Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Doyle

The Disappearance of Agatha Christie
On December 3, 1926, Agatha Christie's husband, Colonel Archibald "Archie" Christie (1889–1962) told her out of the blue he wanted a divorce so he could marry Teresa Neele (1899-1958), a young secretary nearly a decade his junior. That night, following the bitter argument that ensued, a predictably agitated Agatha quietly left her home, Styles, in Sunningdale, Berkshire. She drove her Morris Cowley away into the cold night, heading in the direction of Surrey.

Her car was later discovered abandoned, headlights still on, with her fur coat and driver’s licence inside. It was found some distance from her Berkshire residence. An intensive week long search yielded no clues. Fears quickly grew that she had died, whether by accident, suicide, or even murder, and suspicion (obviously) fell heavily on her husband, Archibald Christie.

Christie never publicly explained her disappearance. Numerous theories emerged at the time. Today, her behaviour is often interpreted as consistent with a severe depressive episode, possibly within the context of bipolar disorder.

The Fall of Arthur Conan Doyle
Following his widely publicised involvement in cases such as the wrongful convictions of George Edalji and Oscar Slater, Arthur Conan Doyle was occasionally asked to assist in real life mysteries. Many assumed he possessed the same powers of deduction as his fictional creation, Sherlock Holmes.

However, when the Chief Constable of Surrey approached him about Christie’s disappearance in December 1926, Conan Doyle took a very different approach. By this time, he had become deeply absorbed in spiritualism. His reputation in more sceptical circles had already suffered, particularly due to his fervent belief in the Cottingley Fairies, photographs widely recognised as crude fabrications which he nevertheless defended as genuine evidence of supernatural beings. He had become a gullible man. Or, maybe, at the age of 69, he was suffering from dementia, although Doyle's interest in all things mystical and paranormal started much earlier.

Instead of applying logical reasoning, as one would expect from the creator of Sherlock Holmes, Conan Doyle consulted a psychic. He brought one of Christie’s gloves to Horace Leaf, who claimed to practise psychometry, the supposed ability to glean information from personal objects. Without being told the owner’s identity, Leaf reportedly exclaimed "Agatha". While striking, this guess was less extraordinary than it appeared, given the intense media coverage surrounding Christie’s disappearance.

Leaf went on to say that the owner of the glove was "half dazed and half purposeful," but alive, and predicted she would be found the following Wednesday.

Remarkably, although his timing was off by one day, Christie was located the next Tuesday at the 'The Old Swan Hotel', then known as the 'Swan Hydropathic Hotel', some 200 miles from her abandoned car. She had registered under the name Mrs Teresa Neele of Cape Town, quite possibly a reference, consciously or more likely subconsciously, to her husband’s lover. During her stay, she attended dances each evening, accompanied by the hotel’s resident band, the 'Happy Hydro Boys'. One of the musicians, banjo player Bob Tappin, eventually recognised her.

Conan Doyle was elated, interpreting the episode as vindication of psychic methods. Writing in the 'Morning Post', a conservative daily newspaper, he described the case as an excellent example of the use of psychometry as an aid to a detective, claiming incorrectly that such methods were sometimes employed by French and German police forces.

Horace Leaf remained a minor figure, even in spiritualist circles. His 1934 book Why I Believe in Psychic Phenomena kept the story alive. His later title Death Cannot Kill: The memories of a medium (1959), almost explains this story: Agatha Christie is dead but this story seems immortal. Lead passed away passed over in 1971, age 86, still insisting the glove had "spoken" to him.