Magpie Murders

Atticus and James take rooms at the Queen’s Arms. Coming out of the inn, they see a crowd gathered nearby, and spot the vicar passing through the cemetery. Atticus talks to a nervous Robin Osborne; he's flustered by the news that Magnus got a death threat for attempting to sell Dingle Dell. When he returns home, he tells Henrietta about meeting the detective. Henrietta asks her husband what he did the previous night, and he insists he went to the church to pray. Henrietta noticed a bloodstain on her husband’s shirt in the morning, but “couldn’t accuse him” of committing murder because “such a thing was impossible” (85).

Johnny Whitehead is uncomfortable that there are police in the village to investigate Magnus’s death. Johnny had troubles in London before he and Gemma moved to the country, and he likely spent time in jail. After his release, they wanted a fresh start, but Johnny is unable to fully adjust to insular country life. Mary “thought it would be safe” to move to Saxby-on-Avon, but now regrets her choice (88).

Everyone in the village has a different theory about who killed Magnus, and almost everyone is a suspect, except for Clarissa. Clarissa’s nephew Freddy inherited the house, and she idly considers what would happen if Freddy and his mother were to die. Diana Weaver, a cleaner in the village, comes to clean Clarissa’s house and is upset about the murder.

Atticus, James, and Chubb go to meet with the developers, who insist that the planned development in Dingle Dell would benefit the neighborhood. They drive back to Pye Hall, where Frances has returned home. They run into France’s lover Jack Dartford, and he is surprised to see them. Jack says that he spent the day with Frances, discussing investments, but becomes “increasingly uncomfortable” after further questioning (92). He offers to lead the group up to see Frances in her room.

The men go up to see Frances; she is in bed drinking champagne and her son Freddy is with her. Jack is reluctant to leave her and wants to make sure they get their stories straight before being questioned. Atticus persuades him to leave the room. Frances explains that she had lunch with Jack, but her story doesn’t exactly match up with his. Frances isn’t able to give them any more information about the note found on Magnus’s desk. She tells them that the painting missing in the hallway was a portrait of her, but explains that “Magnus didn’t like it so he threw it out” (98). She gives them the combination to the safe, but nothing much of interest is stored in it.

There is still a gathering by the bus station when Atticus and James return. A note at the station typed by Joy insists that she had spent the night with Robert on the day of his mother’s death and that he couldn’t possibly be guilty of murder. Atticus observes that Joy’s note and the threatening letter to Magnus were typed on the same machine. Atticus also feels slightly responsible for not having helped Joy. He reflects on the nature of human wickedness, noting that “the small lies and evasions which nobody sees” can build up over time and become overwhelming (100). He indicates that all may not be well in the village.

Atticus wakes up with a severe headache and reflects on his approaching death. He is not religious and doesn’t want a funeral. He makes two promises to himself: to solve Magnus’s murder, and something else that he won’t articulate. Atticus tells James that today, they will visit Joy at the doctor’s office, reiterating that the typewriter on which she wrote her note was the same used to compose the threatening letter found on Magnus’s desk. Leaving the inn, they notice that Joy Sanderling’s confession has been removed.

Joy admits that she took down the notice, but that it had had the intended effect and that “as soon as one person had read it, the whole village would know” (104). Her parents haven’t found out, but if they do, she insists that she’ll just move in with Robert. Atticus informs her that he may need to speak with Robert about the deaths but invites her to be present. She says she’ll bring him to the Queen’s Arms after work.

When Joy goes to fetch Dr. Redwing, Atticus has James slip a piece of paper into the typewriter and press a few keys at random. He is now sure that the typewriter is the same one that composed the threatening letter. Atticus asks Joy if anyone else has access to the typewriter, and she says that she, Dr. Redwing, and Mrs. Weaver the cleaner are the only ones with access to the office. Atticus then asks about Dingle Dell, and she insists that although people in the village were upset about the proposed development, that no one would have killed Magnus over it.

Atticus and James enter Emilia Redwing's office, and she invites them to sit. Atticus asks her about Mary’s death, and Emilia tells them that Brent found the body and called her.

Emilia confesses to them that while she didn’t think it was relevant at the time, a bottle went missing from the dispensary a few days before Mary died. It was a medicine to treat Henrietta Osborne’s nightshade rash but could be deadly if taken in large doses. Emilia mentioned the poison’s absence to Mary before she died. On the day the poison went missing, Henrietta Osborne, Johnny Whitehead, and Clarissa Pye had all been in the office. Emilia also tells them that Magnus was not a good person nor was he well-liked, and that he was “a selfish, uncaring, and egotistical man” (111).

Brent is a primary member of the community, but no one knows very much about him. His parents are dead, and he lives alone in a small cottage. Atticus and James seek him out; he has a “strange, slightly unsavory quality” and is connected to both deaths (111). He didn’t like Mary and thinks someone may have pushed her. He tells them about finding Mary, and about the night of Magnus’s murder. He saw someone approaching the house—who he was later able to identify as the man in the back of the crowd at Mary’s funeral—wearing a distinctive hat. Brent also tells them that he saw Henrietta looking for her husband, and that he heard Robin’s bicycle go past the pub later that night.

Atticus asks Brent if he has a key to Mary’s old house and tells him that he wants to have a look around. They go to Mary’s old house, which looks empty and forlorn. Upstairs, there is a door broken down by the police, and the room inside has a view of the lake. A dog collar with the name “Bella” on it is in a drawer, and Brent tells them that the dog belonged to Tom, Mary’s deceased son. The house makes James and Atticus uneasy.

Raymond Chubb doesn’t like murder investigations. He became a policeman because he liked order, and resents that murder disrupts that order and changes villages. He finds it hard to believe that a murderer could live in such a sleepy, peaceful place. The detectives found a book at Mary’s house containing “malicious observations” about all the villagers (117). Mary particularly disliked Joy and Brent, and she shared her dislike of Brent with Magnus. She implied in the journal that Brent was going to be fired soon. There is another entry on the missing poison, and Mary claims that Clarissa stole it the day before Emilia noticed it was missing. There’s also an entry on Arthur Reeve, who had medals stolen through a broken kitchen window. Mary has her suspicions about who might be involved and accused Johnny Whitehead of stealing the medals. She brought up his criminal past and he became upset with her. The journal includes a newspaper clipping about Johnny, who used to be a member of a gang that robbed mansions.

There is another entry about her suspicions concerning the Osbornes that contains no specifics, as well as an entry indicating that Mary knows about Lady Pye’s affair. There is also an entry about how much Mary hates Joy and doesn’t want her to take her son away from her. The entries make Chubb dislike Mary, and he thinks that, “the whole diary was pure poison” (121). Chubb is glad to have Atticus helping him with a difficult case.

Atticus and James walk from Mary’s old house to the Osbornes’ house. Robin and Henrietta invite them in and serve tea and biscuits. Atticus notices that “they could not have looked more awkward or, frankly, more guilty” (123). They repeat their story that Robin rode his bike to the church and back to let off steam the night Magnus died. After tea, they all go for a walk in Dingle Dell. Atticus spots some of the nightshade that Henrietta stepped in. They come out on the other side of Dingle Dell, with a view of Pye Hall, where Freddy is kicking a soccer ball and Brent is gardening. Atticus asks them some more questions, and Henrietta gets angry. Atticus asks about the stranger at the funeral, and Robin remarks that he was wearing a fedora and abruptly left. Atticus asks about Robert, and Robin says that he feels sorry for him, and that he seemed grief-stricken during the funeral.

Emilia's father is declining; she and Arthur go to be with him. When Arthur steps out of the room, her father wakes up and tells her that he had delivered Magnus and his sister when he still worked as a doctor. Contrary to popular belief, Clarissa had actually been born first. Magnus’s father wasn’t happy that “the girl had come first” and asked him to lie about it (128). Emilia’s father thought that it would be a harmless fib, not realizing that Magnus would later disinherit his own sister. He passes away soon after, and Emilia tells her husband of her father’s confession on the drive home.

Atticus, James, Chubb, Robert, and Joy meet at the inn to have a drink and talk. Robert is unhappy to be questioned, but Atticus insists that it is necessary. Robert describes how his mother was more interested in Magnus than in her own husband. He describes how had been close with his younger brother. Robert says that Magnus hadn’t wanted a dog on his property, and that is had disappeared one day. The boys later found it in Dingle Dell with its throat cut.

Robert says that Mary always blamed her husband for Tom’s death. He describes Tom’s death, explaining that it was a summer day and that they were hunting for buried treasure when Tom drowned. Brent found him and got him out of the water. Robert’s father was unhappy, and Robert claims that he “said the marriage was over” and left about a year later (134).

Robert describes how he got his apprenticeship but got in a fight at a bar and lost it. Atticus suggests that it was technically possible for Robert to have killed his mother or Magnus, which upsets the couple. After they leave, Chubb gives Atticus Mary’s diary. Atticus suggests that he recognizes the handwriting in the diary but will not say from where he recognizes it.