In a story straight out of an Agatha Christie novel...More than 100 people were trapped at the legendary mystery writer’s estate in Devon, England, on Friday. Were they being held against their will by a blackmailer? Did the police sequester them to figure out who committed a salacious crime?? Did a spooky storm knock out the electricity, trip the high-security locks, and lock them all inside??
Unfortunately for those of us who love a good story, it was in fact because a rather large tree fell down, blocking the one (1) road in and out of the acclaimed author’s former holiday house, called Greenway. More than 100 tourists were then stuck at the estate for “hours,” according to Devon Live.
Caroline Heaven (incredible name) told the website that the trapped visitors had been told they might be stuck at the estate until after 9 p.m. local time—hours after the interview, which was conducted in the late afternoon. Plenty of time for a couple rounds of a murder mystery game, if not an actual murder mystery.
Despite Heaven’s complaints about the situation—she called it a “shame” and “a bit bleak”—it sounded like a fairly lovely time, adding that the staff of the estate was “giving [them] free tea” and snacks.
Heaven later shared a photo of her playing croquet on the grounds—a setup that looked decidedly not bleak.
The tree was removed before dark (around 7 p.m.)—before being stuck at Christie’s estate could lead to a poisoning, coincidentally fatal fall, or croquet mallet impaling.
In any case, I hope the tree incident didn’t run these day trippers’ love of Ms. Christie, because reading this story has only increased my love for her. I’m convinced she made this happen from the Great Beyond, in order to provide a perfect setup for someone’s mystery novel—perhaps mine?