Status Updates From The Case of the Missing Lad...

She was quite bitter. Meanwhile, Tommy was quite confused. What happened?! All Tuppence could say was "Getting Thin". But still, he didn’t understand, Tuppence explained to him that Mrs Leigh Gordon had put on weight while Mr Stavansson was away and she was doing a medical procedure with Dr Horriston to lose weight since her fiancee detested it. Lady Susan knew of this all along and tried to keep her niece’s secret.

Once she was inside Tommy waited not so patiently on the ground. At first, he thought the two ladies were whispering and then he heard low voices. Thinking this was a good sign he was relieved. But then the noises stopped. This caused him to become quite concerned. Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder, it was his wife, Tuppence! They had come through the front door.

Tuppence decided to go up the ladder and went up to the window. She looks in the window and notices that it is Mrs. Leigh Gordon. As she got up there though a Nurse came in to inject Mrs. Leigh Gordon. Avoiding the sight of the nurse Tuppence hid until she left. She told Tommy what she saw and then returned to the window and opened it silently.

While Tommy was away, Tuppence saw a gardener trimming some hedges and saw where he put the ladder he was using. They agreed that as soon as it was dark, they would see what is going on in the house. In the dark, they were able to move around unseen. Eventually, they heard a low moan of a woman. They took the ladder and carried it to the window upstairs where the moaning was coming from.

Two hours later Tommy returns to Tuppence, but he doesn’t seem to have had any luck. Mr. Stavansson isn’t answering, he tried Lady Susan she was out. He called up Dr. Brady and asked him to look up Dr. Horriston. He didn’t have to look him up, he knew the name right away and basically called the man a quack. This makes it seem even more worrisome for Mrs. Leigh Gordon.

After the doctor and manservant leave the room, the pair retreat. Tommy can see that this situation is becoming quite dangerous. He wants to return to town and tell Mr Stavansson what they heard. However, Tuppence is not convinced. She knows that whatever’s going on could mean Mrs Leigh Gordon is in serious danger. She thinks it would be better if she stays and Tommy heads back to the village.

Tuppence decides to climb the wall and try to get up to the house as quietly as she can. Tommy follows her and thankfully they are able to hide in the overgrown backyard. They seemed to hit a dead end at the house, the windows were too high for them, the doors were closed, and luckily a window was open. The doctor is talking aboutTempurance’s visit. The fact that she was asking for Mrs Leigh Gordon upsets the doctor.

This time it was Tommy’s chance to knock at the door. He believed if he said he was a journalist the doctor would be happy to let him in and tell him about his work. But that was not the case. The doctor was busy and he never spoke to journalists. Tommy now believed that something fishy was going on. The fact that “The Grange” was so far away from anywhere that something could happen and no one would really know.

She does so and though there is a bit of hesitation and recognition, the man that answers the door insists there is no one by that name there. Tuppence again tries to get information. She asks the man if that is not the right place, though he confirms it is the house of Dr. Horriston, the Grange. Unsure what to do next, she retreats and goes back to Tommy to figure out their next move.

After discussing how odd Dr Horriston appears as he drove by, the pair decide to head to “The Grange”. It was an abandoned house with deserted grounds and a mill stream behind. By now Tuppence believes that Hermie is in trouble. And Tommy doesn’t seem quite convinced. He believes that Tuppence’s imagination may be getting away with her. After a short discussion, they decided that Tuppence will go knock on the door.

The next day they set out to Maldon, Sussex to see what they can find out. Tommy goes to a bar and finds out about “The Grange” while Tuppence is actually at the telegraph station and trying to gather information. She is making a show of buying postcards while she questions the woman working there. (This woman didn’t know much about Hermie either.) But he did talk about Dr. Horriston’s Nursing Home.

Tuppence seems to think that Hermie is afraid to meet her fiance. The pair seemed to decide against suggesting that to Mr Stephence. Instead, they decide to go to Maldon themselves. They made every inquiry they could and got nothing. They did, however, come across a clue. Maldon seemed to be two different places. Which made the pair realize that they and Mr Stavansson had probably both gone to the wrong “Maldon”.

Tommy almost immediately solved part of the case. Which is quiet impressive since the man hadn’t even left the office yet. “If you must be Sherlock Holmes [...]” It is quite interesting that Agatha Christie doesn’t make any bones about it. Tommy, in this book, is especially similar to him. He even quotes a case of Sherlock Holmes that seems similar to this one (The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax).

So as he set back home from Maldon, he read the advertisement for Tommy and Tuppence and decided to contact them. He didn’t want to send the police after his wife should she simply be on vacation in Monte Carlo but he was still quite concerned about her. His hope was to get to the bottom of this without causing a scandal.

As Mr Stavansson was about to leave, Lady Susan received a telegram from “Hermie”. In it, she stated that she changed her plans and would be going to Monte Carlo for a week. Mr Stavansson told Tommy that he recognized the telegram came from Maldon, though he didn’t know why his fiance would be there. Mr Stavansson went to Maldon and asked about his wife, but no one had seen her.

Mr Stavansson did get the names of the friends and caught a train North. Though he checked with the three friends, none of them had seen his fiance. Only one of the friends was actually expecting her at all. That friend told Mr Stavansson that Hermione put off her visit via telegram. Mr Stavansson shared this with Lady Susan and though she seemed upset she wasn’t so upset that she thought they should do anything.

When he got home he wanted to see her, and rushed home to her - she was staying with her aunt Lady Susan Clonray. Lady Susan was surprised to see him but told him that Hermione would be returning in a few days from visiting friends. Mr Stavansson wanted to go see her and asked for the address but Lady Susan did not want to give them to him.

Mr Stavansson had just returned from exploring the North Pole and was anxious to get home to his fiance. They were engaged at the time, but still, she encouraged him to go on his exploration. This seemed to have made Mr Stavansson fall even harder for her. She was precisely the type of woman an explorer could want.

This book starts with a client, Gabriel Stavansson going to see Mr Blunt (aka Tommy and Tuppence). As he waited Tommy gave the man a once over. Tommy Beresford was busy but decided to take a minute to see the man. Tuppence, “Ms Robinson” was sitting and waiting with a pad and pencil to see what the man had to say. Tommy impresses the client by making simple observances of the man, Sherlock Holme-type deductions.