Miss Marple's Final Cases and Two Other Stories
Miss Marple's final cases (AKA Miss Marple 's Final Cases and Two Other Stories ) is a collection of short stories by Agatha Christie. She first appeared in October 1979 in the United Kingdom in the Collins Crime Club. The collection was not released in the U.S..
In Germany, the collection appeared in 2010 as Volume 46 published by the French publisher Hachette Collections The official collection of Agatha Christie. The individual stories were also previously been published in German (see German first publications of the stories ).
The book contains eight short stories, six of which were with Miss Marple.
- 2.1 First publication of stories
- 2.2 German first publications of the stories
The stories
- The Asylum ( Original title: Sanctuary )
- A strange joke ( Original title: Strange Jest )
- The pin (Original Title: Tape -Measure Murder )
- The caretaker ( Original title: The Case of the Caretaker )
The Pearl
Original title: The Case of the Perfect Maid
Edna, Miss Marple's young maid, tells of her cousin Gladys, who has lost her position. She worked in Old Hall with the sisters Emily and Lavinia Skinner. One day Emily missed a brooch, but which was again found after a long search. As Gladys then the next day broke a plate, it was denounced by Miss Lavinia.
Old Hall is a large Victorian house which has been divided into four apartments. In addition to Skinner sisters still live a rich, eccentric bird lover, a retired Indian judge with his wife and a very young, newly married couple in the house.
Miss Marple visited the sisters Skinner. Lavinia receives it and tells her that Emily is not doing well and she has to stay in bed. In an interview asks Miss Marple Lavinia Skinner to take back the termination of Gladys, but she refuses,.
Quickly find the sisters through the mediation of an agency a new girl - Mary Higgins - despite the fact that many villagers in vain looking for staff. To this end, this girl is supposed to be also a paragon of virtue with excellent products.
Under the pretext of looking for contributors for the church festival, Miss Marple makes again on the way to Old Hall. There, the new Pearl opens the door, Miss Lavinia receives Miss Marple and Miss Emily heard later scold only through the closed door. Upon leaving Miss Marple first presented a sticky peppermint and then can still drop her handbag. So she has finally a beautiful fingerprint by Mary Higgins on her vanity mirror.
Ten days must be the whole village listen to the song of praise to Mary Higgins, on the eleventh day she disappeared, and with it the diamonds and the furs of the young woman out of the house. The judge and his wife and the bird girlfriend missing money and jewelry. The Skinner Sisters were robbed. The perfect maid was so in all four apartments.
Quick turns out that it does not exist, the Agency and that the testimonials are fake. Inspector Slack remembers a similar case a year ago in Northumberland.
A few weeks go by, be found without that neither Mary Higgins nor the jewelery, as the sisters decide to move to London, because they are not satisfied with the medical care in St. Mary Mead.
A few days later tested for Miss Marple, Inspector Slack, who does not like her and she only receives, because he knows that his boss does not share his opinion. Miss Marple suspects that Emily and Mary are one and the same person, because no one has ever seen both together. The Skinner Sisters had explore the habits of the tenants so plenty of time and to obtain specimens of the key. Then they just had to get rid of Gladys and were able to commit their theft.
Miss Marple 's Inspector Slack the mirror with the fingerprint and he can prove all conjecture.
- Miss Marple tells a story ( original title: Miss Marple Tells a Story )
- The doll seamstress (Original Title: The Dressmaker 's Doll )
- Mirror image (AKA In a Glass Darkly )
Important issues
First publications of the stories
The first publications of the stories in magazines are as follows:
- Strange Jest: Issue 643 of the beach Magazine in July 1944 under the title The Case of the Buried Treasure. ( This was the last story that Christie wrote for the beach. )
- The Tape -Measure Murder: Issue 614 of beach Magazine in February 1942 under the title The Case of the Retired Jeweller.
- The Case of the Caretaker: Issue 613 of the beach Magazine in January 1941.
- The Case of the Perfect Maid: Issue 616 of the beach Magazine in April 1942 under the title The Perfect Maid.
- Sanctuary: October 1954 issue of the Woman's Journal. This story the author wrote for the foundation of Westminster Abbey. The story was sold for a donation for the construction of the church. The magazine was not the sum of known but she described as substantial.
- The Dressmaker 's Doll: December 1958 issue of the Woman's Journal.
- Miss Marple Tells a Story was not originally written for publication in a magazine, but for a reading on the radio. The 20-minute program was broadcast on 11 May 1934 at the National program of the BBC. Printed then the story was for the first time on May 25, 1935 in the weekly Home Journal under the title Behind Closed Doors.
- In a Glass Darkly was also originally intended for reading on the radio, but the data are contradictory to broadcast. The story was printed in the December issue of 1934, the monthly magazine Woman's Journal.