Mysterious Affair at Styles"

Answer: Cocoa

At the insistence of one Miss Howse, the spelling editor at Bodley Head Books, cocoa was spelled "coco" (as in Coco Chanel) throughout the novel. Christie argued the point with her, producing dictionaries and tins of cocoa, but Miss Howse, who had become rather intractable with age, held firm.

From Quiz The Mysterious Affair at Styles

Answer: Mrs. Inglethorpe was drugged

Mrs. Inglethorpe is the first Christie victim whose time of death was obscured by factors outside the murderer's plot - something she would use time and time again. In this case, the murderer poured a bromide powder into Mrs. Inglethorpe's medication so the strychnine sunk to the bottom. She drank the strychnine in one fatal dose. However, there was a delay in her death because Mary Cavendish slipped her mother-in-law a sleeping powder. The sleeping draught reacted with the strychnine which prevented the poison from working for hours.

From Quiz The Mysterious Affair at Styles

Answer: Purple

When Poirot is brought to investigate, he finds it of extreme importance to pay a visit to Mrs. Inglethorp's bedroom. Here, he outlined the evidence that he was able to find. 1. A coffee cup, ground to powder on the floor. 2. A significant purple despatch case with a key in its lock. This case contained Emily's important papers. 3. A stain on the floor, which is found to smell like coffee. 4. A fragment of fabric retrieved from the bolt of a door, assumed to be locked at all times, connecting Mrs. Inglethorp's room with Cynthia Murdoch's. 5. A splash of white candlewax on the floor. 6. An unmarked chemical box used for bromide powders, found on Mrs. Inglethorp's nightstand. It is later discovered that Cynthia made these for Emily. With her medical background, she did not need a pharmacist or chemist's seal on the box; they were used as sleeping agents. After listing his finds, Poirot also finds a scrap of paper, found to be from a will, in the ashes of the fireplace. Hastings and Poirot discuss the matters with Dorcas, who claims that Mrs. Inglethorp argued with an unknown man in her bedroom the afternoon before, and that she was missing the key to her despatch case. As well, another maid claimed that she found an odd salt-like substance on Emily's serving tray with her cocoa. Hastings realizes that it may be strychnine poison.

From Quiz "The Mysterious Affair at Styles" Quiz

Answer: Rest cure

Doctor John Bauerstein has had a nervous breakdown. He is a London specialist, an expert on poisons. He is a good friend of Mary Cavendish. It is rumoured that Alfred Inglethorp is having an affair with Mrs Raikes, a local farmer's wife.

From Quiz "The Mysterious Affair at Styles"

Answer: A detective

It is here that Hastings mentions a Belgian fellow he once knew (Poirot, of course)- "A funny little man, a great dandy, but wonderfully clever". Hastings says that his system is based on Poirot's, "though, of course, I have progressed rather further." Really, now?!

From Quiz The Mysterious Affair at Styles

Answer: John Cavendish

Emily Inglethorpe inherited Styles after her husband, John and Lawrence's father, died. However, as stipulated in his will, John will inherit Styles upon Emily's death. Emily cannot will that away to another person. The rest of her estate and her money can be divided up in whatever way she wishes. Emily frequently changes her will, so no one is ever really certain who inherits what at any given time.

From Quiz The Mysterious Affair at Styles

Answer: Her gardeners

Poirot determines that the will fragment from the fireplace was a portion of a will that was taken from Mrs. Inglethorp's purple despatch case and burnt in the fire. He also realizes that her gardeners were the ones responsible for being the witnesses to the will. These facts are confirmed by the gardeners themselves. After discovering this, more evidence (such as the word 'possessed' written on a piece of blotting paper in Mrs. Inglethorp's handwriting) proves the idea that she completed a new will, possibly due to the argument held the previous afternoon. Poirot later mentions to Hastings that an earlier will was found in Emily's nightstand leaving her fortunes to Alfred Inglethorp, her new husband. As well, he makes Hastings note the fact that Alfred has a long black beard and glasses as well as the fact that they had warm weather on the day of Emily's tragic death.

From Quiz "The Mysterious Affair at Styles" Quiz

Answer: At the post office

After visiting Cynthia's dispensary with Lawrence, Hastings goes to the local post office and meets an old friend, Hercule Poirot. Poirot is a retired Belgian police detective and also a refugee staying in the village of Styles with seven other Belgians. Mr Inglethorp goes out after tea with Doctor Bauerstein who has called in unexpectedly. Mr Inglethorp takes his latchkey with him, so nobody needs to wait up.

From Quiz The Mysterious Affair at Styles

Answer: John Cavendish

Dorcas, the housemaid, overheard Emily arguing with someone about an alleged affair and assumed this other person was her husband Alfred. However, Emily was actually arguing with her stepson John over his alleged affair. Christie would use this trick a few times over her many novels and short stories.

From Quiz "The Mysterious Affair at Styles" Quiz

Answer: Cynthia's

Lawrence awakens Hastings; his mother seems to be ill but her door is bolted. The door is finally broken down, Mrs Inglethorp is in bed, she seems to be having some sort of attack. With her dying breath she utters her husband's name. Doctor Bauerstein, who was passing, cannot help her. Mr Inglethorp is not home yet. Hastings asks John's permission to tell Poirot about the death.

From Quiz "The Mysterious Affair at Styles"

Answer: Evelyn Howard and Hercule Poirot

Poirot observes, upon speaking to Evelyn after the murder, that "in all this house of mourning, yours are the only eyes that have wept" (Crocodile tears, as it turns out.). Hastings observes that Poirot sheds tears (real ones this time) when resolving to bring Emily's murderer(s) to justice to repay her kind hospitality to himself and his fellow Belgian refugees.

From Quiz The Mysterious Affair at Styles

Answer: It was very hot that evening

Mrs. Inglethorpe asked for a fire to be built in her room the evening she died, despite that evening being a very hot one in the middle of summer. In fact, it was one of the warmest of the year. To Poirot, this meant that Mrs. Inglethorpe wanted to burn something. In his opinion, the most likely thing she would want to burn would be her newest will. This clue is unusual for its time because typically, in mystery fiction, it is the unusual actions of the murderer that expose them. Here Christie uses the unusual actions of the victim to further the investigation for the first of many times.

From Quiz The Mysterious Affair at Styles

Answer: Black

After the inquest, Hastings is introduced to two people from Scotland Yard, Inspector Jimmy Japp and Superintendent Summerhaye, who have been sent to investigate. It is figured soon after the inquest that someone simply dressed up as Alfred Inglethorp to fool Albert Mace, who had never seen the man before. In order to do this, all the person would need is a large black beard, glasses, and peculiar clothes. Hastings and Poirot query Lawrence, Mary Cavendish, and Dr. Bauerstein about their topics at the inquest before discovering that Alfred Inglethorp had an alibi. He escorted Ms. Raikes home from town on the night of the murder, which unfortunately locked him out of the house. Poirot tells Hastings to tell Lawrence 'find the coffee cup and you can rest in peace' despite the fact that neither of them have a clue as to what it means. Later on, Dorcas also makes the two detectives aware of a dressing-up box in the attic containing an obscure green dress. Instead, they find a large black beard inside.

From Quiz "The Mysterious Affair at Styles" Quiz

Answer: Strychnine poisoning

As Hastings makes his way to Poirot, Mr Inglethorp returns to Styles. He had stayed at his friend's as he realised he did not have his latchkey after all. Poirot agrees to investigate the death. It is suspected that strychnine was added to Emily's coffee at teatime but she did not die until much later.

From Quiz "The Mysterious Affair at Styles"

Answer: The temperature and the distinctive appearance of Alfred Inglethorpe

The thermometer on the day of the murder registered 80 degrees in the shade- yet Emily had ordered a fire to be lit in her room! (she needed to burn a will). Alfred Inglethorpe's distinctive appearance, Poirot realized, would have made it easy for someone to impersonate him at the chemist's, using a fake black beard, glasses, and wearing Inglethorpe's rather peculiar clothes.

From Quiz The Mysterious Affair at Styles

Answer: A torn letter

One of Poirot's more notable characteristics is his love for neatness and order. Early on in the novel, Poirot rearranges the crooked items on the mantlepiece in the Styles living room. Then a few days later, he must rearrange them again. This indicated the items had been tampered with and Poirot finds a written letter from one conspirator to the other laying out exactly what happened. The letter was torn and hidden amongst the decorative spills in a vase.

From Quiz The Mysterious Affair at Styles

Answer: Dr. Bauerstein

The two ally with Evelyn Howard, as Poirot suggests that she has no motive for the killing. After meeting with her, Hastings leaves and comes across Mary and John arguing about Dr. Bauerstein and it appears that Mary is in love with him. However, it is discovered that Dr. Bauerstein is actually a German spy who established a good name in Styles St. Mary to obtain information during the war. He is arrested for espionage, but he is not responsible for the murder despite his lack of alibi on the night of Emily's death. Meanwhile, Ms. Howard, Poirot and Hastings' new ally, brings a bit of evidence in the form of a brown folder containing bills for costumes- possibly for pieces to imitate Alfred Inglethorp.

From Quiz "The Mysterious Affair at Styles" Quiz

Answer: An empty box of sleeping pills

Poirot and Hastings find various clues as well as a fragment of a will in the grate. Poirot and Hastings also find a piece of paper with "possessed" written on it, in various sentences and in various ways. Dorcas the parlour maid overheard a quarrel between Mr and Mrs Inglethorp the day before, and also that Mrs Inglethorp mislaid her keys to the dispatch case too, so she had a new one made.

From Quiz "The Mysterious Affair at Styles"

Answer: The different spellings of the word "possessed"

Poirot notices that "possessed" is spelled first one way, and then another. He deduces that Emily was making a new will and was unsure of the spelling of this key word. (Hastings, on the other hand, wonders if Emily believed herself demonically possesed and, perhaps, commited suicide!)

From Quiz The Mysterious Affair at Styles

Answer: Evelyn Howard dresses up as Alfred Inglethorpe

Evelyn Howard, who is described as having masculine characteristics, dresses up as Alfred Inglethorpe in order to purchase strychnine and sign the poison register. She borrowed a black beard from the costume chest at Styles to create the impression that Alfred openly bought poison in order to incriminate him in the crime.

From Quiz The Mysterious Affair at Styles

Answer: Lawrence's

Mary ends up confiding in Hastings, telling him that she wants to be a free woman and that she plans on leaving John. Meanwhile, Lawrence finds the coffee cup that Poirot warned him to find earlier, and Poirot discovers that Lawrence also had his fingerprints on a bottle of pure hydrochloride of strychnine in the Tadminster Dispensary where Cynthia works. Poirot assumes that he took it when they first met him in town before the murders. After this event John is arrested. Poirot explains to Hastings that if it were not Alfred, then John would be the one to argue with his mother on the afternoon preceding the murder. As well, this is why Mrs. Cavendish would pretend not to hear the two outside the window. Poirot decides the only course of action that remains is to make Mary Cavendish think that he's working for her husband, and not against him.

From Quiz "The Mysterious Affair at Styles" Quiz

Answer: John

Poirot finds five coffee cups, from the night before, and takes a sample from each. Lawrence believes that his mother's death is due to heart failure. Mrs Inglethorp left her fortune to John in her last will but now it goes to her husband since she married. Poirot calls to the gardener; he and the under gardener signed a piece of paper for Mrs Inglethorp only the day before, and also went for a will form for her. This was the will which was burnt in the grate.

From Quiz "The Mysterious Affair at Styles"

Answer: Because he will be found innocent

Alfred Inglethorpe had an airtight alibi for the day he allegedly visited the chemist's shop and the night of the murder. If he had been arrested and put on trial, he would have produced this alibi and been released. It would then have been impossible to convict him for the murder later, since one cannot be tried twice for the same crime (double jeopardy). This is why Inglethorpe seemed determined to get himself arrested; Poirot was as determined that he should not be arrested for the murder- yet.

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Last Updated Apr 22 2024 11:06 AM

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