Two further refinements to the plot are included between characters 8 and 9 in the Notebook. Most of the guests to the island are lured by arrangements or invitations made by a Mr or Mrs Owens, sometimes with the initials ‘U.N.’ or, as Justice Wargrave says at the end of Chapter 3, ‘by a slight stretch of fancy: UNKNOWN’. The initials undergo a few variations and the first note below is probably the seed of this idea. The second note refers to the diminishing collection of china figurines on the dining-room table:
Ulick Noel Nomen
Ten Little Niggers on dinner table
After a blank page the notes begin with Chapter 9 and, over the next six pages, trace the course of the rest of the novel including the scene at Scotland Yard. This means that the last seven murders (from Rogers onwards) are all covered in this relatively short space, lending further support to the theory that the plotting for the book was done elsewhere and Notebook 65 represents the almost-finished plot.
Chapter IX
Judge takes charge—exhibits a good deal of quickwittidness [sic]—Armstrong and Wargrave—Judge has an idea. The storm comes on—all of them huddled into a room—nerves crackling. Next morning—no Rogers—no sign of him—breakfast not laid. Men search island—at breakfast—suddenly Vera sees—Seven Six niggers. Growing suspicion of Emily—a face watches her—a wasp stings her—dead bee on floor. Everyone terrified—all keep together. Where’s old Wargrave—they find him dressed up in red robe and wig. He and Blore carry him up—the dining room—still 5 niggers. The 3 of them—criminal must be Armstrong. Finally: body washed up Armstrong! Blore crushed by falling rock. Vera and Lombard—one of us—her fears—self preservation—she gets his revolver—finally she shoots him—at last—safe—Hugo
The investigation—
The other deaths Owen? V and L last? Mrs R[ogers] and AM [Marston] all dead—
Morris dead too—he did all arrangements—committed suicide—dead—
Young man suggests Wargrave—Edward Seton was guilty—Old Wargrave was queer
Epilogue—Letter in bottle—he describes how it was done
One idea that was abandoned was that of a ‘watcher’ throughout the action. After the death of Emily Brent we read in the Notebook that ‘A face watches her’; and at the climax of the story, when Vera goes up to her room the notes read ‘Goes up to her bedroom—the noose—man steps out of darkness’. In retrospect the reader can imagine the killer ‘watching’ the
An interesting footnote is provided by Christie’s great American contemporary fellow crime-writer Ellery Queen. In his In the Queen’s Parlor (1957) he discloses how, twice during his writing career, he had to abandon a book-in-progress when he read the latest Agatha Christie. Francis M. Nevins in his study of Queen, Royal Bloodline, confirms that one of these was a plot based on the same idea as Ten Little Niggers.
unfolding of his plan, both before and after his supposed death, but it appears from these brief references that Christie toyed with the idea of mentioning the nameless ‘watcher’. Far more effective and less melodramatic, however, is the concept she adopted at the end of Chapter 11, and again in Chapter 13, when she allows us to share the thoughts of the six remaining characters, including the killer’s, but without identifying the thinker.
One, Two, Buckle my Shoe 4 November 1940
Hercule Poirot’s dentist’s appointment coincides with the murder of his dentist. A shoe buckle, a disappearance and more deaths follow before he can say ‘Nineteen, twenty, My plate’s empty.’
One, two, buckle my shoe Three, four, shut the door Five, six, pick up sticks Seven, eight, lay them straight Nine, ten, a big fat hen Eleven, twelve, men must delve Thirteen, fourteen, maids are courting Fifteen, sixteen, maids in the kitchen Seventeen, eighteen, maids in waiting Nineteen, twenty, my plate’s empty…
The notes for this novel are contained in four Notebooks with the majority (over 75 pages) in Notebook 35. They alternate for much of that Notebook with the notes for Five Little Pigs. One, Two, Buckle my Shoe is Christie’s most complicated novel. It features a triple impersonation and a complex murder plot with its beginnings in the distant past. The novel turns on the identity of a dead body but, unlike Four-Fifty from Paddington, it is a tantalising, rather than an aggravating, question.
The only aspect of this novel that does not ring true is, ironically, the use of the nursery rhyme. It is strained and unconvincing and, apart from the all-important shoe buckle, the rhyme has little or no significance other than providing chapter titles. This is confirmed by the following extract from Notebook 35 where Christie jots down the rhyme and tries to match ideas to each section. As can be seen, they are not very persuasive and in fact few of them, apart from the shoe buckle, went into the novel:
One Two Buckle my Shoe—the Shoe Buckle—think of it—the start of this case
The Closed Door—something about a door—either room locked or something not heard through closed door when it should have been.
Picking up sticks—assembling clues
Lay them Straight—order and method
A good fat hen—the will—read—rich woman it was who died—murdered woman—fat elderly—two girls—man recently coming to live with rich relative?
Men must Delve—Digging up garden—another body—discovered buried in garden—wrong owner of shoe buckle?
Maids a courting—2 girls—heiresses of Fat Hen? Or would have been connected by husband of fat hen—in collusion with maid servant
Maids in the kitchen—servant’s gossip
Maids in Waiting?
My Plate is Empty
End
Clue—a shoe buckle
An example of the type of organised listing that occurs throughout the Notebooks, the plot of One, Two, Buckle my Shoe occurs as Idea H on a list from A to U. This list looks to have been written straight off with three or four ideas to a page in the same handwriting and with the same pen. Most of them have more detail included but Idea H below is exactly as it appears (the possibility of combining it with the twins or chambermaid idea—see also ‘The House of Dreams’, page 303—was not pursued).
Ideas
A. Poirot’s Last Case—history repeats itself—Styles now a guest house [Curtain]
B. Remembered Death—Rosemary dead [Sparkling Cyanide]
C. Dangerous drug stolen from doctor’s car. [See Hickory Dickory Dock below and ‘The House of Dreams’]
D. Legless man—sometimes tall—sometimes short
E. Identical twins (one killed in railway smash)
F. Not identical twins
G. A murderer is executed—afterwards is found to be innocent [Five Little Pigs/Ordeal by Innocence]
H. Dentist Murder Motive? Chart substitution? Combine with E? or F? or J?
I. Two women—arty friends—ridiculous—one is crook
J. Chambermaid in hotel accomplice of man
K. Stamps—but stamps on letter [‘Strange Jest’]
L. Prussic acid
M. Caustic potash in cachet
N. Stabbed through eye with hatpin
O. Witness in murder case—quite unimportant—offered post abroad
P. Third Floor Flat idea
Q.