While serving a sentence for killing his foster mother – a crime he
insisted he didn't commit – Jacko Argyle dies in prison. Two years
later, the man who could have supported Jacko's alibi suddenly turns up,
and the family must come to terms with the fact not only that one of
them is the real murderer, but also that suspicion falls upon each of
them. Christie's focus in this novel is upon the psychology of
innocence, as the family members struggle with their suspicions of one
another.
The witness, Arthur Calgary, believes that when he clears the name of
their son the family would be grateful. He fails to realise the
implications of his information. However, once he does so he is
determined to help and to protect the innocent by finding the murderer.
In order to do so he visits the retired local doctor, Dr MacMaster, to
ask him about the cleared murderer, Jacko Argyle. Dr MacMaster states
that he was surprised when Jacko killed his mother. Not because he
thought that murder was outside Jacko's 'moral range' but because he
thought Jacko would be too cowardly to kill somebody himself, that if he
wanted to murder somebody he would egg on an accomplice to do his dirty
work. Dr MacMaster says "the kind of murder I'd have expected Jacko to
do, if he did one, was the type where a couple of boys go out on a raid;
then, when the police come after them, the Jackos say 'Biff him on the
head, Bud. Let him have it. Shoot him down.' They're willing for
murder, ready to incite to murder, but they've not got the nerve to do
murder themselves with their own hands". This description seems to be a
reference to the Craig and Bentley case which had occurred in 1952.
Description:
Plot summary
While serving a sentence for killing his foster mother – a crime he insisted he didn't commit – Jacko Argyle dies in prison. Two years later, the man who could have supported Jacko's alibi suddenly turns up, and the family must come to terms with the fact not only that one of them is the real murderer, but also that suspicion falls upon each of them. Christie's focus in this novel is upon the psychology of innocence, as the family members struggle with their suspicions of one another.
The witness, Arthur Calgary, believes that when he clears the name of their son the family would be grateful. He fails to realise the implications of his information. However, once he does so he is determined to help and to protect the innocent by finding the murderer. In order to do so he visits the retired local doctor, Dr MacMaster, to ask him about the cleared murderer, Jacko Argyle. Dr MacMaster states that he was surprised when Jacko killed his mother. Not because he thought that murder was outside Jacko's 'moral range' but because he thought Jacko would be too cowardly to kill somebody himself, that if he wanted to murder somebody he would egg on an accomplice to do his dirty work. Dr MacMaster says "the kind of murder I'd have expected Jacko to do, if he did one, was the type where a couple of boys go out on a raid; then, when the police come after them, the Jackos say 'Biff him on the head, Bud. Let him have it. Shoot him down.' They're willing for murder, ready to incite to murder, but they've not got the nerve to do murder themselves with their own hands". This description seems to be a reference to the Craig and Bentley case which had occurred in 1952.