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Guess That Object

NightRayDuck 16 Sep 10 at 6:04 a.m. GMT

If a piece of evidence, even perhaps a murder weapon, or another item of significance becomes sapient and gets chatty about its role in the story, will you be able to figure out what it is, and which story?

This game will probably be even more full of spoilers than the other games. If you feel interested in this game, please play, give suggestions, and improve it. 

To start off, I'll set a puzzle that contains rather many specific clues that indicate whether it's from a famous Christie detective.

I am a piece of architecture. Things of my type are usually built for no other purpose than a few chuckles and ogles, which do not seem to warrant the amount of material and work put into the building process. I, however, was built by a prodigal son who came home and took over the estates, and he built me only to hide evidence of his crimes. Ah the infamy! That rather foreign gentleman, I think he's doing rather more than ogling me. I think he suspects the truth, and might decide to tear me down...

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1313 replies

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Nofret 24 May 12 at 3:51 a.m. GMT

Yes, Duck, a lap tray. My PC is resting on one as I write!

Come on, folks, it's a Parker Pyne story!

NightRayDuck 23 May 12 at 7:47 p.m. GMT

Tray has a padded underside?

Miss Nofret - I've never ever owned a tray at home.. 

Bunch_Marple 23 May 12 at 3:18 p.m. GMT

Nofret your puzzle has kept me ticking over for days!

Please tell us the story as I'm afraid it was just a lucky deduction and much speculation from me! 

Nofret 23 May 12 at 4:18 a.m. GMT

At last! Yes, well done, Bunch, I am a tray, but unfortunately not Gladys's. And I wasn't involved in a murder, either, just a tragic accident.

Bunch_Marple 22 May 12 at 6:32 a.m. GMT

Is it a tray? Gladys Martin left her tray in mid-duties to meet her caller.

Nofret 22 May 12 at 4:34 a.m. GMT

A very good resume of the clues, Duck, unfortunately it's not a wastepaper basket, (though I'm sure many of our sleuths must have rummaged in one for clues!) But, like the WPB, this object would be pretty useless if it was always empty!

I'm not a coat rack, a bannister or a wooden floor. One like me was also a vital clue at Yew Tree Lodge

NightRayDuck 21 May 12 at 11:54 p.m. GMT

perhaps a wastepaper basket / rubbish bin / trash can? even though I can't think of a specific one from a story...

Known characteristics of this item, and whether a wastepaper basket fits:

-has several other items of the same type in the vicinity. likely true.

-has definite function. true.

-not made of paper. true.

-not tonic. true.

-not walking stick or other mobility aid. true.

-not clothing. true.

-can be held in hands. true.

-nothing electrical. true.

-nothing mechanical? true for wastepaper basket of that time. newer wastepaper baskets might have an additional feature that's mechanic.

-can't be worn. true.

-some similarity with a letter rack? "contains a lot of papers"

-not paperweight. true.

-not made of glass. true.

-not false teeth. true.

-an modern version of the same sort of item might have a padded underside? I am not sure, maybe some fuzzy bottom for anti-skid in a small flat?

-an additional feature?

-not doormat. true.

-not hat rack. true.

-not a plant. true.

-not a living thing. true.

-not number plate. true.

-not doorbell. true.

-not chair. true.

-made of wood. may be made of metal at other households. may be made of plastic nowadays. true.

Bunch_Marple 21 May 12 at 1:31 p.m. GMT

Could it be a coat rack? Not sure from which story..

Tommy_A_Jones 21 May 12 at 1:24 p.m. GMT

Is it a Bannister

Bunch_Marple 21 May 12 at 8:46 a.m. GMT

This one has me stomped. It isn't a wooden floor? or cleaning utensils such as a mop/brush?

Nofret 21 May 12 at 4:18 a.m. GMT

Though as Poirot might have said "Tres Bien!"

Nofret 20 May 12 at 4:47 a.m. GMT

I'm not a number plate, a doorbell or a chair. Neither Mr Satterthwaite nor M. Poirot solved this mystery.

NightRayDuck 19 May 12 at 10:15 p.m. GMT

Is the object a chair?

Tommy_A_Jones 19 May 12 at 10:44 a.m. GMT

Did Poirot do the Deducing?

Bunch_Marple 19 May 12 at 9:31 a.m. GMT

Have you had contact with a Mr Satterwaite/?

Bunch_Marple 19 May 12 at 9:18 a.m. GMT

or a doorbell...

Bunch_Marple 19 May 12 at 7:14 a.m. GMT

Im thinking the plate with a house nnumber on it?

Nofret 19 May 12 at 5:20 a.m. GMT

I am an everyday object, made of wood, although I believe that in less affluent households I would be made of metal, and nowadays I might be made of something called plastic! It was a man who deduced that I'd been involved in a cover-up.

Bunch_Marple 18 May 12 at 8:31 p.m. GMT

But stupid me, we already ruled out paper as well! 

Please give us a clue as to the purpose of the object or the detective involved, male or female? Thanks!

Bunch_Marple 18 May 12 at 5:05 p.m. GMT

We already ruled out Poirot, is it the wallpaper destroyed in The Blue Geranium?

Tommy_A_Jones 18 May 12 at 1 p.m. GMT

Is it a Cooker? and is the person weho appears in the Short Stories Poirot?

Nofret 18 May 12 at 5:06 a.m. GMT

I'm not from Greenshaw's folly, and I'm not a plant, or any living thing. I appear in a collection of short stories featuring the same person.

Bunch_Marple 17 May 12 at 3:20 p.m. GMT

a plant uncermoniously ripped out of the ground by the killer?

Tommy_A_Jones 17 May 12 at 1:57 p.m. GMT

Is it an object in Greenshaw's Folly

Nofret 17 May 12 at 12:15 p.m. GMT

No, this object is not from a story in Problem at Pollensa Bay.

Bunch_Marple 17 May 12 at 7:50 a.m. GMT

Can you confirm if you are a short story from Prolems at Polensa bay?

Nofret 16 May 12 at 3:52 p.m. GMT

Neither a doormat nor a hat rack Don't forget some other items were with me, they were unfortunately beyond repair.

Tommy_A_Jones 16 May 12 at 1:06 p.m. GMT

Are you a Hat Rack in a Tommy and Tuppence short syory?

Bunch_Marple 16 May 12 at 9:49 a.m. GMT

a doormat?

Nofret 16 May 12 at 6:19 a.m. GMT

False Teeth! NO! I'm sure you must have one like me in your home, unless, perhaps, you live in a small flat, in which case you'd have the modern version with the padded underside.

NightRayDuck 15 May 12 at 5:18 p.m. GMT

a set of denture, or several false teeth?

not that I can think of any from a short story..

Nofret 15 May 12 at 4:48 p.m. GMT

Not from The Second Gong.

Bunch_Marple 15 May 12 at 8:58 a.m. GMT

Are you featured in The Second gong from Problems at Pollensa Bay?

Nofret 15 May 12 at 4:48 a.m. GMT

Not an attache case, and the book sounds like At Bertram's Hotel. This object plays a vital role in a short story.

Tommy_A_Jones 14 May 12 at 10:50 a.m. GMT

Are you an attache Case? I can't remember a specific Book but Do you appear in  Book with a Character who drinks Tansy Tea or Cherry Brandy and when in a Hotel once ate Seed Cake?

Nofret 14 May 12 at 4:53 a.m. GMT

I'm not made of glass, and I've never met a Belgian.

Bunch_Marple 13 May 12 at 12:45 p.m. GMT

A certain belgian? Are you a mirror>?

Nofret 13 May 12 at 11:46 a.m. GMT

I'm not a paperweight. No-one has discovered yet which clever person realised my significance.

Bunch_Marple 13 May 12 at 7:53 a.m. GMT

A you a paperweight? 

Nofret 13 May 12 at 5:20 a.m. GMT

No, Duck, you can't wear me. I'm not a letter rack, though that has something in common with me.

 My kind must have been mentioned in many stories, but none of them was treated as badly as me!

Tommy_A_Jones 12 May 12 at 1:01 p.m. GMT

Is it a Letter Rack

NightRayDuck 12 May 12 at 7:02 a.m. GMT

I don't recall any specific ones yet, but is the item a pair of eyeglasses, sunglasses, pince-nez, or a monocle?

Nofret 12 May 12 at 3:43 a.m. GMT

I'm not a clock, there's nothing mechanical or electrical about me.

Tommy_A_Jones 11 May 12 at 12:35 p.m. GMT

A Clock?

Nofret 11 May 12 at 10:48 a.m. GMT

That's an interesting guess. Tommy, but you can hold me in your hands!

Tommy_A_Jones 10 May 12 at 12:16 p.m. GMT

Are you a Bedroom? These can be improved by having an en suite added

Tommy_A_Jones 10 May 12 at 12:16 p.m. GMT

Are you a Bedroom? These can be improved by having an en suite added

Nofret 10 May 12 at 6:03 a.m. GMT

I'm not a walking stick, and not an item of clothing. I gather that nowadays some of my kind have been improved by an additional feature.

NightRayDuck 10 May 12 at 12:33 a.m. GMT

How come no one guessed gloves, mufflers, or galoshes yet?

Tommy_A_Jones 09 May 12 at 12:44 p.m. GMT

I wasn't meaning a Tonic, I meant is it a walking stick?

Nofret 09 May 12 at 5:03 a.m. GMT

Can't really say I am, Tommy, not if you mean something like a tonic, or a mobility aid. But you may well own one like me.

Tommy_A_Jones 07 May 12 at 12:27 p.m. GMT

Are you used to help you're owner's Well-being

Nofret 07 May 12 at 6:10 a.m. GMT

No, Bunch, I am not made of paper.

Bunch_Marple 06 May 12 at 8:23 p.m. GMT

The pieces of paper used to light fires in Mysterious affair at styles?

Nofret 06 May 12 at 8:52 a.m. GMT

No, there may be others like me in the house, but unlike golf clubs I am not one of a set. I am definitely not a made-up article, and not (in this case) a weapon.

cameronjhw 05 May 12 at 3 p.m. GMT

The ingenious murder weapon that consist of a tennis racket handle, adhesive tape and a heavy steel fender screwed in to bash Lady Tresslian in Towards Zero

Bunch_Marple 05 May 12 at 10:29 a.m. GMT

The golf clubs from Murder in the mews>?

Nofret 04 May 12 at 10:32 a.m. GMT

I'm not a frivolous work of art, I have a definite function.

Tommy_A_Jones 03 May 12 at 1:10 p.m. GMT

Is it the Sculpture done by Henrietta in The Hollow

Nofret 03 May 12 at 6:01 a.m. GMT

No, not from ATTWN.

cameronjhw 02 May 12 at 12:27 p.m. GMT

Is it the 10 little Indians figurines that were brutally broken off and smashed in And Then There Were None

Nofret 02 May 12 at 7:15 a.m. GMT

That was a really clever choice of object, Tommy, so normal and innocent compared with the firearm, drugs and other lethal instruments we've been wondering about!

Yes, yes, I know I'm not looking my best, what can you expect after the way I was treated! Luckily I'm not in such bad shape as my companions. Oh, well, I suppose it helped to save someone from a ghastly fate.........

Tommy_A_Jones 01 May 12 at 10:47 a.m. GMT

PHEW!!! Well Done Nofret, The Book features Battle who meets The Despards and Ariadfne in CARDS ON THE TABLE. He lies about the biscuits to Rupert Bateman.

Over to you.

Nofret 01 May 12 at 9:37 a.m. GMT

Is it from The Seven Dials Mystery, the biscuits that Jimmy Thesiger ate which gave him indigestion?

Tommy_A_Jones 30 Apr 12 at 10:22 a.m. GMT

No Nofret on both counts

Nofret 30 Apr 12 at 5:39 a.m. GMT

Is the book The Secret of Chimneys and the objects the clues (piece of knitting etc) to the word rose?

Tommy_A_Jones 27 Apr 12 at 2:26 p.m. GMT

Ray, I looked on your Have Read and want to read lists the other day and I am afraid I don't think you have read this Book, It is another Great Book you have yet to enjoy.

Tommy_A_Jones 26 Apr 12 at 2:21 p.m. GMT

No, You already Guessed that and I said No

cameronjhw 26 Apr 12 at 1:43 p.m. GMT

Is the object from the novel Murder is Easy/Easy to Kill which does feature Superintendent Battle

Tommy_A_Jones 26 Apr 12 at 1:23 p.m. GMT

This pobject (OR these objects) figure in a Conversation between 2 People both the same sex.

Tommy_A_Jones 24 Apr 12 at 1:26 p.m. GMT

No, I made a Tyeing error a while back, It should read it isn't a Painting but you seem to be on the right track now anyway.

cameronjhw 24 Apr 12 at 1:08 p.m. GMT

Is the object from the novel Murder is Easy aka Easy to Kill

Tommy_A_Jones 24 Apr 12 at 10:45 a.m. GMT

Both wrong but the object appears in a Battle Novel but not Towards Zero

NightRayDuck 24 Apr 12 at 2:38 a.m. GMT

Is the item the total of things stolen from among the students where Sylvia Battle goes to school, in Towards Zero? Things stolen included cosmetics.. I haven't got around to looking up the details, but it's petty theft. Sylvia lied about the items by falsely admitting to being the thief, causing herself much embarassment and stress.

cameronjhw 23 Apr 12 at 7:19 p.m. GMT

Is the character Colonel Race and the novel is Sparkling Cyanide

Tommy_A_Jones 23 Apr 12 at 11:11 a.m. GMT

Wrong Book, Have another Guess and I will tell you which is right, Race or Battle.

NightRayDuck 22 Apr 12 at 8:12 p.m. GMT

I haven't been able to think of a specific object yet, so I am inclining to the guess that this object appears in The Man in the Brown Suit, which I haven't read in a long time. That would be a novel featuring Johnny Race although, of course, I haven't come up with an item, so this is really not a guess yet.

Tommy_A_Jones 21 Apr 12 at 11:01 a.m. GMT

You are right Ray The story features either Race or Battle, Which way are you going to Go?

Nofret 21 Apr 12 at 4:38 a.m. GMT

Well, I think the story may involve Mr Parker Pyne?

NightRayDuck 20 Apr 12 at 5:59 p.m. GMT

I was trying to work from that clue about Pale Horse, unfortunately I was being muddle-headed and had forgotten several possible stories. I am sorry for the muddled guess there. 

I think this object appears in a story that features either Colonel Johnny Race or Superintendent Battle. Am I right?

Tommy_A_Jones 20 Apr 12 at 10:32 a.m. GMT

The object was Lied about and Hidden but not on their person and no it wasn't a person, Look back again at my last response when someone asked if the Object appeard in Pale Horse

Mr_Graves 19 Apr 12 at 7:59 p.m. GMT

Could it be the painting of the house by the canal in "By the Pricking of My Thumbs"? That's the only book with a link to "The Pale Horse" other than one with Poirot or Miss Marple in it...

NightRayDuck 19 Apr 12 at 6:38 p.m. GMT

Did the person hide, or lie about this item, by swallowing it, or inserting it into some bodily orifice, in order to conceal it? That kind of extreme hiding often causes acute discomfort to the person concealing it, and has been known to cause severe bodily injury to said person.

If that's what happened with this item - I am sorry, I don't know what it is; I think it appears in a story that I haven't read.

Tommy_A_Jones 19 Apr 12 at 10:48 a.m. GMT

No but three people in Pale Horse did meat someone in this Book

Nofret 19 Apr 12 at 4:49 a.m. GMT

This is a puzzler! Could it be the toothpaste, cosmetics, etc. that played a significant part in The Pale Horse?

Tommy_A_Jones 18 Apr 12 at 10:50 a.m. GMT

No, Nothing Medicinal

cameronjhw 18 Apr 12 at 1:08 a.m. GMT

Is it some type of tonic or pills

Tommy_A_Jones 16 Apr 12 at 1:38 p.m. GMT

Medical.

NightRayDuck 15 Apr 12 at 7:46 p.m. GMT

May I make so bold as to ask what kind of "price" was paid by the person who lied about the object or hid the object away?

Tommy_A_Jones 15 Apr 12 at 2:44 p.m. GMT

No Nothing to do with Clothing

Nofret 15 Apr 12 at 2:22 p.m. GMT

Is it the pair of socks in the Parker Pyne story The Gate of Baghdad?

Tommy_A_Jones 14 Apr 12 at 10:37 a.m. GMT

No, Try again

Nofret 14 Apr 12 at 8:08 a.m. GMT

Is the object in question jewellery?

Tommy_A_Jones 13 Apr 12 at 11:09 a.m. GMT

No Cameron, As I said not from a Poirot Book.

cameronjhw 12 Apr 12 at 7:54 p.m. GMT

Could it be drugs from Death in the Clouds or the fragment of a franc note clutched in Louise Bourget's hand in Death on the Nile

Tommy_A_Jones 12 Apr 12 at 11:22 a.m. GMT

No Nofret Not Love Letters, Nothing to do with Paper.

Nofret 12 Apr 12 at 6:04 a.m. GMT

Is it the love letters from Brenda to Lawrence in Crooked House?

Tommy_A_Jones 10 Apr 12 at 1:06 p.m. GMT

No Nofret Not Money and The Sittaford Mystery is not the right book and No cameron not from a Poirot Book or a Miss Marple Book.

cameronjhw 10 Apr 12 at 12:54 p.m. GMT

Is the object from a Poirot or Marple novel?

Nofret 10 Apr 12 at 10:51 a.m. GMT

Is it the winnings from the competition in The Sittaford Mystery?

Tommy_A_Jones 10 Apr 12 at 10:32 a.m. GMT

No not cash., No-one has picked the book where this (or these) objects appear in yet.

NightRayDuck 10 Apr 12 at 1:42 a.m. GMT

Is the item money? Cash on hand, or little stash put by in drawer or purse or such... would come in various parts of bills and coins that aren't usually specified.

Tommy_A_Jones 09 Apr 12 at 1:21 p.m. GMT

No Not a Gun either. I suppose strictly speeking the object comes in parts but how many isn't specified.

cameronjhw 09 Apr 12 at 12:36 p.m. GMT

Is it a gun like the one Philip Lombard carried with him in And Then There Were None or maybe something illegal.

Tommy_A_Jones 09 Apr 12 at 10:03 a.m. GMT

It is neither a Photo or Passport.

Nofret 09 Apr 12 at 4:58 a.m. GMT

This reply contains spoiler information. Show reply

Or it could be the photo of Robin Upward's real mother from Mrs McGinty's Dead? He told Mrs Upward that she was a dancer who died young , but Mrs M. discovered the truth.

NightRayDuck 09 Apr 12 at 3:36 a.m. GMT

I was thinking.. real name? ID document with real name on it? Perhaps Nigel Chapman's passport with his previous name on it, which when seen by another lodger intensified the rumors that there's someone at the lodging house under a false name. in Hickory Dickory Dock.

Tommy_A_Jones 08 Apr 12 at 10:48 a.m. GMT

No, Nothing Medical

Nofret 08 Apr 12 at 8:14 a.m. GMT

Bunny's aspirins in A Murder is Announced?

Tommy_A_Jones 07 Apr 12 at 10:40 a.m. GMT

No, Not German Measles, This you can actually Hold.

Nofret 07 Apr 12 at 8:42 a.m. GMT

This reply contains spoiler information. Show reply

Is it German Measles, Heather Babcock disguised the rash with make-up in The Mirror Cracked?

Tommy_A_Jones 06 Apr 12 at 11:20 a.m. GMT

hall put my Clue in more sThankyou Ray and Nofret, I am sorry I jumped the Gun, I shall put my Teaser in a More Christie way;

People are usually not so secretive about me but somebody lied about me and there was a Price they had to pay for it.

NightRayDuck 05 Apr 12 at 6:57 p.m. GMT

Nofret is correct with Maureen's table crushed by Maureen's dog and witnessed by Poirot in Mrs. McGinty's Dead. I am sorry I am not familiar with The Mysterious Affair at Styles, so I cannot say whether there's a table that breaks in that story. In any case, Nofret gave the correct answer. Now your puzzle gets a turn, Tommy. :)

Tommy_A_Jones 05 Apr 12 at 12:49 p.m. GMT

Am I wrong or is there a Table in The Mysterious Affair At Styles that breaks?

Nofret 05 Apr 12 at 5:30 a.m. GMT

I think it's a table in Maureen Summerhayes' decrepit guest-house in Mrs McGinty's Dead. Didn't it collapse under the weight of one of her Irish wolfhounds in front of a horrified Poirot?

(If I'm correct then we can continue with Tommy's puzzle)

NightRayDuck 05 Apr 12 at 3:19 a.m. GMT

This table did not appear in old Simeon Lee's house, any time near Hercule Poirot's winter vacation, or anywhere in the story "The Underdog". This table structurally collapsed, rather than overturned.

Tommy_A_Jones 04 Apr 12 at 1:59 p.m. GMT

Other People have guessed Objects without being more specific, but is it in THE UNDERDOG

cameronjhw 04 Apr 12 at 12:45 p.m. GMT

Is it the overturn table found in old Simeon Lee's bedroom in Hercule Poirot's Christmas

NightRayDuck 03 Apr 12 at 7:45 p.m. GMT

wait, Tommy! you haven't guessed the story in which this object appears!

Tommy_A_Jones 03 Apr 12 at 10:51 a.m. GMT

This is mine then

People are usually up front about me but someone hid me away but they paid the Price for doing so.

Good Luck.

NightRayDuck 02 Apr 12 at 7:50 p.m. GMT

yes, this object is a table.

Tommy_A_Jones 02 Apr 12 at 12:53 p.m. GMT

Is The Object A Table?

NightRayDuck 01 Apr 12 at 6 p.m. GMT

No, not a sporting item.

Tommy_A_Jones 01 Apr 12 at 11:02 a.m. GMT

Is it a sporting Item?

NightRayDuck 01 Apr 12 at 2:07 a.m. GMT

I had my place among many decrepit items of the same category. I collapsed pathetically when abused by a member of the household - even though my state of disrepair wasn't described in as much detail as some of the other items - with a famed guest witnessing the horrid extent of disorder in this house.

GKCfan 30 Mar 12 at 2:47 a.m. GMT

Correct!  Excellent job, NightRayDuck!

NightRayDuck 30 Mar 12 at 1:55 a.m. GMT

Boxes of match, appearing in The Hollow ? the neighbor Veronica Cray swanned into the dining room and asked for a box of match, and the hostess, Lady Lucy Angkatell, very generously got half a dozen boxes handed to Miss Cray.

GKCfan 29 Mar 12 at 5:59 p.m. GMT

No, sorry.

Tommy_A_Jones 29 Mar 12 at 1:33 p.m. GMT

Did these object appesr in a Book featuring Battle?

GKCfan 29 Mar 12 at 4:21 a.m. GMT

"Someone visited and asked for one of us, and instead got several.  We really weren't needed or wanted, as you soon find out.  We were just a pretext to stage a reunion."

NightRayDuck 28 Mar 12 at 10:29 p.m. GMT

I was thinking of the mirror in "Dead Man's Mirror", somewhere in the middle of the story, when the police & Poirot asked Lady Vanda about possible suicide motives, she said that the broken mirror signaled horrible fate & doom and so Gervase saw the sign and killed himself~~

Still, GKCfan, you got the correct type of item and the correct storyline upon first guess, and you were able to cite the corresponding lines in the other story, while nobody else even tried a guess yet. So, your turn. :-)

GKCfan 28 Mar 12 at 6:02 a.m. GMT

"The Second Gong."  The mistress of the house mentions it being unlucky to break a mirror in the next-to-last line.

NightRayDuck 27 Mar 12 at 9:37 p.m. GMT

It is the mirror from one of these stories, yes. I wonder if you can decide which story, based on the terminology used in the clue? ;-)

GKCfan 27 Mar 12 at 3:19 a.m. GMT

The mirror from either "Dead Man's Mirror" or "The Second Gong?"

NightRayDuck 27 Mar 12 at 2:23 a.m. GMT

any guesses?

Well! The murderer had the nerve to kill my master, and even smack me up to mislead investigators. Of course I am of no importance, but like the mistress explains, a broken item of my type is an omen of horrible fate, you know.

NightRayDuck 24 Mar 12 at 6:16 p.m. GMT

ooh.. didn't Miss G worry about squashing the cake under the pillow? I'd think that might make a messy load of laundry.. poor cake.

Next item up for guessing:

Well! The murderer had the nerve to kill my master, and even smack me up to mislead investigators. Of course I am of no importance, but like the mistress explains, a broken item of my type is an omen of horrible fate, you know.

Nofret 24 Mar 12 at 7:57 a.m. GMT

Exactly right, Duck. We never learn where the wedding cake came from, and presumably the slice was part of a much larger cake. Part of the slice was eaten, and the rest put under Miss G's pillow because of an old superstition that she would dream of her future husband!

Well done, your turn.

NightRayDuck 23 Mar 12 at 5:34 p.m. GMT

no honey? just cake, then, maybe?

Is the item the SLICE of cake that's given to Miss Gilchrist, only a Bit of it was eaten by her, and the Rest of it I guess probably went into some lab to test for poisons? and It was part of the larger thing that was the Entire Cake which had gone some other various places? in After the Funeral.

Tommy_A_Jones 23 Mar 12 at 12:58 p.m. GMT

Is it something to do with Death In The Clouds perhaps something to do with the weapon that Kiled the Victim in the Aeroplane.

cameronjhw 23 Mar 12 at 12:10 p.m. GMT

Is it something to do with the bumblebee verse from And Then There Were None or perhaps the hothouse grapes from Lord Easterfield in Murder is Easy

Nofret 23 Mar 12 at 5:31 a.m. GMT

No, it's not from Murder in Mesopotamia, but it is from a novel.

Duck, you're very close, but no honey!

NightRayDuck 22 Mar 12 at 6:08 p.m. GMT

honey cake? not that I know of any specific occurence of honey cakes in Poirot stories..

Tommy_A_Jones 22 Mar 12 at 1:01 p.m. GMT

Is the Object in Murder in Mesopotamia?

Nofret 22 Mar 12 at 5:42 a.m. GMT

No, it's not in How Does Your Garden Grow, Tommy.

Not wine, Duck, but something else you might have at a particular celebration.

NightRayDuck 21 Mar 12 at 10:41 p.m. GMT

I was thinking, in terms of celebration and ancient Rome... grape? wine made from grape? wine made with lead apparatus? o.O

Tommy_A_Jones 21 Mar 12 at 2:08 p.m. GMT

Was the Object used to Camouflage the Weapon in How Does your Garden Grow

Nofret 21 Mar 12 at 6:58 a.m. GMT

Not in Styles, Tommy, but a certain Belgian was on hand to solve this mystery.

Tommy_A_Jones 20 Mar 12 at 10:42 a.m. GMT

Does The Object appear in The Mysterious Affair At Styles?

Nofret 20 Mar 12 at 6:43 a.m. GMT

Not candle wax, Duck.

Tommu, I didn't mean the object was literally about getting warm, just that one part of your question has distinct similarities to my object.

NightRayDuck 19 Mar 12 at 9:52 p.m. GMT

wax? perhaps candle wax? Linda Marshall used quite a bit to produce a curse doll, in Evil Under the Sun.

Tommy_A_Jones 19 Mar 12 at 11:17 a.m. GMT

Is it a Coal Scuttle, I only say that because you said I was getting Warm

Nofret 19 Mar 12 at 5:37 a.m. GMT

Not a vase of flowers, Cameron.

Clue - I am part of a very old tradition dating back to Ancient Rome.

cameronjhw 18 Mar 12 at 7:29 p.m. GMT

Is it the vase full of water and flowers that was dropped by Mrs. Drake when she "thought" she saw Leopold Reynolds in the library in Hallow'een Party?

Nofret 18 Mar 12 at 5:54 a.m. GMT

It's not a short story, and Hastings doesn't appear.

Not Henrietta's clay, Duck, the rest of it would be in a bin in her studio.

NightRayDuck 18 Mar 12 at 1:35 a.m. GMT

sculpting clay used by Henrietta Savernake in The Hollow ?

Tommy_A_Jones 17 Mar 12 at 10:54 a.m. GMT

Is Hastings in the story? and Am I right when I sugest a short story

Nofret 17 Mar 12 at 5:31 a.m. GMT

No, it's not that story, but you're getting warm!

Tommy_A_Jones 16 Mar 12 at 1:26 p.m. GMT

Is it from The Short story with the Christmas Pudding? The Adaptation of which had Stephanie Cole, and Frederick Treves?

Nofret 16 Mar 12 at 10:50 a.m. GMT

It's not a pillowcase or pillow, Tommy. Duck, that's a very good guess, but not plasticine.

Clue - think celebration.

NightRayDuck 15 Mar 12 at 10:44 p.m. GMT

Plasticine? In "The Pearl of Price", a bit was used properly in archaeology, a larger bit was used to conceal some item, and we are not told the location of the main stock brought by one of the travelers.

Tommy_A_Jones 15 Mar 12 at 2:16 p.m. GMT

Is it A Pillow Case? perhaps the other bit is a Pillow?

Nofret 15 Mar 12 at 7:03 a.m. GMT

Not a rock, this object is somewhat softer.

NightRayDuck 15 Mar 12 at 2:02 a.m. GMT

Some sort of boulder or rock? but I can't think of a bit of a rock being put to proper use and the larger part of the rock used in a most peculiar way, so I suppose that's not it..

Nofret 14 Mar 12 at 9:50 a.m. GMT

Good guess, Tommy, but I've already done that one!

Tommy_A_Jones 13 Mar 12 at 12:28 p.m. GMT

Is it part of what was used to kill Simeon Lee in Hercule Poirot's Christmas

Nofret 10 Mar 12 at 8:29 a.m. GMT

Thank you, Bunch.

I am part of something a lot bigger, though we never learn where the rest is. Then again, only part of me was put to its proper use, most of me was used in a most peculiar way!

Bunch_Marple 09 Mar 12 at 12:03 p.m. GMT

Haha well done Nofret, it is indeed the fake tan which almost unceremoniously clonked Ms Brewster on the head! 

Nofret 09 Mar 12 at 5:45 a.m. GMT

The bottle of fake tan thrown out of the window in Evil under the Sun?

Tommy_A_Jones 08 Mar 12 at 1:12 p.m. GMT

Swings?

Bunch_Marple 07 Mar 12 at 9:35 p.m. GMT

No, not an vehicle

Tommy_A_Jones 06 Mar 12 at 1:47 p.m. GMT

Is it a Vehicle?

Bunch_Marple 05 Mar 12 at 3:40 p.m. GMT

Good guess Tommy but no

Tommy_A_Jones 05 Mar 12 at 1:51 p.m. GMT

Is it the Pram belonging to the baby in N or M 

Bunch_Marple 04 Mar 12 at 11:33 a.m. GMT

Thanks Treplag..

Weeeeeee! I really travelled a good distance in a short time! When found I was told I could be a key to unlocking a ghastly mystery though I don't see it myself, I'm just a commonplace thing available for men and women alike.... 

treplag 19 Feb 12 at 1:06 a.m. GMT

Great job, Bunch_Marple.  That is the correct answer.  Your turn.

Bunch_Marple 18 Feb 12 at 9:13 p.m. GMT

Edna Brent's fashionable stilletto shoe..broken on the street which led her to return to a silent office early? From The Clocks :)

treplag 18 Feb 12 at 3:39 a.m. GMT

I imagine this will be easy, but it is the best I can do.

"My owner experienced a mishap involving me, which resulted in her being at the wrong place at the wrong time.  The knowledge she gained by this provided an important clue, but at the same time spelled her demise."

NightRayDuck 17 Feb 12 at 6:45 p.m. GMT

Yes, treplag, it is the painting of Alexa in Passenter to Frankfurt. Well done. Your turn.

treplag 17 Feb 12 at 12:14 a.m. GMT

It is the painting of Alexa, who was Stafford Nye's great-great-great-grandmother in PASSENGER TO FRANKFURT. He sees it when he visits his Aunt Matilda.

NightRayDuck 16 Feb 12 at 9:32 p.m. GMT

The object is a painting, yes. :)

Bunch_Marple 16 Feb 12 at 10:03 a.m. GMT

a painting?

NightRayDuck 15 Feb 12 at 10:17 p.m. GMT

to Tommy's question this object replies:

"I am not a living creature. I was created by a master craftsman. Oh, and I might add that my late mistress, whom I resemble, passsed on many decades ago."

Tommy_A_Jones 15 Feb 12 at 2:21 p.m. GMT

Is it a Living Creature? like Bob The Dog in Dumb Witness

NightRayDuck 12 Feb 12 at 12:36 a.m. GMT

Any guesses? Or any questions for this object?

NightRayDuck 05 Feb 12 at 2:47 a.m. GMT

Thank you.

"I represent the loveliness of my late mistress. She had passed on many, many years ago, but her memory is still respected and admired by the family. Indeed, just look at this descendant now, completely fascinated by her, bounding up the stairs to look at me - to see her!" 

cameronjhw 03 Feb 12 at 1:37 p.m. GMT

NightRayDuck has got it right. It is the apples that Josephine Leonides is seen gnawing at. Good work and now over to you....

Nofret 03 Feb 12 at 5:27 a.m. GMT

Would I be correct in guessing that the person in question is a recurring character?

NightRayDuck 03 Feb 12 at 1:14 a.m. GMT

It makes me think of the apples that Josephine Leonides is often seen gnawing in Crooked House. I can only think of people keeping apples for eating, tho. Other purposes might be.. apple-bobbing? decoration?

cameronjhw 02 Feb 12 at 12:49 p.m. GMT

Nofret-it is not one of Poirot's vegetable marrows

NightRayDuck-it is not the the small table used for the ghoulish purpose of table-turning.

The object in question is not similar to a small table.   

Nofret 02 Feb 12 at 5:05 a.m. GMT

Is the object one of Poirot's vegetable marrows? In The Murder of Roger Ackroyd he chucks one over the fence in a fit of temper (so he says, though i think it was just an excuse to get to know his next-door neighbour!) Then we don't hear of him pursuing this hobby again!

NightRayDuck 01 Feb 12 at 7:48 p.m. GMT

yes cameron. I've been trying to think of a question but I couldn't word it properly, so I'll start with a guess that I think is too far off the mark.

The small table used for table-turning in The Sittaford Mystery? It's knocked about more forcefully than usual during the first table-turning session. On the other hand, I can't imagine a table having a temperament, so I don't suppose this is the right answer.

Now my request for a hint: Is the object similar to a small table in the sense that it is rigid, with a constant shape that will not be altered unless the object is broken? Thank you.

cameronjhw 01 Feb 12 at 6:09 p.m. GMT

If anyone would like a hint to my little puzzle let me know

cameronjhw 27 Jan 12 at 2:01 p.m. GMT

Nofret-I'm afraid it is not a pack of cards Poirot used to make card houses.

treplag 27 Jan 12 at 11:46 a.m. GMT

Nofret - There is no evidence that any substitution took place.  The most plausible scenario is that Sugden simply lied about the origin of the piece of rubber.  Furthermore, since the piece of rubber was found in Simeon Lee's room, the logical source of it would have been his sponge bag.

Nofret 27 Jan 12 at 11:31 a.m. GMT

Sugden substituted the remnants of the dying pig balloon for a piece of rubber cut from a (rubber) spongebag, as they were superficially both scraps of rubber, and obviously if Poirot had seen the dying pig he'd immediately realise that the time of death was faked. My (Kindle) edition says it was Mr Lee's spongebag - as Simeon was dead Alfred as the eldest would be known as Mr Lee. Hope that clears it up!

Anyway, back to Cameron's puzzle. Is it the pack of cards that Poirot uses to build card houses in Three Act Tragedy?

NightRayDuck 26 Jan 12 at 9:52 p.m. GMT

aaah well... in my edition Supt. Sugden shows Poirot the items, and Poirot concludes that the piece of rubber is from sponge bag. in my edition there was no mention of whose sponge bag it was cut from.

I think the issue really hangs on: What is a sponge bag like? Is the material likely to pass as a noise-making balloon (the "dying pig")?

treplag 26 Jan 12 at 8:10 p.m. GMT

I never thought I would find myself disputing a claim of Nofret's, but here it is.  In HERCULE POIROT'S CHRISTMAS, Supt. Sugden shows Poirot the objects he confiscated from Pilar after she picked them up following the murder.  They are, of course, a triangular piece of rubber and a wooden peg.  He says that the piece of rubber was cut from a sponge bag, but he only says that because he doesn't want to reveal that it is really the remnant of a "dying pig" balloon.  There was no substitution.  If there had been a substitution, which I admit is possible, it would presumably have been cut from Simeon Lee's sponge bag, not Alfred Lee's.  (My edition of the book is the Black Dog and Leventhal edition, which I mention in case there might be additional information in a different version.)  

cameronjhw 26 Jan 12 at 4:34 p.m. GMT

Oh thank you Nofret I have to admit I was baffled by your object but that just shows your talent to baffle others. I have been racking my brains to come up with one and hopefully this one will keep people guessing for a while. Here it is:

 I am a common object that many people like for one thing or another in their homes. While I was not used for any sinister misdoings the person who used me treated me with such brutal relish in a few chapters. I also have a remarkable and unusual temperment meaning that I can be sweet or sour. The strange thing is that not only was I used in the midst of a murder case but afterwards I was never used by that individual ever again...

Nofret 26 Jan 12 at 4:09 p.m. GMT

You were right the penultimate time, Cameron, the murderer substituted the "dying pig" for a piece of rubber cut from Alfred Lee's sponge-bag. Your turn.

cameronjhw 26 Jan 12 at 2:49 p.m. GMT

treplag-you are right I meant to say a piece of the "dying pig" balloon although I think I may have said that on a previous reply to Nofret's question I'm not sure. So it must be the pig balloon remnant.

treplag 26 Jan 12 at 2:02 p.m. GMT

That piece of rubber was actually a remnant of the pig balloon that made the groaning noise intended to mimic the sound of a man's throat being cut.  It was not cut from a sponge bag.

cameronjhw 26 Jan 12 at 1:56 p.m. GMT

Is it the snipped-out piece of sponge bag or rubber that Superintendent Sugden used to bamboozle the police and Poirot regarding how the killer escaped from old Mr. Lee's locked bedroom in Hercule Poirot's Christmas.

treplag 26 Jan 12 at 11:37 a.m. GMT

If Stephen had been right, you would have said so.  So I will guess that it is "Hercule Poirot's Christmas".

Nofret 26 Jan 12 at 7:35 a.m. GMT

Anyone else want to guess?

StephenNorton 25 Jan 12 at 4:31 p.m. GMT

Well I have a 50:50 chance so I guess it is the one in The MOTOE

Nofret 25 Jan 12 at 4:07 p.m. GMT

Well done, Srephen, and which one was mutilated?

StephenNorton 25 Jan 12 at 12:49 p.m. GMT

I think they are hercule poirot`s Chrsitmas and the murder in the orient express

treplag 25 Jan 12 at 12:24 p.m. GMT

What are the two stories involved?

StephenNorton 25 Jan 12 at 11:51 a.m. GMT

so lets see is it perhaps: dopp kit or a sponge bag or a body hygiene kit  ?

Nofret 25 Jan 12 at 5:20 a.m. GMT

Very well reasoned, Stephen, and you are correct, the object is what we'd call nowadays a toiletries bag (where we pack our toothbrush, flannel, shampoo etc. to go on holiday) But what was it called back in the 1930's?

StephenNorton 24 Jan 12 at 8:12 p.m. GMT

You are right it is a very good possability^^ at least better than all the blind guesses I have made so far^-^ perhaps if we behave very nicely we get another hint^^

NightRayDuck 24 Jan 12 at 8:09 p.m. GMT

ooo! water bottle! it could get poisoned, or someone might drop dead and then afterwards poison is found in the water bottle.

sorry, no, I really have no idea what object this might be. I am just guessing around. :p

StephenNorton 24 Jan 12 at 8:03 p.m. GMT

I agree with you but on the other hand, what other kind of Container would you carry on ajourney, which could have played a role in a poirot investigation?

NightRayDuck 24 Jan 12 at 7:42 p.m. GMT

..trying to imagine Poirot's necessaire attempting to bamboozle him.. Besides, one would take the same thing on a business trip, which is decidedly not a holiday?

How about sort of flat sandals, a.k.a. flip-flops, which is often worn on the beach?

StephenNorton 24 Jan 12 at 7:37 p.m. GMT

So let`s make a resumé:1. The object is something most posses 2. You take it with you on hollidays 3. It is an object which isn`t attributed to the gender 4. It is called differently 5. It was used to trick invetigators 6. Hercule Poirot wasnt tricked by the items 7. It was used twice once with in connection with a serious not fun loving man and as well in connection with a Lady 8. It is a sort of container 9. The use of the object doesnt depend on the means of traveling like train, ships, or planes

I think I have thought about all clues Nofret presented so far.

Now To the interpretation: It is a container a person would usualy take on a holliday. It appeared in two poirot investigations once with a lady and the other time 8actualy the one we are looking for) used by a serious busines manwe would call it by a different name nowadays. So What kind of container played an important role in poirot investigations or what characters would seem to be not fun loveing and serious on the occasion. The way this man traveld is of no interest of the story, so  i would exclude at least the ABC, MOTOEP, DOTN and even EUTS. And Nofret told us she uses IT only for hollidays. So it might be a necessaire (toiletry kit) or something of that kind perhaps a beauty box. Maybe anyone else has a better idea^^

Nofret 24 Jan 12 at 4:42 p.m. GMT

It's not a pistol, and not exactly luggage, though it is a container of sorts. We don't know if, when and how the owner of this object travelled - as for the lady, now, that would be telling!!!

StephenNorton 24 Jan 12 at 1:28 p.m. GMT

may I ask you how those two characters, the lady and the busines like man traveled (by train, plane, or by a boat /ship)?

Tommy_A_Jones 24 Jan 12 at 1:16 p.m. GMT

Is it a Pistol? There were 2 in Death On The Nile some were on Holiday

StephenNorton 24 Jan 12 at 6:15 a.m. GMT

it sounds like some sort of lugagge but I cant figure out from witch story it might be from

Nofret 24 Jan 12 at 6:11 a.m. GMT

It's not sunglasses. I only use mine for holidays and travelling, in one story one was used by a lady on a journey, the other was owned by a man who did not seem the fun-loving, holidaying type!

NightRayDuck 23 Jan 12 at 11:02 p.m. GMT

Is this item sunglasses, which used to be called shades and smoked glasses? I wouldn't know which story this appears in, tho.

treplag - you're welcome. It's a good story, once you get used to the way that the writer (being a stage actor himself) sometimes write out all the positions of the furniture and the characters.

Nofret 23 Jan 12 at 7:04 p.m. GMT

Not a bathing suit, and not the voodoo doll.

cameronjhw 23 Jan 12 at 12:46 p.m. GMT

Is it the voodoo doll made of melted candles which was stuck through the heart by a pin in Evil Under the Sun.

StephenNorton 23 Jan 12 at 9:40 a.m. GMT

is it perhaps the bathing suit from evil under the sun?

Nofret 23 Jan 12 at 5:56 a.m. GMT

It's not a hypodermic syringe, Cameron.

Duck, you picked up on my "holiday" clue, but it's not a sunhat.

treplag 22 Jan 12 at 10:28 p.m. GMT

Thanks, Ray, for enlightening me (pun intended).  I never read BLACK COFFEE.  I wasn't sure if I ever would, since AC didn't write the novel, but maybe now I will.

NightRayDuck 22 Jan 12 at 9:19 p.m. GMT

treplag - I've always wanted to look this up, too. The use of spills is obvious when you read about it in the playscript-turned-novel Black Coffee featuring Poirot, but I couldn't imagine what it was made of or what it looked like.

Spill: a slender piece of wood or of twisted paper, for lighting

candles, lamps, etc.

--from Dictionary.com

NightRayDuck 22 Jan 12 at 9:16 p.m. GMT

This reply contains spoiler information. Show reply

Maybe this object is a wide-brimmed sunhat? The one that is mutilated, I think, is the cardboard one which is cut up and disposed of after use, in Evil Under the Sun.

cameronjhw 22 Jan 12 at 5:32 p.m. GMT

Is it a hypodermic syringe from Appointment with Death

treplag 22 Jan 12 at 4:04 p.m. GMT

Would somebody mind telling me what "spills" are?  Are they a British thing?

Nofret 22 Jan 12 at 6:07 a.m. GMT

Good thinking, except I don't think many of us use spills nowadays!

 Have you booked your holidays yet?

GKCfan 21 Jan 12 at 8 p.m. GMT

Spill vases?  (The Mysterious Affair at Styles and Black Coffee).

Nofret 21 Jan 12 at 4:33 p.m. GMT

Neither - Don't forget there were 2 like me in 2 different investigations.

cameronjhw 21 Jan 12 at 2:49 p.m. GMT

Is it the dying pig balloon from Hercule Poirot's Christmas or is it the tennis raquet filled with jewels in Cat Among the Pigeons

Nofret 21 Jan 12 at 6:02 a.m. GMT

On the two occasions that we were connected with criminal investigations, we didn't fool that little chap from Belgium!

cameronjhw 20 Jan 12 at 12:42 p.m. GMT

Is the object from a Poirot or Marple novel?

Nofret 20 Jan 12 at 10:56 a.m. GMT

Not a rucksack, but there are certain similarities.

cameronjhw 19 Jan 12 at 7:42 p.m. GMT

Is it the slashed rucksack of Leonard Bateson from Hickory Dickory Dock.

Nofret 19 Jan 12 at 3:56 p.m. GMT

I now have a lovely mental picture of you in pince-nez and a stole, Cameron!  Seriously, though, neither is correct, nor is Tommy's lorgnette.

cameronjhw 19 Jan 12 at 3:09 p.m. GMT

It is the pince-nez that was used to confuse Poirot and Japp in Lord Edgware Dies or is it Miss Van Schuyler's stole in Death on the Nile

Tommy_A_Jones 19 Jan 12 at 2:10 p.m. GMT

Lorgnette?

Nofret 19 Jan 12 at 5:36 a.m. GMT

Thank you, Mr G.

You may own one like me, although I understand that we're called something different nowadays. On two separate occasions we were used to bamboozle investigators - I'm the one which was mutilated!

Mr_Graves 18 Jan 12 at 5:41 a.m. GMT

Once again, Nofret, you have guessed correctly. Well done! Your turn now to baffle us all.

Nofret 17 Jan 12 at 5:23 a.m. GMT

Is it the coffee cup in Ordeal By Innocence? The person who realised the significence of it being empty is stabbed.

Mr_Graves 17 Jan 12 at 1:19 a.m. GMT

Good guess, cameronjhw, but not the wax flower container. Another hint: An attempt was made on the life of the person who realised the significance of this object when it broke.

treplag 15 Jan 12 at 8:37 p.m. GMT

TheQueenOfCrime - "Folly" is the answer to the original puzzle, but that is not the current puzzle.  You have to scroll down the most recent posts to see the current one.

TheQueenOfCrime 15 Jan 12 at 7:51 p.m. GMT

Slightly confusing as 'architecture' is a word used in relation to a building or buildings or other 'large' structure or structures. 

cameronjhw 15 Jan 12 at 7:13 p.m. GMT

Is it the glass container with the wax flowers that was accidently broken by Helen Abernethie in After the Funeral

Mr_Graves 15 Jan 12 at 6:08 p.m. GMT

None of the guesses so far are correct. A vase probably comes closest to the type of object this is, but not a vase, no. This object is from a novel, and it did not kill anybody. It was merely seen as suspicious (when it broke) and a killer was clearly indicated. I hope that's of some help.

treplag 15 Jan 12 at 1:39 p.m. GMT

NightRayDuck - Thanks for the clarification.  I thought that was a particularly ingenious attempted murder.  Too bad about the cat.

TheQueenOfCrime 15 Jan 12 at 8:25 a.m. GMT

This reply contains spoiler information. Show reply

Would it be the Folly?

NightRayDuck 15 Jan 12 at 1:26 a.m. GMT

treplag - the story you mean is titled "The Face of Helen" (referring to the young woman so beautiful that young men fight over her). fyi. :-)

treplag 14 Jan 12 at 6:28 p.m. GMT

This reply contains spoiler information. Show reply

The vase containing poison that is broken by the voice of an opera singer on the radio in a short story, the title of which I can't remember. (It might have been "Wireless"). No person was killed, only a cat.

Tommy_A_Jones 13 Jan 12 at 1:39 p.m. GMT

A Bar of Soap in The Pink Pearl

cameronjhw 12 Jan 12 at 1:46 p.m. GMT

Is it the marble bear clock that was used to kill Blore in And Then There Were None or is it the broken-down wooden garden chair that the murderer "stood" on to stage the second murder in Crooked House

Nofret 12 Jan 12 at 8:39 a.m. GMT

A bit convoluted perhaps, but, a piece of bread? In The Big Four the identity of Number Four was revealed by his habit of breaking his bread and using it to dab up crumbs!

NightRayDuck 11 Jan 12 at 9:39 p.m. GMT

Piece of paper? Or perhaps piece of fabric?

Mr_Graves 11 Jan 12 at 6:33 p.m. GMT

The guesses have been good, but none correct so far. I will say that this object does not appear in a Poirot or Miss Marple story. Also, it is fragile and very functional.

treplag 11 Jan 12 at 1:58 p.m. GMT

All the guesses so far have been good answers, because the clue is not specific enough.

Nofret 10 Jan 12 at 10:24 a.m. GMT

This reply contains spoiler information. Show reply

Is it the pearl necklace worn by the murderer in A Murder is Announced to cover up a scar?

cameronjhw 08 Jan 12 at 4:58 p.m. GMT

Is it the Shepherdess lamp or the Harmon's lamp that their cat got caught on in A Murder is Announced or Ratchett's watch which was smashed to create confusion with the time of death in Murder on the Orient Express.

Mr_Graves 07 Jan 12 at 8:09 p.m. GMT

Not a suntan bottle or an item of food. I should say that when I mentioned the David Suchet adaptation, I was referring to the wedding cake in "After the Funeral", the previous clue I got right. So the current object has not been filmed for the "Poirot" series.

Tommy_A_Jones 07 Jan 12 at 2:04 p.m. GMT

The Christmas Pudding in The Adventure of The Christmas Pudding

cameronjhw 06 Jan 12 at 6:27 p.m. GMT

Is it the suntan bottle that was thrown out of a window and almost hit Emily Brewster in Evil Under the Sun

Mr_Graves 06 Jan 12 at 5:53 p.m. GMT

How fortunate that I happened to have watched the adaptation with David Suchet when this clue was made! Right-o, here's my clue:

I wasn't used to kill anybody, but I flatter myself that I am still important. Something about me (and when I broke, no less!) pointed suspicion at the guilty party.

GKCfan 21 Dec 11 at 8:09 p.m. GMT

Mr_Graves is right!  It's the wedding cake slice from After the Funeral!  And the characters are Georges and Mr. Goby!

Tommy_A_Jones 21 Dec 11 at 1:49 p.m. GMT

Are the 2 Charrcters Mr Goby and George?

Mr_Graves 21 Dec 11 at 5:57 a.m. GMT

Could it be the piece of wedding cake from "After the Funeral", which poisoned Miss Gilchrist badly, but not fatally? George, I believe, appeared in this book, as did Mr Goby. The white substance is probably the icing!

GKCfan 20 Dec 11 at 5:53 p.m. GMT

Sorry, Superintendent Spence, Colonel Race, and Mrs. Oliver are not in this novel.  Of the two friends of Poirot I'm referring to, one has been portrayed multiple times on the Suchet series of Poirot, but the other character is more obscure and not as well known despite his multiple appearances.

Tommy_A_Jones 20 Dec 11 at 2:27 p.m. GMT

Or Spence as Race, Ariadne and Spence are in more than 1 Poirot

Tommy_A_Jones 20 Dec 11 at 10:54 a.m. GMT

Is Ariadne or Race in it? If not the answer to my Question would be yes

GKCfan 19 Dec 11 at 7:41 p.m. GMT

Well... Captain Hastings, Inspector Japp, and Miss Lemon do not appear (as far as I can remember, Miss Lemon does not have one of her one-line cameos in this book), but at least two recurring characters appear in this book.  And one of these recurring characters appears in Cat Among the Pigeons.

Tommy_A_Jones 19 Dec 11 at 11:25 a.m. GMT

And is it another with None of Poirot's recurring Friends likeCat Among The Pigeons?

GKCfan 17 Dec 11 at 6:07 p.m. GMT

No, sorry.  Remember, this object is used to injure, not kill.  But it is from a Poirot story.

Tommy_A_Jones 17 Dec 11 at 11:11 a.m. GMT

Is it part of the Contraption used to kill the old man in Hercule Poirot's Christmas?

GKCfan 15 Dec 11 at 3:53 a.m. GMT

"I am a part of a larger object, but it can be safely assumed that the vast majority of this larger object no longer exists.  I was either purchased or made by the person who deliberately destroyed a part of me and carefully saved the rest of me, and I had been tampered with so that no one could use me in the way I was intended to be used without coming to harm.  Oh yes... I had the potential to kill somebody but I was only used to injure and not kill.  And part of me is covered with a white substance..."

NightRayDuck 14 Dec 11 at 11:13 p.m. GMT

yes, GKCfan, "T.A." brooch is correct! your turn.

GKCfan 14 Dec 11 at 5:01 a.m. GMT

The "T.A." brooch in Dumb Witness.

NightRayDuck 14 Dec 11 at 2:04 a.m. GMT

The story is not seasonal.

I may as well be honest and tell you that this item decorates a person; I mean, it is a clothing accessory, personal adornment, item of that nature.

Tommy_A_Jones 13 Dec 11 at 11:26 a.m. GMT

Is the Object in a book which is seasonal?

NightRayDuck 12 Dec 11 at 7:14 p.m. GMT

Thank you, Tommy.

"I am a piece of decoration. I am not involved in any crime, but my owner flaunted me, inducing the presence of another item very much like me and yet completely different. And a witness made a mistake in identity that could have landed my owner in very serious trouble."

Tommy_A_Jones 09 Dec 11 at 11:35 a.m. GMT

Well done Ray, You have it The Telephone I meant was the one where Nigel took the call which was supposed to exonerate him from the Charge of Murder, I hope I am correct Telephones can help because they can be used to Phone the Police or Doctors and throw People like Poirot off the scent which it also did in Murder At The Vicarage.

Your Turn Ray

NightRayDuck 09 Dec 11 at 1 a.m. GMT

oooh telephone?

telephones can be useful, but might also be used to waste people's time. and in Hickory Dickory Dock, there's the phone call to the police station while a lodger is sitting with the cops with urgent information.

(I am sorry I can't remember exactly which phone was used to make that phone call.)

Tommy_A_Jones 08 Dec 11 at 12:59 p.m. GMT

Many Christie Characters have one and in other books with other Sleuths they are more importrant but I think the role it playeed in Hickory Dickory Dock makes it Eligable for Guess The Object

Tommy_A_Jones 07 Dec 11 at 1:32 p.m. GMT

No sorry

Nofret 07 Dec 11 at 12:55 p.m. GMT

Is it the light bulbs that were removed so that the police didn't recognise a certain person?

Tommy_A_Jones 06 Dec 11 at 2:03 p.m. GMT

Just re-read my last post, meant to say because not gecause, I felt this Object was important enough to use.

Tommy_A_Jones 06 Dec 11 at 12:40 p.m. GMT

I must have misinterpreted the Rules, This Object is not Evidrnce but the use of it is used to Confuse, Gecause of the way the object is used I think it is very important, The Object can in most cases help but as I said in my teaser not in this case, I am sorry It is so hard I hope I have been fair, I think I have, If It turns out I haven't I am sorry.

Just to be Clear it isnot a Paperweight but one word of your answer Ray shows you are getting Closer

NightRayDuck 05 Dec 11 at 7:51 p.m. GMT

Tommy, I wonder if you meant "crime scene evidence" when your clue mentioned "could help or hinder", "useful if used responsibly"?

when "used to evade the law", then it's a planted piece of evidence. in Hickory, Dickory, Dock, I suppose the hair found in Pat's hand would fit this clue best..

InspectorGrant 05 Dec 11 at 4:25 p.m. GMT

Is it the paper weight used as a murder weapon in Hickory, Dickory, Dock?

Tommy_A_Jones 05 Dec 11 at 10:56 a.m. GMT

No, Neither is correct, It is nothing to do with Paper.

InspectorGrant 05 Dec 11 at 4:23 a.m. GMT

Is it the morphine tartrate used to murder one of the students in Hickory, Dickory, Dock?

Nofret 04 Dec 11 at 3:28 p.m. GMT

Is it one of Valerie's forged passports?

InspectorGrant 04 Dec 11 at 1:09 p.m. GMT

Is it the bottle of ink which was spilled over a student's papers?

Tommy_A_Jones 04 Dec 11 at 11:11 a.m. GMT

Not a Stethoscope but my Teaser relates to something in that Book.

NightRayDuck 03 Dec 11 at 8:10 p.m. GMT

stethoscope? it's used by doctors, nurses, safe-cracking thieves, and some other occupations that require close listening.

there's the one that Nigel Chapman used to pretend that he's a doctor, in Hickory Dickory Dock.

Tommy_A_Jones 03 Dec 11 at 2:06 p.m. GMT

Not a Doctors Bag, Not a Plant, You don't have to have a specific Occupation to have this object which is in a Poirot Novel according to my Teaser. The Book has 1 other reccurring Character

InspectorGrant 03 Dec 11 at 12:52 p.m. GMT

Is it a Doctor's Bag?

Nofret 03 Dec 11 at 12:20 p.m. GMT

What about a castor oil plant, as in The House of Lurking Death? It produces not only castor oil, which is beneficial, but the poison ricin.

Tommy_A_Jones 03 Dec 11 at 10:51 a.m. GMT

No, one did appear in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd at least one actually but that is not the Book I was thinking of ewhen I came up with the clue.

Nofret 03 Dec 11 at 9:16 a.m. GMT

This reply contains spoiler information. Show reply

The tape recorder in The Morder of Roger Ackroyd?

NightRayDuck 02 Dec 11 at 10:03 p.m. GMT

I hope this object does not mind me asking... what is its approximate size? for example, would one measure it in inches, or in feet? thank you.

Tommy_A_Jones 02 Dec 11 at 1:07 p.m. GMT

Oh well it isn't that, This is a usefull object Usually.

Nofret 01 Dec 11 at 3:55 p.m. GMT

It's a grinding stone!

Tommy_A_Jones 01 Dec 11 at 1:27 p.m. GMT

No I can't even remember what a quern is, I don't like that book so wouldn't choose that book for any quiz.

Nofret 01 Dec 11 at 8:19 a.m. GMT

Is it the fatal quern from Murder in Mesopotamia?

Tommy_A_Jones 29 Nov 11 at 11:23 a.m. GMT

I thought I had already indicated it was a Poirot Novel but I hadn't actually said so I don't think sorry.

InspectorGrant 29 Nov 11 at 5:49 a.m. GMT

Tommy, is it a Poirot or a Miss Marple story?

Tommy_A_Jones 28 Nov 11 at 11:44 a.m. GMT

No both wrong, shawls can be worn so it wouldn't be that.

InspectorGrant 28 Nov 11 at 7:47 a.m. GMT

The shawl used  in 'Death on the Nile' ?

Nofret 28 Nov 11 at 6:27 a.m. GMT

I've got an idea that the object is a walking-stick, it can help someone with mobility problems, but can also be used as a weapon. I think that Poirot possessed one, but can't remember one being used to elude the law!

Tommy_A_Jones 27 Nov 11 at 11:29 a.m. GMT

You don't put this object in your Mouth and it is not anything to do with Toxicology so is not a syringe or poison, you don't eat it or Drink it and it isn't Clothing.

NightRayDuck 26 Nov 11 at 7:35 p.m. GMT

hmm.. thermometer is a pretty useful accessory in faking a severe illness so as to seem the person couldn't possibly have got up and around to commit the crime. I don't know of such instance of thermometer use in Christie stories, tho.

toxic heavy metal, such as mercury, is not for eating or drinking or wearing, but can be used as a weapon by feeding or plastering the target with it.. but then it's simply a slightly more elusive murder weapon, not a means to evade the law. hmm.

Tommy_A_Jones 25 Nov 11 at 1:33 p.m. GMT

No It is not worn and You can't Hold Magic or superstition and which you can this Object and if you can't hold it you sure can Touch it.

Nofret 25 Nov 11 at 12:08 p.m. GMT

This reply contains spoiler information. Show reply

How about Magic and Superstition? You can't eat or drink it and it was used as an alibi in The Pale Horse?

NightRayDuck 25 Nov 11 at 2:36 a.m. GMT

huge sunhat that "Lady" Stubbs wears in Dead Man's Folly? used in normal context it might be fashionable and would certainly keep out the sunlight. used in a silly manner the person wearing such a huge hat may well trip over her own feet.

Tommy_A_Jones 24 Nov 11 at 12:46 p.m. GMT

No, Nothing you can eat, Drink or swallow.

InspectorGrant 24 Nov 11 at 11:36 a.m. GMT

The box of poisoned chocs in 'Three Act Tragedy'?

Tommy_A_Jones 24 Nov 11 at 11:30 a.m. GMT

No It is not a Container of any Kind.

Nofret 24 Nov 11 at 8:13 a.m. GMT

The vase full of water in Halloween Party?

Tommy_A_Jones 19 Nov 11 at 11:16 a.m. GMT

When I say no I mean I am pretty sure there isn't a person in Bandages in this Case, If someone picks the right Novel and I am wrong I apologise Ray but you are right it is not in The Labours of Hercules which as you say isn't a Novel, I shall give you a slight clue the Book has been Done by ITV.

Tommy_A_Jones 19 Nov 11 at 10:28 a.m. GMT

No

NightRayDuck 19 Nov 11 at 1:57 a.m. GMT

Was there any criminal in a Christie novel who used bandages as a disguise? In a way similar to the brutal criminal in "The Erymanthean Boar" (which is, unfortunately, a short story, and so would not fit the clue)?

Tommy_A_Jones 17 Nov 11 at 11:30 a.m. GMT

In case noone noticed it my Hint was Ray and Nofret are on the right lines but The Object in this instance is not in a short story.

Tommy_A_Jones 16 Nov 11 at 1:21 p.m. GMT

No Neither right, Nofret You also didn't notice my Hint.

Nofret 16 Nov 11 at 8:05 a.m. GMT

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Is it from Why Didn't They Ask Evans, the substance used by Moira to drug herself so as to divert suspicion from her. I think it was chloroform.

NightRayDuck 15 Nov 11 at 11:42 p.m. GMT

I wonder... was it some type of sleeping drought or knock-out drop that was used to, perhaps, put a police detective to sleep?

Tommy_A_Jones 15 Nov 11 at 2:05 p.m. GMT

No, You didn't notice my Clue! 

InspectorGrant 15 Nov 11 at 1:41 p.m. GMT

The eyedrops used in 'Crooked House' ?

Tommy_A_Jones 15 Nov 11 at 11:34 a.m. GMT

No Neither but like  Nofret you are both on the right lines

NightRayDuck 15 Nov 11 at 4:32 a.m. GMT

a wheel-chair? in Peril at End House, a criminal is injured while running from police pursuit, and afterwards stays in a wheel-chair and assumes a false identity.

Nofret 14 Nov 11 at 4:49 p.m. GMT

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Is it the Apomorphine hydrochloride used in Sad Cypress/

Tommy_A_Jones 14 Nov 11 at 11:29 a.m. GMT

To help you along I will tell you in this instance the Object is not in a Short story.

Tommy_A_Jones 11 Nov 11 at 11:34 a.m. GMT

What you are referring to Treplag is the initial opening introduction to the game, If you scrolled down further you would see the current poser.

NightRayDuck 11 Nov 11 at 3:27 a.m. GMT

well treplag, the forum doesn't allow users removing anything that's been posted for more than half hour, and it has no mechanism of removing the first post and keeping the latest posts.

be a sport and play along~~ you'll always find the latest puzzle within the first or second pages of replies.

treplag 10 Nov 11 at 6:50 p.m. GMT

The answer to the original post by NightRayDuck is unquestionably "a folly".  It begins "I am a piece of architecture".  This is misleading and should be removed.

Tommy_A_Jones 10 Nov 11 at 3:01 p.m. GMT

It has nothing to do with Architecture

Tommy_A_Jones 10 Nov 11 at 1:43 p.m. GMT

No this Object is not a vehicle and not a Folly.

ARCPAC 10 Nov 11 at 3:57 a.m. GMT

  The object mentioned is a folly as in Dead Man's Folly.

NightRayDuck 09 Nov 11 at 11:03 p.m. GMT

I think this object might be a car, or some other vehicle of transport.

Tommy_A_Jones 09 Nov 11 at 2 p.m. GMT

No.

treplag 08 Nov 11 at 8:44 p.m. GMT

The object is a folly, aka gazebo. The book was DEAD MAN'S FOLLY.

CRIS_CH 08 Nov 11 at 8:37 p.m. GMT

the bricks removed behind  the picture in the wall

CRIS_CH 08 Nov 11 at 8:36 p.m. GMT

the bricks removed behind  the picture in the wall

CRIS_CH 08 Nov 11 at 8:36 p.m. GMT

the bricks removed behind  the picture in the wall

Tommy_A_Jones 08 Nov 11 at 2:57 p.m. GMT

No

cameronjhw 08 Nov 11 at 1:35 p.m. GMT

Is the object a revolver (gun)

Tommy_A_Jones 08 Nov 11 at 11:33 a.m. GMT

No Not Alcohol.

Nofret 08 Nov 11 at 7:43 a.m. GMT

Is the object alcohol? I'm thinking of the story The Under Dog, where Charles Leverson pretends to be drunk to avoid being questioned by Victor.

Tommy_A_Jones 05 Nov 11 at 11:13 a.m. GMT

I will go next if I may, "I am Functional and useful when used responsibly, I can help and Hinder, In this case I was used to evade the law but it didn't work"

NightRayDuck 04 Nov 11 at 8:07 p.m. GMT

Well let's see.. of the three characteristics of this wrapping: 1) appears in The Secret of Chimneys 2) originally wraps around the manuscript of Count Stylptitch, and 3) is with the "Virginia Revel" love letters when stolen..

Tommy gets 1 point for Secret of Chimneys, 0.5 point for manuscript, and 0.8 point for love letters; total of 2.3 points.

GKCfan gets 1 point for Secret of Chimneys.

Either Tommy or GKCfan gets to post the next puzzle, I think. Enjoy! :D

carlotta_adams 04 Nov 11 at 12:41 a.m. GMT

I haven't read it, but could it possibly in the book The Big Four? Its about conspiricy and that kind of stuff, right?

Tommy_A_Jones 03 Nov 11 at 11:43 a.m. GMT

Were the othe papers the Manuscript of King Nicholas

Tommy_A_Jones 03 Nov 11 at 10:55 a.m. GMT

I stupidly said The Seven Dials Mystery when I should have said The Secret of Chimneys when I said Seven Dials but as I have no idea what the wrapping was I am out of it.

GKCfan 03 Nov 11 at 3:12 a.m. GMT

Is the book The Secret of Chimneys?

NightRayDuck 03 Nov 11 at 1:01 a.m. GMT

ah! Tommy, care to reconsider the book that the wrapping appears in? and what type of papers the wrapping had come with, and what type of papers got stolen with the wrapping afterwards?

good luck!

Tommy_A_Jones 02 Nov 11 at 3:11 p.m. GMT

Is the Novel The Seven Dials Mystery the Wrapping covering Love Letters.

Nofret 02 Nov 11 at 5:29 a.m. GMT

Is the book The Secret Adversary, and the object the wrapping of the blank piece of paper the Jane Finn substituted for the treaty?

NightRayDuck 02 Nov 11 at 2:04 a.m. GMT

This object = wrapping does not appear in Destination Unknown.

Time for another hint, perhaps..

The thief was probably very surprised. The criminals who put the thief on the job were probably very surprised and very angry.

GKCfan 01 Nov 11 at 6:18 p.m. GMT

is the book Destination Unknown?

NightRayDuck 01 Nov 11 at 4:05 p.m. GMT

This object does not appear in Passenger to Frankfurt.

Tommy_A_Jones 01 Nov 11 at 1:37 p.m. GMT

Does this object appear in Passenger to Frankfurt?

NightRayDuck 29 Oct 11 at 4:22 p.m. GMT

This object does not appear in The Man in the Brown Suit. However, you're on the right track that this object appears in one of the somewhat thriller / international conspiracy stories by Christie.

Also, this item is not known to be bought during the course of the novel. This item = wrapping simply came wrapped along with the contents which also were not bought by characters who have handled them.

Tommy_A_Jones 29 Oct 11 at 1:43 p.m. GMT

Is it the objects Suzy bought that Sir Eustace was moaning about in The Man In The Brown Suit?

NightRayDuck 28 Oct 11 at 6:13 p.m. GMT

This wrapping does not appear in a Poirot book.

Tommy_A_Jones 28 Oct 11 at 2:14 p.m. GMT

Is the Book a Poirot book

NightRayDuck 27 Oct 11 at 8:45 a.m. GMT

um, this object = wrapping appears in a novel with multiple deaths and whole lots of crime and conspiracy. hope that helps.

Nofret 27 Oct 11 at 8:01 a.m. GMT

Is it the Parker Pyne story The Case of the City Clerk, where potty Professor Peterfield puts a recipe in his safe instead of the secret plans?

NightRayDuck 26 Oct 11 at 5:36 p.m. GMT

sorry, Tommy, it's not stockings. none of the wrapped items had been jewels, either.

hmm.. I might say that the *main / intended* crime in this novel was theft, and the murders were by-products of the theft case. although, depending on the perspective / priorities of the various characters in the story, some would say that one of the murders was much worse than the theft.

good luck~

Tommy_A_Jones 26 Oct 11 at 2:06 p.m. GMT

Stockings that the Jewels stolen by Mrs Van Schuler were wrapperd up in.

NightRayDuck 25 Oct 11 at 9:10 p.m. GMT

I'll say this first, since it's straight about the quiz object = the wrapping. This wrapping appears in a novel, and its material hasn't been specified. That is, in reading through the novel, I only found "unwrapped the _____" "wrapped it around ------". No mention whether this wrapping had been paper, cloth, oilskin, etc.

So, to your questions..

This wrapping appears in a novel.

The novel has at least one group of criminals, and at least one of them is a woman. Some of the criminals commit murders, some commit thefts, and several other types of crimes. Hope that helps.

Tommy_A_Jones 25 Oct 11 at 11:27 a.m. GMT

I think I know the book, what it was wrapped in and the Thief but can I remember what the wrapping is? No I can't, Was the Thief a Woman and was it in a Murder Mystery which was not committed by the Thief?

NightRayDuck 24 Oct 11 at 6:09 p.m. GMT

good guess, Tommy, but this item is not the raquet. this item is literally the wrapping, like the old newspaper wrapped around fish-n-chips, or the jolly-colored paper around a boxed gift. take another guess. :-)

Tommy_A_Jones 24 Oct 11 at 11:18 a.m. GMT

The Tennis Raquet that was swapped for another in Cat Among The Pigeons but I think the thief stole the one that was swapped.

NightRayDuck 24 Oct 11 at 12:56 a.m. GMT

Thank you.

"I am simply a wrapping, an outer covering for something of some value. The current custodian of that item carelessly stuffed me away with some other items. And a thief came, I'd suppose, looking for the item I had been with, but took me away with a different item, by mistake probably. Well, the thief probably ended up being very surprised."

Nofret 23 Oct 11 at 8:08 a.m. GMT

Well done, Duck! She was carrying an evening bag, even though it was lunchtime, and the fake diamond was removed from the clasp.

Your turn.

NightRayDuck 22 Oct 11 at 8:18 p.m. GMT

The young lady's handbag in "The Regatta Mystery", solved by Mr. Parker Pyne? The young lady has been carrying the handbag while out in the sun amidst the Regatta festivities. Some time during the meal in the restaurant, a large decorative "diamond" disappears from its setting on the handbag.

Nofret 22 Oct 11 at 3:25 p.m. GMT

No, it's not a Tommy and Tuppence story, but another well-known Christie character solves the problem.

Tommy_A_Jones 22 Oct 11 at 1:53 p.m. GMT

Sorry, I thought for one strange minute it was a different game but I still think the evening bag is in this Story.

Tommy_A_Jones 22 Oct 11 at 12:59 p.m. GMT

Is it the T&T short story which had a woman going of to a Health Clinic because she didn't want to lose her Fiance, T&T went to the wrong Village at first and then Tommy was annoyed when he learnt the truth.

Nofret 22 Oct 11 at 8:32 a.m. GMT

Yes, it is a short story, Miss E, but neither Miss M nor Poirot appear in it.

Miss_Eylesbarrow 22 Oct 11 at 7:55 a.m. GMT

This has got to be from a short story, Nofret.  I'm not so good at those....Can I narrow it down, is it a short story containing/reported by either Miss M or Poirot?

Nofret 21 Oct 11 at 6:10 a.m. GMT

Yes, Miss E, I am an evening bag! But what story did I appear in?

Miss_Eylesbarrow 20 Oct 11 at 6:24 p.m. GMT

Is there a short story where an evening bag is involved?  I can't think of a novel where something like that happens... Oh, how about the pom pom which is removed from the Pierrot costume in The King of Clubs?

Nofret 20 Oct 11 at 6:56 a.m. GMT

Aha, Miss E, you're getting close!

Miss_Eylesbarrow 19 Oct 11 at 6:32 p.m. GMT

Is it an item worn by a lady in the evenings?  Something like a shoe or wrap of some kind?

Nofret 19 Oct 11 at 4:14 p.m. GMT

It's not any kind of art work.

 Ladies, you would understand why I shouldn't be out in the daytime!

InspectorGrant 19 Oct 11 at 12:09 p.m. GMT

Is it an art work of some kind?  A painting, perhaps?

Nofret 19 Oct 11 at 5:08 a.m. GMT

No, it's not a piece of jewellery (wish I really did own a lovely golden lions necklace!)

de_misteri 19 Oct 11 at 4:04 a.m. GMT

Hmm- is it Nofret's golden lions necklace in Death Comes As the End???

Nofret 18 Oct 11 at 7:28 p.m. GMT

Good guees, Tommy, but not Miss Blacklock's pearls.

Miss E, it's nothing to do with hair, just an ornamental addition to the object.

Miss_Eylesbarrow 18 Oct 11 at 7:09 p.m. GMT

does 'crowning glory' have it's usual meaning here - i.e. a woman's hair?

Tommy_A_Jones 18 Oct 11 at 2:12 p.m. GMT

Is it the Pearls worn by Letttie Blacklock to cover up a scar

Nofret 18 Oct 11 at 9:39 a.m. GMT

Nothing to do with artificial light, Duck. De misteri is closer, but the owner of this object is a lot cleverer than Arlena Marshall.

NightRayDuck 18 Oct 11 at 4:18 a.m. GMT

something that produces artificial light and therefore shouldn't be needed outside in the daytime? like a torch, flashlight, flare?

de_misteri 18 Oct 11 at 1:06 a.m. GMT

Pearls, or something? Something owned by Arlena Marshall, or someone of the same kind of personality? Hmm...

Nofret 17 Oct 11 at 5:16 a.m. GMT

Thank you, de misteri. Try this one.

Well, really! What a way to treat me! For a start, I shouldn't really be out in the daytime. And then to be mutilated - robbed of my crowning glory! Though of course my owner is not all that they seem.......

de_misteri 16 Oct 11 at 8:21 p.m. GMT

Well done Nofret! That was easy -.-

Now is your turn :D

Nofret 16 Oct 11 at 9:16 a.m. GMT

Mrs Van Schuyler's shawl that hid the gun, and muffled its sound in Death on the Nile?

de_misteri 16 Oct 11 at 6:49 a.m. GMT

No, sorry GKCfan.

Here's another clue: I hid something something quite dangerous. I also hid a sound.

You must name what my object is, what it hid and what book it is from.

GKCfan 16 Oct 11 at 5:52 a.m. GMT

The backpack (later ripped open to find the diamonds) in Hickory Dickory Dock?

de_misteri 16 Oct 11 at 12:57 a.m. GMT

I am somebody's possession that goes missing.

I was used to hide something. This is definitely not my normal purpose. I am found by accident later.

 

Mr_Graves 15 Oct 11 at 10:46 p.m. GMT

Well done, de_misteri! Although I realise that significant piano stools are few and far between in Agatha Christie... Still, you have answered correctly, and it is now your turn.

de_misteri 14 Oct 11 at 8:41 a.m. GMT

The missing pistol, cocealed under very old music in the piano stool in they do it with mirrors. The  pistol is found by Inspector Curry.

Mr_Graves 13 Oct 11 at 9:59 p.m. GMT

The object in question is a piano seat, yes! But the winner must name the novel, the incongruous object which was placed inside it, and the character who was reminiscing. Good luck!

Miss_Eylesbarrow 13 Oct 11 at 6:41 p.m. GMT

I was also thinking of a piano stool, Inspector Grant, but I can't think of a novel containing one.  Puzzling.....

InspectorGrant 13 Oct 11 at 3:22 p.m. GMT

Is it a piece of music in a piano seat?

Tommy_A_Jones 13 Oct 11 at 11:25 a.m. GMT

The bit underneath the seat in a Copartment on a Train, The Victim in The Mystery of The Blue Train was found there.

Mr_Graves 12 Oct 11 at 8:42 p.m. GMT

This object is to be found in a full-length novel featuring a recurring detective. The object does have a space underneath a seat (possibly cushioned) and this space is generally quite well-used. There were quite a few things in it, the sort of thing you would expect...

NightRayDuck 12 Oct 11 at 5:56 p.m. GMT

if "compartment" is still a close enough description of the object... how about sort of space under a cushion of a sofa? or such nook & cranny found in an item of furniture? or maybe space under sofa, just above the floor?

Miss_Eylesbarrow 12 Oct 11 at 4:08 p.m. GMT

Is this object to be found in a novel or short story/play, Mr Graves?

Tommy_A_Jones 12 Oct 11 at 1:31 p.m. GMT

Is it the thing that contains among other things the skis in The Sittaford Mystery

AriadneOliver491 12 Oct 11 at 6:35 a.m. GMT

This reply contains spoiler information. Show reply

The Folly, in Dead Man's Folly. The prodigal son is Sir George, and the rather foreign gentleman is Hercule Poirot.

Mr_Graves 11 Oct 11 at 7:33 p.m. GMT

This object is indeed a piece of furniture, but for some reason I tend to consider it quite minor. It isn't all that big. This is not "Why Didn't They Ask Evans", Tommy, I drew attention to the Welsh dresser because there is one in the same sort of area in the house where these object live. Phew!

Tommy_A_Jones 11 Oct 11 at 11:38 a.m. GMT

Does the Character Reminiscing appear in Why Didn't They Ask Evans?

Miss_Eylesbarrow 10 Oct 11 at 4:05 p.m. GMT

Mr Graves, when you say 'may be considered as furniture' is that because the object isn't normally viewed a furniture?  Is the piece of furniture to be found in a house?

Mr_Graves 09 Oct 11 at 1:44 a.m. GMT

The person being reminiscent is a man, and the object is smaller, I should imagine, than a Welsh dresser. Funny you mentioning a Welsh dresser actually... Oh, and not a drawer of a bureau, Miss Eyelsbarrow. Good to hear from you!

Mr_Graves 09 Oct 11 at 1:43 a.m. GMT

The person being reminiscent is a man, and the object is smaller, I should imagine, than a Welsh dresser. Funny you mentioning a Welsh dresser actually...

Tommy_A_Jones 08 Oct 11 at 3:19 p.m. GMT

Was the person being Reminiscent a Woman, I have a feeling I know what this object MIGHT be but wether this object actually exists or wether it is just my emagination I do not know, Is it a Welsh Dresser

Miss_Eylesbarrow 08 Oct 11 at 9:26 a.m. GMT

Is it the envelope which is found in the secret drawer of the bureau in Spider's Web?  Nice to be back with you all after a long break : )

Mr_Graves 08 Oct 11 at 4:11 a.m. GMT

Not a dressing gown or a purse. this object is nothing to do with clothes, but I can tell you that it may be considered as furniture...

Nofret 05 Oct 11 at 4:27 p.m. GMT

Also from Sparkling Cyanide, is it the dressing gown where Iris found Rosemary's love letter?

Tommy_A_Jones 05 Oct 11 at 2:13 p.m. GMT

The Purse put in the wrong place in Sparkling Cyanide

Mr_Graves 03 Oct 11 at 8:11 p.m. GMT

No, not a case. 

Tommy_A_Jones 03 Oct 11 at 1:42 p.m. GMT

An Attache Case

Mr_Graves 02 Oct 11 at 6:52 p.m. GMT

No, it was not a recurring character who was reminiscing. And nothing to do with trains, NightRayDuck.

Tommy_A_Jones 02 Oct 11 at 11:27 a.m. GMT

Was a Recurring Characvter reminiscing?

de_misteri 02 Oct 11 at 7:43 a.m. GMT

hastings was very reminiscent in Poirot's last case... hmm...

de_misteri 02 Oct 11 at 7:43 a.m. GMT

hastings was very reminiscent in Poirot's last case... hmm...

de_misteri 02 Oct 11 at 7:43 a.m. GMT

hastings was very reminiscent in Poirot's last case... hmm...

de_misteri 02 Oct 11 at 7:43 a.m. GMT

hastings was very reminiscent in Poirot's last case... hmm...

de_misteri 02 Oct 11 at 7:43 a.m. GMT

hastings was very reminiscent in Poirot's last case... hmm...

de_misteri 02 Oct 11 at 7:43 a.m. GMT

hastings was very reminiscent in Poirot's last case... hmm...

de_misteri 02 Oct 11 at 7:43 a.m. GMT

hastings was very reminiscent in Poirot's last case... hmm...

de_misteri 02 Oct 11 at 7:42 a.m. GMT

hastings was very reminiscent in Poirot's last case... hmm...

de_misteri 02 Oct 11 at 7:42 a.m. GMT

hastings was very reminiscent in Poirot's last case... hmm...

NightRayDuck 02 Oct 11 at 2:07 a.m. GMT

like a train compartment? o.O

Mr_Graves 02 Oct 11 at 1:57 a.m. GMT

For that, NightRayDuck, I will give you a hint: A compartment is involved, but one which you would expect...

NightRayDuck 02 Oct 11 at 1:27 a.m. GMT

A reminiscence was involved? pity. I was about to guess the "hidden compartment in the walls" in Peril at End House.

Mr_Graves 01 Oct 11 at 11:36 p.m. GMT

Oops, I think I may have gotten mixed up. I meant to say that the thing that was hidden in this object was found because of somebody reminiscing. Sorry...

Mr_Graves 01 Oct 11 at 11:33 p.m. GMT

Not a pen holder, or a pudding. I think you have deserved an extra clue, though: 

I was found because somebody was reminiscing.

Tommy_A_Jones 01 Oct 11 at 1:37 p.m. GMT

The Episode is The Underdog

Tommy_A_Jones 01 Oct 11 at 11:38 a.m. GMT

Is it a pen Holder perhaps on the Desk of someone who dies like the one which was adapted with Denis Lil and Bill Wallis in it?

Nofret 30 Sep 11 at 8:33 p.m. GMT

The Christmas Pudding, in the story of the same name, a large ruby was hidden in it?

Mr_Graves 30 Sep 11 at 7:55 p.m. GMT

Neither, I'm afraid. Very imaginative guesses, though.

Tommy_A_Jones 30 Sep 11 at 11:37 a.m. GMT

The Elephant Umbrella stand in Murdere At The Vicarage

de_misteri 30 Sep 11 at 6:31 a.m. GMT

The scarf owned by Miss Van Schuyler in Death on the Nile? It was used to conceal the gun, which Simon Doyle threw into the Nile which was later discovered.

Mr_Graves 30 Sep 11 at 6:25 a.m. GMT

Both incorrect; this object is not technically a box, but can be used to put things in.

de_misteri 30 Sep 11 at 6:21 a.m. GMT

Nofret's jewel box in Death comes as the end? Henet used it to hide the golden lions necklace, and also the broken shield?

GKCfan 29 Sep 11 at 8:54 p.m. GMT

The puzzle box in "The World's End" in The Mysterious Mr. Quin?

Mr_Graves 29 Sep 11 at 7:06 p.m. GMT

Very exciting! I don't know why I didn't think of that book to start with. Anyway, here's my clue...

I am a great place for hiding things, and not always the sort of thing you would expect... It was quite a bit of luck that somebody found what was put inside me.

GKCfan 28 Sep 11 at 3:21 a.m. GMT

This reply contains spoiler information. Show reply

YES!  You are right!  Great job!  It's the tin of biscuits (at the bottom of the pile of tinned food) that held the revolver at one point in And Then There Were None.

Mr_Graves 28 Sep 11 at 12:26 a.m. GMT

And quite right, too! I think this is the container of tinned food in which a revolver or a pistol was hidden in "And Then There Were None". It was taped on or in one of the tins, I recall.

GKCfan 27 Sep 11 at 6:24 p.m. GMT

No.  It would be hard to put Miss Marple into this novel.

Tommy_A_Jones 27 Sep 11 at 11:25 a.m. GMT

Does this object appear in a book that ITV put Miss Marple in?

GKCfan 27 Sep 11 at 4:45 a.m. GMT

You're still in the game, because the book is not Passenger to Frankfurt.  This is a book that the vast majority of Christie fans have read and loved.

Tommy_A_Jones 26 Sep 11 at 11:39 a.m. GMT

Is the Book Passenger To Frankfurt|? If it is I declare myself out of this one as I didn't like it and can't remember objects from it.

GKCfan 26 Sep 11 at 4:47 a.m. GMT

Sorry, not They Came to Baghdad.

NightRayDuck 25 Sep 11 at 8:28 p.m. GMT

I've been thinking about "They Came to Baghdad", the packet of microfilms that Carmichael entrusted some of his friends to transport to another friend who could best guard it. I can't find a mention of a specific container for the packet, though, so I guess that's not it.

GKCfan 25 Sep 11 at 6:40 p.m. GMT

Yes, it's a book with no recurring characters, though not any of the three books that you mentioned.

Tommy_A_Jones 25 Sep 11 at 11:15 a.m. GMT

Is it a book which has no recurring Characters like Endless Night, DEath Comes As The End or Why Didn't They ASk Evans

GKCfan 24 Sep 11 at 7:49 p.m. GMT

No to both, sorry.  None of the characters mentioned in either of those books appears in this book.  The container in question is bigger than a canister of film, but smaller than some of the books in Tuppence's Postern of Fate box of books.

If anyone has questions, please ask them.

GKCfan 24 Sep 11 at 7:49 p.m. GMT

No to both, sorry.  None of the characters mentioned in either of those books appears in this book.  The container in question is bigger than a canister of film, but smaller than some of the books in Tuppence's Postern of Fate box of books.

If anyone has questions, please ask them.

Tommy_A_Jones 24 Sep 11 at 1:38 p.m. GMT

The Box of Books that Tuppence is sorting out at the start of Postern of Fate

Nofret 24 Sep 11 at 6:22 a.m. GMT

Is it the canister of film from The Man in the Brown Suit, which contained the stolen diamonds?

GKCfan 24 Sep 11 at 2:54 a.m. GMT

No to all three, sorry.  The item in question is probably smaller than all three objects mentioned so far.  It's a full-length novel, and none of the characters mentioned in the previous three guesses appear in it.

NightRayDuck 23 Sep 11 at 11:34 p.m. GMT

How about the chest in "The Mystery of the Spanish / Baghdad Chest"?

Tommy_A_Jones 23 Sep 11 at 1:37 p.m. GMT

Elephant's Foot in Murder At The Vicarage at one point I think it had the Gun in it and the two people who were affected could be the Murderer(s)

Nofret 23 Sep 11 at 6:11 a.m. GMT

Is it the jar containing spills in The Mysterious Affair at Styles?

GKCfan 22 Sep 11 at 8:23 p.m. GMT

"I am a container that is full of a certain kind of item, and for a short time I was home to a very interesting purloined object that played a pivotal role in the novel, and that purloined object deeply affected the lives of at least two people.  My normal contents are not known for sure, but one person believes I contained a certain kind of item.   I am very ordinary, but I was singled out because of my location."

Nofret 22 Sep 11 at 8:32 a.m. GMT

Well done, GKCfan, it was the flask used to frame Tony Hawker as a dealer. Your turn.

GKCfan 21 Sep 11 at 8:15 p.m. GMT

The flask full of cocaine in "The Horses of Diomedes!"

Nofret 21 Sep 11 at 4:28 p.m. GMT

No, it's not any type of box. Clue - in this story the owner of the object had been taking part in a very upper-class pursuit!

Mr_Battle_Brent 21 Sep 11 at 1:44 p.m. GMT

Puzzle box or Indian box from The World's End?

Tommy_A_Jones 21 Sep 11 at 1:40 p.m. GMT

Is it a snuff Box?

Nofret 21 Sep 11 at 5:25 a.m. GMT

Not a watch. This particular object appears in a short story.

NightRayDuck 21 Sep 11 at 3:50 a.m. GMT

maybe the turnip-sized WRISTwatch that comes with a Cocaine Compartment, in "Peril at End House"?

Nofret 20 Sep 11 at 8:21 p.m. GMT

Omigod! After saying this object was well out of date, and probably used only by the upper classes, someone had one on EastEnders tonight!

Nofret 20 Sep 11 at 3:37 p.m. GMT

It's not the little box found on Carlotta Adams. Tommy, you're getting close in that, unlike the box, the object was made to carry something other than drugs.

Tommy_A_Jones 20 Sep 11 at 11:38 a.m. GMT

Is it a Walking Stick? You can get some that hold spirots, I can't remember if one is used to carry Drugs

GKCfan 20 Sep 11 at 6:18 a.m. GMT

Is it the little box containing Veronal in Lord Edgeware Dies?

Nofret 20 Sep 11 at 6:09 a.m. GMT

Inspector, it's not a pocket watch or a snuff box. Tommy, you're on the right track, it's a container and it was used to carry drugs.

InspectorGrant 19 Sep 11 at 4:48 p.m. GMT

Is it a snuff box?

Tommy_A_Jones 19 Sep 11 at 11:49 a.m. GMT

Is it the type of bag used to carry drugs in Hickory Dickory Dock?

To Ray, Sorry It probably was unfair but having said that I think I did ask for questions and it seemed to me no-one picked up on the 17th Century Aspect or the European aspect both to me should have given it away but there again I knew the answer so they would to me.

InspectorGrant 19 Sep 11 at 8:25 a.m. GMT

Is it a pocket watch?  (I got one of these off eBay and it lasted for quite a while - it was very, very cheap but extremely cool!)

Nofret 19 Sep 11 at 6:53 a.m. GMT

It's not a dictaphone, and it's not something you would wear, thought it could be considered as a personal accessory.

NightRayDuck 19 Sep 11 at 2:18 a.m. GMT

Tommy - now I see why it's difficult to give hints or give clarifications on your object puzzle. The particular item was a type of object (the legal document of Tontine-style investment), and it wasn't used by characters in the book, but it was mentioned as analogy to the particular will in the story. Tough one! :D

NightRayDuck 19 Sep 11 at 2:12 a.m. GMT

 this object went on eBay to look itself up..?

lol Nofret. you've just posted a puzzle in a very novel format. 

I would guess it's a powdered wig of some description.. It's no longer an obligate accessory in upper-class parties, and yet it's making a pretty good come-back as item for fancy-dress, period-ambience parties.

How about the wig on Justice whathisname's head, when he sits immobile with a doctor-certified gunshot wound to the head, in And Then There Were None?

Tommy_A_Jones 18 Sep 11 at 3:23 p.m. GMT

The Dictaphone from The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

Nofret 18 Sep 11 at 12:55 p.m. GMT

Interesting choice, no, it's not lorgnettes, I think women wore them as well.

Tommy_A_Jones 18 Sep 11 at 11:14 a.m. GMT

Is it a pair of Lorgnettes

Nofret 18 Sep 11 at 5:24 a.m. GMT

We got there at last, Tommy! Try this one:

Well, I thought this particular object had long gone out of fashion, but I just entered it on Ebay and got nearly 200 hits! I should think it's mainly used by men of the upper classes, and in this particular story, connected with a certain pasttime, and used in a frame-up!

Tommy_A_Jones 17 Sep 11 at 11:11 a.m. GMT

PHEW! Well Done Nofret it is the Tontine my Clue suggested it was from thge 17th Century and it was designed by an Italian and Italy is in Europe, I suppose I should have give it to GKC but lots of Books have Will's without the European Connection, If people think I did wrong I am truly sorry, It was mentioned in 4.50 From Paddington and as it is really the Motive and the word is mentioned in the book I felt Justified to choose it, A Tontine in this caseis a form of Will an d Will's are Objects.

Your Turn Nofret

Nofret 17 Sep 11 at 5:50 a.m. GMT

In the Hickson version of 4.50 from Paddington I remember a scene where Miss M is questioning a solicitor who is dressing for dinner - putting on a bow tie.

Is the object a TONTINE - an agreement whereby the last surviving member takes all the money?

Can't remember this being in the book, it was added in this TV version as a motive for the murderer to remove members of the Crackenthorpe family.

Tommy_A_Jones 16 Sep 11 at 1:36 p.m. GMT

The item involves individuals and is referred to, perhaps iuf you tried to guess which book this iobject appears in you will have more luck, I think you are more than likely to guess it that way. Surely that tells you what it is.

NightRayDuck 16 Sep 11 at 3:33 a.m. GMT

for me, no worries. but since GKC hasn't come back with an even closer guess, I think I might ask for the following..

Question: Does this legal document concern private individuals? Or does it involve business / commercial entities? Or is it about governments or diplomatics?

Need clarification: When you mentioned the item being pointed out as not really an object, did that mean a) The "item" or similar entities do not exist in real life? or b) The item is only referred to / hinted at in a story, but does not make an appearance on page?

Thank you.

Tommy_A_Jones 15 Sep 11 at 2:02 p.m. GMT

I think you are wrong although it is a Legal Document, Oh Dear, I hope I haven't been unfair, I will give you a Clue and hope this makes sence and you aren't cross with me.

A Goatee is a Type of Beard and ...

NightRayDuck 14 Sep 11 at 6:49 p.m. GMT

a translated copy of a legal document?

Tommy_A_Jones 13 Sep 11 at 11:10 a.m. GMT

No It is not an IOU, Think about The European Aspect and the fact that It Dates back to the 17th Century

Nofret 13 Sep 11 at 4:55 a.m. GMT

Is it an IOU?

Tommy_A_Jones 12 Sep 11 at 11:04 a.m. GMT

One Adaptation of this boiok has 2 scenes that mention this so I feel fully justified in having it and it is mentioned in the book but I can't remember if either scene is in the book, in one scene a Newspaper is used and in the second a bow Tie is being put on by the man with the Newspaper in the other scene.

Tommy_A_Jones 11 Sep 11 at 11:06 a.m. GMT

No Sorry Ray, you are not right, GKC Fan was very close 

NightRayDuck 11 Sep 11 at 3:34 a.m. GMT

watermark on a sheet of paper? paper manufacturers used to put watermark on the paper, for their own brand name, or requested by a customer who wants his own coat of arms or such as watermark on his personal correspondence paper.

Tommy_A_Jones 10 Sep 11 at 2:35 p.m. GMT

I have been told by one who is cleverer than me that it is an object

Tommy_A_Jones 10 Sep 11 at 11:45 a.m. GMT

No, I have been told by someone who hasn't been on for a while that my Object isn't realy an object so I might have to tell people, but I think it is fair but others may not, I This 'Object' does not appear in a Poirot Book

cameronjhw 09 Sep 11 at 7:14 p.m. GMT

Is it by any chance the codicil used by Mrs. Smythe for Olga Semnoff in Halloween Party

Tommy_A_Jones 09 Sep 11 at 11:14 a.m. GMT

Yes I am GKC, You are so close but to fit the clue can you go that little bit further

NightRayDuck 08 Sep 11 at 8:52 p.m. GMT

cigarette, hand-rolled from loose tobacco and wrapping paper?

GKCfan 08 Sep 11 at 8:12 p.m. GMT

Are you talking about the movie "Laughter in Paradise" and its remake "Some Will, Some Won'?"

Is the item in question a will?

Tommy_A_Jones 08 Sep 11 at 12:04 p.m. GMT

Not a Postage stamp or a Paperweight, I assume this object is made of paper, It could quite easily be made on a beer mat, Has anyone seen a film with Alistair Sim, George Cole and Joyce Grenfell, It was remade into a film with Sir Michael Hordern, Ronnie Corbett and Thora Hird, I only mention it because this object is a type of something mentioned in these films, sorry if I haven't plasyed fair although I think I have.

Nofret 08 Sep 11 at 9:24 a.m. GMT

Is the object a paperweight? The only one of any significance I can remember was the one Caroline Crale threw at Angela in Five Little Pigs.

NightRayDuck 08 Sep 11 at 2:33 a.m. GMT

postage stamp?

Tommy_A_Jones 07 Sep 11 at 11:21 a.m. GMT

It isn't made out of Paper Mache and it isn't a Book and it isn't ceiling wax, this specific thing was mentioned in 1 Book which was made into 3 Adaptations, 4 if you count radio.

Nofret 07 Sep 11 at 6:52 a.m. GMT

Is it the book of spells which Linda Marshall borrows from the library in Evil Under the Sun?

NightRayDuck 06 Sep 11 at 11:12 p.m. GMT

I want to say sealing wax and seal ring / signet ring, but I think they dated back further? and I can't think of which story this might have been in..

InspectorGrant 06 Sep 11 at 5:49 p.m. GMT

Is it something made out of paper machier?

Tommy_A_Jones 06 Sep 11 at 1:35 p.m. GMT

No, neone of those

Mr_Battle_Brent 05 Sep 11 at 4:16 p.m. GMT

Is this object News-Paper-,or something related to it? Or monocle,pince-nez for reading(?)?

Tommy_A_Jones 05 Sep 11 at 2:33 p.m. GMT

No sorry still wrong

Mr_Battle_Brent 05 Sep 11 at 1:53 p.m. GMT

Hmm, an ink brush,a quill,a blotter... Maybe paper sticks used for lighting fire from Black Coffee?

Tommy_A_Jones 05 Sep 11 at 11:22 a.m. GMT

Not right I am afraid but you are right to stick to Paper

Mr_Battle_Brent 04 Sep 11 at 5:19 p.m. GMT

Than I'm going to stick to paper. Paper holder statue?

Tommy_A_Jones 04 Sep 11 at 1:22 p.m. GMT

No sorry, I want to say close but if told you how it would give it away and be misleading.

Mr_Battle_Brent 04 Sep 11 at 12:46 p.m. GMT

Letter opener?

Tommy_A_Jones 03 Sep 11 at 2:07 p.m. GMT

I'll go then,

"I am of European Origin, I date back to the 17th Century but It wasn't until the following Century that I started being used more, I am not used much now"

Mr_Battle_Brent 03 Sep 11 at 9:53 a.m. GMT

I'm afraid I can't describe things well,and I don't even have an idea what to describe. So,if anyone else is interested in setting the next puzzle...?

Nofret 03 Sep 11 at 6:10 a.m. GMT

At last! Well done, Gary, it was the pack of cards from Cards on the Table - by studying the way the cards had fallen in the games of bridge Poirot deduced who had killed Shaitana.

Over to you.

Mr_Battle_Brent 02 Sep 11 at 7:13 p.m. GMT

Deck of cards???

Nofret 02 Sep 11 at 4:46 p.m. GMT

Not a cigar case, nor any tobacco product. 

Mrs Oliver was not too successful with me!

Tommy_A_Jones 02 Sep 11 at 12:06 p.m. GMT

A Cigar Case

Nofret 02 Sep 11 at 5:55 a.m. GMT

Sports? Not quite....

This should help you. In a different story Poirot bought another like me, but was given a younger version. However, it helped to provide a motive for a series of murders.

Mr_Battle_Brent 01 Sep 11 at 2:28 p.m. GMT

Is it a sports equipment item??? Is anyone from the book addicted to it???

Tommy_A_Jones 01 Sep 11 at 2:21 p.m. GMT

The Alcahol thrown over board by Rosalie in Death On The Nile

Nofret 01 Sep 11 at 5:22 a.m. GMT

Don't think anyone suffers from a snuff addiction nowadays! Many people are addicted to this object and similar leisure pursuits.

NightRayDuck 01 Sep 11 at 3:35 a.m. GMT

snuff and snuffbox?

Nofret 31 Aug 11 at 4:13 p.m. GMT

Gary and Tommy - there are other addictions apart from drugs, and perhaps even more expensive...........

Tommy_A_Jones 31 Aug 11 at 11:53 a.m. GMT

This reply contains spoiler information. Show reply

The Watch in Peril At End House with Drugs in which the Murderer takes to kill them self with

Mr_Battle_Brent 31 Aug 11 at 10:25 a.m. GMT

Quill containg cocaine or something from Murder of Roger Ackroyd!

Nofret 31 Aug 11 at 6:56 a.m. GMT

Neither a stick nor an umbrella!

 Clue - you could get addicted to me!

NightRayDuck 30 Aug 11 at 4:58 p.m. GMT

I haven't retained enough of M. Poirot's activities in my brain. but similar to Tommy's guess... an umbrella? an umbrella has many components, designs had hardly been changed except any little improvement in material, Poirot might jab somebody in the foot using an umbrella, just the same as he might use a walking stick..

I don't know which story, if any, the umbrella appears in, though.

Seriously, I know one of the silhouette-drawings representing the Poirot character is holding up an umbrella, but I don't remember from which story it might be. o.O

Tommy_A_Jones 30 Aug 11 at 3:06 p.m. GMT

If I remember rightly The Walking Stick Doubles as a Telescope

Tommy_A_Jones 30 Aug 11 at 12:03 p.m. GMT

A Walking Stick.

Nofret 29 Aug 11 at 6:10 p.m. GMT

Not a cup. On several occasions Poirot used the object(s) in a way they were not intended to be used!

Tommy_A_Jones 29 Aug 11 at 11:45 a.m. GMT

Is it a Cup Hercule would have at least one to drink his Tissane out of

Nofret 29 Aug 11 at 4:44 a.m. GMT

No, this isn't an item of clothing. Hint - there are many separate components to this object.

NightRayDuck 29 Aug 11 at 3:34 a.m. GMT

moustache?? o.O

just kidding.

hat? sunhat on the topper of poor Arlena Marshall's dead body, in Evil Under the Sun?

Nofret 28 Aug 11 at 6:56 p.m. GMT

Interesting thought, I haven't got a Christmas pudding around the house at the moment, but I've certainly got this item somewhere!

Our favourite detective certainly had one or more of these.

Tommy_A_Jones 28 Aug 11 at 3:04 p.m. GMT

Is it the Christmas Pudding in The Adventure of The Christmas Pudding

Nofret 28 Aug 11 at 11:39 a.m. GMT

No, nothing to do with gardening. Hint - I suppose we can all guess who the clever-clogs was who realised the object's significance, n'est-ce pas?

Tommy_A_Jones 27 Aug 11 at 11:17 a.m. GMT

Is it the flower Bed at Chimneys?

Nofret 27 Aug 11 at 6:22 a.m. GMT

Both good guesses, but incorrect. The object in question is smaller.

Mr_Graves 26 Aug 11 at 6:55 a.m. GMT

This reply contains spoiler information. Show reply

I am going to guess the tennis racquet from "Towards Zero" which was fashioned into a rather grisly murder weapon...

NightRayDuck 26 Aug 11 at 6:28 a.m. GMT

This reply contains spoiler information. Show reply

Ski thingies in The Sittaford Mystery?

Nofret 26 Aug 11 at 5:53 a.m. GMT

Good guess, Tommy, but not a book.

Tommy_A_Jones 25 Aug 11 at 1:42 p.m. GMT

Is it a Book in the Library at Chimneys in The Secret of Chimneys

Nofret 25 Aug 11 at 1:38 p.m. GMT

Not an armchair Laura - their designs can vary.

Tommy, it was a tennis racket! Not correct but you're on the right lines.

Tommy_A_Jones 24 Aug 11 at 1:20 p.m. GMT

The Hockey Stick in Cat Among The Pigeons, which hid Jewels

LauraPoirot 24 Aug 11 at 9:07 a.m. GMT

The armchair from the murder of Roger Ackroyd?

Nofret 24 Aug 11 at 6:34 a.m. GMT

Thank you, Duck.

I suppose you'd call me a leisure item, you probably own something like me, and my design hasn't changed at all since I provided the opportunity for a certain murder! Only one person realised my significance.

NightRayDuck 23 Aug 11 at 7:53 p.m. GMT

Congrats Nofret! Yes, this object is the improvised brooch that Poirot makes from cardboard in "Dumb Witness". And Hastings is all happy and content when he sees it in the mirror... I think that's the most endearing moment in Hastings's career as "habitual sidekick" in Christie's stories.

Well, your turn, Nofret!

Tommy- sorry, um, I actually did say it's "accessory that is put on clothing", though. masks are usually put on face, possibly around the hair also, but not on clothing.

chipping good- we have moved on to other objects-for-guessing. you can usually find the latest puzzle on the first page of the thread.

Tommy_A_Jones 23 Aug 11 at 3:01 p.m. GMT

It is a Clothing Accessory

chipping_good 23 Aug 11 at 1:23 p.m. GMT

This reply contains spoiler information. Show reply

I think it is the Folly which George Stubbs built in Dead Man's Folly.

Tommy_A_Jones 23 Aug 11 at 11:30 a.m. GMT

Is it a Mask? In The Affair At The Victory Ball?

Nofret 23 Aug 11 at 6:16 a.m. GMT

Is it the brooch Poirot made for Hastings out of cardboard in Dumb Witness?

NightRayDuck 22 Aug 11 at 8:36 p.m. GMT

Very good question, Tommy! It is not clothing or fabric item, but it is a model for an accessory that's put on clothing. Hope that helps. ;-)

Tommy_A_Jones 22 Aug 11 at 1:58 p.m. GMT

But is it Clothing?

NightRayDuck 20 Aug 11 at 6:48 p.m. GMT

Sorry, not the costume you mentioned. I should remind you again, that this item is watched by an audience while it is being formed, whereas in the "Idol House" costume party, each party-goer is somewhat secretive while assembling his or her costume.

Hint 1: The Creator of this item crafted it to be a model of something recently seen by the Creator, but using more flimsy / less sturdy material.

Hint 2: The item is worn for a few moments by its Creator, and also a few moments by the Audience.

Tommy_A_Jones 20 Aug 11 at 3:29 p.m. GMT

The Costume The Murderer wears in The Idol House of Astarte?

NightRayDuck 18 Aug 11 at 6:35 p.m. GMT

Not wax doll, and not rag doll. I emphasize again, this item is created with its Creator and an Audience watching. To be more explicit: The creation of this item, and the exclamations made by its Creator and the Audience, are narrated as straight action in the story, not in retrospect.

cameronjhw 18 Aug 11 at 12:57 p.m. GMT

Could it be the wax doll of Linda Marshall's stepmother Arlena made out of candles in Evil Under the Sun or the rag-torn doll stuffed with diamonds and crammed into a chimney in By the Pricking of My Thumbs 

NightRayDuck 17 Aug 11 at 7:33 p.m. GMT

Let me see... not any of the sculptures appearing in The Hollow. The Creator of this item, and the Audience watching and marveling at the creation of this item, are both present during the very short time needed to create this item.

Tommy_A_Jones 17 Aug 11 at 3:19 p.m. GMT

Is it the Sculpture in The Hollow?

Tommy_A_Jones 17 Aug 11 at 2:38 p.m. GMT

If they aren't hard what is the point?

NightRayDuck 17 Aug 11 at 5:12 a.m. GMT

Thanks, cameron! I think your choice of object and the description were fine, only that there are so many photographs and portraits in Christie stories. ;-)

Next object up for guessing!

"Oh, I was only a brainless item, instantly carved out from relatively flimsy material. But my Creator and his Audience both seemed so excited about the way I looked on either of them. Perhaps genius robs off a bit! I wish I could understand what they were talking about."

cameronjhw 16 Aug 11 at 8:09 p.m. GMT

NightRayDuck-Bravo you have guessed it right it is the portrait of Leonides' first wife (Marcia de Havilland) who was the grandmother to Sophia, Eustace, and Josephine. So now it's your turn

*I apologize if my choice of object was hard and confusing to anyone.

NightRayDuck 16 Aug 11 at 4:54 p.m. GMT

Alongside Grandpa Aristide's portrait, I think there was also a portrait of his first wife, the Grandmama of Sophia Eustace and Josephine?

Tommy_A_Jones 16 Aug 11 at 1:33 p.m. GMT

Is it a Portrait of Josephine?

cameronjhw 16 Aug 11 at 1:20 p.m. GMT

Tommy_A_Jones: It is from Crooked House but it's not Sophia. Hint-It is mentioned and described in only one chapter. You can do it

Tommy_A_Jones 15 Aug 11 at 2:39 p.m. GMT

I don't know if there is such a thing but is it a Portrait of Sophia Leonides from Crooked House?

cameronjhw 15 Aug 11 at 1:22 p.m. GMT

The person in the portrait appeared in only 1 book and one of her best according to Christie herself

Tommy_A_Jones 15 Aug 11 at 12:13 p.m. GMT

the Person in the Portrait or Painting or any relative of the subject appear in more than 1 book?

cameronjhw 14 Aug 11 at 6:44 p.m. GMT

NightRayDuck-The object is a painting/portrait.

InspectorGrant-Sorry it's not the Madonna picture with the child.

NightRayDuck 13 Aug 11 at 6:49 p.m. GMT

This may be too bold and impertinent, but I think it's time for me to ask: Is this object a photograph? Or is this object a painting / drawing? Thank you.

InspectorGrant 13 Aug 11 at 3:13 p.m. GMT

Is it the picture of the Madonna and Child from 'The Mirror Crack'd' ?

cameronjhw 12 Aug 11 at 9:24 p.m. GMT

It's not Elsa Greer's portrait.

Hint-the picture is from a nursery rhyme mystery.

LauraPoirot 12 Aug 11 at 6:26 a.m. GMT

Is it the Portrait of Elsa greer in 5 Little pigs?

cameronjhw 11 Aug 11 at 7:32 p.m. GMT

No it's not a typerwriter remember the object I refer to is a picture.

Tommy_A_Jones 11 Aug 11 at 4:57 p.m. GMT

The Typewriter in The Moving Finger

cameronjhw 10 Aug 11 at 8:51 p.m. GMT

No it is not the folly or the photo of Gladys Martin and her boyfriend. Hint-the object is from a novel during the 1940's

PetitGrisCellules 10 Aug 11 at 5:12 p.m. GMT

The 'Folly' in Dead Man's Folly?

Tommy_A_Jones 10 Aug 11 at 2:13 p.m. GMT

Is it the Photo of Gladys and her 'Intended' in Pocketfull of Rye?

cameronjhw 08 Aug 11 at 11:05 p.m. GMT

No it's not the newspaper clipping of Eva Kane but the woman I am talking about has a very entertaining and remarkable background.

Tommy_A_Jones 08 Aug 11 at 1:59 p.m. GMT

Is it the Newspaper Clipping of the Murderer's Mother in Mrs McGinty's Dead?

cameronjhw 08 Aug 11 at 1:35 p.m. GMT

No it's not that photo of Greta and Mike from Endless Night.

NightRayDuck 07 Aug 11 at 10:20 p.m. GMT

Maybe the newspaper clipping of a photo of a Hamburg landmark in "Endless Night"? The photo happened to capture Greta walking out with some young man. This is probably not the right answer, though, because I can't think of many people making references to this photo.

cameronjhw 07 Aug 11 at 5:19 p.m. GMT

No it's not the miniature drawing from S.O.S.

Hint-It is not from a short story or stage play or even one of her romance works.

NightRayDuck 07 Aug 11 at 1:19 a.m. GMT

Is it the miniature drawing of the deceased mother of the girl adopted by the Dinsmead couple, in the short story "S.O.S." ?

cameronjhw 06 Aug 11 at 5:28 p.m. GMT

Sorry to both but it's not the portrait of Norma's mother nor is it the portrait of Simeon Lee in Hercule Poirot's Christmas

Tommy_A_Jones 06 Aug 11 at 3:22 p.m. GMT

I meant the Portrait in Hercule Poirot's Christmas if it isn't that do you mean Not famous to the wider comunity (Churchill or Agatha Christie) or do you mean the portrait is of a person who doesn't feature in a Book (like Cedrick's Father in 4.50 From Paddington or Cedrick's Children who died before 4.50 From Paddington? Anyway my guess is the Portrait in Hercule Poirot's Christmas

Tommy_A_Jones 06 Aug 11 at 11:48 a.m. GMT

The Portrai in Hercule Poirot's Christmas

GKCfan 05 Aug 11 at 8:26 p.m. GMT

The portrait of Norma's mother in Third Girl?

cameronjhw 05 Aug 11 at 7:24 p.m. GMT

Mimi25-It's not a doll

GKCfan-It is not the portrait of "Old Nick"

Hint-the subject of the picture is a woman

mimi25 05 Aug 11 at 10 a.m. GMT

It reminds me a story with a disturbing doll.

GKCfan 04 Aug 11 at 7:34 p.m. GMT

The portrait of "Old Nick" in Peril at End House?

cameronjhw 04 Aug 11 at 1:43 p.m. GMT

Well it's not the paperweight but it is a portrait/picture of someone but not anyone famous.

NightRayDuck 03 Aug 11 at 7:17 p.m. GMT

I've been wondering about the "watch over" part... Is this object a portrait or statue of a well-known figure, or maybe someone known to a character? Something, for example, like the Lion of Lucerne paperweight in "Hickory Dickory Dock"?

cameronjhw 03 Aug 11 at 2:50 p.m. GMT

No it's not a clock

mimi25 03 Aug 11 at 10:17 a.m. GMT

I think of a clock....in The Clocks

cameronjhw 02 Aug 11 at 5:48 p.m. GMT

No the object I'm talking about is not a gun or any other weapon.

Tommy_A_Jones 02 Aug 11 at 3:16 p.m. GMT

How about Leopold Jimmy's Gun in Seven Dials

cameronjhw 02 Aug 11 at 2:04 a.m. GMT

No not Tommy's gun

Tommy_A_Jones 01 Aug 11 at 2:59 p.m. GMT

Are you Tommy's Gun in The Secret Adversary?

cameronjhw 01 Aug 11 at 12:59 p.m. GMT

No it is not a mirror

mimi25 31 Jul 11 at 7:48 p.m. GMT

A mirror ? sadly I don't guess the story....

cameronjhw 31 Jul 11 at 7:06 p.m. GMT

Thank you Nofret I have been waiting for a chance to play this game and I have been thinking up several possible objects and I think I have come up with a really good one I hope and here goes:

"I am a common and everyday object people have around. Now although I don't appear except in one instance in a series of shocking and tragic events that unfold, and that I don't play much of a large role except in a couple of ways I nevertheless "watch over" certain things or persons for the rest of my time. A number of people refer to me but there's one person that I do not know who first sees me. I also look over one who was very dear to me...

Nofret 31 Jul 11 at 5:59 a.m. GMT

Well done Cameron, 3rd time lucky, it was the old wooden chair (past its best, so banished to the outhouse). Only Edith realised the significance of the earth on the seat.

Your turn.

cameronjhw 30 Jul 11 at 1:16 p.m. GMT

I have four guesses (all of course from Crooked House):

1. Is the love letters that were discovered in the cistern room

2. Is is the poisoned cup of cocoa that was drank by the Nannie

3. Is it the old wooden chair that Josephine stood on to balance the marble doorstop

4. Or is it the car that contained Edith and Josephine which crashed and killed them in a quarry

Nofret 30 Jul 11 at 10:47 a.m. GMT

Not the scarf, but you're nearly there...........!

NightRayDuck 29 Jul 11 at 8:30 a.m. GMT

that scarf thingy that was used by the criminal to prevent leaving fingerprints at the scene of the doorstop-whacking-Josephine, in Crooked House? afterwards, the scarf was found dirty and rather torn up.

Nofret 29 Jul 11 at 7:45 a.m. GMT

No, the object does not hold or emit light in any way, but it is not in a position to witness events in the main house.

It isn't any part of an elephant!

Cameron, it isn't the "judge's wig and robes" from ATTWN, but the object is from Crooked House.

NightRayDuck 28 Jul 11 at 4:48 p.m. GMT

Does "I can't throw any light on what's been happening" imply the original / ordinary use of this object? Thank you.

Tommy_A_Jones 28 Jul 11 at 2:25 p.m. GMT

What about the Elephant's foot thing that was moved in the Vicar's Study in Murder At The Vicarage?

cameronjhw 28 Jul 11 at 1:49 p.m. GMT

Could it be the grey wig made out of Emily Brent's wool and the scarlet oilskin curtain used for the judge's fake death in ATTWN or is it something from the novel Crooked House

Nofret 28 Jul 11 at 6:11 a.m. GMT

No, this object didn't whack anyone!

cameronjhw 24 Jul 11 at 5:48 p.m. GMT

Could it be the big marble clock in the shape of a bear that was used on the not-too-bright Mr. Blore in And Then There Were None or is it the stone quern that whacked poor Mrs. Leidner in Murder in Mesopotamia?

Nofret 24 Jul 11 at 5:35 a.m. GMT

Not Truelove, SilverTyne,  nor Col. Seasterbrook's gun, Tommy. The rug would possibly fit, Ray, BUT Cameron is nearly there!

Kerr52 24 Jul 11 at 2:32 a.m. GMT

'tis a folly to pursue this line of thought!

NightRayDuck 23 Jul 11 at 7:20 p.m. GMT

I have no solid idea, so I thought I might as well throw out a half-baked guess. Wooly rug in Basil Blake's cottage? That's the rug that wouldn't know about events happening at some other big house. The Body in the Library, I mean.

SilverTyne 23 Jul 11 at 6:04 p.m. GMT

Is it Truelove from Postern of Fate?

cameronjhw 23 Jul 11 at 4:53 p.m. GMT

Could it be the marble doorstop used on Josephine in Crooked House

Tommy_A_Jones 23 Jul 11 at 3:24 p.m. GMT

Is it Easterbrook's Gun in A Murder Is Announced?

christie_greece 23 Jul 11 at 10:27 a.m. GMT

hmm...is the person who "may have guessed" a woman?

Nofret 23 Jul 11 at 6:38 a.m. GMT

Not the shepherd or shepherdess lamps, CG.

christie_greece 22 Jul 11 at 11:05 a.m. GMT

Is it the lamp with the shepherd from A murder is announced?

Nofret 22 Jul 11 at 8:44 a.m. GMT

Thank you, GKCfan.

I'm past my best now, so I can't throw any light on what's been happening up at the Big House. But yesterday I was used for such a terrible, inexplicable purpose - although they've examined me and my surroundings I think only one person may have guessed the truth.

GKCfan 21 Jul 11 at 5:44 p.m. GMT

Norfret is right!  It's Hunter's cigarette lighter from Taken at the Flood!

cameronjhw 21 Jul 11 at 4:25 p.m. GMT

Is it the cigarette case that belongs to Major Knighton and used it to incriminate Derek Kettering for his wife's murder in the Mystery of the Blue Train?

Nofret 21 Jul 11 at 9:35 a.m. GMT

Is it the cigarette lighter that Rowley Cloade left by Enoch Arden's body to incriminate David Hunter?

GKCfan 20 Jul 11 at 11:30 p.m. GMT

You're on the right track with cigarettes, but not actual cigarettes, and not that story.

Mr_Battle_Brent 18 Jul 11 at 11:42 a.m. GMT

... ?

Nofret 11 Jul 11 at 6:46 a.m. GMT

This reply contains spoiler information. Show reply

Cigarettes? An ashtray full of cigarette stubs was used to frame Major Eustace for Barbara Allen's murder in Murder in the Mews - he was only guilty of blackmail.

GKCfan 10 Jul 11 at 9:35 p.m. GMT

"I am an object that has the potential to do no harm whatsoever to people, though used in the manner I am made for I can kill people very slowly.  I was used to frame a guilty person for a crime, though the person who was framed was not guilty of the crime that I was used to frame that person for."

SilverTyne 10 Jul 11 at 8 p.m. GMT

Correct! Well done.

GKCfan 10 Jul 11 at 7:46 p.m. GMT

Valerian?  It helped locate Tommy in "The Crackler" in Partners in Crime and prove Angela's innocence in Five Little Pigs.

SilverTyne 10 Jul 11 at 6:30 p.m. GMT

I believe so Laura, but I can't be 100% certain it isn't mentioned in any other AC book.

LauraPoirot

SilverTyne: does that thing only appear in those two stories you wrote about? 

LauraPoirot 10 Jul 11 at 5:52 p.m. GMT

yes Ray I also thought that only a few minutes after posting this=)  about the coolie hat, I thought that "coolie" would mean something like this because I read the book, but thank you 'though for the explanation!

SilverTyne: does that thing only appear in those two stories you wrote about? 

SilverTyne 10 Jul 11 at 1:14 p.m. GMT

No, not a newspaper.

Gary_Flores

Newspaper?

Mr_Battle_Brent 10 Jul 11 at 1:06 p.m. GMT

Newspaper?

SilverTyne 10 Jul 11 at 11:54 a.m. GMT

*bows*

I am a substance. In one AC story I assisted in pinpointing the location of the person who made use of me.

In another AC story, the circumstances surrounding my presence helped establish someone's innocence.

NightRayDuck 08 Jul 11 at 5:34 p.m. GMT

"A coolie hat on Lady Stubbs' head in Dead Man's Folly" is correct! Your turn to set a puzzle, SilverTyne. :)

Laura - wig also fails to fit the characteristic "meant to be worn only outdoors", but I think you know that already. :) The word "coolie" is English rendition of the Chinese term (very very far in the Orient! all the way to distant east coast of China!) for "bitterly strenuous difficult labour / labourer". The hat worn by the coolie was a different shape compared to hats of rice-field workers of any rice-farming regions.

SilverTyne 08 Jul 11 at 4:30 p.m. GMT

You are a coolie hat worn by Lady Stubbs in Dead Man's Folly.

J'accuse!

cameronjhw 08 Jul 11 at 3:19 p.m. GMT

Is it the wig worn by Frances Cary when she impersonates Mary Restarick in Third Girl

LauraPoirot 08 Jul 11 at 1:51 p.m. GMT

maybe a wig? from elephants can remember? but I don't know what it's got to do with the Orient... actually nothing=) maybe it's some kind of shawl for protecting your head against the sun? I don't know... probably I'm wrong

NightRayDuck 08 Jul 11 at 2:53 a.m. GMT

Well, let me see if this item can respond to these questions adequately.

The item wishes to further explain:

"Well, I am only one empty-headed item, so maybe I don't know enough of the ins and outs and implications. But I think the way my owner uses me and identical items is ironic in several ways. My style and name are both taken directly from the laborours of the toughest jobs in distant Orient, and here I am, perching on the dainty owner who has a lot of money. And, even though I am considered a fashion item here and now, I gather that my owner is considered odd and possibly stupid in the way that she wears me or something like me all day long, concealing her beauty rather than enhancing it or accenting it."

SilverTyne 07 Jul 11 at 12:36 p.m. GMT

Sunglasses?

LauraPoirot 06 Jul 11 at 6:47 p.m. GMT

Is it for the winter?

NightRayDuck 06 Jul 11 at 6:34 p.m. GMT

hi there, Gary! :D

This item did not feature in Murder Is Easy; nor did it belong to Ms. Arlena Marshall, who brusque and self-centered as she was, still had enough fashion sense to wear sun hat in the appropriate setting.

I draw your attention to this sentence particularly: "I am meant to be worn outdoors, but my owner wears me all the time, in-doors and out."

Nofret 06 Jul 11 at 1:44 p.m. GMT

Is it Arlena Marshall's sun hat - she had more than one of the same style as one was stolen by the murderer?

Mr_Battle_Brent 06 Jul 11 at 12:21 p.m. GMT

Just a guess:gloves from Murder Is Easy?

LauraPoirot 05 Jul 11 at 7:36 p.m. GMT

well that's supposably right... maybe it's a hat? or gloves or a scarf? (mhm probably not a scarf we just had it =))

NightRayDuck 05 Jul 11 at 6:56 p.m. GMT

It's not jewelry, Laura. I don't suppose there were many types of jewelry that were meant to be worn outdoors, back when this story was written. ;-)

LauraPoirot 05 Jul 11 at 6:39 p.m. GMT

again my question=)

some kind of jewellery?

NightRayDuck 05 Jul 11 at 5:31 p.m. GMT

"I am a fashion accessory for the wealthy and leisurely. I am meant to be worn outdoors, but my owner wears me all the time, in-doors and out. She even has several items of my exact same type and style - as though she would run through us quite quickly, and must keep an ample supply of us?"

Nofret 05 Jul 11 at 6:26 a.m. GMT

Well done, Ray, it is indeed Carmichael's scarf.

Your turn.

NightRayDuck 04 Jul 11 at 6:48 p.m. GMT

Red knitted scarf appearing in "They Came to Baghdad" ?

First owner: Henry "Fakir" Carmichael, British agent.

When he died, Victoria Jones had picked up the scarf and randomly kept it out of sight by sticking it into drawer among her own belongings. And then she pretty much forgets that the item is still in her possession.

The scarf is dusty and, I think, soaked with Carmichael's blood.

Nofret 04 Jul 11 at 11:39 a.m. GMT

No, Cameron, none of those objects. Ray is on the right lines, as this garment is in a disreputable state, though it's not a doll.

NightRayDuck 04 Jul 11 at 12:24 a.m. GMT

I got a very weird guess..

The doll's clothing on the old doll that fell out of a chimney and Tuppence picked it up in By the Pricking of My Thumb? The clothing was dusty, all falling to pieces, and anyway would have been quite the wrong size for any of us to wear..

Or, in a more metaphorical, slightly fanciful way, the whole doll (ingredients: sawdust stuffing, thin leather body, fabric clothing, et al.) was clothing for the stash concealed inside the doll? or the doll was accessory after the fact for whatever criminal activity that required the hiding of some stash?

o.O

cameronjhw 03 Jul 11 at 7:14 p.m. GMT

Is it either the shawl worn by Maggie in Peril at End House, the fake beard used by Evelyn Howard in the Mysterious Affair at Styles or is it the scarlet oilskin curtain and Emily Brent's grey wool that was used to make a wig in And Then There Were None

Nofret 03 Jul 11 at 10:45 a.m. GMT

No, Laura, the second person did not inherit it. Ray - it's neither the stockings nor the shoes (both of which played an important part) from One, Two, Buckle my Shoe. You were right when you guessed that the object was made from some sort of fabric.

NightRayDuck 03 Jul 11 at 6:03 a.m. GMT

I keep thinking about Miss Carlotta Adams in Thirteen at Dinner, but that's not right, is it? The only item of hers that had been sent on was her letter to her sister.

Now I have an odd impression of stockings.. or was it socks.. shoes in One Two Buckle My Shoe? Have to admit though it's been too long that I'd ever glanced into it, don't know whose shoes or socks or whatever the item may have been.

o.O Sorry if I am being bad at explaining myself. You see, I am not wearing my eyeglasses..

LauraPoirot 02 Jul 11 at 5:46 p.m. GMT

Did the second owner inherit it after the first owner's death?

Nofret 02 Jul 11 at 4:30 p.m. GMT

Sorry, the first owner, who passed it to someone else, who didn't realise its significance.

LauraPoirot 02 Jul 11 at 3:58 p.m. GMT

The first or the second owner?

Nofret 02 Jul 11 at 6:23 a.m. GMT

Definitely not jewellery, Laura!

Ray, you're on the right lines,  and yes, the owner met an untimely death.

NightRayDuck 30 Jun 11 at 7:51 p.m. GMT

Hat, shawl, wrap, gloves, that sort of thing? Accessory made of fabric material?

Lemme see... my difficulty is still on what situation the item would be handed down to someone who does not appreciate it.

May I ask if this item has been at the scene at a time that some crime or tragedy occurred?

LauraPoirot 30 Jun 11 at 6:55 p.m. GMT

Some kind of jewellery?

Nofret 30 Jun 11 at 6:43 p.m. GMT

It's not a costume at all, in fact this garment might be classified as an accessory.

cameronjhw 30 Jun 11 at 3:51 p.m. GMT

Is it either the Harlequin costume worn by Lord Cronshaw who was stabbed or the Pierrot costume with the torn pom-pom from the story the Affair at the Victory Ball

Nofret 29 Jun 11 at 10:49 a.m. GMT

I remember going to a fancy-dress party as a harem girl - happy days! But the garment isn't a stage costume, nothing so decorative!

NightRayDuck 28 Jun 11 at 6:58 p.m. GMT

Could it be the stage costume of Jewel's late mother, in the Miss Marple short story "Sanctuary"? Only I don't know if the stage costume has already been received by someone who doesn't appreciate it at first. One wouldn't want to wear that particular stage costume unless one were to take up the role of "lavishly clothed harem girl".

Nofret 26 Jun 11 at 10:18 p.m. GMT

I don't think Anna S's coat was left behind, only a tuft of fur. It's not that, nor Neville Strange's coat.

cameronjhw 26 Jun 11 at 6:47 p.m. GMT

Could it be Anna Stravinska's coat that had a pale fur collar that was left behind in 4:50 from Paddington or is it the coat that smelt of dead fish that was worn by Nevile Strange and then discovered in a cleaner's by Andrew MacWhirter in Towards Zero 

Nofret 26 Jun 11 at 8:34 a.m. GMT

Good guess, but it's not a dressing gown.

NightRayDuck 26 Jun 11 at 12:23 a.m. GMT

Ah, I got a weird guess. In Sparkling Cyanide, Rosemary's dressing gown, which pretty much stayed in her house, although not expressedly handed down to her sister Iris? Iris found it several months afterwards, but the dressing gown was wrinkled or something by that time.  

Nofret 24 Jun 11 at 2:57 p.m. GMT

You're right, MissQ, it's not a codpiece (Blackadder doesn't feature in Christie's stories!) Good thinking about the fur coat, but it's not that, and the book isn't Sad Cypress. No, the reason you wouldn't want to wear this object is because of its condition.

MissQuin 24 Jun 11 at 1:09 p.m. GMT

I'm guessing it's not a codpiece....!!!  I'm wondering if it's a furcoat, who'd want to wear a dead animal now? Anyway, you'd be attacked by Peta members! But I can't think what book that would be in, maybe Sad Cypress?

Nofret 24 Jun 11 at 7:41 a.m. GMT

Not the velvet stole - that could be quite an attractive vintage accessory!

GKCfan 23 Jun 11 at 8:17 p.m. GMT

The velvet stole in Death on the Nile?

GKCfan 23 Jun 11 at 8:16 p.m. GMT

The velvet stole in Death on the Nile?

Nofret 23 Jun 11 at 11:21 a.m. GMT

Thank you, MissQ. Still trying to negotiate my way round the new, improved(!) site, but will persist and read your comment.

I am an item of clothing, although it's unlikely that any of you would choose to wear me. I was however treasured by one person, until handed down to another who did not at first appreciate me.

MissQuin 22 Jun 11 at 12:51 p.m. GMT

Nofret is correct!! It's the glass ornament in the Face Of Helen.

A few months ago I added a comment on Jonathan Creek, under short stories, I was too was struck by the plot theft!

http://agathachristie.com/forum/book-club/short-stories/face-helen/

Nofret 22 Jun 11 at 10:31 a.m. GMT

Is it the glass ornament with the highly unusual addition in The Face of Helen?

Incidentally, did anyone see the last episode of Jonathan Creek, where a man died of no apparent cause and no-one anywhere near him? As the writers pinched the idea from the above story - I guessed how it was done!

NightRayDuck 21 Jun 11 at 10:37 p.m. GMT

Except for the "someone's quick thinking" "tragic event was prevented", I'd have said it's the floral wallpaper in "Blue Geranium". Since it doesn't fit, I won't elaborate.

Does "having been moved to an unusual place" count as the special feature? I am now thinking about the several stone pinecones (etc.) and so on that have been placed to drop on a victim's head. That, tho, isn't the only of kind in Christie story, so I guess that's not it, either.

hmm. ..goes back to thinking..

By the way, anybody want to make a guess at the Christie Copper? and the Guess Character? ;-)

MissQuin 21 Jun 11 at 3:37 p.m. GMT

No not a tea cup. I'm pretty certain this method of murder is the only of kind in any Christie story.

The item is a decorative one.

NightRayDuck 15 Jun 11 at 7:41 p.m. GMT

or one of the teacups in "The Harlequin Tea Set"? I forget which color exactly but it went like: Intended Victim cannot distinguish between Color A and Color B, Presumed Victim has no difficulty with color vision; Intended Victim starts with a cup of Color A, Presumed Victim starts with a cup of Color B; some sleight-of-hand was performed to place the Color B cup (now containing poison) some place that Intended Victim would take it up as his own cup.

I'd always thought the cups each had a different color..

NightRayDuck 06 Jun 11 at 6:29 p.m. GMT

teacup of one of the Dinsmead daughters, in the short story "S.O.S.", the special feature being a lump of arsenic at the bottom of this teacup?

MissQuin 30 May 11 at 10:55 a.m. GMT

Thank you GKC. I've been trying to come up with a good puzzle, but was stumped. But I'll have a go anyway:

I was used to make an attempt on someones life. It's only because of someone's quick thinking, that the tragic event was prevented. But to look at me I look quite harmless. Alot of people would own objects of my kind, yet I have a special feature that sets me apart from others.

GKCfan 27 May 11 at 9:27 p.m. GMT

That is correct!  Excellent work!  An alert reader explained that real blowpipes of the kind designed would be several feet long, too big to fit onto the plane.  Christie put this fact into Mrs. Oliver's dialogue in Mrs. McGinty's Dead!

MissQuin 27 May 11 at 2:57 p.m. GMT

The blowpipe from Death In The Clouds! It was never actually used, it was a ruse, very cunning.

GKCfan 27 May 11 at 6:47 a.m. GMT

No– the cause of death is not strangulation/garrotting.

NightRayDuck 26 May 11 at 10:39 p.m. GMT

did it appear in a case of strangulation / garrotting? Christie's murder methods always give me the impression that she didn't know about two important physical factors in garrotting, "pressure per unit of area" and friction, between the weapon, the hands wielding the weapon, and the victim's skin encountering the weapon.

GKCfan 26 May 11 at 8:15 p.m. GMT

No, sorry.

cameronjhw 26 May 11 at 2:59 p.m. GMT

Is it the niblick that belongs to Nevile Strange that was supposedly used to kill Lady Tresillian but it was a different weapon in Towards Zero

GKCfan 26 May 11 at 5:57 a.m. GMT

"I am a potential murder weapon, but I never killed anyone.  I was used to frame someone, as well as to serve as a red herring.  Something attached to me was used as a clue that ultimately produced limited results in regards to the investigation.  Since I am different from what a real life version of me would be like, at least one alert reader wrote to Ms. Christie and told her that I, as described, would be insufficient to do the murderous deed.  She remembered this, and mentioned this discrepancy in another novel about two decades later!"

NightRayDuck 26 May 11 at 1:59 a.m. GMT

Tommy's guess was closer than cameron's, but GKCfan's guess is exactly on mark! The sturdy rucksacks served their apparent purpose well, and no user ever complained, whereas the watches were frequently sent back and forth.. for their secret purpose. GKC's turn for the next puzzling object!

GKCfan 26 May 11 at 12:35 a.m. GMT

I'm pretty sure they're the watches in Peril at End House.

cameronjhw 25 May 11 at 3:03 p.m. GMT

Or is it the infamous figurines in And Then There Were None

Tommy_A_Jones 25 May 11 at 2:53 p.m. GMT

Are they the Ruck-sacks in Hickory Dickory Dock?

NightRayDuck 25 May 11 at 7:04 a.m. GMT

ooh.. Tommy isn't back yet? I'll post a puzzle that might look very complex but is in fact quite easy..

We are several identical items appearing in the same incident. We should be identical, considering that we were probably mass-manufactured. Then again, our shape being so ridiculous for our apparent purpose, and the way our owners often complain of our inaccuracy, why, you'd think it's a crazy factory that'd put us on the market at all! But it's in fact a cruel injustice for our kind - our kind for our apparent purpose, and our kind for our secret purpose. When our users send us back for "repairs", it's in fact the users who want a fix.

Tommy_A_Jones 24 May 11 at 4:49 p.m. GMT

I have to go in a Minute so you go next Ray unless you aaren't on again before me and I will leave my effort for another time.

HerculeJC 24 May 11 at 4:30 p.m. GMT

Correct, Tommy, Story #2 was Murder On The Orient Express, as the Letters received by Ratchett implicated him in Daisy Armstrong's kidnapping and murder.

Congratulations, Tommy and NightRay.   You two can choose what the next 'Object' is.

Tommy_A_Jones 24 May 11 at 4:23 p.m. GMT

Murder On The Orient Express

HerculeJC 24 May 11 at 4:10 p.m. GMT

This reply contains spoiler information. Show reply

Good morning, Tommy.

Yes, Story #3 is A POCKET FULL OF RYE.  Of course the letter is the one Miss Marple receives at the end of the story, the one Gladys had sent, with the photo of her and Lance, who passed himself off as 'Burt'.

The statement "As you can see, he is such a nice man!!" made Miss Marple quite angry, regarding Lance's actions, but then she knew this was what she needed to confirm that Lance killed both Gladys and Adele, and had arranged for Rex's murder.

Story #2 was written around the time of THE ABC MURDERS, but it is not one featuring Captain Hastings.   In fact, it is one of the more celebrated novels.

Hint: part of my clue is from a recent TV and a classic film adaptation of the story.   This may "jog your train of thought".

Tommy_A_Jones 24 May 11 at 3:42 p.m. GMT

Is # 2 ABC Murders I thought it was #3 until your last Clue but is #3 Pocketful of Rye?

HerculeJC 24 May 11 at 3:32 p.m. GMT

Actually, No, NightRay, but good guesses.

Yes,  Story #1 is THE MOVING FINGER.

Hint: Story #2 is from a Poirot Novel.

Story #3 is a Miss Marple Novel

NightRayDuck 24 May 11 at 9:35 a.m. GMT

oooh...?

#1 from The Moving Finger, poison-pen letters duplicated from known cases, for perhaps mean-spirited but harmless pranks, apparently.

#2 from Sparkling Cyanide, anonymous letters telling George Barton that Rosemary did not commit suicide, but rather was poisoned by someone else at the dinner table.

...?

HerculeJC 24 May 11 at 7:14 a.m. GMT

Almost, NightRay.  Except that no story is repeated, and you have the crime-solvers reversed.

For #2, only one person receives an anonymous set of letters, not a whole town.

For #3, think of something that can be included in a letter, and can be referred to.

#3, only one noteworthy letter is sent.  It arrives late, but its recipient probably reflects on it as "Just in time!!  Just what I needed!!".

HerculeJC 24 May 11 at 7:14 a.m. GMT

Almost, NightRay.  Except that no story is repeated, and you have the crime-solvers reversed.

For #2, only one person receives an anonymous set of letters, not a whole town.

For #3, think of something that can be included in a letter, and can be referred to.

#3, only one noteworthy letter is sent.  It arrives late, but its recipient probably reflects on it as "Just in time!!  Just what I needed!!".

NightRayDuck 24 May 11 at 3:48 a.m. GMT

I suppose Clue #2 represent the letters in The Moving Finger.

I think #3 refer to Lord Edgeware Dies, there was the letter that Lord Edgeware wrote to his estranged wife agreeing to a divorce, and then the letter that a certain actress wrote home about a special off-stage job, and then the murderer's letter commentating on the case.

HerculeJC 23 May 11 at 4:11 p.m. GMT

Correct, regarding The Moving Finger.  But I admit I referred to three stories.

For the others, one is received by the murder victim.  The other letter helps close a case against the killer,

GKCfan 23 May 11 at 4:18 a.m. GMT

The poison pen letters from The Moving Finger?

HerculeJC 23 May 11 at 3:22 a.m. GMT

Hi Night Ray.

Yes the objects are LETTERS; wanted to see if folks recognized which stories Letters play a part:

1. I was duplicated and used for what seemed harmless pranks, until somebody died and another killed, afterwards;

2. A recipient had received plenty of me, 'creator unacknowledged'; left him rather uneasy, as he should have been;

and

3. I arrived late, once, but was still in time to create a 'final connection' that a crime solver needed, especially with a 'bonus attachment' included.

NightRayDuck 22 May 11 at 5:46 a.m. GMT

I got a little confused by your puzzle(s), Hercule. Do you mean that each of the three appears in a different story, but the items are of the same type?

I'd guess the item type is letter.. written, composed, pasted together, mailed, hand-delivered, etc. Not sure yet which stories each item appeared in.

NightRayDuck 22 May 11 at 5:42 a.m. GMT

We seem to have been hit by spam..

HerculeJC 20 May 11 at 4:42 p.m. GMT

Let me try: see if you recognize which Christie Novels I make a reference to.

"Here goes":

I am a simple item, and my length and size is at the discretion of my individual creator.

A few times I was quite noted:

1.  I was duplicated and used for what seemed harmless pranks, until somebody died and another killed, afterwards;

2.  A recipient had received plenty of me, 'creator unacknowledged'; left him rather uneasy, as he should have been;

and

3. I arrived late, once, but was still in time to create a 'final connection' that a crime solver needed, especially with a 'bonus attachment' included.

Mr_Battle_Brent 20 May 11 at 12:49 p.m. GMT

 I've been thinking hard but I have no idea which object to describe. I'd like to pass the game on someone who enjoyes setting up puzzles.

NightRayDuck 19 May 11 at 6:21 p.m. GMT

Yes, Gary. In Hercule Poirot's Christmas (US edition book), also, the killer had moustache, a portrait of Simeon Lee a few decades ago had no moustache, so Poirot bought a false moustache, and sat contemplating the look of the portrait with a false moustache. So, yep, Gary, your turn. :)

Nofret 18 May 11 at 8:29 p.m. GMT

Yes it does fit, Gary, false facial hair being very useful in disguising a person with nefarious purposes in mind! The serial killer I referred to was the sinister Number 4 from The Big Four, and the professional man was dentist Norman Gale from Death in the Clouds.

Well done, your turn.

Mr_Battle_Brent 18 May 11 at 2:50 p.m. GMT

Oh,it doesn't really fit.

Mr_Battle_Brent 18 May 11 at 2:49 p.m. GMT

Wow,that sounds promising(?)... Fake mustache,from Hercule Poirot's Christmas.

Nofret 18 May 11 at 9:19 a.m. GMT

Ray and Gary - both very well reasoned, but unfortunately neither is correct.

I suppose you'd say that I'm a bit of a joke...

(in the TV version at least)

Mr_Battle_Brent 17 May 11 at 8:36 p.m. GMT

Hm.. Anesthetic from One,Two Buckle My Shoe or gloves from... Murder Is Easy?

NightRayDuck 17 May 11 at 7:19 p.m. GMT

unable to do harm to anyone? but used by malefactors and a Christie serial killer? and also brought an unlikely Christie murderer to justice? hmm..

then I shouldn't think it's a revolver. I had been thinking perhaps the pesticide in Three Act Tragedy, from which the murderer extracted nicotine.. and the remaining pesticide and extraction apparatus were still located in the murderer's household, revealing the identity of the murderer..

people had been pouring pesticides down people's throats as a weapon, tho. hmm. perhaps the object is the extraction apparatus, the beakers, test tubes, tubes pipettes cork stoppers, Bunsen burner, etc? they've been used by various professionals and amateurs to produce or purify poison, but a beaker itself wouldn't be able to harm anyone. 

Nofret 17 May 11 at 7:14 p.m. GMT

No, no, no! There is no way I could be used as a weapon!

cameronjhw 17 May 11 at 2:43 p.m. GMT

Is a revolver used by Poirot to shoot the killer in Curtain or the revolver first used by Wargrave and then later to kill Lombard and finally used to end the killer's life in And Then There Were None

Nofret 17 May 11 at 6:20 a.m. GMT

Sir, you insult me! I am unable to do harm to anyone!

Actually, both the serial killer and the professional man are Christie characters, and there are probably more who used similar objects.

HerculeJC 17 May 11 at 5:20 a.m. GMT

I think you are a surgical knife.

The particularly callous serial killer must be 'Jack the Ripper'.

The professional man gone bad was Doctor Sheppard, in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.

I believe you were, finally, traced to Doctor Carmichael, to give Poirot the essential clue to solve THE ABC MURDERS.

Nofret 16 May 11 at 7:03 p.m. GMT

Thank you, Ray, a very clever chioce of object!

My kind has been used by malefactors down the ages. A particularly callous serial killer made use of objects like me, also, but less successfully, a professional man gone bad. However I am proud to say that I helped bring an unlikely murderer to justice.

NightRayDuck 16 May 11 at 8:22 a.m. GMT

Quite so, Nofret! The item (or items, I can never keep track of how many hedges there are at the Yew Tree Lodge) is the yew hedge. Or, being chattery domesticated plants, the members of the hedge(s?) prefer to speak as multiple yew trees. A clue from multiple plant minds - no wonder it's so confusing! :p

Your turn. :)

Nofret 16 May 11 at 6:34 a.m. GMT

The yew hedges at Yew Tree Lodge in A Pocket Full of Rye?

NightRayDuck 16 May 11 at 5:04 a.m. GMT

aah.. the item, being composed of domesticated plants, is rather slow of thinking. it asks pardon for posting a clarification.

We heard that, just for a short while, the police thought that someone had used us to commit a murder. We assure you it wasn't so. Why, we surely would have noticed if some of our offspring had been snatched away for their toxic contents!

Nofret 15 May 11 at 9:14 p.m. GMT

Is it the shrubs blocking the view of the sea in Sleeping Murder? They had been planted at the same time as Helen's body had been buried.

NightRayDuck 15 May 11 at 8:24 p.m. GMT

I forget if the hydrangea had been suspected as accessories to a crime..

but this item is composed of objects more like hydrangea than like oysters. also, this item is often considered as a portion or a design within a garden.

GKCfan 15 May 11 at 8:14 p.m. GMT

The hydrangea garden from Dead Man's Folly?

NightRayDuck 15 May 11 at 8:08 p.m. GMT

response from this item:

We are more alive, though in our own quiet way, than shells left behind by dead oysters. We are indeed in the garden, and we suppose we are placed in an arrangement similar to the oyster shells you mentioned - several objects of the same type (ex. oyster shells) placed in a line to form a gardening item (ex. garden border).

Mr_Battle_Brent 15 May 11 at 1:15 p.m. GMT

Is that object in garden?

GKCfan 15 May 11 at 6:42 a.m. GMT

Oyster shells from "How Does Your Garden Grow?"

NightRayDuck 15 May 11 at 5:21 a.m. GMT

next item up for guessing!

We are commonplace outdoor ornaments. We have not been material accessories in any crime, as far as we could tell. We had been getting on with our daily routine as usual, and then many strangers started visiting - and one of them looked worried about our presence.

NightRayDuck 15 May 11 at 5:14 a.m. GMT

it's simply that, Poirot could get so freely chatty only with someone like Mrs. Gardner.. that is, Poirot doing so without any trace of conceit.

but I do think the jigsaw puzzle metaphor has been used in a few other Poirot cases, only that in those cases Poirot didn't have the time to do a thorough analogy even down to the picture (cat) and the piece (black spot for somewhere on cat tail).

Mr_Graves 14 May 11 at 11:20 p.m. GMT

By George I think he's got it! Yes, it is a jigsaw puzzle used as a metaphor for fitting together clues in a murder case. I thought that this object was described in "Dead Man's Folly", but I can't find it anywhere there, so I am probably mistaken and it was, in fact, from "Evil Under the Sun", as you said. So your turn next.  

NightRayDuck 14 May 11 at 4:23 a.m. GMT

jigsaw puzzle as metaphor for a case / investigation.

one mostly black puzzle piece as metaphor for any piece of evidence that seemed impossible to be part of the finished puzzle.

animal mentioned was cat with a black spot on its tail.

Poirot expounds the parallel between investigation and jigsaw puzzle. in Evil Under the Sun, I think, and to Mrs. Gardner.

HerculeJC 14 May 11 at 3:50 a.m. GMT

I'll try again: 'FOLLY', from DEAD MAN'S FOLLY.  It can be used to describe the Stubbs' structures, and the unwise actions taken.

Mr_Graves 13 May 11 at 10:47 p.m. GMT

Not a card from a house of cards representing clues in a case, but that's getting fairly warm... And it isn't a cypress tree- this object is not organic.

In regards to your question about size, NightRayDuck, they come in all sizes- but usually all the same basic shape. It would be impossible to say which size was most common, but let's say that the larger ones are for more brave and dedicated pursuers.

HerculeJC 13 May 11 at 8:58 a.m. GMT

The Cypress, a form of a tree, for SAD CYPRESS

NightRayDuck 13 May 11 at 4:15 a.m. GMT

could it be a "house of cards" that Poirot sometimes builds to clear his mind? a card is placed wrong and the "house" crumbles.. good metaphor for a clue misinterpreted and the "case" falls apart..

NightRayDuck 13 May 11 at 4:13 a.m. GMT

in that case, Mr Graves, may I be even more impertinent than I have been with specific hints? may I ask: What is the approximate physical size of a usual specimen of an item of the same type? thank you.

Mr_Graves 12 May 11 at 10:03 p.m. GMT

Not a window or a mirror from any book. But do keep in mind that it is from a Poirot novel.

HerculeJC 11 May 11 at 6:12 a.m. GMT

How about "The Mirror", from "THE MIRROR CRACK'D": the 'Lady of Shallot' poem is referred to in the novel.

The mirror is real, but only, really referred to.

NightRayDuck 11 May 11 at 1:43 a.m. GMT

I have no idea about the publication date or specific story containing this item / metaphor, but I am thinking the metaphor / description is some type of hypothesis like what we call, nowadays, that a pet animal and its owner can be amazingly alike..

"The dog is a window to his master's character and innermost thoughts."

or,

"The dog is a mirror to his master's moods and likes or dislikes."

something like that, and "window" or "mirror" being the ordinary object, and fortunately "window to thoughts" and "mirror to moods" do not have a physical existence..

Mr_Graves 10 May 11 at 10:17 p.m. GMT

Not a cat. This object is not an animal. But I think your guess was closest in terms of publication date...

cameronjhw 10 May 11 at 2:36 p.m. GMT

I had a thought could it possibly be the cat that refers to the killer and the pigeons that are the victims in the Poirot novel which is of course Cat Among the Pigeons.....

Mr_Graves 10 May 11 at 6:13 a.m. GMT

Not blood. This object is purely an object; nothing anatomy-related.

NightRayDuck 09 May 11 at 8:24 p.m. GMT

that "it's Simeon Lee's blood that rises up against him" or something fanciful like that.. referring to one of his children who, having inherited his pride and patience and ability to hold life-long grudges, decides to kill him.

fortunately, blood does not physically rise up and kill a person.. o.O

HerculeJC 09 May 11 at 3:44 a.m. GMT

This reply contains spoiler information. Show reply

For HERCULE POIROT'S CHRISTMAS, Hilda Lee used the line from 'Macbeth' "Who'd have thought the old man would have so much blood in him!!".

Could this be the faked blood, used to make the death seem later than it happened??

NightRayDuck 08 May 11 at 11:36 p.m. GMT

something about the whole lot of spilled blood at the scene of Simeon Lee's death in Hercule Poirot's Christmas? blood which flows from Simeon to his wide assortment of children, blood which has been spilled at the crime scene. I don't remember the wording of the metaphor, though. sorry.

Mr_Graves 07 May 11 at 11:44 p.m. GMT

Not Cinderella's glass slipper.

Nofret 07 May 11 at 4:09 p.m. GMT

In Hickory Dickory Dock doesn't Poirot talk about Cinderella's glass slipper?

Mr_Graves 06 May 11 at 11:35 p.m. GMT

Not the plate from "One, Two, Buckle My Shoe".

Nofret 06 May 11 at 8:26 a.m. GMT

A plate, as in "Nineteen, twenty, my plate's empty" from One, Two, Buckle my Shoe?

Mr_Graves 05 May 11 at 9:38 p.m. GMT

Not Augean stables, not eyes of a calf. I might as well narrow the field, as it were, by mentioning that Poirot himself uses this metaphor.

NightRayDuck 05 May 11 at 4:49 p.m. GMT

"eyes of a calf" in Taken at the Flood? Rowley Cloade's words for Rosaleen's eyes.. innocent, trusting, no premonition of danger.

Mr_Battle_Brent 05 May 11 at 3:09 p.m. GMT

It's from a full-lenght novel I believe.

Nofret 05 May 11 at 8:18 a.m. GMT

The Augean stables, used as a metaphor for the rotten state of British politics?

NightRayDuck 05 May 11 at 2:55 a.m. GMT

Thanks! ..goes back to thinking..

Mr_Graves 05 May 11 at 1:43 a.m. GMT

I didn't want to read very much of your reply as it contained spoilers to "Dumb Witness", which I haven't read. But from what I gather you have suggested a 'halo' of some description. It isn't a halo. And the object is used intentionally as a metaphor. Somebody is trying to explain what something is like, and have used the object to do so more easily. It is meant to be poetic.

NightRayDuck 05 May 11 at 1:35 a.m. GMT

This reply contains spoiler information. Show reply

I was thinking about the "halo" a.k.a. "aureole" (words of Isabel Tripp and Julia Tripp) a.k.a. "protoplasm" (word of Wilhemina Lawson) a.k.a. "phosphorescent breath" (word of Hercule Poirot) seen just before Emily Arundell took ill. The difficulty being, even if one takes a scientific point of view and says that protoplasm is not real, Miss Lawson believed the item to be protoplasm when she spoke of it, so it's not a metaphorical description, rather it's more of a misunderstanding on the part of the person who gave the description.

NightRayDuck 05 May 11 at 1:30 a.m. GMT

hm, we all seem to be nicely puzzled..

I would like to ask for a clarification: Is this "object" used by somebody intentionally as a metaphor? Thank you.

Mr_Graves 04 May 11 at 7:29 a.m. GMT

Not a beehive. I can't imagine what that was a metaphor for, or where Poirot found an excuse to mention it... 

NightRayDuck 04 May 11 at 4:39 a.m. GMT

beehive where each cell is a little square, and the squares are perfectly lined up? unlike the current (and long-time) standard scattered hexagon design for beehives everywhere..

again, can't remember exactly where this had been said. hm. can only hope it is from Poirot, rather than one of those "New Sherlock Holmes" thingies.

Mr_Graves 04 May 11 at 3:45 a.m. GMT

Poirot does think up such odd things! Not square eggs though, i'm afraid. Clever reasoning, but not the right answer. 

NightRayDuck 04 May 11 at 3:05 a.m. GMT

square eggs??

~in a world of perfect order and symmetry, eggs should be squaaarre~~

~~alas the hens they have not been persuaded to lay square eggs~~~

Poirot complains about the oval (lit. "egg-like") shape of eggs from time to time, and some of his friends tease him about it. I can't identify though the story where Poirot speaks of square eggs as a standard of perfection.

and hypothetical, non-existant eggs are not edible, by way of not being there..

Mr_Graves 03 May 11 at 9:55 p.m. GMT

Well it isn't the buckle, as it is not a metaphorical buckle, nor the greyhound used to describe Lydia Lee. This object is an object. If I were to quote the famous line "Life is like a box of chocolates", then the box of chocolates would be my clue.

NightRayDuck 03 May 11 at 7:16 p.m. GMT

"lean greyhound of a woman"? description for Lydia Lee (Alfred's wife) in Hercule Poirot's Christmas, if I remember correctly.

Mr_Battle_Brent 03 May 11 at 12:30 p.m. GMT

Buckle for One Two Buckle My Shoe?  I don't think it's the real answer,just guessing. I don't remember anything from the book.

Mr_Graves 03 May 11 at 7:07 a.m. GMT

Not the sun in either "Death on the Nile" or "Evil under the Sun".. And not an elephant's memory. If it is any help, "Evil under the Sun" is closest to the publication date of the book in which this metaphor appears...

NightRayDuck 02 May 11 at 6:50 p.m. GMT

The popularly supposed long and infallable memory of elephants, as metaphor for memories and recollections of persons who knew some victims many years ago, in Elephants Can Remember? elephants really do have memories, when describing for persons then it's a metaphor, but in any case "memory" doesn't have a solid physical existence.

cameronjhw 02 May 11 at 3:17 p.m. GMT

Is it the sun that Poirot describes while on holiday at the Jolly Roger Hotel and talks about how everywhere there is evil under the sun in of course Evil Under the Sun.

Nofret 02 May 11 at 7:15 a.m. GMT

Is it the sun? Poirot and Jacqueline de Bellefort both compare Linnet to the sun?

Mr_Graves 02 May 11 at 6:06 a.m. GMT

This "object" appears in a Poirot novel, yes.

NightRayDuck 02 May 11 at 5:22 a.m. GMT

ah. that's one reason that this puzzle has been so puzzling. :)

Permit me to start requesting specific hints, then. Does this metaphorical description occur in a Poirot story?

Mr_Graves 02 May 11 at 3:56 a.m. GMT

I sense that you mock yourself at me... I suppose you could say that the object in this case was the "horse" in your example. But it is not said quite so plainly in the particular instance that I am thinking of...

NightRayDuck 02 May 11 at 3:51 a.m. GMT

"a laugh like a horse", that sort of description? o.O

Mr_Graves 01 May 11 at 10:14 p.m. GMT

No, not the Mirrors They do it With. This object is used by somebody as a way of describing something.  

Nofret 01 May 11 at 10:23 a.m. GMT

The other Christie mirrors, that They Do It With?

Mr_Graves 01 May 11 at 1:38 a.m. GMT

Not a finger from FitzGerald or a mirror from Tennyson... But the mirror, I would say, was closest.

Nofret 30 Apr 11 at 8:25 a.m. GMT

The mirror that cracked from side to side as the curse came upon the Lady of Shallot (and Marina Gregg)?

NightRayDuck 30 Apr 11 at 4:48 a.m. GMT

hmm. and not from Tommy n Tuppence, so not the thumb which feels the prickle..

how about the finger in The Moving Finger? referring to the one-fingered typing when the criminal typed up parts of the anonymous letters, but also metaphor for the widespread false accusations and unfounded suspicions?

Mr_Graves 29 Apr 11 at 10:41 p.m. GMT

Not the "Tide" in the fortunes of me, and certainly not the "Tide" laundry detergent. This object is much more tangible.

NightRayDuck 29 Apr 11 at 6:18 a.m. GMT

full-length? I was about to say the Apple of the Hesperides.. I think there might have been some mythical critter guarding it..

how about the "tide in the fortunes of men" in Taken at the Flood? tide is a real object (or phenomenon), tide in fortunes of men is metaphorical, or at any rate isn't as easily observed and found as real tide.

(puts me in mind of laundry detergent.. a brand called Tide has pretty good reputation among US consumers.)

Mr_Graves 28 Apr 11 at 11:30 p.m. GMT

Not a girdle... And this particular object is referred to in a full-length novel.

Nofret 28 Apr 11 at 11:45 a.m. GMT

The actual Girdle of Hyppolita, rather than the Rubens painting of the same name?

Mr_Graves 28 Apr 11 at 8 a.m. GMT

This object is not an animal either... Although, if I recall, there is an animal mentioned. But the object itself is not.

NightRayDuck 28 Apr 11 at 2:47 a.m. GMT

"Pale Horse" from The Pale Horse, being a metaphor for death and wholesale destruction? Horses of similar coloration do exist, but none of them has the exact job description as the Pale Horse of Death..

Mr_Graves 27 Apr 11 at 11:57 p.m. GMT

Not "Delicious Death", no. This 'object' is not edible, I'm afraid...

NightRayDuck 27 Apr 11 at 9:07 p.m. GMT

ah.. I think I have it. "Delicious Death", which refers to the real object of a tasty cake, but unfortunately a death of any description wouldn't be a real object, in A Murder Is Announced?

Mr_Graves 26 Apr 11 at 10:47 p.m. GMT

Not a water lily either... This object is not from a Tommy and Tuppence novel. 

NightRayDuck 26 Apr 11 at 9 p.m. GMT

"water lily" used to describe the dancer Julia who later married Philip Stark in By the Pricking of My Thumbs?

Mr_Graves 26 Apr 11 at 8:31 a.m. GMT

An interesting thought there, DK, but it is not the Golden Ball from "The Golden Ball"...

NightRayDuck 26 Apr 11 at 4:58 a.m. GMT

"glittering golden ball of opportunity" which Uncle Leadbetter described in a moral lecture to his nephew George Dunbas, in the short story "The Golden Ball"?

Mr_Graves 24 Apr 11 at 10:44 p.m. GMT

Very well, I will take the honour of next clue-maker. here goes!

"I am not a real object. Well, obviously I'm a real object, but I'm not real. That is to say, I am a metaphorical object, used to describe something in a rather dramatic sort of way. Sadly, I never existed in the physical sense..."

Mr_Battle_Brent 24 Apr 11 at 6:17 p.m. GMT

I'd rather pass the game on someone else.

MissQuin 23 Apr 11 at 9:32 a.m. GMT

Thank you Mr Graves. So perhaps Gary can set the new puzzle.

Mr_Graves 23 Apr 11 at 4:51 a.m. GMT

Gary, you can take this next clue if you'd like. I would never have thought of the bandages from "Murder is Easy" had you not mentioned it. Great clue by the way, Miss Quin, very clever!

Mr_Battle_Brent 22 Apr 11 at 10:24 a.m. GMT

Mr Graves. I just guessed radomly! Murder Is Easy is my favourite AC book so far,yet I totally forgot that sticking plaster is from the story!

MissQuin 22 Apr 11 at 10:08 a.m. GMT

This reply contains spoiler information. Show reply

It is the From Murder Is Easy- the infected dressing and bandages were transferred from Wonky Pooh the cat to the poor Doctor. And no no-one had guessed it was a murder! Very clever indeed.

That's why I said I was attached to a living thing- two in fact! I couldn't say person.

I don't know who to give it to- Gary almost had the object right, but Mr Graves guessed the title correctly. Maybe you two can decide?

NightRayDuck 22 Apr 11 at 3:58 a.m. GMT

Mr. Graves, I was thinking of Murder Is Easy, as well. But.. I thought the bacteria was from the poor cat's sore ear? And I couldn't recall reading the words "sticking plaster" in that novel. I thought it was gauze that was used on the victim. (Or were they those famous differences between different editions?)

I've been reading too many appearances of "sticking plaster", by the way, from various second-generation and third-fourth-N-th generation Sherlock Holmes stories..

By the way, if forensic examination of the wound had been done before the victim had been buried, even back in that era it could be shown, by growing the bacteria from the victim's blood stream, and the bacteria from the cat's ear, and comparing the growth colony patterns and examining the bacteria under the microscope.. and if the police could get and believe info from the bacteria factory (whatever facility that the obvious suspect was touring).. it's very likely that the bacteria in the victim would be found a commonplace pathogen as could be found in the cat ear, and dissimilar to the highly special strains in that bacteria facility.

Mr_Graves 21 Apr 11 at 10:51 p.m. GMT

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The sticking plaster used in "Murder is Easy" to infect Dr Humbleby with bacteria from a scientific exhibition? This was a particularly ingenious murder method as it was so difficult to prove as murder.

Mr_Battle_Brent 21 Apr 11 at 7:30 p.m. GMT

STICKING PLASTER!

MissQuin 21 Apr 11 at 9:45 a.m. GMT

No I'm afraid it's not tablets DK. Have a look at the second clue and see if what medical item it colud apply to.

NightRayDuck 19 Apr 11 at 9:13 p.m. GMT

Capsule(s) originally containing medicine for relieving symptoms of allergic hay fever, in Endless Night? Someone got way too clever, emptied some of the capsules and filled them with cyanide thingies.

And, of course, if one were to swallow an empty capsule, one would not get poisoned.

MissQuin 19 Apr 11 at 4:08 p.m. GMT

Very good guesses but not correct so far. Here's more:

"As an object you wouldn't think I could get attached to any living thing. But I was, two in fact!"

Nofret 17 Apr 11 at 9:38 p.m. GMT

Is it the perfumed unguent that her slave-girl used to massage old Esa in Death Comes as the End, which the murderer poisoned so that the poison penetrated her skin?

Mr_Battle_Brent 17 Apr 11 at 8:15 p.m. GMT

Yeah,you are probably right. I don't know any other mystery with fragrant oil or perfume,but I only read about 20 different AC books

NightRayDuck 17 Apr 11 at 8:06 p.m. GMT

hi Gary.. I think it's perhaps more precise to say the object is the bottle (the container) for the smelling salt, b/c the murderer took away the smelling salt and put cyanide compound into the bottle for the victim to sniff. 

I do have an impression, though, that there's another story where fragrant oil or perfume had a sinister role in a mystery. I wonder if anyone has read something like that?

Mr_Battle_Brent 17 Apr 11 at 2:34 p.m. GMT

Gary_Flores

Some kind of fragrant oil? It's used in one of the short stories to kill one lady. I think there was some kind of poem like:''First day yellow lillies,second day blue daffodills,and the third day purple roses means death''... Something like that anyway. I don't know the name of a story,sorry.

Hah,found it: The Blue Geranium short story. Object:Smelling Salt

Mr_Battle_Brent 17 Apr 11 at 1:53 p.m. GMT

Some kind of fragrant oil? It's used in one of the short stories to kill one lady. I think there was some kind of poem like:''First day yellow lillies,second day blue daffodills,and the third day purple roses means death''... Something like that anyway. I don't know the name of a story,sorry.

MissQuin 17 Apr 11 at 10:33 a.m. GMT

Both very good guesses Mr Graves and  DK. But it's not a drug of any kind, but it's related to medical use.

NightRayDuck 17 Apr 11 at 12:48 a.m. GMT

I thought cushion or pillow, too! Or perhaps a blanket. On second thought, I don't recall one being used in the Christie stories that I have read and that I do remember. Such a murder would probably not leave enough tangible evidence for the sleuth to discover and document? It's used a whole lot in any Asian crime fiction..

So, I thought of morphine, too. How about the batch used in By the Pricking of My Thumbs? I am simply throwing out an additional answer because I don't remember details from Sad Cypress.

Mr_Graves 16 Apr 11 at 10:55 p.m. GMT

I thought at first a cushion, but could you be a painkiller of some kind. Morphine, like morphine hydrochloride, in "Sad Cypress", for instance?

MissQuin 16 Apr 11 at 9:33 a.m. GMT

Me! I've finnished my project I was studying.

" My intended use is to help ease suffering. To look at me you would never think I had killed someone. But I was misused by a cunning and evil person.  After I had caused someones demise, no one had even known it was murder."

NightRayDuck 15 Apr 11 at 5:51 p.m. GMT

So... who is doing the next object puzzle?

Nofret 13 Apr 11 at 7:32 a.m. GMT

This reply contains spoiler information. Show reply

I'll put you out of your misery, MissQ! The object is, in fact, the syringe which held the tuberculosis virus which the evil Dr Andersen was about to inject into Amy Carnaby!

Now get on with your studying!

MissQuin 12 Apr 11 at 12:30 p.m. GMT

I'm meant to be studying and yet I find myself on here... I can't think straight. :) Anyway,  I wondering if it was the injection Amy had in Labours Of Hercules. 

Nofret 12 Apr 11 at 11:41 a.m. GMT

Both very good guesses, neither is correct but Mr Graves is nearer. It wasn't Miss Marple or Tuppence who was in danger, but another plucky heroine.

NightRayDuck 03 Apr 11 at 9:49 p.m. GMT

umm... milk and morphine near the end of By the Pricking of My Thumbs? threatened Tuppence Beresford, until someone with a dark and sinister secret past broke into the room through a window?

Mr_Graves 03 Apr 11 at 9:40 p.m. GMT

Could it be some kind of poison? Or a medicine that is fatal in large doses? I can't think of any that have endangered Christie favorites, but I do recall Miss Marple being poisoned in "Nemisis" but due to the quick action of somebody she thought was sinister, she was saved..

Nofret 03 Apr 11 at 8:47 p.m. GMT

Not a revolver (can't imagine one being used benevolently!) and the person in danger was not Poirot.

cameronjhw 03 Apr 11 at 8:06 p.m. GMT

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Could it be a revolver that was used by Poirot to kill the murderer in Curtain

Nofret 31 Mar 11 at 5:07 p.m. GMT

Thank you, MissQ!

Objects of my kind can be used either for great good, or for great evil. I was one of the latter. If it were not for the swift action of a very unlikely person, a favourite Christie character would have suffered.

MissQuin 31 Mar 11 at 2:59 p.m. GMT

Yes! Norfet is right once again.

Nofret 30 Mar 11 at 5:59 p.m. GMT

Is it the inn sign of The Pale Horse?

MissQuin 30 Mar 11 at 10:51 a.m. GMT

None of those. But GKC is slightly warmer, it's not a building, but it would normally be on a building. Except that in the book it wasn't. Although it orignally had a practical purpose, it has now been made into a decorative item.

Nofret 30 Mar 11 at 9:17 a.m. GMT

Is it the Holbein painting in The Secret of Chimneys, that hid the entrance  to a secret passage?

NightRayDuck 30 Mar 11 at 1:50 a.m. GMT

I think it might be the particular house in "The Listerdale Mystery".. the one that Lord Listerdale used to live in, one night walked out of and never went back, and then Mrs. St. Vincent rented for her family, and then young Mr. Rupert St. Vincent kept examining the panelling for hidden bodies or hidden loot.. can't remember the address exactly.. #7 Cheviot Place? something like that.

GKCfan 29 Mar 11 at 9:52 p.m. GMT

Is the object a building?

Mr_Graves 29 Mar 11 at 9:45 p.m. GMT

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Is it the Vermeer from "After the Funeral"?

Mr_Graves 29 Mar 11 at 9:45 p.m. GMT

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Is it the Vermeer from "After the Funeral"?

MissQuin 29 Mar 11 at 10:36 a.m. GMT

Good guess but it's not from Peril At End house or The Moving Finger. But Nofret is getting warm on the type of object. It has been painted, but it's not a portrait.

Nofret 29 Mar 11 at 9:05 a.m. GMT

Could it be one of the paintings on the wall at End House? Either the one that Jim Lazarus offered to buy, or the other, more valuable one?

Mr_Graves 28 Mar 11 at 10:49 p.m. GMT

Hmm... I wonder if it is the book that was used for its letters in "The Moving Finger". It was never taken out of the village. But I don't think murder was plotted under its roof. And I'm not entirely sure that it was that old. In fact, I am rather doubting my suspicion. But it's worth a go.

MissQuin 28 Mar 11 at 9:05 p.m. GMT

It might be fun to say your correct with both guesses Nofret! Miss Marple had taken to sleeping in a sarcophagus, because the hard rigid base is good for bad backs....!!!  But I'm afraid I'm joking, it's not dear Miss Marple or a sarcophagus. This object hasn't ever moved out of the village it came from.

Nofret 28 Mar 11 at 5:41 p.m. GMT

Aha! Been around a few hundred years? The object is - Miss Jane Marple!!!!!!

If not, how about the sarcophagus in 4.50 from Paddington?

MissQuin 28 Mar 11 at 11 a.m. GMT

I think I read Coco Chanel started the tan craze. Also it was mentioned in Three Act Tragedy, Cynthia showing trendy tanned skin.

Anyway onto the clue:

I'm an object that was examined closely during the events that happened. But I was never used to kill anyone. Nor did anyone die in my presence. I still have a signifigant part in the proceedings. Murder was plotted under my roof. Although I've been around a few hundred years I'm in the same village as I always was.

Nofret 27 Mar 11 at 8:42 p.m. GMT

Well done, MissQ, it is indeed the fake tan from Evil under the Sun.

 Nowadays everyone in the popular press seems to be various shades of orange, but of course up until the early years of the 20th century if you had a tan it meant you were a lower class manual worker, so fashionable ladies cultivated a porcelain complexion!

Ruby Keene would also have used fake tan when in costume for a Latin American exhibition dance!

Anyway, over to you!

MissQuin 27 Mar 11 at 4:28 p.m. GMT

I knew lipstick was older than 70 years, I think Ancient Egyptians used it.  But I mistakenly thought you meant an object used in the story 1940's. Sorry! I've confused myself.

I think it's a cosmetic or beauty item... well it's not a hairdryer used to kill someone! Not posioned shampoo... 

Fake tan lotion in a bottle in Evil Under The Sun? That did surprise me. Plus fake tan is advertised alot "St Tropez spray tan, to give you a healthy glow*" * not applicable to corpses of course!

Nofret 27 Mar 11 at 4:06 p.m. GMT

well reasoned, MissQ, except that lipstick was fashionable in England from the beginning of the 20th century. But still getting very warm.

In another novel a murder victim occasionally used me.

MissQuin 27 Mar 11 at 11:15 a.m. GMT

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I wonder if it's lipstick? Because Robin Upward wore it in Mrs Mc Ginty's Dead.  He drank from a glass, then it left the lipstick mark. It made the crime look like a woman had committed it! Plus 70 years ago is around 1940's.

BTW I love Robin Upward's conversations with Mrs Oliver, just classic.

The TV and mags are full of every shade and type of lipstick imaginable. It makes you wonder what they'll come up with next.

Nofret 27 Mar 11 at 7:21 a.m. GMT

Not a dictation machine, GKCfan.

DK - re the magazines these aren't specialised publications for weapons enthusiasts and suchlike, more the sort of magazine that a modern day Gladys Martin would read.

Your reasoning is correct about the wig, incorrect but on the right track.

NightRayDuck 27 Mar 11 at 4:58 a.m. GMT

..the thing is, I take the clue to mean that this type of item is often seen in TV and magazines of our current days. I'd be pretty worried if guns appear as photos or drawings in magazines very often. guns might appear in writing in magazines publishing detective stories or science fiction or perhaps even Western adventures, but I don't know if there are many of those magazines around nowadays.

NightRayDuck 27 Mar 11 at 4:54 a.m. GMT

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a wig? the one that the astounding M. Poirot used in Curtain (written in 1940s)?

I hear that several wigs had also been used in the "crime in the past" in Elephants Can Remember.. I lose track of the timeline for that story, tho. That use of wigs may have been in the 1950s?

But... powdered wig has been around more than a century? so I suppose appearance of a wig 70 yrs ago wouldn't be very surprising.. hmm. but I wanted to start guessing with some items that I do actually remember from Christie works.

GKCfan 26 Mar 11 at 8:25 p.m. GMT

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A dictation machine from The Murder of Roger Ackroyd?

Nofret 26 Mar 11 at 7:08 p.m. GMT

Good answer, GKCfan, plenty of guns in the media nowadays. But not correct, I'm afraid.

GKCfan 26 Mar 11 at 6:09 p.m. GMT

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The silencer for the gun in The Murder at te Vicarage?

Nofret 26 Mar 11 at 7:35 a.m. GMT

That was a real puzzler, Mr G! Try this one:

Hallo, folks! I expect you see quite a lot of me nowadays, especially in magazines and on the telly! So I bet you were surprised to find out (through Miss Christie!) that I was around over 70 years ago! I helped provide an alibi for a murder!

Mr_Graves 25 Mar 11 at 9:30 p.m. GMT

The spar! The spar! Yes, of course it is the spar from the "Uralia" that rendered Beatrice's memory completely blank in "The Voice in the Dark" from "The Mysterious Mr Quin"... Your turn now.

Nofret 25 Mar 11 at 6:41 a.m. GMT

I was thinking of the Uralia, but I imagine that many people died when it sank. So would the object be the spar or piece of wood that struck Beatrice on the head?

Mr_Graves 25 Mar 11 at 5:03 a.m. GMT

Getting very very warm now!... So what would the object be?

NightRayDuck 25 Mar 11 at 4:27 a.m. GMT

in "The Voice in the Dark", the ship several decades before the start of the story, which met with an accident, and Barbara emerged as the heir of the Stranleigh title, with a lady's maid in tow?

Mr_Graves 25 Mar 11 at 1:27 a.m. GMT

Not the "Lusitania", but you are getting warmer. 

NightRayDuck 22 Mar 11 at 10:28 p.m. GMT

how about the Lusitania ship itself (or is the proper etiquette to address the ship as "herself" I forgot.).

the torpedo would've been used intentionally to *at least* injure people and isn't likely to regret doing so. but the ship wouldn't expect to be hit and sunken by a torpedo, and wouldn't like its (ship's) own job being interrupted and its customers and handlers getting hurt and itself no longer in good condition.

and if any people died, they died of water in lungs, or suffocation, or being thrown against things during the torpedo impact and during the sinking, or panic / fright and so on... not due to the ship itself.

Mr_Graves 22 Mar 11 at 7:42 p.m. GMT

Quite right, NOT the dagger from "The Murder on the Links", and no, it isn't the torpedo. But good guessing...

GKCfan 22 Mar 11 at 6:13 p.m. GMT

It can't be a dagger from The Murder on the Links, because the dagger that was thrown into the sea was used to kill a man.

Nofret 22 Mar 11 at 1:04 p.m. GMT

How about - the torpedo that sank the Lusitania at the beginning of The Secret Adversary?

Mr_Graves 22 Mar 11 at 7:31 a.m. GMT

Not a body of water. I might as well tell you that this object can be found underwater, on the coast of a beautiful country...

NightRayDuck 22 Mar 11 at 3:48 a.m. GMT

a river, or a piece of geography with moving water? and this time I do have a specific one in mind. the one in Towards Zero, which ferries crossed regularly, people swam across occasionally, and some murder suspect got pushed in by a policeman in order to test out an alibi.

Mr_Graves 22 Mar 11 at 2:40 a.m. GMT

You're pushing your luck a bit there with specific clues! But we'll see what the object has to say...

Oh yes, lots of people died, but not because of me! I only injured one person. In fact, another person died, and there was confusion of some sort... But don't ask me! Where am I now? Not underground, that's for sure. I am near the coast of a beautiful country somewhere...

NightRayDuck 22 Mar 11 at 1:20 a.m. GMT

my real difficulty is in not yet recalling an event where multiple persons were injured but none were killed. I would ask for one more specific hint, if it doesn't annoy the object too much..

Would the current location of this object most likely be a) underground? or b) under water? or c) other? Thank you.

Mr_Graves 21 Mar 11 at 9:37 p.m. GMT

Oh! So sorry- I did mean, of course, that this object is before the time of planes. It would have to be- and it fits in with the sort of timeline that is given. I apologise for my mistake. 

Not a caravan, I'm afraid... And sand storm is right out. 

NightRayDuck 21 Mar 11 at 6:03 a.m. GMT

Mr. Graves - planes were before the time of this object? or this object was before the time of planes? ..very much puzzled..

I'd been thinking perhaps a caravan of the camel / mule / merchants type, I don't know of any that fits the description, of course. How about, say, a sand storm that injured people?

NightRayDuck 21 Mar 11 at 5:58 a.m. GMT

Nofret - thanks a whole lot about the circumstances of Jerry Burton's plane crash. as I said, the edition I've finally got to read in English is the US edition which I've just recently learned on this forum is much abridged. I wonder how much details about that plane crash had been in the UK edition? the US populace has a bit of a societal-subconsciousness embarrassment about crashed testing planes.

Mr_Graves 20 Mar 11 at 10:27 p.m. GMT

Your instinct is very good, Nofret, it is something from a bygone age. Vehicles is a good thought. Planes were before it's time...

Nofret 20 Mar 11 at 8:08 p.m. GMT

This is a puzzler, Mr G. I have the impression of something, possibly a vehicle, from a bygone age?

DK - I think that Jerry Burton was a test pilot, and a prototype he was testing crashed.

Mr_Graves 20 Mar 11 at 4:27 a.m. GMT

Some interesting questions...

Am I in shape? Well, I'm still the same size and form than before. But I'm certainly not in good condition, after what happened. Not that I'm any good to anyone anyway! I don't know a Jerry Burton, or anything about planes for that matter. How could I?

NightRayDuck 20 Mar 11 at 2:18 a.m. GMT

I'll ask for some specific hints...

Is this object still in its original shape?

and an off-topic question.. did Jerry Burton's airplane injure anyone other than Burton himself, when it crashed? because the American edition that I have, Burton says simply "I took a bad crash flying", no details about what plane, what engine, for leisure or for bet or for breaking some record or anything. it was so vague that I thought he took a crash while paragliding or something.. until much later in the book when someone is all sympathetic inquiring whether he'll be able to fly a plane again.

NightRayDuck 20 Mar 11 at 2:11 a.m. GMT

I was thinking maybe the plane in Destination Unknown, the one that was deliberately blown up with intention of covering the track of those who were heading to that Unit thing... but that didn't cause injuries. hmm. caused a lot of problems though.

Mr_Graves 19 Mar 11 at 9:22 p.m. GMT

Not a plane that crashed, not a pair of hands. Keep trying!

Tommy_A_Jones 19 Mar 11 at 4:39 p.m. GMT

Is it the pair of hands that pushed the Victim to his Death in Why Didn't They Ask Evans? no-one would know where the hands are now because SPOILER!!!!!!!!!!

The Murderer Fled the Country.

Nofret 19 Mar 11 at 10:06 a.m. GMT

This is a tricky one, Mr G! How about the plane that crashed, injuring Jerry Burton from The Moving Finger? Am I on the right track?

Mr_Graves 19 Mar 11 at 6:57 a.m. GMT

Mrs Oliver would approve of all of the ides being thought up very quickly here of late!.. Unfortunately, as nothing with particular reference to an Agatha Christie book was mentioned, I cannot accept any of the answers... But I'm feeling unusually benevolent today, so I will give you a hint or two. Darknight was closest, probably, with the vehicle idea. Nofret- this object was not used to injure somebody intentionally. Something to think about there...

Nofret 19 Mar 11 at 6:32 a.m. GMT

I'm now thinking more along the lines of a weapon used to injure someone, then thrown in a lake, or similar!

NightRayDuck 19 Mar 11 at 5:23 a.m. GMT

Isn't rubella virus often lethal when infecting children directly? if we were talking about rubella virus in general, there were deaths in past history. if we were talking about only the individual rubella virions infecting the characters in question... that's not many people that became ill. 

hm hm... I was thinking about many, many possible interpretations of the clue..

A vehicle that had an accident? not sure I know of an instance where there were lots injuries but no deaths. (cars, trains, buses, trams, boats, ships...)

A building that collapsed? don't know of one with no death..

A difficult building that cost health and lives of the building-laborers? such as an Egyptian pyramid? I do think that deaths are attributed.. but I don't know if that's a historical fact.

Mr_Graves 18 Mar 11 at 7:28 p.m. GMT

An intelligent interpretation of the clue there Nofret, but not the right answer.

Nofret 18 Mar 11 at 7:50 a.m. GMT

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Is it the rubella virus which infected Marina Gregg while pregnant and caused her child to be born disabled?

Mr_Graves 17 Mar 11 at 7:53 p.m. GMT

All such original ideas, but this object is not poisonous.

NightRayDuck 17 Mar 11 at 6:23 p.m. GMT

or poisoned chocolates here there and everywhere?

funny when you think about going around looking for evidence of where the poison had been..

Nofret 17 Mar 11 at 5:44 p.m. GMT

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Or is it the foxglove leaves from The Herb of Death, which made the Bantrys and other dinner guests ill, again so that the murderer could add a little extra something for his intended victim?

cameronjhw 17 Mar 11 at 1:35 p.m. GMT

Is it the poison that was used to make the Crackenthorpe family ill so one of them can be given a extra dose in 4:50 from Paddington

NightRayDuck 17 Mar 11 at 6:12 a.m. GMT

how about food that had been mildly poisoned and caused many people to be ill? before lethal dose of poison had been separately administered, I mean.

Mr_Graves 17 Mar 11 at 5:59 a.m. GMT

Nothing explosive, no.

NightRayDuck 17 Mar 11 at 5:53 a.m. GMT

Some bomb or other explosive device that had done its job at exploding? such as the one in The Big Four?

Mr_Graves 16 Mar 11 at 11:33 p.m. GMT

No, not a doorstop.

cameronjhw 16 Mar 11 at 8:55 p.m. GMT

Is it the doorstop that was used to knock out Josephine in Crooked House

Mr_Graves 16 Mar 11 at 7:52 p.m. GMT

Yay me! I loved the light-heartedness of "The Seven Dials Mystery"- the prank at the beginning was so innocent! Here is my clue. Are you ready?

I didn't kill anybody, but I injured them and caused a LOT of problems. If only I hadn't! You can't find me now, though. I'd be somewhat difficult to locate....

GKCfan 16 Mar 11 at 3:20 a.m. GMT

I've rather an idea that you're completely right!  Great job!

Mr_Graves 15 Mar 11 at 10:59 p.m. GMT

I've rather an idea that you are one of the eight "alarum clocks" that were used to pull a prank on Gerald Wade in "The Seven Dials Mystery". They had been bought to wake him up, as he was always so late to breakfast, but he never did.... Say, you aren't the eighth clock that had to be thrown out of the window, are you?

Mr_Graves 15 Mar 11 at 10:59 p.m. GMT

I've rather an idea that you are one of the eight "alarum clocks" that were used to pull a prank on Gerald Wade in "The Seven Dials Mystery". They had been bought to wake him up, as he was always so late to breakfast, but he never did.... Say, you aren't the eighth clock that had to be thrown out of the window, are you?

GKCfan 15 Mar 11 at 6:46 p.m. GMT

I am one of several simlar but not identical objects.  I was originally purchased to play a slightly mean-spirited role in a plan, but I was unable to fulfill my intended role due to a murder.  At one point I was moved some distance away from my original location as part of a red herring.

NightRayDuck 15 Mar 11 at 6:17 a.m. GMT

Yes, GKCfan, it was the burst balloon that Pilar commented on. That was fast! Your turn. 

GKCfan 15 Mar 11 at 3:37 a.m. GMT

Pilar's burst balloon in Hercule Poirot's Christmas?

NightRayDuck 14 Mar 11 at 10:15 p.m. GMT

Thanks! it's odd, now that I look at my book shelves, I don't seem to have any of the bee-sting or snake-venom stories. hmm.

Next object up for guessing:

I am a tiny item made of entirely the same material. Items of my kind are often used as toys or festive decoration. Well, many of us were sitting in a box waiting to be used for the big event, but it didn't happen the usual way. Some time later, a few people finally got around to taking out a few of us and using us as toys. I perished soon afterwards as usually happens with my kind, but one of the people commented that a perished item very much like myself had recently been discovered at a location that was neither mirthful nor festive. How odd.

Nofret 14 Mar 11 at 9:37 a.m. GMT

Well done, DK, it was the (live - it was buzzing) bumblebee introduced into the room where Emily Brent was murdered to fit in with the nursery rhyme in ATTWN!

Your go!

NightRayDuck 13 Mar 11 at 11:52 p.m. GMT

possibly Emily Brent, yes. the "bee sting" victim in And Then There Were None. I don't have the novel on hand to check the names. thanks for the correction, GKC.

GKCfan 13 Mar 11 at 10:36 p.m. GMT

Do you mean Emily Brent?  Emily Blunt, the actress, was killed in the Suchet Death on the Nile...

NightRayDuck 13 Mar 11 at 10:20 p.m. GMT

the dead body of a bee (or was it a bumblebee) placed in the room where Emily Blunt was killed, in And Then There Were None?

Nofret 11 Mar 11 at 8:43 p.m. GMT

No, I was in the room as someone was murdered.

NightRayDuck 11 Mar 11 at 8:24 p.m. GMT

furry caterpillar that the naughty Miss Sybil put on her nanny just when the good woman was putting Miss Sybil to bed, in Passenger to Frankfurt?

Nofret 11 Mar 11 at 1:30 p.m. GMT

No, you were much closer with the bird (What are birds sometimes associated with?)

NightRayDuck 11 Mar 11 at 4:01 a.m. GMT

stage prop gun in the hands of two sinister-looking people in a house that the hero and heroine decided to take a peek at, in "The Golden Ball"?

Nofret 10 Mar 11 at 7:25 p.m. GMT

No, neither of those was normally one of many.

cameronjhw 10 Mar 11 at 4:11 p.m. GMT

Could it be the stuffed cat used for the intended murder of Benedict Farley in The Dream, the bracelet Renisenb found that belonged to Nofret in Death Comes as the End.

Nofret 10 Mar 11 at 9:22 a.m. GMT

Good guess, DK, but not a bird.

NightRayDuck 10 Mar 11 at 1:02 a.m. GMT

the black bird, or rather the dead body of a black bird, that was put on Rex Fortescue's desk to cause him alarm, in A Pocket Full of Rye?

Nofret 09 Mar 11 at 3:16 p.m. GMT

Thank you, Miss E.

I am usually found among others of my kind, but I was brought to this place alone. My main purpose here, it seems, is to frighten rather than harm, otherwise I have nothing to do with the events here.

Miss_Eylesbarrow 09 Mar 11 at 11:12 a.m. GMT

Nofret has it, the fountain pen filler from Five Little Pigs, you didn't need a clue after all

Tommy_A_Jones 07 Mar 11 at 4:09 p.m. GMT

Is the object in a story which there is a longer version and a short version like Sparkling Cyanide and Yellow Iris?

Nofret 07 Mar 11 at 11:56 a.m. GMT

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Is it the fountain pen filler which Elsa Greer used to steal and administer the poison in Five Little Pigs?

NightRayDuck 04 Mar 11 at 7:27 a.m. GMT

hmm... pudding dish (or whatever the proper culinary term is), completely destroyed in England, but no murder involved.

decanter for alcohol from any story, maybe?

I don't suppose champagne glasses or wine glasses would have become rare nowadays... 

MissQuin 03 Mar 11 at 2:56 p.m. GMT

A clue would be great Miss E!

Miss_Eylesbarrow 03 Mar 11 at 11:40 a.m. GMT

clue anyone?

Miss_Eylesbarrow 01 Mar 11 at 10:08 a.m. GMT

The vctim wasn't hit with a stone pineapple, or anything else. 

NightRayDuck 28 Feb 11 at 11:01 p.m. GMT

It makes me think of huge stony ornaments at the top of gate posts, the ornament possibly pineapple in shape. The few that I do remember, though, were either used not on a bright day, or hadn't actually hit the intended victim. hmm.

Miss_Eylesbarrow 24 Feb 11 at 9:26 a.m. GMT

Phew, that was a toughie GKC, your puzzles get harder and harder

I was an ordinary object in the time of my story, but not seen so often nowadays.  I was completely destroyed in the course of the murder, one bright day in England.  There were several suspects, of course, but it took a while before I was associated with the correct one....

GKCfan 23 Feb 11 at 10:23 p.m. GMT

Yes!  It's the Major's glass eye!  I'm so glad you got it!

Miss_Eylesbarrow 23 Feb 11 at 9:25 a.m. GMT

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Okay, I think I've got it, is it Major Palgrave's glass eye from A Caribbean Mystery?  It was because of the positioning of the glass eye that the killer was at first mis-identified.

Miss_Eylesbarrow 23 Feb 11 at 9:17 a.m. GMT

Is it a piece of clothing?  This is a real puzzler GKC.  The only exhumation in a Miss Marple story I can think of is from a short story The Thumb Mark of St Peter.  I'll keep puzzling.....

GKCfan 23 Feb 11 at 4:45 a.m. GMT

The exhumation was done to check the cause of death.  The item in question is not a skin marking (remember the original description), nor is it a piece of jewelry, or papers, nor are there any relevant markings on the object.  The object wasn't swallowed.   Everyone who knew the victim knew that the item was buried with the victim.

NightRayDuck 23 Feb 11 at 12:31 a.m. GMT

Actually, it's Miss Eylesbarrow's question right at the beginning of this puzzle, that got me thinking. Why wedding ring? Got the spouse's (likely estranged, otherwise it wouldn't help in identifying the killer) name engraved? but it's not piece of jewelry. Locket on necklace with photo may or may not be jewelry? and may or may not be buried. Pocket watch or other clothing accessories with "From [spouse] to [victim] with love"? even less likely to be buried with the victim. Wedding certificate, birth certificate, divorce papers... would very likely be recovered by the police right away, or be removed by the killer right after the crime. unless the victim by some accident happened to swallow it. but paperwork of that type isn't likely to be small enough to be easily swallowed in a moment of confusion.

Usual causes of exhumation would be to check cause of death? Wounds? Poisons? Disease of any particular organ? and these might not be very helpful as to the identity of the killer.

Or, the victim was buried under the right name, identified correctly by their neighbors / friends / co-workers, and was clearly murdered in cold blood. And the exhumation was done only to check who, exactly, had a murder motive, even if the grudge or difficulty had taken place many years ago?

that's all. ..munches a biscuit.. 

NightRayDuck 23 Feb 11 at 12:29 a.m. GMT

yikes... ok, then at least I don't need to detail my conjectures on exhumation being more likely in novels rather than odd short stories. Thank you!

The item might be... some rather permanent marking on the skin of the victim? A tattoo of a name? A scar from an injury? Skin discoloration from some previous disease?

If so, I'd like to humbly retire from this puzzle and leave the guessing to friends who still have the item in their memory or the story within their reach. It is time of afternoon snacks in my time zone. But I will detail my conjectures leading to "skin", for general entertainment and possibly help in figuring out which victim and what markings.

GKCfan 22 Feb 11 at 11:22 p.m. GMT

No problem!  The item was recovered during an exhumation and then replaced.  There's never any doubt about the victim's identity, although there is no forensic evidence on the object in question to connect it to the killer.  It is from a Miss Marple story, but not 4:50.

NightRayDuck 22 Feb 11 at 6:59 p.m. GMT

You see, once I saw it confirmed that the hiding place was a coffin, I knew for certain that in all the Christie stories on my shelf that I am still familiar with, there was no item that had been in a coffin at any time that would show up the identity of the killer, rather than the identity of the victim. The only stories I have on my shelf and yet I am not familiar with were Poirot short stories. I am afraid I rather panicked when I saw that someone I knew was familiar with more pieces of Christie work was about to rule out all novels, and Poirot stories, and Miss Marple stories. When I posted that comment, it was like having all pieces from 70 jigsaw puzzles of different sizes and pictures all mixed up on the floor, and someone had thrown away the boxes that had the complete pictures on them! (70 puzzles b/c that's the apprx number of Christie stories that I am not familiar with.) At that time, I had only picked out apprx 20% of the pieces of one puzzle, and still no idea what the finished picture was like. I am really very sorry, Miss Eylesbarrow, if my last comment appeared preachy, cheeky, or even purposefully confusing!   

I'll detail some of my conjectures below.

NightRayDuck 22 Feb 11 at 6:57 p.m. GMT

 Yikes! I thought I had posted 2 other questions before that... I am sorry for the nearly redundant asking of questions, GKC. My communication skills were rather bounding around like a party of caffeinated monkeys yesterday. And my internet connection was flickering on and off. In my previous post, I wanted to ask, in addition to "how many times was this item hidden in a coffin?", also the question "was there an exhumation involved, most likely occurring between the first hiding and the second hiding?"

Miss_Eylesbarrow 22 Feb 11 at 11:18 a.m. GMT

Miss_Eylesbarrow

This has got to be from a short story?  One of the more unusual ones?  What I mean is not a Poirot or Miss Marple?

I only said that Darknight because I thought I knew the novels pretty well and I can't think of any incident where an object is placed in a coffin - clearly I don't know the novels as well as I thought I did! 

The only 'coffin' I can think of is the sarcophagus in 4.50 from Paddington?

GKCfan 22 Feb 11 at 6:11 a.m. GMT

This is from a full length novel starring a major detective.  Both times the object was placed in a coffin.

NightRayDuck 21 Feb 11 at 4:50 p.m. GMT

eck, perhaps I asked the question poorly... may I ask, is the "hiding place" of this item a coffin the first time around? or was it the second time around? or both times it was kept in a coffin? Thank you.

(From the perspective of someone who had once devoured all Poirot short stories and still has most of Miss Marple short stories on the shelf, and yet had never read a full paragraph of Tommy&Tuppence short stories or Mr. Parker Pyne short stories, but has, again, got almost all the spooky, scammy, fateful, etc etc non-serial short stories... I don't see why this needs to be a more unusual short story. )

Miss_Eylesbarrow 21 Feb 11 at 10:07 a.m. GMT

This has got to be from a short story?  One of the more unusual ones?  What I mean is not a Poirot or Miss Marple?

GKCfan 21 Feb 11 at 5:51 a.m. GMT

Yes!  The item was placed in a coffin!

NightRayDuck 21 Feb 11 at 5:01 a.m. GMT

makes me think of being hidden in a coffin, for some reason... I don't have an idea as to exactly which object or in which case, though.

GKCfan 20 Feb 11 at 11:27 p.m. GMT

This item belonged to someone who was cold-bloodedly and deliberately murdered.  The killer knew that the item in question almost certainly would have been placed where it was soon after the murder, and the killer hoped that it would never be retrieved.

NightRayDuck 20 Feb 11 at 9:59 p.m. GMT

I've been thinking about one of those mysteries where the death was not murder, but rather suicide or manslaughter (I mean, someone caused death but never thought of trying to murder the victim), and then someone moved the item to create confusion, an illusion that definitely willful murder had been committed...

GKCfan 17 Feb 11 at 7:48 p.m. GMT

No, this is not a piece of jewelry.

Miss_Eylesbarrow 17 Feb 11 at 9:48 a.m. GMT

You are not one of the many wedding rings which turn up in ponds from time to time?

GKCfan 11 Feb 11 at 11:15 p.m. GMT

I agree with you- an honest art dealer could gave saved two lives!

"I am a fairly small object.  I was placed somewhere where presumably no one would ever see me again soon after a murder, but against all odds I was recovered, although in all probability I was later placed where no one would see me again a second time.  Before you ask, I was not placed in the Nile River.  Briefly, I was positioned in a way that a killer's identity was obscured, but the mistake was rectified.  My total history is not known, but there's a possibility that I travelled the world."

NightRayDuck 11 Feb 11 at 5:16 a.m. GMT

Yes, GKCfan. This is the portrait of Old Nick Buckley. Your turn. 

Sometimes I wonder... obviously Miss Nick is very unscrupulous, selfish, and manipulative, but if she had got anything like fair selling price for the pricey painting (I mean, if she knew the value and then took it to a pawn shop, even the pawn shop would offer her more than 50 pounds...), she might not have needed a lot of money so soon, and the rightful heir of the Seton millions would get to do something sensible with the money, that heir being an intelligent and sensible young lady. 

Maybe Miss Nick would even finally succeed in snaring a cocaine dealer for a husband, and finance "haunted house" plays staged at End House?

GKCfan 10 Feb 11 at 8:50 a.m. GMT

That's the portrait of Old Nick from Peril at End House.

NightRayDuck 10 Feb 11 at 6:36 a.m. GMT

Thank you! now I've randomly started thinking about food items that had been made accessories to murders in Christie stories... oh dear. for some other time, though.

this one should be fairly straightforward... the owner(s) of this object weren't known for mincing their words.

I am a portrait of a late Master of this house, therefore I am much adored by the current owner, a descendant of the Master, even though I am not worth much money as a piece of artwork. A merchant had the nerve to come and offer to buy me at a higher price only as a ruse, so that he might next offer to buy other piece(s) of far higher market value at a far lower cost without the owner suspecting. Humph! Adorable as the current owner is, I think the shrewdness and cunning that the late Master was known for had diminished in the new generation, and that's a pity, we could've made quite a nice little bundle of money off that pricey piece, and fixed up this place again.

GKCfan 09 Feb 11 at 9:35 p.m. GMT

That's it!  It's Poirot's bottle of Revivit from ABC Murders!  Great work!

NightRayDuck 09 Feb 11 at 1:36 p.m. GMT

REVIVIT, is not a dye, brings back the natural tone of the hair, and available in five shades, vouched for by none other than the amazing M. Hercule Poirot, in The A B C Murders ?

I figured if it's expensive, slightly detrimental, and yet someone would use it for many years, and even throw out one and get something exactly like it, it has to be some type of consumable, i.e. it works but it gets used up, and a new batch needs to be purchased.

I thought it'd be, perhaps, some expensive, indulgent food, drink, or snack, but it's harder to prove or disprove to a character whether a food is doing the impossible.

Miss_Eylesbarrow 09 Feb 11 at 9:34 a.m. GMT

Are you an item used in the home?

GKCfan 09 Feb 11 at 7:19 a.m. GMT

It is neither stockings nor shoes, sorry. 

To clarify, only one kind of this object appears in the story, but when we are introduced to the object, we soon learn that there are multiple different kinds of it that are generally available.

NightRayDuck 09 Feb 11 at 5:04 a.m. GMT

It reminds me of nylon stockings and ballet shoes, for some reason...

I'd like to ask for a clarification, if it's ok. When it's said "There are more than three different kinds of me, but less than ten.", does that mean the number of different kinds appearing in the story? or does it mean the number of different kinds generally available? Thank you.

GKCfan 09 Feb 11 at 4:56 a.m. GMT

"I am an object that, at the time I appeared, was mass-produced and could be bought in a certain kind of store.  There are more than three different kinds of me, but less than ten.  Someone once said that I do something impossible before he found out about me.  Years later, we learn that I, or something like me, have a detrimental effect on what I'm used on, albeit a slight one, due to my expensiveness.  Despite my priciness, I was probably thrown out not long after the book ends, and an item exactly like myself purchased.  I have nothing to do with any crime."

NightRayDuck 09 Feb 11 at 2:25 a.m. GMT

Yes, GKCfan! Well done! Garry Gregson's exercise books and the story plan with all the clocks thank you and congratulate you for getting their correct identity and occurrence! Your turn!

(The objects and items were all starting to get worried that they'd been dropped into an alternate universe where they had never appeared in print in The Clocks...)

Tommy... good work for being the first to guess something with words. The notebooks and mystery story outline were very unwilling to state their precise type and genre plainly... they liked being a puzzle... you know how it is. 

Tommy_A_Jones 08 Feb 11 at 2:22 p.m. GMT

Is it the book that has the message that sends Tommy and Tuppence off on their final adventure By The Pricking of My Thumbs?

GKCfan 08 Feb 11 at 8:37 a.m. GMT

The late writer's notebooks containing a plot that was later used to set up the murder scene in The Clocks!

NightRayDuck 08 Feb 11 at 6:52 a.m. GMT

...This item finds the latest guesses interesting, but also congratulates Tommy on being the first to guess an item that has lots of words rather than images or shapes.

Let me say again, that I am one piece of unfinished creative work among many other pieces by the same creator. A former employee of our late creator seemed to have plagiarised liberally and extensively. I speak of this literally, and find it intriguing that Christie fans are saying that I am a devised trick item of a criminal. The expert who handed me over to the detectives is well-known in the Christieverse for preaching the merits of order and method, I am not seeing a lot of it here. A finished creative work of my type is meant to entertain by being puzzling, but as a last courtesy to fans of the same genre, I'll explain exactly my significance: the plagiarist looked into my content, and stole some ideas for setting up a crime and making it extremely puzzling to the police. Now I really must stop being wordy; Christie novels don't chatter in your ears hinting at the solution, do they? 

Tommy_A_Jones 07 Feb 11 at 5:18 p.m. GMT

Was it the jewel in Evil Under The Sun or was that just the PU Adaptation?

Bunch_Marple 07 Feb 11 at 4:02 p.m. GMT

Tommy_A_jones what an inspired guess!

Tommy_A_Jones 07 Feb 11 at 3:15 p.m. GMT

The nasty letters in The Moving Finger?

NightRayDuck 06 Feb 11 at 9:12 p.m. GMT

The item is glad to have been a puzzler, and now consents to providing some fair explanations, which might possibly be helpful.

I am, in fact, one entry among a number of other entries in the pile that was handed over to the detectives. My fellow entries and I were all pieces of creative work-in-progress by our late creator. Not been finished, and our creator possibly had been taken away from us before his due time; feel rather chagrined.

Plagiarism is the theft of intellectual content, i.e. "ideas", rather than a theft of physical objects. As pieces of work-in-progress, I agree that my fellow entries are possibly of the same merit as I. The case under investigation has only stolen ideas from my entry, though, so I consider my entry to be the piece that is significant and relevant to the detectives.

christie_greece 06 Feb 11 at 5:47 p.m. GMT

I have two ideas. The first one is the painting with the little pink house near the channel, from By the picking of my thumbs. But there are some points that don't fit. My second idea is the painting of Mr Restarick, from Third Girl. But this answer isn't satisfying enough, I think. I can't think of anything else right now...Hmm...

NightRayDuck 05 Feb 11 at 6:15 a.m. GMT

Hi Bunch Marple, I am sorry but this item is not the object you mentioned. Also, I realized I made a mistake about where and when the object might have appeared. I am posting a correction for the second sentence in the clue.

The detectives did not look into me just then, but a trusted expert handed me to them and assured them that I was authentically relevant to the case they're working on.

I'll also post a hint early, as part of my apologies.

Hint: The item "I" is one discrete entry, conceptually, in a compilation of unfinished creative works. If you're thinking of a physically distinct object that can be easily picked up by hand, given over, opened up to be looked at, or sold, then the compilation is such an object.

Bunch_Marple 04 Feb 11 at 11:19 p.m. GMT

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It may be too obvious but the painting Miss Gilchrist paints over, formerly a vermeer, in After the funeral?

NightRayDuck 04 Feb 11 at 9:48 p.m. GMT

I am an unfinished piece of creative work. The detectives did not see me, but a trusted expert assured the detectives that I was authentically relevant to the case they're working on. I gather that a former employee of my late creator had taken plagiarism very, very far.

Miss_Eylesbarrow 04 Feb 11 at 11:38 a.m. GMT

It was the blotter Darknight, well done.  Your turn

NightRayDuck 02 Feb 11 at 7:44 p.m. GMT

or possibly Miss Emily Arundell's blotter, on which she wrote letters and in which, sometimes, she accidentally stuffed letters that she intended for the letterbox, in Dumb Witness?

Bunch_Marple 02 Feb 11 at 12:28 p.m. GMT

The dispatch case containing her new will, made by Mrs Inglethorpe In Styles?

Miss_Eylesbarrow 02 Feb 11 at 11:52 a.m. GMT

Thanks Bunch Marple :) I must re-read that one and refresh my memory.

I am an item which was used frequently by my late mistress and after her death I was passed on to another person, who took a fancy to me.  I contained something important which was only discovered and passed to it's rightful owner later on.

Bunch_Marple 02 Feb 11 at 11:07 a.m. GMT

Well well, Well done you! I am the little blue cup containing some poison. I still cant really make sense of this short story myself, it has a lot of loose ends imo! Over to you..

Miss_Eylesbarrow 02 Feb 11 at 9:37 a.m. GMT

Are you part of the Harelquin tea set, from the short story of the same name?  One of the cups was substituted to try and trick someone who was colour blind - it's been a while since I read that one so I'm a bit hazey on the details.... 

Bunch_Marple 01 Feb 11 at 5:52 p.m. GMT

I always counted myself rather pretty looking and enjoy the traditional English custom I'm part of. But really, I shuddered when I was pulled away from my bright companions and accused of helping trick someone into their death!

NightRayDuck 01 Feb 11 at 5:46 p.m. GMT

Yes, Bunch Marple! These are the photographs removed from Miss BLacklock's album from back in the days of her youth. Good job! Your turn to set the next object puzzle. 

Bunch_Marple 01 Feb 11 at 2:24 a.m. GMT

Are you the photos taken away from Miss Blacklock's album in A murder is announced?

NightRayDuck 31 Jan 11 at 11:27 p.m. GMT

We are not pressed flowers. We bear visual details of some friends and acquaintances from some point in the past. We are more unique than pressed flowers, because if some pressed flowers are spoiled, one could go and gather more flowers and press them? But if we are spoiled... well, people who like to keep objects of our type often take great care to keep us clean and dry, that's the simplest way we can explain it.

Miss_Eylesbarrow 31 Jan 11 at 1 p.m. GMT

are you pressed flowers?

NightRayDuck 31 Jan 11 at 5:23 a.m. GMT

No, sorry. Oh dear, I didn't even remember the item you mentioned, GKCfan, so I apologize for not writing this clue specific enough to distinguish it from other possibilities...

I think first I'll point out:  We were sitting prettily among the others.

I've been working on this clue for a while, but when I put in the material or the type of object then it became really obvious... or confusingly wordy. You're welcome to ask for hints and clarifications, though.

and I don't know why the post keeps linking my typing to specific stories. it's not meant to be a hint.

GKCfan 30 Jan 11 at 7:57 p.m. GMT

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The fake pearl necklace hidden in a hollowed-out book, given by Joanna Southwood to Tim Allerton in Death on the Nile?

NightRayDuck 30 Jan 11 at 7:39 p.m. GMT

Thanks, GKC and Nofret!

We were sitting prettily among the others, safe and snug between the pages. Someone came along and pulled us out. Well, we hope we're going to be put somewhere clean and dry, otherwise our beauty would be spoiled and someone would be sad...

Nofret 30 Jan 11 at 10:11 a.m. GMT

Well done, Darknight, your turn!

GKCfan 29 Jan 11 at 9:10 p.m. GMT

Norfret and darknightofrays are correct!  It is the marble Lion of Lucerne paperweight used to kill poor Patricia in Hickory Dickory Dock, and it was slipped into one of Nigel's torn and quite possibly dirty socks.  Miss Lemon is the recurring character.

NightRayDuck 29 Jan 11 at 8:18 p.m. GMT

Hi Nofret, I think you're right. I'll just add a little detail to your guess as to the monument represented. In the book it's stated as a marble paperweight of Lion of Lucerne. I looked it up, it's a monument in the shape of a wounded lion, to commemorate Swiss Guards who were massacred during the French Revolution.

I should've looked it up long ago. I am not much good at monuments, I had always imagined "Lion of Lucerne" to mean one of the crests or emblems among the European royal houses, and I left it at that and didn't consider it a possible answer to this puzzle. 

Nofret 29 Jan 11 at 10:46 a.m. GMT

I think the book may be Hickory Dickory Dock, the recurring character being Miss Lemon, and the object is the one used to kill Patricia Lane. Wasn't it encased in one of Nigel's socks she was mending? At a guess, was the ancient monument the Great Pyramid?

Bunch_Marple 29 Jan 11 at 10:16 a.m. GMT

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Ok, I guess that's Mr Goby and the story is After the Funeral. The object was used to strike Helen on the head? Im afraid I cant remember what said object was though

GKCfan 29 Jan 11 at 6:40 a.m. GMT

It's not Third Girl, and Mrs. Oliver does not appear in this book, but a recurring beloved character from the Christieverse does appear.

Bunch_Marple 28 Jan 11 at 11:35 p.m. GMT

Grr it must be Third girl then? Ignore me if Im wrong, this book I havent read

GKCfan 28 Jan 11 at 10:07 p.m. GMT

It is from a later (Post-WWII) novel, but not Cat Among the Pigeons.

Bunch_Marple 28 Jan 11 at 8:45 p.m. GMT

There are quite a few I can rule out from memory but some I cant. Could it be a later novel? Cat among the pigeons had a pretty gruesome bludgeoning...

GKCfan 28 Jan 11 at 8:22 p.m. GMT

No, it's not from either of those novels.  Remember, it's a replica of a famous monument.

Bunch_Marple 28 Jan 11 at 5:45 p.m. GMT

Was it the object used to strike Pilar in Hercule Poirot's Christmas?

MissQuin 28 Jan 11 at 3:01 p.m. GMT

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Is it the gun wrapped in the shawl on Death On The Nile? SPOILERS It would be stained with nail polish, making it dirty. Plus the bullet hole would make it torn perhaps.

GKCfan 27 Jan 11 at 7:46 p.m. GMT

No, sorry, but it is from a Poirot novel.

NightRayDuck 26 Jan 11 at 10:06 p.m. GMT

Could it be the item used by the murderer in After the Funeral to hit Helen Abernethie in the head? Wrapped in something and carried in basket or bag to and from the crime scene... maybe. I don't even remember the particular item or what landmark it resembles, though. 

GKCfan 26 Jan 11 at 10:01 p.m. GMT

The object is a murder weapon, but it is from a novel.  The object was enclosed in an article of clothing, but it was not a jacket.

NightRayDuck 26 Jan 11 at 12:20 p.m. GMT

ah, thank you. I had been thinking perhaps the object might be simply held inside a jacket or stuck into someone's back and used in a bluff as though it were a handgun. But I think that's ruled out by the object remaining wrapped until investigators got to it...

Miss_Eylesbarrow 26 Jan 11 at 9:10 a.m. GMT

You've got to be a murder weapon of some kind, and from a short story rather than a novel, yes?

GKCfan 26 Jan 11 at 5:40 a.m. GMT

The item in question is a miniature model of a monument, but it is not a building. 

The object in question is perfect willing to cooperate.  It has a follow-up statement addressing your questions.

"I was encased in something definitely torn and probably dirty shortly before I was used in an act of violence.  I remained so encased for some time afterwards, until investigators removed me."

NightRayDuck 25 Jan 11 at 10:50 p.m. GMT

that's the type of thing I've been thinking... miniature model of some monument or famous building. pretty sure I read something like that too long ago and I can't tell where or when or how this object was used. 

in a spirit of attempting to get some witness statement from this object, I'd ask it: "At what point in the incident, and why, were you encased in something torn and dirty?" the object, of course, has the right to refuse answering any question that distresses it...

GKCfan 25 Jan 11 at 9:40 p.m. GMT

I can't remember, but that's not it in any case.  You are on the right track, however– the object in question is a small reproduction of a famous landmark.

Miss_Eylesbarrow 25 Jan 11 at 10:07 a.m. GMT

Wasn't there a small statue of the Eiffel Tower from one of the short stories?  I can't remember which one though, I'll have to do some searching.

GKCfan 25 Jan 11 at 5:45 a.m. GMT

No, it's not an archaeological artifact.

Bunch_Marple 24 Jan 11 at 8:21 a.m. GMT

Was it something from an archaeological dig?

GKCfan 24 Jan 11 at 5:45 a.m. GMT

"I am a copy of something famous, though I am much smaller than the original.  The original is meant to pay tribute to people who have died, so being used the way I was seems to dishonor the spirit of the original.  I was encased in something torn and probably dirty, too..."

NightRayDuck 24 Jan 11 at 3:16 a.m. GMT

hmm, yes, GKC posted the correct toy and story and also the victim. your turn to puzzle us with yet another odd object, GKC!

Bunch Marple - I'd recommend posting the guess directly if it felt like a pretty good answer. ;)

Bunch_Marple 23 Jan 11 at 9:09 a.m. GMT

Darn, GKC beat me to it! hehe

GKCfan 23 Jan 11 at 7:39 a.m. GMT

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The stuffed toy cat used to lure Benedict Farley to his doom in the short story "The Dream?"

NightRayDuck 23 Jan 11 at 2:17 a.m. GMT

Response from this object:

Hi! My product description does say "cat". To be more accurate, I am a manufactured toy shaped like a cat. I've never been a living cat. I am not known to be equipped with any special mechanism for entertainment such as "wind up the spring for cat-like walking movement" or "squeeze body for cat-like meow". The several crowded moments that I described all occurred on land and in Great Britain.

Bunch_Marple 22 Jan 11 at 10:29 p.m. GMT

Are you a little pussycat?

Bunch_Marple 22 Jan 11 at 8:42 p.m. GMT

Hello little toy, can you do anything special to entertain and did you come into contact with a nice Belgian gentleman?

And have you ever been to sea?

NightRayDuck 22 Jan 11 at 7:04 p.m. GMT

This object does not appear in Evil Under the Sun. Let me know if there's anything I should clarify, or anything the object could itself tell you.

Nofret 22 Jan 11 at 9:53 a.m. GMT

Think I know what the object might be, but is the story Evil Under the Sun?

lnadkison 22 Jan 11 at 5:12 a.m. GMT

Folly

NightRayDuck 21 Jan 11 at 7:35 p.m. GMT

ah? I'll do the cardboard brooch in a later puzzle, then. 

today's object up for guessing... is scared.

I am, in and of myself, simply a toy for children. Some person got clever and put me some place that I didn't belong, another person suddenly turned on me and then... ow! I suppose I was used as a bait to lure a victim into the sights?

About the brooch... in the edition I've read recently, there are:

1) TA brooch that Theresa bought when it was a new type of accessory, all the rage, and rather expensive.

2) AT brooch that Bella bought some time later, when it's already fading out from fashion.

3) HA cardboard cutout enjoyed by Hastings for a few minutes and then goggled and exclaimed at by Hastings when worn by Poirot.

For quite a while, Poirot puzzled over whether anyone could have stolen Theresa's TA brooch and worn it while sneaking about at night, counting on someone to witness the brooch without recognizing the face. And then Theresa showed him that she's still got her TA brooch...

Miss_Eylesbarrow 21 Jan 11 at 10:42 a.m. GMT

Well, you are correct Darknight, but if my memory has been faulty and what Noftet says is accurate, then I must apologie.  My recollection is that it was the same brooch used....

NightRayDuck 21 Jan 11 at 5:44 a.m. GMT

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I meant Poirot's arts-and-crafts creation, brooch made from cardboard... when put on Capt. Arthur Hastings and his first view of the brooch was in the mirror, the good Captain was very satisfied with the "A H" he saw. and then Poirot tried it on and Hastings saw, then, that the "brooch" said not at all "A H" but rather "H A".

Bunch_Marple 20 Jan 11 at 11:05 a.m. GMT

Was the wearer male or female?

Nofret 20 Jan 11 at 8:58 a.m. GMT

Don't think it can be the TA brooch from Dumb Witness, as although the ghastly Theresa wore it enthusiastically while it was fashionable and subsequently discarded it, Bella bought a different AT brooch, which was the one implicated in the murder.

NightRayDuck 20 Jan 11 at 3:48 a.m. GMT

got an interesting idea from cameron's answer... if it's one of the brooches in Dumb Witness, it's more likely the one that Poirot made from cardboard for Capt. Hastings to demonstrate how the most reliable witness might still miss the fine points of reading initials in a mirror.

cameronjhw 19 Jan 11 at 10:28 p.m. GMT

Could it be the TA brooch worn by Bella Tanios in Dumb Witness, the Wagon Lit Conductor uniform in Murder on the Orient Express, or the blonde wig worn by Carlotta Adams in Lord Edgware Dies 

Miss_Eylesbarrow 19 Jan 11 at 2:45 p.m. GMT

Not from Evil Under the Sun.  This item was not damaged in any way.

Bunch_Marple 19 Jan 11 at 1:09 p.m. GMT

Is it the sun hat Arlena wore on the beach in Evil under the sun?

Miss_Eylesbarrow 19 Jan 11 at 10:46 a.m. GMT

Sorry Nofret, it's not from Body in the Library...

Nofret 17 Jan 11 at 4:42 p.m. GMT

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Is it Ruby Keene's old sequinned evening dress that the murderers borrowed to dress up Pamela Reeves?

Miss_Eylesbarrow 17 Jan 11 at 12:42 p.m. GMT

Thanks Darknight, but I had some help with that one : ) 

I was worn enthusiastically at one time but later I was sadly abandoned by my original owner.  I found someone new to be with for a short while, which was quite exciting but when I later found out that I was implicated in a crime, I was horrified!

GKCfan 14 Jan 11 at 8:14 p.m. GMT

Yes!  It's the cherry wallpaper from Third Girl!

Miss_Eylesbarrow 14 Jan 11 at 11:13 a.m. GMT

The newer wallpaper in Third Girl has images of cherries, is that the one?

Bunch_Marple 14 Jan 11 at 9:03 a.m. GMT

I think it's Third girl, where they are discussing the mysterious girl who sought Poirot out and he is consuming a lot of hot chocolate!

Oh the item, I cant think, is it a lamp?!

GKCfan 14 Jan 11 at 8:53 a.m. GMT

That's very close! That's the "predecessor" item.  It should be much easier to guess my iterm now, but what's the book?

Bunch_Marple 14 Jan 11 at 8:47 a.m. GMT

I'm thinking of Mrs Oliver's ornate, bird-patterened wallpaper that makes Poirot feel queazy? hehe

GKCfan 14 Jan 11 at 7:13 a.m. GMT

"I am not edible, but I bear the image of something that is.  My predecessor served the same purpose as I do, but my predecessor's appearance was far more exotic.  I am the property of one recurring character, and I make another recurring character think of a play by Anton Chekhov (although Chekhov and his work are not mentioned in the scene where I appear).

Nofret 13 Jan 11 at noon GMT

You're spot on GCKfan! What a ghastly fate!

Your turn.

GKCfan 13 Jan 11 at 6:14 a.m. GMT

The glove used in the "death spell" ceremony in The Pale Horse?  It was covered in blood from a white cock.

Nofret 12 Jan 11 at 11:37 p.m. GMT

You're on the right track, Darknight, think yucky, VERY yucky!

NightRayDuck 12 Jan 11 at 10:29 p.m. GMT

This is random thinking. I don't have a specific object or instance in mind yet. A glove having something horrible happening to it, yet it wasn't cut, pierced, torn, or burnt... could it be a glove used to handle something yucky or dangerous?

Nofret 12 Jan 11 at 4:59 p.m. GMT

Yes, it is a glove, but not the one in Towards Zero!

Miss_Eylesbarrow 12 Jan 11 at 2:55 p.m. GMT

In what way am I getting warm?  Was the item a glove?  The only other glove I can think of is from Towards Zero, and that wasn't damaged, I don't think??

Nofret 12 Jan 11 at 11:46 a.m. GMT

You're getting warm, but the item wasn't burnt.

Miss_Eylesbarrow 12 Jan 11 at 10:03 a.m. GMT

was the item in question burnt?  Is it the glove in Seven Dials?

Nofret 12 Jan 11 at 9:08 a.m. GMT

Both good guesses, but this object was not pierced, cut or torn.

NightRayDuck 12 Jan 11 at 4:32 a.m. GMT

or perhaps the silk scarf of Valerie Hobhouse in Hickory Dickory Dock? generously sacrificed to the show of "there's petty theft and petty property-destruction at the lodging house".

GKCfan 11 Jan 11 at 6:35 p.m. GMT

It can't be the velvet stole from Death on the Nile, since Mrs. Van Schuyler didn't consent to the shooting... but thinking of shootings, how about Nick Buckley's shot-through hat in Peril at End House?

Nofret 11 Jan 11 at 4:32 p.m. GMT

Good guess, but no, it's not Mrs Bantry's glove.

Miss_Eylesbarrow 11 Jan 11 at 2:21 p.m. GMT

are you the glove which Mrs Bantry cut the fingers from?

Nofret 11 Jan 11 at 11:13 a.m. GMT

This one should be easier -

I am an article of clothing, perhaps not so generally worn nowadays as when my story was written. Something horrible happened to me - with the consent of my owner!

GKCfan 10 Jan 11 at 9:03 p.m. GMT

Yes, Norfret!  It is the picture of the eye with the "Thou God Seest Me" caption that had such a profound effect on Michael Rogers in Endless Night!

Bunch_Marple, I try my best!

Bunch_Marple 10 Jan 11 at 8:33 p.m. GMT

GTC all the hard ones come from you! hehe

Nofret 10 Jan 11 at 9:05 a.m. GMT

I'm probably quite wrong, but I seem to remember a picture of an eye with the caption Thou God Seest Me. Think it was from one of my favourite Christies, Endless Night.

GKCfan 10 Jan 11 at 6:34 a.m. GMT

Yes, the Four Horsemen are from Revelations, but you're definitely on the right track.  Hint: the book does not contain any recurring detectives.

Bunch_Marple 10 Jan 11 at 4:05 a.m. GMT

Give us a clue! :)

NightRayDuck 10 Jan 11 at 2:22 a.m. GMT

I've been thinking of the painting of Death on his pale horse in that Pale Horse Inn in the novel Pale Horse. but I can't think of it occurring in any character's flashback...

oh, and my apologies if I got the Book wrong... wait, I did get it wrong, yes? Death and the Apocalypse were in Revelations, not Genesis? bummer.

GKCfan 09 Jan 11 at 8:02 p.m. GMT

The object in question is not mechanical in any way, more decorative and religious, but the quote IS from the Bible, from the Book of Genesis, in fact.  I hope that helps.

Nofret 09 Jan 11 at 11:07 a.m. GMT

I've got an idea that the object may be a clock of some kind, and presumably the quote was from the Bible, but can't place it in a story.

GKCfan 09 Jan 11 at 6:07 a.m. GMT

Sorry, no to both.  If you think about what the "famous book" might be, you could be well on your way to figuring out what the object is.

Bunch_Marple 09 Jan 11 at 4:19 a.m. GMT

Or perhaps the photograph on M. Deroulard's desk of his late wife in The Chocolate box?

Bunch_Marple 09 Jan 11 at 4:03 a.m. GMT

A total guess, but maybe the painting of Madonna and Child that Marina Rudd had on her stairs?

GKCfan 02 Jan 11 at 11:31 p.m. GMT

"I am an item seen repeatedly in flashback.  I was placed in a position of prominence where the central character of a book saw me daily. Somewhere on me is a quote from one of the world's most famous books, as well as an image seen on the currency of one of the world's largest countries."

NightRayDuck 02 Jan 11 at 2:41 p.m. GMT

Yes, GKCfan. It is the unfortunate passport of Sir Stafford Nye, served some heroic purposes and then had to be shredded when it got home, since Sir Stafford reported it as lost and naturally went and got a new one.

GKCfan 02 Jan 11 at 7:16 a.m. GMT

Is it a passport?  Possibly Sir Stafford Nye's in Passenger to Frankfurt?

NightRayDuck 02 Jan 11 at 3:11 a.m. GMT

I am an identification document, bearing the photograph of my owner. And yet, someone came along and, well, just sort of borrowed me off of him, and used me successfully! Am I deuced useless as an identification document?? 

Note: the teary-faced smiley is from the object up for guessing.

GKCfan 01 Jan 11 at 7:58 a.m. GMT

Yes!  That is correct!  At the end, Alfred and Lydia tell the rest of the family that they're selling the house and nearly all of what's in it (everything that belonged to Simeon had too many bad connotations), so presumably they planned to sell the diamonds after the police were finished with them.

NightRayDuck 01 Jan 11 at 6:05 a.m. GMT

Ah! The uncut diamonds stolen from Simeon Lee's safe to provide a plausible motive for his murder, in Hercule Poirot's Christmas?

If any of his heirs ever bother to go thru with getting those stones cut properly, they can be sold on the jewelry market.

GKCfan 01 Jan 11 at 5:42 a.m. GMT

cameronjhw is almost there!  It's diamonds, but not from Hickory Dickory Dock.

NightRayDuck 01 Jan 11 at 5:13 a.m. GMT

OK, we've got rucksacks and their stashes, tennis rackets where only one racket contained a stash. Still don't look like red herrings....

It's been 5 years since I read "The Plymouth Express", and 20 years since I read The Mystery of the Blue Train. but the young lady victim in each story was purportedly carrying a lot of jewelry which were not found after the young lady's body was found?

cameronjhw 01 Jan 11 at 1:25 a.m. GMT

Could it be diamonds or heroin that was transported in the rucksacks in Hickory Dickory Dock

GKCfan 31 Dec 10 at 9 a.m. GMT

No, sorry.  The items are not weapons, although you are getting warmer by guessing pearls, although the objects ae not actually pearls...

NightRayDuck 31 Dec 10 at 8:59 a.m. GMT

and tennis rackets in Cat Among the Pigeons, only one tennis racket actually contained valuable stuffings... and the tennis racket was sort of a hiding place rather than an obvious red herring that would draw attention. hmm.

NightRayDuck 31 Dec 10 at 8:56 a.m. GMT

I have one or two, actually just one little idea, of the type of object, but I have read very few Poirot books, so I do not recall objects of any type at all that have served as red herring, and then evidence, and then have valuable portions that can be sold.

Not the pair of pearl-decorated or whatever handsome decoration there was on them, handguns, used in Death on the Nile? Parts from them are not likely to be very valuable after being parted from the rest of the weaponry...

GKCfan 31 Dec 10 at 7:29 a.m. GMT

No, the items are inherently valuable.  They are from a Poirot book, and if you think a little more about the rucksacks, you may get a clue as to what these items are...

NightRayDuck 31 Dec 10 at 7:01 a.m. GMT

Not the super-cheap rucksacks in Hickory Dickory Dock, I think. If evidence means evidence in a court... those rucksacks served as evidence after parts got removed and sold for a big profit. hmm.

GKCfan 30 Dec 10 at 8:17 p.m. GMT

Neither, sorry.  The items are all similar but not identical.

cameronjhw 30 Dec 10 at 3:03 p.m. GMT

Could it be the 10 little indians from ATTWN or the clocks found in Miss Pebmarsh's home,

GKCfan 28 Dec 10 at 6:39 p.m. GMT

Happy Christmas!

"We are a collection of similar objects that serve mainly as a red herring to the mystery.  We have been transported halfway around the world, and after we are used as evidence, we will very likely have parts of us removed and be sold for a big profit."

Miss_Eylesbarrow 28 Dec 10 at 4:24 p.m. GMT

Absolutely GKC, and a Happy Christmas to you!

GKCfan 24 Dec 10 at 7:49 p.m. GMT

The plasticine mask in Murder in Mesopotamia?

Miss_Eylesbarrow 24 Dec 10 at 10:04 a.m. GMT

I was especially made for my purpose, and in the dark I served my purpose well, but as they say, nothing looks the same in the light....

GKCfan 23 Dec 10 at 7:57 p.m. GMT

Correct!  Great work!

Miss_Eylesbarrow 23 Dec 10 at 9:37 a.m. GMT

Oh, got it!  It's the red bathroom curtain used in ATTWN on the judge!!

GKCfan 23 Dec 10 at 12:02 a.m. GMT

It's not a towel, rug, or piece or clothing, but it is made of cloth.  The object in question was not used to camouflage or conceal, but actually to draw attention, and to decorate for a specific reason.

NightRayDuck 22 Dec 10 at 9:55 p.m. GMT

A towel on top of a piece of evidence that's sitting on top of a furry bathroom rug / mat, the towel and the rug being of similar color, perhaps...?

A ahem piece of clothing wrapped around some important clue, and simply set down on the floor or other piece of porcelain of similar color, maybe...?

Camouflage and concealment is what I am thinking. 

GKCfan 22 Dec 10 at 9:45 p.m. GMT

No, the item is never kept in a bathroom cupboard, and it's not a cosmetic or nail polish, although I do want to stress that the color of the item is very important.

Miss_Eylesbarrow 22 Dec 10 at 9:18 a.m. GMT

is it something kept inthe bathroom cupboard, like nail polish for example??

GKCfan 21 Dec 10 at 10:10 p.m. GMT

You're both right in thinking that it's part of a bathroom, but the object in question was never used as a weapon, although something was once in it that, if properly examined, could have solved the whole mystery.  The location is actually a private house, but it has a lot of guests.

Miss_Eylesbarrow 21 Dec 10 at 10:36 a.m. GMT

is the object to be found in a bathroom in an hotel, or other place where many different people might use it?  Rather than in a private house.

NightRayDuck 21 Dec 10 at 9:25 a.m. GMT

Perhaps some bathroom fixture with some weapon or piece of evidence hidden in it? Or maybe someone wore a bathrobe of particular color for concealment in a bathing area?  

GKCfan 21 Dec 10 at 9:05 a.m. GMT

You're on the right track.  Keep thinking.

NightRayDuck 21 Dec 10 at 8:32 a.m. GMT

Makes me think of soap, shampoo, lotion, and so on. But one particular piece of soap isn't going to be around seeing people for years, is it... Also I am not sure soap would need to be selected to match color with something else. hmm. 

GKCfan 21 Dec 10 at 4:14 a.m. GMT

If I had eyes, I would probably have seen a lot of people naked over the years, but I am best known for my part in a murderous deception.  If you know what I am, you know that my color was selected to match a certain type of home furnishing...

Miss_Eylesbarrow 20 Dec 10 at 9:14 a.m. GMT

Quite correct GKC, it is Caroline's Welsh rarebit - I have a feeling that it's been offered as a clue before??  Anyway, over to you...

GKCfan 18 Dec 10 at 4:59 a.m. GMT

Caroline's Welsh rarebit in Murder of Roger Ackroyd?

NightRayDuck 18 Dec 10 at 2:47 a.m. GMT

...possibly the onion something that Julia fried in a hurry when Mitzi went on strike, in A Murder Is Announced?

I don't really have an idea. 

Miss_Eylesbarrow 17 Dec 10 at 11:27 a.m. GMT

not oysters, Miss Quin.  This is from a novel not short story.

MissQuin 17 Dec 10 at 11:23 a.m. GMT

There was the oysters in How Does Your Garden Grow?

Miss_Eylesbarrow 17 Dec 10 at 10:59 a.m. GMT

I am a food item which was prepared at the last minute and eaten with gusto.

GKCfan 16 Dec 10 at 8:01 p.m. GMT

Correct!  Excellent work!

Miss_Eylesbarrow 16 Dec 10 at 10:37 a.m. GMT

Is it the card from the Happy Families pack - Mrs Mugg (Three Act Tradgedy).

GKCfan 16 Dec 10 at 2:36 a.m. GMT

I am a small, very light object that had no direct role in any crime, yet I helped a detective solve a murder due to the image and word on me.  I also played a role in a comstruction project.

cameronjhw 15 Dec 10 at 4:47 p.m. GMT

Correct, it is the telegram to the fake Richetti. The telegram lists vegetables that meant things like machine guns, bombs, etc. Very good. On to you....

GKCfan 15 Dec 10 at 5:07 a.m. GMT

Is it the telegram addressed to the "archaeologist" Richetti in Death on the Nile and mistakenly opened by Linnet Doyle, consisting of a list of vegetables that is actually a code?

cameronjhw 15 Dec 10 at 2:02 a.m. GMT

no

Miss_Eylesbarrow 14 Dec 10 at 4:23 p.m. GMT

Is it the hundreds and thousands on the trifle?

cameronjhw 14 Dec 10 at 4:06 p.m. GMT

I've had a time to think up a new one I think this one will stump some:

"Although we do not literally appear in a certain novel we are only mentioned in a communication to a seemingly normal person....To causual eyes we seem to be ordinary/common objects...however, to one individual he knows we mean something deadly and violent....

GKCfan 03 Dec 10 at 5:02 a.m. GMT

Yes!  It is the Bellini Madonna and Child from The Mirror Crack'd.

cameronjhw 02 Dec 10 at 10:32 p.m. GMT

is it the Reubens painting of the Girdle of Hyppolita or is it the Bellini painting of the madonna mother and her child that brought Marina Gregg's past unhappy memories back in the Mirror Crack'd

GKCfan 02 Dec 10 at 8:31 p.m. GMT

No to both, sorry.  The subjects of the painting are real-life historical figures.

Nofret 02 Dec 10 at 12:38 p.m. GMT

Just a guess, but is it a portrait of Rachel Argyle that brought back unpleasant memories to Leo?

MissQuin 02 Dec 10 at 10:55 a.m. GMT

Is it the painting of Colonel Protoroe's first wife in Murder At The Vicarage? Lettice slashed it as she didn't want people to see it.

GKCfan 02 Dec 10 at 7:44 a.m. GMT

An excellent guess, but no.  It IS a painting, though.

NightRayDuck 02 Dec 10 at 6:41 a.m. GMT

Possibly the last painting in Amyas Crale's life and career, painting of the young Elsa, in Five Little Pigs?

GKCfan 01 Dec 10 at 10:51 p.m. GMT

 Most people would consider me beautiful, and many would regard me reverently.  However, when one prominent character looked at me recently, I was a reminder of bad memories.  No one else realized this until much later, though.  I can be found in a location that is much changed from its condition just two decades earlier.

Nofret 01 Dec 10 at 8:22 a.m. GMT

Spot on, GKCfan! Over to you!

GKCfan 01 Dec 10 at 4:41 a.m. GMT

The sugar hammer from Mrs. McGinty's Dead?

Nofret 30 Nov 10 at 9:52 p.m. GMT

Let's see if I can think of one -

I am a rather unusual object - I doubt whether any of you have seen one like me, and only my ornamentation is described in any detail, so it may be difficult to imagine what I am really like. Several different people have owned me at one time or another, my last owner was a very lovable person, but I don't think they'll miss me now I've been taken to help justice triumph.

GKCfan 30 Nov 10 at 8:20 p.m. GMT

That is correct!  It's the apparatus the title character uses to communicate: by pushing a little button she can communicate by making a little light flash.

Nofret 30 Nov 10 at 12:29 p.m. GMT

I've only read a synopsis of the play and have been trying without success to get hold of a copy of Rule of Three. Is the object the means by which the disabled person answers yes or no to questions? Was it a button connected to a flashing light?

GKCfan 30 Nov 10 at 5:13 a.m. GMT

It is the central object in Christie's excellent play The Patient!  It's not a hologram, but if you knw the plot of the play you know the object...

InspectorGrant 29 Nov 10 at 1:16 p.m. GMT

Is it out of the trilogy of One Act Plays entitled Rule of Three which is made up of The Rats, Afternoon at the Seaside, and The Patient?  Trouble is, I don't know what the mystery object is!   Am guessing here, but is it a hologram?

Miss_Eylesbarrow 29 Nov 10 at 10:07 a.m. GMT

I give up, GKC, you've got me stumped.  I can't think of any one-act plays.  Has anyone else got any ideas???

GKCfan 25 Nov 10 at 7 p.m. GMT

No, the object is a piece of modern electrical technology... in a one-act play.

GKCfan 25 Nov 10 at 7 p.m. GMT

No, the object is a piece of modern electrical technology... in a one-act play.

Miss_Eylesbarrow 25 Nov 10 at 9:02 a.m. GMT

Is it that play set in ancient Egypt, called Akhnaton?  I've never seen it so don't know what the effect might be - I'd love to know!

GKCfan 25 Nov 10 at 5:03 a.m. GMT

It could be categorized as an ATTEMPTED murder, or perhaps an assault and battery, or a grevious bodily harm.

NightRayDuck 25 Nov 10 at 2:20 a.m. GMT

May I make so bold as to inquire into the nature of the not-a-murder mystery in which this object is involved?

GKCfan 25 Nov 10 at 12:20 a.m. GMT

Neither is correct, sorry.  This is from one of Christie's best and most critically respected plays, but it is rarely performed.

Miss_Eylesbarrow 24 Nov 10 at 2:15 p.m. GMT

The only play I've seen is The Mousetrap and I've read Spider's Web, but I can't think of any visual effects in those two.

GKCfan 23 Nov 10 at 6:20 p.m. GMT

Actually. it's a visual effect from a play.

Miss_Eylesbarrow 23 Nov 10 at 9:05 a.m. GMT

Visual effect in a short story?  Got me stumped I'm afraid.  I don't know the short stories well enough .  It might help if you felt able to say which collection it's from?

GKCfan 23 Nov 10 at 5:34 a.m. GMT

No, not a seance, but it's used to produce a visual effect.

Miss_Eylesbarrow 22 Nov 10 at 11:47 a.m. GMT

Is it something to do with a seance?  Producing an image or sound or something?

NightRayDuck 18 Nov 10 at 6:48 a.m. GMT

OK! Then I can skip putting the radiowave mumbo jumbo used in The Pale Horse as a guess. Thanks! 

GKCfan 18 Nov 10 at 6:44 a.m. GMT

It's none of those, I'm afraid.  It's a unique device designed for a special purpose.  It could easily  be made in real life, but I don't know where you'd find one.

Need a hint about where to find it?  It is NOT from a novel.

NightRayDuck 18 Nov 10 at 5:54 a.m. GMT

I am thinking there is no telephone set of a very bright color...

I am not much good at the time line of communication technology. Is this object some type of message-transmission or encryption/decryption device? As I always say, I do not know a lot about Christie, so I am just digging around here. Does this object have any similarity to a telephone? or a telegraph (whatever instrument for telegraph there was)? or a fascimile? or the World War II ENIGMA?

GKCfan 18 Nov 10 at 4:56 a.m. GMT

It does require electricity, but it's not a lamp; flashlight, or sign.  It's a unique object, and only people who know a lot about Christie will know about it...

NightRayDuck 18 Nov 10 at 2:38 a.m. GMT

The other possibility I thought of was a lamp, or some other item requiring electricity. I can't recall any that requires the knowing of ABCs, though, from stories that I've read within the last 5 years. (There are some stories that I have never read, and many stories that I had read in badly translated editions a long time ago.) I am just thinking... a lamp? a flashlight / hand-held electric torch that helped somebody read something? a lighted sign? a neon-light sign?

GKCfan 17 Nov 10 at 11:22 p.m. GMT

Sorry, it's not a book at all, and it's not from any of the books or stories mentioned so far. 

Miss_Eylesbarrow 17 Nov 10 at 9:31 a.m. GMT

is it the nursery rhyme book in Tommy & Tuppence N or M?

NightRayDuck 17 Nov 10 at 8:12 a.m. GMT

I don't know why I am putting up random guesses without checking the books that I do have at hand, but it reminds me of the notebook / appointment book and newspaper clippings of that weird husband who likes to marry wealthy young women who subsequently disappear without a trace, in the non-serial short story "Philomel Cottage", which, I hear, has been adapted into a rather well-known "Love from a Stranger".

GKCfan 17 Nov 10 at 6:14 a.m. GMT

I am crucial to the plot of an unusual mystery- not a murder.  Not only do I help identify a villain, but I empower a victim as well.  Speaking of power, I need it...   Of course, I can only be of use when those around me know their ABC's (and no, I'm not a railway guide!).  Furthermore, part of me is a very bright color.

Mr_Graves 17 Nov 10 at 5:22 a.m. GMT

Curses! It is the bar of soap in "The Affair of the Pink Pearl", good guessing... Over to you..

GKCfan 17 Nov 10 at 4:15 a.m. GMT

The bar of soap in the Tommy and Tuppence story "The Pink Pearl?"

Mr_Graves 16 Nov 10 at 6:04 a.m. GMT

Not the right answer, darknightofrays... this object is something very ordinary, employed for an extraordinary purpose..

NightRayDuck 16 Nov 10 at 3:20 a.m. GMT

I am thinking it's a container of some sort... my first guess is the Indian box (wooden box with trick compartments) that ended up housing random jewelry and bits of food that were put into it, in the short story "The World's End".

Mr_Graves 16 Nov 10 at 1:43 a.m. GMT

Great! Here's my mind bender...

"I am a humble object. When I say that, I mean I am not regarded as anything special or luxurious.... Luckily, my dull life had been thrust into excitement, and I am now host to a very special item indeed! Finally, some attention!"

Miss_Eylesbarrow 15 Nov 10 at 11:11 a.m. GMT

Correcxt Mr Graves, it is indeed the Wagon Lit Conductor's button from MOTOE.  Over to you....

Mr_Graves 12 Nov 10 at 8:44 p.m. GMT

I think I might know! Is it the button from the Wagons Lit conductor's uniform on "Murder on the Orient Express", discovered as a clue in Mrs Hubbard's room?

ivi21 12 Nov 10 at 4:50 p.m. GMT

It could be button, but I don't remember the story where it could be from.

Miss_Eylesbarrow 12 Nov 10 at 1:16 p.m. GMT

No, Mr Graves, it's not nearly as valuable as a ring.  Don't forget that this object is well travelled...

Mr_Graves 11 Nov 10 at 7:30 p.m. GMT

Is it a ring?

NightRayDuck 11 Nov 10 at 5:53 p.m. GMT

Was there a probably planted bullet or shell casing in "Dead Man's Mirror", or in "The Second Gong"?

Miss_Eylesbarrow 11 Nov 10 at 11:46 a.m. GMT

ivi21 is the closest so far....

Mr_Graves 10 Nov 10 at 7:57 p.m. GMT

Maybe it is the little gold box which was made to store Veronal in "Lord Edgware Dies"

ivi21 10 Nov 10 at 7:39 p.m. GMT

Could it be a cuff link from The Dead Man's Mirror?

NightRayDuck 10 Nov 10 at 6:35 p.m. GMT

Does a bullet or a shell casing count as a fairly commonplace object?

Miss_Eylesbarrow 10 Nov 10 at 1:27 p.m. GMT

nope, not a coin.

Leonardo_Ivanovitch 10 Nov 10 at 1:20 p.m. GMT

Is it a coin?

Miss_Eylesbarrow 10 Nov 10 at 9:48 a.m. GMT

Hurrah, got one right at last!

I am a fairly commonplace object, I'm small and made of metal.  Despite being so commonplace, I am a great traveller and the unique Hercule Poirot once described me as 'a clue', so I guess that I was pretty important in this story - but was I planted or was I genuine?

GKCfan 09 Nov 10 at 6:46 p.m. GMT

That is correct!  Excellent work!

Miss_Eylesbarrow 09 Nov 10 at 9:21 a.m. GMT

Aha!  It has to be the bottle with the note inside from the killer in ATTWN, found by a fisherman.  Yes?

GKCfan 09 Nov 10 at 4:26 a.m. GMT

I am an object that helped to solve some crimes that baffled the police.  I was touched by someone who died soon afterwards.  The seafood industry prevented me from being lost forever.

NightRayDuck 09 Nov 10 at 12:59 a.m. GMT

OK, Puffin, thanks for the info! :D

Puffinjill 08 Nov 10 at 6:36 a.m. GMT

Yes, GKC, it IS the wasp that was smuggled aboard the 'plane in Death In The Clouds by the murderer. Well done!

As for your question, darknightofrays, I can't think of any snake used in such a way. However, snake venom was certainly used by AC, but I won't say anymore or I'll have to put up a SPOILER warning!!!

NightRayDuck 08 Nov 10 at 1:10 a.m. GMT

Was there ever any poisonous snake used as a murder weapon? I mean a living snake. Not in response to this puzzle. Only out of curiosity.

GKCfan 07 Nov 10 at 9:36 p.m. GMT

The wasp in Death in the Clouds?

Puffinjill 07 Nov 10 at 7:55 p.m. GMT

Very nearly right, Mr Graves! Have another guess!!

Mr_Graves 07 Nov 10 at 8:02 a.m. GMT

I am thinking that it is a bee. So many bees in the AC books are used to conceal the use of a syringe on a victim. Was it the one near the body of Emily Brent in "And Then There Were None"?

Puffinjill 07 Nov 10 at 6:33 a.m. GMT

Thanks, darknightofrays! Oh, blimey.... I've got to think of something now! Let's see... what about this..

I was once a living thing but, after my death, I was thought to be the reason why someone had died. However, my existance at the scene of the crime was engineered by a murderer to give colour to their fantastic cover up of the truth. 

NightRayDuck 06 Nov 10 at 6:17 p.m. GMT

Yes, Puffinjill! It is Joyce's sketch that happens to capture some fresh bloodstain rather than an imaginary bloodstain borne of hearing too many stories of the violent past of the village. Well done, Puffin! Over to you for setting up the next puzzle. 

Puffinjill 06 Nov 10 at 6:43 a.m. GMT

I do believe that's the sketch done by Joyce Lempriere outside the old Inn in Rathole, Cornwall which features in the short story The Bloodstained Pavement from The Thirteen Problems.

NightRayDuck 06 Nov 10 at 4:30 a.m. GMT

So I suppose I'll post the next object puzzle.

I am a piece of artwork created near a crime scene and quite probably just after the crime. The artist captured some evidence that a crime may have occurred in the vicinity, but was forced to ignore it because others nearby did not bother to look and check if what the artist saw was real. The artist shunned me afterwards and shut me away; I am currently gathering dust somewhere.

Oh dear, the large number of Poirot novels that I've read recently does indeed wipe fun details such as Mitzi's omelet pan and Julia's inappropriate use of onion from my brain.

GKCfan 05 Nov 10 at 6:58 p.m. GMT

That's correct!  It's Mitzi's omelet pan from A Murder is Announced!  After Mitzi hides and temporarily refuses to cook, Julia cooks onions in the pan, meaning that it has to be washed in soap and water, thereby ruining the patina of seasoning on it.  Normally Mitzi just wipes it down with a greasy newspaper.

NightRayDuck 05 Nov 10 at 5:58 p.m. GMT

I've kept thinking about Mitzy and her cookware in A Murder Is Announced, but I can't think of any plant for ruining cookware. hmm.

Miss_Eylesbarrow 05 Nov 10 at 10:28 a.m. GMT

Hi GKC!  What a poser!  Is the liquid in question water?

GKCfan 04 Nov 10 at 11:26 p.m. GMT

The immigrant in question is not Poirot.  He never even saw the object described here.

Mr_Graves 04 Nov 10 at 7:56 p.m. GMT

An immigrant to England.. Now, who could that be? Poirot was an immigrant, I suppose...

GKCfan 04 Nov 10 at 6:41 p.m. GMT

Take all the time you need!

NightRayDuck 04 Nov 10 at 3:29 p.m. GMT

Very intriguing puzzle, GKCfan! I've been thinking about it... I think I'll have to sleep on it some more before I can advance a guess. 

GKCfan 31 Oct 10 at 6:39 p.m. GMT

All right!

I am an object that is not connected to any crime whatsoever.  I am a prized possession of an immigrant to England.  I am very good at what I am supposed to do, although my contact with a certain kind of plant led to contact with a liquid that led to my being ruined... at least temporarily.  If only I had come into contact with that day's headlines...

Mr_Graves 31 Oct 10 at 7:57 a.m. GMT

Oh no! I thought the weapon in "The Adventure of the Italian Nobleman" was a paperweight... In any case, that was the object I meant. So over to you for the next clue!

GKCfan 31 Oct 10 at 6:19 a.m. GMT

In "The Adventure of the Italian Nobleman," the weapon was a little marble statue, which I don't think was technically a paperweight...

Mr_Graves 31 Oct 10 at 3:54 a.m. GMT

The murder weapon in question is indeed a marble paperweight. I should have been more clear when I told GKCfan that they were on the right track. But yes, a paperweight it is!

NightRayDuck 31 Oct 10 at 12:56 a.m. GMT

I've been reading too much other mysteries lately, so I may have been confused, but I think I should request the hint: Is this object indeed a marble paperweight? Or does it happen to be, to take a random example, a marble balustrade on a set of stairs? Thank you.

Mr_Graves 30 Oct 10 at 8:53 p.m. GMT

I have yet to read "The Labours of Hercules", so it could have been that, but unfortunately, it is wrong.

GKCfan 30 Oct 10 at 8:33 p.m. GMT

The marble paperweight thrown at an "attacker" in "The Stymphaelean Birds?"

Mr_Graves 30 Oct 10 at 10:47 a.m. GMT

Incorrect, I'm afraid.

GKCfan 30 Oct 10 at 6:55 a.m. GMT

The marble seat with carved arms in the shape of lion heads in "The King of Clubs!"

Mr_Graves 30 Oct 10 at 4:58 a.m. GMT

My clue is from a Poirot short story. But which one???

NightRayDuck 30 Oct 10 at 3:19 a.m. GMT

I know there's a marble paperweight... don't remember which story, though. I fancy it might be a Poirot short story...

Mr_Graves 29 Oct 10 at 10:09 p.m. GMT

Soem very good guesses there, but none of them correct. A hint: you were on the right track with the paperweight...

GKCfan 29 Oct 10 at 8:53 a.m. GMT

This reply contains spoiler information. Show reply

The only marble weapons I can think of are the bear clock from And Then There Were None and the lion of Lucerne paperweight from Hickory Dickory Dock, but those victims were British.   Wait a minute... wasn't the French killer in Murder on the Links killed by someone else in self-defense when she was shoved and hit her head on a marble fireplace fender?

Mr_Graves 29 Oct 10 at 2:18 a.m. GMT

I am a heavy ornament, made of marble. I was used to kill somebody. But I also have a purpose- not just for decoration. The person I was used to kill was somebody foreign...

GKCfan 28 Oct 10 at 7:46 p.m. GMT

Yes!  It's the horse!  Excellent work!

Mr_Graves 28 Oct 10 at 10:04 a.m. GMT

It is the clay sculpture of a horse, created by Henrietta Savernake in "The Hollow". She used it to conceal the murder weapon, with clay from her last project, "Nausicaa"

GKCfan 28 Oct 10 at 6:05 a.m. GMT

I was created in order to hide a deadly secret, and my creator is familiar with the Greek myths.  I was destroyed in the middle of the novel, and my deadly secret was revealed, though it was cleverly set up to distract the police and divert attention from the guilty party.  Part of me may have been recycled from a previous project gone bad...

Mr_Graves 27 Oct 10 at 8:46 p.m. GMT

Curses! You have guessed correctly, GKCfan! I was hoping that would be a little trickier, but the glass vase broken in "Hallowe'en Party" it certainly is... Your turn.

GKCfan 27 Oct 10 at 7:12 p.m. GMT

The glass vase in Hallowe'en Party?

Mr_Graves 27 Oct 10 at 8:52 a.m. GMT

Hooray! I wonder what I can come up with...

I am a perfectly stable ornament. I served my purpose perfectly. So why did that idiot find it necessary to destroy me? I meant no harm! Such a dreadful waste...Then again, perhaps it had something to do with that murder? 

NightRayDuck 27 Oct 10 at 12:21 a.m. GMT

Yes, Mr. Graves! It's the mundane message to be relayed through telephone, altered to look like a suicide note. Your turn. 

Mr_Graves 26 Oct 10 at 10:25 p.m. GMT

Was it the memorandum of Mrs Symmington's in "The Moving Finger", where she says about not being able to go to the doctor's a certain day? It was later ripped up so that the meaning resembled a suicide note.

NightRayDuck 26 Oct 10 at 9:46 p.m. GMT

I am not old enough to have ever actually used a blotter, but I looked it up in the dictionary to be sure I knew what it was. No, this object is not a blotter (writing accessory to absorb excess ink) or a "police blotter" (book where occurrences are written down in ex. a police station). This object is one piece of paper, one person has written on it for a mundane and everyday purpose, another person has altered it so that it communicates something very different.

GKCfan 26 Oct 10 at 9:34 p.m. GMT

Is it the blotter from "Murder in the Mews."

NightRayDuck 26 Oct 10 at 8:57 p.m. GMT

darknightofrays

Let's see now where I've been... first, the mistress wrote me for quite ordinary purposes, and then somebody took me, mutilated me, and placed me somewhere else for a very different reason.

Um, I think writings of my kind are much more mundane than a will. Depending on the person and the household setup, a person might write one or two things of my type a week, or perhaps even more. But someone took me, altered me, and left me with the appearance of some writing that might occur even more rarely than a will during a person's lifetime.

Mr_Graves 25 Oct 10 at 11:31 p.m. GMT

Was it the will of Emily Inglethorpe, placed in a a vase by her husband, and subsequently discovered by Poirot?

NightRayDuck 25 Oct 10 at 7:33 p.m. GMT

Let's see now where I've been... first, the mistress wrote me for quite ordinary purposes, and then somebody took me, mutilated me, and placed me somewhere else for a very different reason.

Puffinjill 22 Oct 10 at 6:40 a.m. GMT

Yes, darknightofrays, it IS the bracelet 'borrowed' by Elvira and Bridget in At Bertram's Hotel. Elvira was desparate to raise enough money for her trip to Ireland so she persuaded her friend to help her take the bracelet and pawn it for the needed funds. Elvira did return it with a profuse apology and a pretty little lie about what happened but I think the jeweller (sorry, his name escapes me right now!) was fully aware of true explanation. Over to you, my friend!!

NightRayDuck 21 Oct 10 at 5:02 p.m. GMT

Sounds to me like a shop-lifting situation. Was the object borrowed from some type of shop or store without payment? I know that the two young ladies in At Bertram's Hotel attempted some type of "distract the store owner and swipe a couple valuable pieces" with a jewelry owner that they're familiar with. I don't know the precise object or whether it really helped anyone get away, though.

Puffinjill 21 Oct 10 at 4:50 a.m. GMT

No, sorry you two, it isn't from Hickory, Dickory, Dock.

cameronjhw 20 Oct 10 at 2:13 p.m. GMT

Could it be Leonard Bateson's steposcope Nigel Chapman used in Hickory Dickory Dock or Patricia Lane's diamond ring or Sally Finch's evening shoe

christie_greece 20 Oct 10 at 2:10 p.m. GMT

I think this item is from Hickory, Dickory, Dock, but I'm not sure what it is, because there has been a loooong time since I read it.

Puffinjill 20 Oct 10 at 6:39 a.m. GMT

Thank you! Right, lets see if I can think of another one. Try this...

I am a valuable thing that was never bought, just 'borrowed' for a day ot two to help a certain person get away for a little while. Later, I was returned to where I belonged by the person who borrowed me but I don't think their explanation was fully believed by the rightful owners.

GKCfan 19 Oct 10 at 5:30 p.m. GMT

Correct!  Well done!  (I have a book that spells it "rabbit," but I know that others contend that "rarebit" is the proper spelling.)  However you spell it, you're right!

NightRayDuck 19 Oct 10 at 4:59 p.m. GMT

Ah rarebit, so that's the word that I couldn't understand in the translated edition in my first language when I read the story for the first time. Interesting.

Puffinjill 19 Oct 10 at 5:13 a.m. GMT

I think you are a Welsh Rarebit (not rabbit!!) which Caroline Sheppard (in The Murder Of Roger Ackroyd) had to eat at one meal because Doctor Sheppard invited Poirot to dine with them at a moments notice. She pretended to follow a vegetarian diet in order to explain away her choice of food. It's a great scene but poirot isn't fooled for a minute!

GKCfan 17 Oct 10 at 8:38 p.m. GMT

I am a piece of food.  I was only cooked because one character didn't think ahead when offering hospitality to a friend, and a relative of that first character pretended to be something she wasn't in order to be a good hostess.  The guest at the meal was very clever and avoided a similar situation soon afterwards.  My name includes a nationality and an animal in it.  I have absoutely nothing to do with any crime, but I do add to a rather amusing scene.

cameronjhw 17 Oct 10 at 6:17 p.m. GMT

You are correct GKCfan. It is the house of cards Poirot builds in the Mysterious Affair at Styles. I chose that particular scene because it made me laugh when Hastings made a comment about straightening things in Mrs. Inglethrop's room and Poirot has his idea and is excited and runs out of the house.

Good job and now your turn...

NightRayDuck 17 Oct 10 at 7 a.m. GMT

Yes, there are several instances, and I can't find the exact one where it is seen that Poirot angrily demolishes his card house and rebuilds it to perfection....

GKCfan 17 Oct 10 at 5:28 a.m. GMT

Hastings does see Poirot building a card house in Peril at End House...  The Mysterious Affair at Styles, too.

NightRayDuck 17 Oct 10 at 2:23 a.m. GMT

I do realize that Hasting doesn't get to see Poirot doing the house of cards in Peril at End House... and I know I've seen an adaptation and/or read of the instance when Poirot gets angry and restarts building it... I've seen it in print recently, in fact, while I was flipping through... um... the "complete Poirot short stories" collection and some 14 Poirot novels on my book shelf. I hope someone has a more solid idea about which book this scene is from...

cameronjhw 13 Oct 10 at 1:24 p.m. GMT

You got the object right it is the playing cards Poirot uses to make a house of cards but you got the wrong book.

Keep plugging away at it you almost got it.

NightRayDuck 12 Oct 10 at 11:15 p.m. GMT

Could it possibly be a pack of playing cards? Used by the wondrous Hercule Poirot to build a house of cards, his trick of clearing his mind, in Peril at End House?

cameronjhw 12 Oct 10 at 8:24 p.m. GMT

"I play a very unusual part. I'm an common object most people use for different reasons such as tricks, concentration, etc. On this occasion I was used for a strange reason by an even stranger person. At one point he got angry and I was started over again but then he finally got it..."

christie_greece 12 Oct 10 at 5:13 p.m. GMT

Absolutely correct!!!! Over to you cameron!

cameronjhw 11 Oct 10 at 5:51 p.m. GMT

Is it some old silver in the Murder of Roger Ackroyd which was taken by Mrs. Ackroyd so she could find out its value?

christie_greece 11 Oct 10 at 4:50 p.m. GMT

Good guess, but no. A hint: I'm made of silver

christie_greece 11 Oct 10 at 4:50 p.m. GMT

Good guess, but no. A hint: I'm silver

cameronjhw 10 Oct 10 at 4:54 p.m. GMT

Could it be Linnet Doyle's pearl necklace that was taken by Joanna Southwood in Death on the Nile

christie_greece 10 Oct 10 at 2:45 p.m. GMT

I was in a case until the day someone took me out of there. I was suspected for being involved in a crime. I am quite valuable.

There has been ages since I read that book and I'm not quite sure that I describe it well. It is quite easy to find, though, as it is in one of the most popular AC books. Good luck!

GKCfan 09 Oct 10 at 6:21 p.m. GMT

Correct!  It's Bob's ball from Dumb Witness.  I guess Hastings didn't want to play fetch with it on the walk, but he probably took it and Bob with him to Argentina.

NightRayDuck 09 Oct 10 at 3:21 p.m. GMT

oooh I second christie_greece on the rubber ball in Dumb Witness. at any random moment during the story, the ball might have had terrier slobber, dirt from the garden, or random carpet lint? and it was placed at the scene of the "accident on the stairs" as a plausible cause of the accident.

I've been puzzled about Hastings's attitude toward the rubber ball, though. I think, at the end, Bob the terrier comes to the garden gate with the ball in his mouth, Hastings tells him they're going for a long walk and can't bring the ball. 

christie_greece 09 Oct 10 at 12:33 p.m. GMT

SPOILERS!!!

I think it is the rubber ball that caused Emily's accident in Dump Witness. It belonged to her frisky terrier. Am I right?

GKCfan 09 Oct 10 at 6:44 a.m. GMT

Sorry, it's not the fire tongs.  darknightofrays, keep following your train of thought.  You're on the right track!

NightRayDuck 08 Oct 10 at 10:22 p.m. GMT

Thank you for the clarification. I knew it should be so, I just kept thinking of my shedding and rather dandruff-y pets after reading the first sentence in the clue. 

cameronjhw 08 Oct 10 at 12:56 p.m. GMT

Could it be the fire tongs that were "supposedly" used to bash in Enoch Arden aka Charles Trenton's head in Taken at the Flood?

GKCfan 08 Oct 10 at 6:54 a.m. GMT

The object in question is inanimate.  

NightRayDuck 08 Oct 10 at 4:35 a.m. GMT

I don't have an answer yet, I am just thinking out loud... Nevile Strange's fishy shirt would have been in fact involved in act of violence, rather than having been framed. Also there doesn't seem much opportunity for it to move to another continent after the book. hmm.

I wish to request for a specific hint or clarification: Is this object inanimate? Or is it a breathing critter? Thank you.

GKCfan 08 Oct 10 at 1:20 a.m. GMT

No, sorry.  It's not an article of clothing.

cameronjhw 07 Oct 10 at 7:46 p.m. GMT

Could it be the shirt/jacket Nevile Strange wore that smelled of a dead fish when he killed Lady Tresillian in Towards Zero?

GKCfan 07 Oct 10 at 5:57 p.m. GMT

If you touch me, you'll want to wash your hands afterwards, since you may not like where I've been.  I was suspected of being involved in an act of violence, but I was proven to be framed.  I am located in England throughout the mystery, but after the book ends I may very well be moved to a totally different continent.

NightRayDuck 07 Oct 10 at 6:21 a.m. GMT

Great job, GKCfan! You have identified one thrown-out item among several that the criminal(s) had littered about the crime scene and preparatory areas in the book you have named. Over to you for the next puzzle. 

I am glad our old players are enjoying this new game.

GKCfan 07 Oct 10 at 6:11 a.m. GMT

This reply contains spoiler information. Show reply

That's the bottle of temporary suntan dye from Evil Under the Sun.

NightRayDuck 07 Oct 10 at 5:54 a.m. GMT

I am a container of some cosmetic item. Mostly empty by the time I was found, I think. I was thrown out from some height and pretty much hit somebody. Turned out my owner used my content for criminal purposes, and people would never have realized how that part of it was done if I hadn't been thrown out by my owner and remembered by the person that I hit. Oh well, I am only a container, I can't really comment on the necessary cautiousness of a prospective criminal.

 The last sentence is pretty much a joke, in case the object gets really very chatty.

MissQuin 06 Oct 10 at 3:26 p.m. GMT

Ms TreeHugger had the right book, but wrong object. Darknight is correct, it's the table used for table turning at the seance.

NightRayDuck 05 Oct 10 at 7:06 p.m. GMT

Um, I second MsTreeHugger on Sittaford Mystery, but I think the object used there is a small table. A small table is also more likely to be very common in every household than an ouija board or a dictaphone. Entertainment on a snowy evening: sit around a small table and pretend that spirits are causing it to sound off knocks or to rock - called "table-turning", I think.

MsTreeHugger 05 Oct 10 at 6:08 p.m. GMT

Could it be the ouija board in the "Sittaford Mystery"?

Pat_september 05 Oct 10 at 4:22 p.m. GMT

A Gramophone, maybe?

christie_greece 05 Oct 10 at 3:58 p.m. GMT

SPOILERS!!! Murder of Roger Ackroyd

I thought it could be the dictaphone (or whatever it is called) from The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.But it doesn't completely fit. How can a dictaphone entertain you??? So I'll wait for a hint...

MissQuin 05 Oct 10 at 1:36 p.m. GMT

Ok,

Most people will have one of my kind. I might be in a room 24 hours a day. Most people wouldn't pay me much attention. But I was used for a special purpose-But I'd only be used that way at night. I was used to entertain guests but sadly I was also used for a more sinsiter reason.

Great idea this game btw, thanks Darknight.

cameronjhw 04 Oct 10 at 6:32 p.m. GMT

Could you give us some hints please I have some ideas but a clue or two would be very helpful

MissQuin 04 Oct 10 at 2:33 p.m. GMT

Eek! I have come up with one now, think fast MissQuin!

I'm a common place object it's true. But I can be used in a different way. I can take centre stage and have all eyes on me. That occasion did arrive and it certainly made my part important!

That may be too easy, or too hard. Just ask for clues if anyone wishes

GKCfan 01 Oct 10 at 6:31 p.m. GMT

Yes!  That's right!  Well done!

MissQuin 01 Oct 10 at 10:14 a.m. GMT

This reply contains spoiler information. Show reply

The stockings bought by Poirot in Cards On The Table? I love that scene! The shop girls clearly thought, he was buying them for his mistress.

GKCfan 30 Sep 10 at 7:47 p.m. GMT

I am actually a pair of very similar objects.  The two of us are exactly alike except for our color.  We are involved in a crime that is not murder, and we help to establish a motive for murder.  Our exact cost is stated clearly in the book, and we are not rare or particularly valuable, although we are not cheap, either.  Our exact fate is never made clear, although the person who committed the crime involving us probably never got a chance to use or enjoy us.  Our rightful owner is wrongly suspected of using us for lascivious purposes, when in fact we were bought to further the cause of justice.

cameronjhw 30 Sep 10 at 4:05 p.m. GMT

Correct!

It is Josephine's notebook. I chose that object because when I read the solution and it said on the first page I killed Grandfather I was shocked. The notebook not only revealed the killer's identity and motivations but also some surprising things about her.

Great job I hope you come up with a really puzzling one...

GKCfan 29 Sep 10 at 9:23 p.m. GMT

Josephine's diary from Crooked House?

cameronjhw 29 Sep 10 at 8:15 p.m. GMT

No, it is not a folly. This object is not a building.

FRUITCAKE 29 Sep 10 at 7:29 p.m. GMT

I think the object is a FOLLY.

cameronjhw 29 Sep 10 at 5:28 p.m. GMT

I will give three hints to help:

1. This object is not a murder weapon

2. It plays a very important part at solving of the crime

3. It is almost like a MacGuffan it helps moves the plot along

cameronjhw 29 Sep 10 at 4:39 p.m. GMT

A very good guess but sadly it is not the sarcophagus.  This particular object has nothing to do with a chest or coffin.

christie_greece 29 Sep 10 at 2:31 p.m. GMT

4.50 from Paddington SPOILERS!!!

My suggestion may be totally incorrect but you naver know... Is it the sarcophagus from 4.50 from Paddington?

missmarple123 28 Sep 10 at 10:48 p.m. GMT

cameronjhw

Thank you I forgot about the shoelaces but I went back to the book to check. Here is my first try on this new game:

I bear a great burden even though I am an object most people use for one thing or another. Although I do not appear until the major events have already happened. I am eventually discovered by a suspect who turns me over to a trusted party. At the end I not only get this burden off my chest but I am helpful to bring the tragic and shocking events to a close...

a great burden on it's chest?

cameronjhw 28 Sep 10 at 2:11 a.m. GMT

Thank you I forgot about the shoelaces but I went back to the book to check. Here is my first try on this new game:

I bear a great burden even though I am an object most people use for one thing or another. Although I do not appear until the major events have already happened. I am eventually discovered by a suspect who turns me over to a trusted party. At the end I not only get this burden off my chest but I am helpful to bring the tragic and shocking events to a close...

Puffinjill 27 Sep 10 at 6:50 p.m. GMT

You've got it, cameronjhw!! It IS Tuppence's shoelaces! Well done and I look forward to your new puzzle!

Darknightofrays - do, DO add this to your ever-growing list of books that need to be read. I think it's a fantastic read. If you do read it, you'll understand all our references and no longer think we're all completely loopy!!!

NightRayDuck 27 Sep 10 at 5:05 p.m. GMT

I haven't read the book at all, so I am just making a random comment here: A story book, a hammer, a woolly dog, or shoelaces that live a double life? Wonderfully intriguing... I think my book list is growing again. :p

cameronjhw 27 Sep 10 at 1:32 p.m. GMT

Is it Betty's toy woolly dog Bonzo or Tuppence's shoelaces she spilled water on?

Puffinjill 27 Sep 10 at 1:14 p.m. GMT

No, not a hammer. Hopefully not too many children amuse themselves with hammers!!!

cameronjhw 27 Sep 10 at 1:02 p.m. GMT

Is it the hammer that was used to knock out Tommy when he returned to the hotel in N or M?

Puffinjill 27 Sep 10 at 5:31 a.m. GMT

Sorry, darknightofrays, I know I'm being too cautious by ticking the 'contains spoilers' box when I set these puzzles!! I can understand your concerns that other might miss the current puzzle and keep trying to answer the previous one. Oh dear, difficult choices as I don't want to hide the puzzle but don't want to give away too many plots!!! Perhaps I just write 'SPOILERS!!!!' in big, bold letters in front of any I set in the future so everyone is aware these puzzles can give away some of the solutions to AC's books. Apologies if I've  annoyed you, darknightofrays!!

Cameronjhw - very, very good guess!!! You have named the right book but not the right object. Have another go!

cameronjhw 26 Sep 10 at 6:51 p.m. GMT

Is it Betty Sprot's nursery rhyme book from N or M? that contained valuable information on Nazi agents aka Fifth Columnists.

NightRayDuck 26 Sep 10 at 6:49 p.m. GMT

puzzle under the spoiler again! Really, my dear friend Puffin, I don't think we need put the spoiler warning on top of the puzzle itself. I am just a little worried that someone might peruse the posts without looking into those with spoiler warnings, and so fall back on trying to answer the previous puzzle that did not bear a spoiler warning.  At any rate, on those instances when we used the murderer / criminal as the character for guessing, or as the person telling the story, we didn't put spoiler warnings on them.  

Blimey, a mundane object is hard to guess! Is it too early to request for hints? :p

Puffinjill 26 Sep 10 at 7:14 a.m. GMT

This reply contains spoiler information. Show reply

Thank you!! How about this one -

I am a most mundane object that most people own. I am very useful but I doubt many would think of me in this light! Because I have been treated in a special way, I am an integral part of a plot that could lead to the invasion of one country by another. But, because of a simple childs game, my double life is uncovered and the enemy defeated just in time.

Blimey, this is so difficult to do! Apologies now if this puzzle doesn't make much sense!!

GKCfan 25 Sep 10 at 6:56 a.m. GMT

YES!  Excellent work!  You are correct!

Puffinjill 25 Sep 10 at 5:47 a.m. GMT

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I think it's the green malachite table in After The Funeral. Cousins Susan Banks and Rosamund Shane both wanted to have it to use in their professional lives - one for the stage and one for a new beauty parlour. Also, the object that stood on this table at the start of the book gives Poirot a clue to the identity of the murderer.

GKCfan 25 Sep 10 at 4:05 a.m. GMT

No, the item is not a painting.

knottyceltic 24 Sep 10 at 11:02 p.m. GMT

I am going to take a WILD guess because I haven't actually read this book yet.  Are you a painting?

GKCfan 24 Sep 10 at 8:28 p.m. GMT

Here's the next object:

It's not easy being me.  Two cousins are fighting over me.  Will I wind up with a glamorous dramatic life or will I help convince people to buy high-end merchandise?  Personally, I'm not that important to solving the mystery, although I did touch something for a considerable amount of time that helped to catch the killer in a mistake.  A pregnancy and a husband's mental illness may decide my eventual fate...

GKCfan 24 Sep 10 at 8:24 p.m. GMT

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The fake pearl necklace in Death on the Nile was involved in two thefts.  First, it was involved in the theft of the original pearl necklace by Tim Allerton, when it replaced the real pearls.  The second crime is when it was stolen itself by Ms. Van Schuyler.  It's "literary surrounding" is when Joanna Southwood first sent the copy to Tim in a hollowed-out book.  

NightRayDuck 24 Sep 10 at 7:16 p.m. GMT

congrats GKC, you have identified the expensive tiny piece of paper! 

about the fake pearl necklace- I know what you mean. It's just there are often many Christie books that I haven't read in more than 10 years, so that I tend to forget small details that aren't connected with the major crime (ex. the inexpensive necklace that's not involved in the murder of Linnet Doyle), but also that when I do remember that small detail, it gets a little out of proportion when I remember things such as one character asking another character "did you hear the splash? was it important?" or it may have been "who's the silhouette that we glimpsed, stealing out from a cabin and throwing something overboard?" see, I really don't remember. o.O

by the way.. so the necklace was the object being stolen in one theft. what was the other instance of crime that it was involved in? I am tackling the re-reading of "Taken at the Flood", so I'll be much grateful if you would kindly illuminate the matter. thank you! 

GKCfan 24 Sep 10 at 5:20 p.m. GMT

This reply contains spoiler information. Show reply

It's the blue two-cent stamp from "Strange Jest."

And just to clarify, I didn't mean to confuse anyone by implying that the item was expensive, only that it was a piece of jewelry.  Anyway, the splash the fake necklace made when it hit the water was never connected to the murders– the thief threw it in the Nile to get rid of it after he had been caught– it didn't make much of a sound, anyway.

NightRayDuck 24 Sep 10 at 4:32 p.m. GMT

next object up for guessing! it's life or death to this object! please attend! 

I'll be frank - I am a papery object, yet worth a lot of money in certain circles. Well, my latest owner decided to hide me, did a lot of writing and tried to make me look one piece among many love letters from decades ago. He even wrote a random cookery recipe and stashed that with the love letters that were covering me! Well, I do hope that whoever finds me doesn't throw me in the fire as befits the other worthless pieces of paper.

NightRayDuck 24 Sep 10 at 4:53 a.m. GMT

"huge lump of custom jewelry which did not cost much in monetary value, but caused the caretaker much anxiety about getting rid of it, and also the detective and policemen much anxiety thinking that the splash it made, landing in the river, must have been related to the murder! oh dear!"

whew. sorry. I've been too much influenced by the "on the right track" evaluation regarding the Heart of Fire necklace... I haven't read that story in a loooooong time but I assumed it's an expensive piece. :p

GKCfan 24 Sep 10 at 4:40 a.m. GMT

The book in question IS Death on the Nile, but it's not a "highly expensive" piece of jewelry that got thrown into the Nile.  Actually, since we know that the "similar item" is a pearl necklace, I think we've gotten close enough to count it: it's the fake pearl necklace.

NightRayDuck 24 Sep 10 at 3:57 a.m. GMT

oh dear, my fingers are hurting from scrolling through the Christie Timeline, and still I don't know which item it could have been... books around the hinted time include Death on the Nile, Murder in the Mews, Murder in Mesopotamia, Cards on the Table, ABC Murders, Appointment with Death, Dumb Witness...

do you by any chance mean a piece of archaeological finding, stolen by that antique thief who posed as an archaeology expert?

jewelry in Dumb Witness.. the TA and AT initial pins.. but the case was murder.

Death on the Nile... highly ornate gun that's been dropped into the river, would have been involved in murder. how about something expensive that was stolen by the kleptomaniac elderly lady, and possibly dumped into the river later by caretaker worried about incriminating evidence against the old lady?

GKCfan 23 Sep 10 at 8:09 p.m. GMT

All of these guesses are wrong, BUT... the choker of pearls from A Murder is Announced is the "similar item" that was badly damaged thirteen years later.  So... what other piece of jewelry appears in a book published thirteen years before A Murder is Announced that fits all of the criteria?

cameronjhw 23 Sep 10 at 7:52 p.m. GMT

Is it the choker of pearls from A Murder is Announced or Mrs. Opalson's pearls from Jewel Robbery at the Grand Metropoltan

NightRayDuck 23 Sep 10 at 1:29 p.m. GMT

that's an interesting point, christie. if they had been the same ruby necklace in the two different stories, then that necklace had been central to two thefts. :)

I was thinking of the emerald in "The Rajah's Emerald", it's hidden in some old pants which are inadvertently taken by a stranger, and he might accidentally drop it on the beach and then nobody will ever find it. I don't feel confident about this answer, though. I can't think of any literary setting for the emerald. :p

If the object is a valuable piece of antique rather than jewelry, then the blue jar in "The Blue Jar" might fit the bill... but, again, I don't know of any similar jar that could have been used in identity theft. 

christie_greece 23 Sep 10 at 10:18 a.m. GMT

christie_greece

Is it the ruby from The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding?

a ruby also appears at A fruitful sunday. I don't know if it's the same ruby though...

christie_greece 23 Sep 10 at 9:41 a.m. GMT

Is it the ruby from The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding?

GKCfan 23 Sep 10 at 3:16 a.m. GMT

You've got the vital clues so far, except for the extra hint that the item itself couldn't possibly have known: a similar item was badly damaged in a book thirteen years later.  So the item can't come from any of the books from the last twelve years of Christie's career.

NightRayDuck 23 Sep 10 at 2:31 a.m. GMT

Thanks, GKC! I still feel I haven't got the object anywhere in my brain, but I'll summarize the position so far:

It is a piece of jewelry.

It was created on one continent, but is currently at a hard-to-reach place on another continent.

It was central to two separate crimes, neither of which was murder.

It may have spent some time in a literary setting.

OK, so I can rule out my theory of it being some passport or other ID document that I was thinking about. 

GKCfan 22 Sep 10 at 8:19 p.m. GMT

Sorry, all guess are wrong.  I regret the confusion, but I wasn't clear on the rules for the game– I guess it has to be from the limited perspective of the object in question, but I was trying to provide an extra clue.

However, I have a clue that should prove helpful.  Yes, the object in question is a piece of jewelry.

NightRayDuck 22 Sep 10 at 7:19 p.m. GMT

 I never have the least notion when the clue says "similar to something else in another story xx yrs later", or "I have a unique distinction in the Christie canon because I appeared here there and somewhere else as well". It's tough and confusing for fans who haven't read every book. That is rather the reason I started the puzzle as the object coming to life and talking about itself - the object shouldn't possibly know about a similar item in another story.

to go on with the current puzzle under scrutiny, I'll make the following comments:

Random guess 1: The Western Star in "The Adventure of the Western Star"?

Random guess 2: The jewelry of Flossie Carrington in "The Plymouth Express"?

Request for clue: Is the object any piece of jewelry or precious stone? because I find it difficult to think of a "similar piece of item from another story" that can get badly damaged, if it's jewelry..

cameronjhw 22 Sep 10 at 6:47 p.m. GMT

How about the royal ruby that was found in the plum pudding in the story the Theft of the Royal Ruby aka the Adventure of the Christmas Pudding

GKCfan 22 Sep 10 at 6:16 p.m. GMT

Sorry, no.  But the object IS involved in a theft.

christie_greece 22 Sep 10 at 2:30 p.m. GMT

I'm just guessing...

Is it the bomber from The Incredible Theft ??

GKCfan 21 Sep 10 at 5:25 p.m. GMT

You're on the right track, but the Heart of Fire is not correct.

christie_greece 21 Sep 10 at 2:10 p.m. GMT

Yeah, that was what I thought, too. But I think it doesn't completely fit...

cameronjhw 21 Sep 10 at 2:06 p.m. GMT

Is it the Heart of Fire necklace from the Mystery of the Blue Train

GKCfan 21 Sep 10 at 5:47 a.m. GMT

This item was created on one continent and will probably spend the rest of its existence on another continent, unless someone finds it and takes it away, although this is very unlikely since it's currently hard to reach.  It was central to the commission of two separate crimes, but the crimes in question are not murder.  During the course of this book, at least four people are known to have touched this item, although a couple of other people probably handled it before the novel's action started.  It is very similar to another item that was also involved in a crime.  The detective in this book suspects that this item spent a little time in a literary setting on its way to being involved in  a crime.  This item is not to be confused with a very similar item that appeared in a book thirteen years later.  The latter item was used to perpetuate an identity theft, and was badly damaged over the course of the book.

Puffinjill 21 Sep 10 at 5:26 a.m. GMT

Yes, GKC!!!! It was the dagger from Murder On The Orient Express. Well done to you!

Sorry, darknightofrays, forgive me! I wasn't trying to hide the next puzzle from you, my friend! I think this thread is going to be a tricky one as there will be many spoilers but it's an interesting new game so we'll just have to manage the best we can.

GKCfan 20 Sep 10 at 9:01 p.m. GMT

The object in question is the dagger used to kill Ratchett in Murder on the Orient Express. 

NightRayDuck 20 Sep 10 at 6:05 p.m. GMT

aww Puffin, you hid the puzzle under a spoiler warning! probably we should put the spoiler warning on the thread instead. 

I am thinking.. just possibly.. the Borgia goblet used by Pope Alexander VI in centuries past, and now object of contest among antique-collecting millionaires, in The Apples of Hesperides? I feel uncertain about this answer though, very, very uncertain. I don't know if many people had used the goblet in the same manner that the Borgia had used. Moreover, I can't remember if Poirot gained possession of the goblet or showed it off to someone else. It wouldn't seem to fit the way that he'd been hired by one of the collectors to track down the goblet. hmm...

charris 17 Sep 10 at 12:10 p.m. GMT

This is the Folly from Dead Mans Folly featuring Hercule Poirot.

Great game, I look forward to more!

christie_greece 17 Sep 10 at 12:03 p.m. GMT

Poirot...Well I haven't read many Poirot books and I can't think of an object like this...mmmm...

Puffinjill 17 Sep 10 at 6:37 a.m. GMT

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OK, let's see. I'll try to set something quite easy so we can all get the hang of this new game. Try this -

I'm an object that has a unique place in AC's books. Many people used me to rid themselves of someone who had wronged them so badly in the past. Later, a certain little Belgian keeps me as a souvenir and even shows me off to a young lady in another book.

Hope that's OK.

christie_greece 16 Sep 10 at 3:37 p.m. GMT

I like this game. It's a little more difficult than the others but it's fun!!!!

NightRayDuck 16 Sep 10 at 7:49 a.m. GMT

Yay Puffinjill got the right answer! Glad you liked it. Your turn to set the next puzzle. 

Puffinjill 16 Sep 10 at 6:44 a.m. GMT

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I'm guessing you would be the Folly from Dead Man's Folly, where Sir George Stubbs buried the body of his unfortunate wife. I like the idea, darknightofrays!! An interesting new twist and something else for us to get our brains round!!