of the first newspaper reports to appear on Monday the 6th. News of her disappearance even reached the United States, where the New York Times ran a front-page headline: ‘Mrs Agatha Christie, Novelist, Disappears in Strange Way from Her Home in England.’ Closer to home, the weekend search had resulted in more questions than answers for the man in charge of the inquiry, Deputy Chief Constable Kenward of the Surrey Constabulary.
He wondered whether there was any significance in the fact that the car had been abandoned within six miles of Colonel Christie’s rendezvous with Nancy Neele. Also, if Agatha had accidentally run off the road, why had she failed to apply the brakes on her way down the long decline? If she had decided to commit suicide, why had she driven over fourteen miles from home to do so? The fact that Agatha had not taken her dog Peter with her as usual that night gave credence to the suicide theory.
What made suicide less likely was the fact that the writer’s handbag and purse had been removed from the car, although Agatha’s continued absence led the Surrey police to presume that the abandonment of her journey at Newlands Corner had been as unexpected to herself as to others.
The problem once again confronting the Surrey police on the Monday was to know where to take up the search. The undulating countryside around Newlands Corner included large tracts of dense woodland, streams, ponds, copses and fields in which the growth was often knee-high, so Deputy Chief Constable Kenward’s task could not have been more difficult.
The search for Agatha was thorough and precise. Wilfrid Morton, who was based at Woking at the time, remembers it well: ‘The first I knew was that I was ordered to be at the police station in the early hours of the morning for some unknown purpose. I was told to be there dressed in plain clothes and to bring a walking stick. I was a probationary constable and living in at the time. I couldn’t find out what it was about until I paraded about in the yard outside and found that there were about thirty other people there. A charabanc pulled up outside and we were all put aboard and off we went. As we were driving along somebody who knew said, “It’s Newlands Corner we’re going to.”’ He had no idea why.
By the time they disembarked day was breaking. The men were lined up at six-foot intervals and told to link hands with the officer on either side of them and slowly move forward. They were not told what they were looking for and were instructed to report anything unusual they found.
Wilfrid Morton recalls: ‘We were to go through bushes, not round them, and if we came to a tree we couldn’t get through we had to go round it, but we were to look up in its branches and see that there was nothing unusual up there. And there was no rush. Just do it slowly and keep the line intact. Eventually, after an hour or so, we came out into the open ground again. We were then reassembled and rested for a little while, then told that we were going to have another go and were taken to a fresh piece of ground to do the same thing again. Various things were found – old garments and so on – which meant an interruption to the whole line until a senior officer was brought along to examine whatever it was that was found. We pushed on, and by the time we had got out into the open ground again it was midday and we were all hungry and tired and thirsty. We had refreshments. By that time, of course, we had an idea what it was all about. Somebody had got hold of a newspaper and read the headlines about the disappearance.’
Meanwhile, Archie drove to Scotland Yard that morning with his solicitor and his wife’s secretary. He was told by senior police there that they could not intervene in the investigation unless the Surrey or Berkshire police requested their assistance. All Scotland Yard could do was place Agatha’s description in Confidential Information and the Police Gazette , alerting
He wondered whether there was any significance in the fact that the car had been abandoned within six miles of Colonel Christie’s rendezvous with Nancy Neele. Also, if Agatha had accidentally run off the road, why had she failed to apply the brakes on her way down the long decline? If she had decided to commit suicide, why had she driven over fourteen miles from home to do so? The fact that Agatha had not taken her dog Peter with her as usual that night gave credence to the suicide theory.
What made suicide less likely was the fact that the writer’s handbag and purse had been removed from the car, although Agatha’s continued absence led the Surrey police to presume that the abandonment of her journey at Newlands Corner had been as unexpected to herself as to others.
The problem once again confronting the Surrey police on the Monday was to know where to take up the search. The undulating countryside around Newlands Corner included large tracts of dense woodland, streams, ponds, copses and fields in which the growth was often knee-high, so Deputy Chief Constable Kenward’s task could not have been more difficult.
The search for Agatha was thorough and precise. Wilfrid Morton, who was based at Woking at the time, remembers it well: ‘The first I knew was that I was ordered to be at the police station in the early hours of the morning for some unknown purpose. I was told to be there dressed in plain clothes and to bring a walking stick. I was a probationary constable and living in at the time. I couldn’t find out what it was about until I paraded about in the yard outside and found that there were about thirty other people there. A charabanc pulled up outside and we were all put aboard and off we went. As we were driving along somebody who knew said, “It’s Newlands Corner we’re going to.”’ He had no idea why.
By the time they disembarked day was breaking. The men were lined up at six-foot intervals and told to link hands with the officer on either side of them and slowly move forward. They were not told what they were looking for and were instructed to report anything unusual they found.
Wilfrid Morton recalls: ‘We were to go through bushes, not round them, and if we came to a tree we couldn’t get through we had to go round it, but we were to look up in its branches and see that there was nothing unusual up there. And there was no rush. Just do it slowly and keep the line intact. Eventually, after an hour or so, we came out into the open ground again. We were then reassembled and rested for a little while, then told that we were going to have another go and were taken to a fresh piece of ground to do the same thing again. Various things were found – old garments and so on – which meant an interruption to the whole line until a senior officer was brought along to examine whatever it was that was found. We pushed on, and by the time we had got out into the open ground again it was midday and we were all hungry and tired and thirsty. We had refreshments. By that time, of course, we had an idea what it was all about. Somebody had got hold of a newspaper and read the headlines about the disappearance.’
Meanwhile, Archie drove to Scotland Yard that morning with his solicitor and his wife’s secretary. He was told by senior police there that they could not intervene in the investigation unless the Surrey or Berkshire police requested their assistance. All Scotland Yard could do was place Agatha’s description in Confidential Information and the Police Gazette , alerting
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