Death in the Clouds: a Hercule Poirot Mystery by Agatha Christie (1935) Part 3

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Passengers on the Plane

Seat 2 Madame Giselle

Seat 4 James Ryder

Seat 5 Monsieur Armand Dupont

Seat 6 Monsieur Jean Dupont

Seat 8 Daniel Clancy

Seat 9 Hercule Poirot

Seat 10 Doctor Bryant

Seat 12 Norman Gale

Seat 13 The Countess of Horbury

Seat 16 Jane Grey

Seat 17 The Hon. Venetia Kerr

"There are more important things than finding the murderer. And justice is a fine word, but it is sometimes difficult to say exactly what one means by it. In my opinion the important thing is to clear the innocent." - Hercule Poirot

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Lady Horbury is at home with her husband. From explanation from the two we learn that they may be married but have never loved each other and never will. More of a show for social status for each of them. Lord Stephen Horbury and Lady Horbury have a very lengthy discussion as to how much happier he would have been if he had married Venetia Kerr instead. Lord Horbury leaves the house to walk the grounds and meets Venetia horseback riding on their property. Within her thoughts she tells of how in love with him she is and how happy their lives would be together if they had married.

Jane has returned to work and is working on her first client of the day. Her client is most interested in hearing about the plane as it has been circulating in the news. She has a an ultimatum for her boss and demands a raise or she leaves with all of her clients. Her boss agrees to the raise and she continues to work. Jean Dupont called on Jane but she politely refuses his offer as that night she is having dinner with Norman Gale.

At Gale's dentistry his secretary Miss Ross keeps notifying him of all the cancellations that he is having. He becomes very concerned and ponders the thought of going to Canada and working there for a fresh start. During dinner the two talk more about the case and see Mr. Clancy. They decide to follow him to try and gain some more insight. After following him a while, they realize they too are being followed. When they pause to rest they hear a voice in the shadows. It is Hercule Poirot.

Poirot decides to join them in their search, but suggests splitting up and having Miss Gray be his secretary while he tried to speak with Mr. Clancy. They have a very unusual conversation with him. He tells them that he is planning on writing a book based on the whole account but sell under fiction to prevent any lawsuit. To change it up, the murderer is the pilot and uses a quick acting gas to place everyone asleep for a few minutes to complete the murder. When Poirot asks him on his knowledge of murder and mysteries in general he says that he would never be able to solve one in real life, even though he has in fact studied criminology.

Miss Gray and Poirot rejoin with Gale and discuss the other two women that were on the flight. Miss Gray explains that they both are upper class and quite arrogant and snobby as they have wealth. Poirot brings up the name of a person and says that he must call upon. Miss Gray asks his thoughts, and only says elimination but does not state whom he speaks of.

A lot comes to mind from reading this passage. First, the hidden love makes me question if the wrong person could have been murdered. Lord Horbury and Venetia could have been trying to get rid of Lady Horbury so they could be together. Second, I am very amazed that Christie wrote in for a bold take on feminism. For an unmarried woman to speak towards her male boss as she did was very risky and deemed disrespectful in society at the time. I never thought of Christie as a women's right activist until now. Would have been a great way to encourage women through the books that they read. Lastly, Mr. Clancy, he poses as almost a red herring for me. This man and his obsession with writing about all of this makes him quite twisted but his lack of ability to solve a murder creates doubt in his true character. He may not even be an author at all based off that statement alone but it could be a trigger to give false inclinations. Poirot thinks that he knows whom the murderer is, where as I am still working on theorys to narrow it down.