The mysterious disappearance of Agatha Christie haunts our minds and imagination to this very day. This intrigue deserves an Oscar. So, what happened that night? According to her biographer, before disappearance Agatha Christie wrote a letter to her secretary Carlo Fisher, asking to cancel the hotel reservation in Yorkshire. She also sent letters to her husband Archie and his brother Campbell. Naturally, the question arises: was it all made up? Perhaps, the “Queen of Crime” was preparing her escape plan. However, let’s not get ahead of ourselves! Agatha kissed her little daughter goodnight and drove off.
The next morning, her car and personal belongings were found abandoned. Agatha Christie’s disappearance caused a great public outcry. There was huge speculation over the causes of this mysterious disappearance. Many predicted the worst-case scenario. The media suspected that Agatha Christie had been kidnapped. Some suggested that her husband Archie was involved in this disappearance, others suggested that she drowned herself. There was also speculation that Agatha took revenge on her husband. According to another version, it was a cunning ploy: she staged the entire disappearance to attract more audience to her new book.
This was one of the biggest country’s manhunts: more than a thousand police officers, up to 15,000 volunteers, and even her beloved dog searched for the missing writer. On top of that, two other famous writers – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Dorothy Sayers – joined in the search.
Agatha Christie had been missing for eleven days. She was found, safe and well, in Harrogate, Yorkshire. It turned out that she had checked into the hotel under the surname of “Neele,” the last name of Archie’s lady friend,which complicated the search. Agatha Christie didn’t comment on what had happened, claiming loss of memory. Doctors suggested she suffered a nervous breakdown. It’s still unclear whether her loss of memory was staged or caused by stress. Curiously, she didn’t recognize her husband Archie when he came to visit her. Agatha Christie never discussed the circumstances of her disappearance in detail, even with family or friends.
Anyway, the investigation came to a dead end. Amazingly, the mystery still remains unsolved, and we are left with more questions than answers. Who knows, maybe Agatha Christie wanted to let people finish the story for her.