In the Agatha Christie story, “The Third-Floor Flat,” Patricia returns home to find that her key is no longer in her purse. While her friends Jimmy and Donovan joke about her misfortune, her friend Mildred asks, “How are we going to get in?” Eventually, Donovan suggests a solution. The men journey down to the basement, open two cabinet-sized doors, and climb onto the small lift by which the building’s residents have coal delivered to their flats. The two haul themselves up using the rope-and-pulley system, but when they crawl through the hatch in the apartment, the light switch doesn’t seem to work. They stumble around in the darkness until they find another. The light brings two discoveries: 1) They inadvertently miscounted, and are in a third-floor flat, not Patricia’s fourth-floor residence; and 2) The former tenant, an Ernestine Grant, has been murdered.
In the doorway of the dead woman’s flat, the men tell Patricia and Mildred of their discovery. They recognize that they must call the police. At this point, a man dressed in a “resplendent dressing-gown and embroidered slippers” agrees with their decision. This “little man with a very fierce mustache and an egg-shaped head” tells them he is a tenant on the fifth floor. Although he has taken his flat in the name of Mr. O’Connor, it is clear from his speech and appearance that he is no Irishman. He hands Patricia his card and places himself at their service until the police arrive.
“M. Hercule Poirot. Oh!” She caught her breath. “The M. Hercule Poirot? The great detective? And will you really help?”
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| Maybe the coal lift isn't the best way to visit your friends in Whitehaven Mansions. |
After visiting the dead woman’s flat, Poirot, Jimmy, and Donovan return to Patricia’s, where she cooks them omelets for a late supper. The police arrive, and an investigation is carried out. The assessment: the villain is a John Fraser. Poirot asks to be allowed to study the third-floor flat once more. After he does so, Poirot declares that no John Fraser exists. Instead, the murderer is Donovan, who married Ernestine Grant eight years ago, but is now courting Patricia.
Poirot relates the latter to Jimmy while Donovan awaits them in Patricia’s flat. We never learn why Donovan’s relationship with his wife soured; we only know that Ernestine Grant moved into the third-floor flat to prevent her husband from marrying Patricia. Poirot then asks Jimmy of his feelings for Patricia. Jimmy admits that he cares for her, but never thought he had a chance with Donovan around. Poirot encourages him to stand by Patricia in the days ahead. She will be named as “The Other Woman” in the newspapers, and she has just lost the man whom she cared most about.
This original short story is very different from the dramatized version depicted on the TV show “Agatha Christie’s Poirot.” Poirot cannot rely on the assistance of his friend Captain Arthur Hastings in solving the murder. Ms. Lemon does not manage the in-home office for him (in fact Ms. Lemon works as the secretary to Agatha Christie’s other private detective, Parker Pyne, in several of his early stories). The inspector who calls to officially conduct an investigation is not TV’s Chief Inspector Japp (another man with a “very fierce mustache”), but instead the featureless Inspector Rice. Yet one aspect of the story remains unchanged: Poirot urges Jimmy to support Patricia in her time of trial. Like Parker Pyne, who advertises in the newspaper with “Are you happy? If not, consult me,” Poirot is concerned with meeting the emotional needs of those around him.
“Mon ami, that is your part,” said Poirot gently. “To make her turn to you and forget. I do not think you will find it very difficult.”
We like to think that time heals all wounds, but loss is forever. A parent or spouse or close friend can never be replaced. With time, we find ways to cope with our pain, but still, the hole in our heart remains. By identifying those whose hurt seems the greatest, and who may best respond to our ministrations, we can help the wounded refocus their attention on the outside world. In doing so, we serve not just this one person, but all of humanity.
“The Third-Floor Flat” can be found in Agatha Christie Masterpieces in Miniature: The Detectives. The collected stories concern four of her greatest crime-solvers: Parker Pyne, Harley Quin, Hercule Poirot, and Miss Jane Marple.
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