Page numbers from my copy of 4.50 From Paddington by Agatha Christie
(ISBN 0-00-615762-9)
There is a long-running mystery in the 4.50 From Paddington and it is nothing to do with strangled women on trains, or any kind of crime.
The final lines of this classic Christie whodunit read as follows:
'What about Lucy Eyelesbarrow? Wedding bells there too?'
'Perhaps,' said Miss Marple, 'I shouldn't wonder.'
'Which of 'em is she going to choose?' said Dermot Craddock.
'Don't you know?' said Miss Marple.
'No, I don't,' said Craddock. 'Do you?'
'Oh yes, I think so,' said Miss Marple.
And she twinkled at him.
Unfortunately, what seemed so plain to dear Miss Marple has been vexing readers for 65 years!
It is perhaps the final line - she twinkled AT him - that pulls Detective Inspector Dermot Craddock of New Scotland Yard into the running for the role of the future Mr Eyelesbarrow. The 2004 Geraldine McEwan version threw me for a loop as I had never considered him to be 'on the menu' so to speak.
Apparently a later book has Craddock as telling someone he is still unmarried but I don't know as that signifies. Christie is not above continuity errors. There's also the possibility that they began a relationship but it didn't work out. Another possibility is that Craddock is lying - people hide their marital status for all kinds of reasons and it's not so very unreasonable that a senior policeman might want to protect his family by not telling people they exist.
So first I shall consider the wild card entry - Dermot Craddock. Certainly as an intelligent, successful police officer he would be a splendid catch but would he suit the redoubtable Lucy?
I don't think so. Lucy Eyelesbarrow is a force to be reckoned with, immensely intelligent and easily bored. She would not be able to assist Craddock in his investigations and, as his wife, would be constrained in her options. Perhaps she might satisfy herself with motherhood and then the academic career she'd previously rejected but I doubt it.
Lets progress to the two intended prime suspects:
Approaching the end of the novel (p. 208) Miss Marple addresses Lucy's unacknowledged dilemma...
'I know, dear, it's very difficult for you because you are quite strongly attracted to both of them, aren't you, in very different ways.'
'What do you mean?' said Lucy. Her Tone was sharp.
'I was talking about the two sons of the house,' said Miss Marple. 'Or rather the son and the son-in-law'
The son, or rather the sole surviving son (Edmund having died in the war; Harold and Alfred having been poisoned in preceding pages) is Cedric Crackenthorpe. He is unmarried and has been enjoying it. The son-in-law is Bryan Eastley, a WWII Squadron Leader at a loose end in civvy street. Five years have passed since his wife Edie, the former Edith Crackenthorpe, died and he is lonely. Bryan has a rather adorable son, named Alexander, of whom Lucy is very fond.
As a ne'er-do-well artist living in Ibiza Cedric certainly held quite an attraction for Lucy and apparently this solution is the one Dame Agatha had in mind. However, Agatha's romance novels (as Mary Westmacott) are a bit rubbish, as was her own love life. Agatha's first husband, Archibald Christie, ran off with another woman and, although her second marriage, to archaeologist Max Mallowan, seemed happy enough he remarried rather quickly to a woman he had known for years. I'll bow to Christie's genius for detective fiction but I'll form my own opinions on love.
Lucy's interest in Cedric is clearest in terms of pigsties (e.g. "for some reason or other, pigsties came into her mind" p.163) which is in reference to an encounter with Cedric in chapter eleven although there's a possibility, hinted at on p. 143, that they've perhaps continued to meet there:
'Why the pigsty, dear?' asked Miss Marple with interest. 'Do they keep pigs?
'Oh no, not nowadays. It's just - I go there sometimes.'
For some reason Lucy blushed.'
In my opinion, while Lucy might be attracted to Cedric, he is unlikely to be a good match for her. As an artist in Ibiza, perhaps. The island wasn't in those days the clubbing hotspot it is now but the burgeoning package tourism industry would have fitted with her "taste for people, all sorts of people - and not the same people the whole time" (p. 28). She might well have applied herself to getting her husband's art recognised and / or sold. Of course, she had no idea what his art was like - it may have been truly dire!
'He makes me fighting mad sometimes,' said Lucy.
'Yes,' said Miss Marple, 'and you enjoy that, don't you? You're a girl with a lot of spirit and you enjoy a battle.' (p. 208)
But would she have enjoyed that in the longer term? I am unconvinced. Life with Cedric might be exciting but it may well not be pleasant. That particular exchange moves into Lucy noting that Cedric is completely unmoved by his brothers' murders and is making indecently gleeful plans for when he inherits Rutherford Hall - it is perhaps natural to think ahead but two brothers have been killed and he's practically wishing his (admittedly disagreeable) dad dead. The callous attitude and the greed seem to be distinct turn-offs for Lucy.
No, I can't see it being Cedric Crackenthorpe.
Which leaves us with two options: Bryan Eastley or remaining single. There's certainly an argument for remaining single. Lucy doesn't need a husband and doesn't seem to have been hankering after one.
The 1987 Joan Hickson adaptation is decidedly pro- Bryan Eastley and, of course, Joan Hickson is *my* Miss Marple - the ones I grew up on. so I am well aware I am biased from that version. John Hallam's Cedric was kind of smarmy, sleazy and David Beames' Bryan was far more appealing. I am trying to lay that aside and judge from the text.
I don't think the following can be understated in its significance:
She took up once more her restless, almost aimless prowl round the room. Miss Marple sat watching her. This was a very different Lucy Eyelesbarrow from the one she knew. p. 205
'Yes, go on,' said Miss Marple. 'Tell me. Something has upset you very badly, hasn't it?' p. 206
What has upset Lucy is the possibility of Bryan being the murderer. She has been well aware the killer could be Cedric - he after all stands to gain directly whereas Bryan only benefits as Alexander's father.
There is an argument to be made that Lucy is more concerned for Bryan because he is somewhat immature - that living under a cloud of suspicion will harm him more than the tough Cedric.
It's not the done thing here in 2022 to think about what a woman can do for a man but considering 4.50 is copyright 1957 and that Lucy, with her First in Mathematics from Oxford (p. 28), became a specialist in the field of domestic service because she likes helping people it is, I feel, relevant. Cedric doesn't need Lucy, she might be pro-active in getting recognition for / revenue from his art career but she could be really useful to Bryan:
'He's always full of schemes of one kind or another, isn't he?'
'Yes, I think he is. They all sound rather wonderful - but I've got an uneasy feeling that they'd never really work. I mean, they're not practical. the idea sounds alright - but I don't think he ever considers the actual working difficulties.'
'They are up in the air, so to speak?'
'Yes, in more ways than one. I mean they are usually quite literally up in the air. They are all air schemes. Perhaps a really good fighter pilot never does quite come down to earth again...' p. 209
A sharp mind like Lucy's could, I feel sure, help Bryan make something of one of his schemes; he has ideas and ambition and courage (and a certain specialist skill set) - none of which applies particularly to Cedric, I might add - he may have no head for the practicalities but if Lucy is anything she's immensely practical. I definitely believe they'd complement each other that way.
Yes, I actually do think that one of Bryan's main things he has going for him is that he's a bit hopeless. Remember, 1957... a married woman had next to no autonomy. A wife needed her husband's CONSENT to buy a kitchen appliance (I know this cos in the late 60s my mum was refused the sale of a washing machine for this very reason). It's my belief that an amiable chap like Bryan would be willing to defer to his intelligent, capable wife; he wouldn't be threatened by her, he'd be proud of her.
Perhaps I am being unfair to Cedric but if he did inherit Rutherford Hall and a large amount of money (increased but the deaths of his brothers) I think he would (a) consider it 'his' not 'ours' and (b) I think he would lose all motivation to make anything of himself. Lucy admits she likes money (p. 28) but enough to settle for living on a husband's inherited wealth?
Bryan in contrast is a 'doer' which I feel fits Lucy's character better. Cedric seems the sort to throw his weight about a bit - not to say he'd be controlling but I think it would make for a more unequal partnership whereas Bryan would give her more freedom, more control.
So that's my verdict. Team Bryan all the way. He's a bit of a fixer-upper but he's got less attitude than Cedric and would, I strongly believe, be the more agreeable partner in the long term. And he's got a nice kid. If you're gonna date / marry a parent liking their crotch goblins is a really key thing but also it tells you something about the parent: Bryan has been raising Alexander by himself for quite some time and the boy is kind, polite, etc. Definitely a good sign.
EDIT
Blinkin' typical, I stared at it so long I forgot the most important bit!
On p. 214 Miss Marple does her traditional party piece and finds a village parallel for Bryan:
'Ronnie Wells, the solicitor's son. Couldn't seem to settle somehow when he went into his father's business. He went out to East Africa and started a series of cargo boats on the lake out there. Victoria Nyanza, or is it Albert, I mean? Anyway, I'm sorry to say that it wasn't a success, and he lost all his capital.'
Assuming what I read about Christie being Team Cedric was correct this is the big red flag to Lucy that Bryan is a bad bet, and is warning her off; but Miss Marple isn't quite done...
'He was engaged to a very nice girl,' said Miss Marple. 'Very sensible. She tried to disuade him, but he wouldn't listen to her. He was wrong of course. Women have a lot of sense, you know, when it comes to money matters.'
That is a cautionary tale for both of them. It's implied Ronnie Wells lost his girl as well as his capital (engaged only you notice) because he didn't listen. If Bryan listens to Lucy, if he will take advice and allow himself to trust her judgement he might not suffer the same fate.
I suspect if Bryan and Lucy had gone off to Africa or Australia he could have started an air courier business or flown an air taxi, something of that sort it would most likely have been a success... so long at Bryan stuck to the flying and Lucy kept the books!
Earlier, on p. 116 of my copy, Miss Marple had done the same thing on Cedric:
'Do you know who you remind me of? Young Thomas Eade, our bank manager's son. Always out to shock people. It didn't do in banking circles, of course, so he went to the West Indies... He came home when his father died and inherited quite a lot of money. So nice for him. He was always better at spending money than making it.'
And, in my humble opinion that's game, set, and match to Eastley.
