Welcome to Part Ten of our current Tale for Our Time - Agatha Christie's detective yarn The Murder on the Links. In our ninth year of audio adventures, this is only our third venture into the Christie oeuvre, but listeners seem to be enjoying it. Melissa Ward, a California Steyn Clubber, was struck by this line, applied by Captain Hastings to a cocky young detective from the Sûreté in Paris:
'He was fully alive to his own importance.' I'll remember that quotation. I often witness it.
Indeed. Mrs Christie is not a writer often quoted for memorable lines, but she has her moments.
In tonight's episode there is a stunning revelation about the murder victim:
"Did he ever say anything at all about a secret?"
"Not that I can remember. But, for all that, there was a mystery about him. I've never heard him speak of his boyhood for instance, or of any incident prior to his arrival in South America. He was a French Canadian by birth, I believe, but I've never heard him speak of his life in Canada. He could shut up like a clam if he liked."
A Canadian with a shadowy past? Say no more.
Members of The Mark Steyn Club can hear Part Ten of our tale simply by clicking here and logging-in.
You can enjoy The Murder on the Links episode by episode, night by night, twenty minutes before you lower your lamp. Or, alternatively, do feel free to binge-listen: you can find all the earlier installments here.
If you've yet to hear any of our first seventy-four Tales for Our Time, you can do so by joining The Mark Steyn Club. Or, if you need an extra-special present for someone, why not give your loved one a Gift Membership and start him or her off with over six dozen cracking yarns? And do join us tomorrow for another episode of this Agatha Christie classic.