The Mysterious Affair at Styles

Captain Arthur Hastings has decided to set the record straight about what happened in the infamous “Styles Case.” He’s close friends with the family involved in this case, so he wants to dispel the sensational stories that have been circulating as a result of the scandal, which took place while Hastings himself was staying at Styles Court.

Hastings’s tale begins after he’s wounded in the First World War. After a brief period in the hospital, he’s granted sick leave, but he’s unsure of what to do with himself. Fortunately, he runs into an old friend, John Cavendish, who happily talks to him about old times. John is older than Hastings, but they know each other well because Hastings used to spend time with John’s family in Essex. Hastings is particularly surprised to hear that John’s stepmother, Emily, has remarried. She originally married John’s father when John was still young, and she quickly made her way into the hearts of everyone in the family. John’s father was particularly enamored of her—so enamored, in fact, that he left most of his money and Styles Court, the family’s country house, to her when he died.

Hastings thinks it was unfair of John’s father to leave both Styles Court and the majority of his money to John’s stepmother, but neither John nor his brother, Lawrence, ever minded very much—they accepted her as their mother. Although John was a lawyer for a short period, these days he has been living with his wife, Mary Cavendish, at Styles with his mother. Hastings suspects that John would probably rather his stepmother simply give him a bit of money to lead his own life, but his mother always does what she wants and expects everyone to follow her lead—especially when it comes to controlling the family money.

John doesn’t like his stepmother’s new husband, Alfred Inglethorp, who practically showed up out of nowhere. The man claimed to be a distant cousin of Evelyn Howard’s—a woman who helps out at Styles and is very close friends with John’s stepmother, Emily. Evelyn is protective of Emily, which is partially why she’s suspicious of Mr. Inglethorp; she was even hesitant to acknowledge a familial connection with the newcomer, but Emily instantly took to him. She’s always helping people who are less fortunate than her by founding various societies, so in her general spirit of kindness, she employed Inglethorp as a secretary of sorts. And then, three months ago, she announced to the family that they were getting married.

According to John, Alfred Inglethorp is just “fortune hunting” by marrying his stepmother, who’s now known as Mrs. Emily Inglethorp. Hastings listens to his old friend’s complaints about how much the marriage has unsettled the family, but he also accepts an invitation to come stay at Styles, apparently undeterred by the drama. He arrives at the train station in the village of Styles St. Mary three days later. On the way to the house, John tells him that life in the family’s grand old country home is generally pretty quiet. His wife, Mary, does quite a bit of the farming, while he himself occasionally helps train local military volunteers. Things would be pretty ideal, he says, if it weren’t for Alfred Inglethorp.

On their way into the house, John and Hastings find Evelyn Howard working in one of the gardens. She’s a curt, straightforward woman with a serious face. After talking for a moment about the gardens, she goes with Hastings and John to have some tea, where Hastings meets John’s wife, Mary. Instantly, Hastings is struck by Mary’s beauty. Charmed by her attention, he tells entertaining stories about his time in the war, hoping that she finds him interesting. Soon enough, though, Emily Inglethorp cuts his stories short, telling Hastings that it’s good to see him again. Hastings is glad to see her, too, but he instantly dislikes her new husband, Alfred, who hovers behind her and gives Hastings an uneasy feeling.

Alfred Inglethorp’s presence seems to cast a cloud over everyone’s mood—except, that is, for Mrs. Inglethorp, who speaks to him with an air of importance about some sort of charitable organization she’s involved in. When conversation returns to normal, the members of the household ask Hastings what he’ll do after the war. He sheepishly admits he’d like to be a detective. He once met an extraordinary Belgian detective who ignited his interest in the field. This Belgian gentleman was very impressive when it came to cracking cases, and he once told Hastings that the key to good detective work is simply devoting oneself to “method” and organization.

Evelyn Howard notes that she likes reading detective stories, though most of it is absurd. In real life, she maintains, it’s always obvious who the murderer is. Hastings challenges this idea, but Evelyn insists that the people close to the victim would surely have a gut feeling about who the murderer was. She herself would certainly be able to sense it if he (the murderer) came near. Hastings points out that women can be murderers, too, but Miss Howard feels that murder is more of a masculine crime. “Not in a case of poisoning,” Mrs. Cavendish chimes in. She was talking to her friend Dr. Bauerstein about this matter the other day, adding that many poisonings probably go unsolved because people don’t know much about poison.

The conversation about poison is interrupted by the arrival of Cynthia Murdock, a young woman Mrs. Inglethorp recently took in. Cynthia works as a volunteer at the local hospital and has lived at Styles ever since she was orphaned. Hastings assumes she’s a nurse, but she actually works in the hospital’s dispensary, which is where the medicine is stored and mixed for the patients. Hastings jokingly asks how many people she has poisoned. “Oh, hundreds!” she laughs. 

Hastings goes upstairs to his room and looks out the window. He’s surprised to see a sinister man emerge from a shadow. He studies the man’s face, which seems overcome with troubled thoughts, and it takes several moments before Hastings realizes that he knows this man: it’s John’s younger brother, Lawrence. He wonders why Lawrence seems so perturbed, but then he casts the issue from his mind and goes about his day. That night, Hastings dreams about the fetching Mary Cavendish.

After lunch the following day, Hastings and Mary Cavendish go on a walk. They learn upon returning that a big argument has disturbed the household. Evelyn Howard enters the house’s smoking room to tell Hastings, Mary, and John what happened. Apparently, she told Emily Inglethorp what she really thinks about her new husband—namely, that Alfred Inglethorp is nothing but a younger man who wants to scheme Emily out of her money. She even suggested that Alfred has been having an affair with Mrs. Raikes, the wife of a local farmer. Mrs. Raikes, Evelyn believes, is the real person Alfred loves, and he’s more likely to kill Emily in her sleep than actually devote himself to her romantically.  

Enraged by Evelyn Howard’s words, Emily insisted that her friend had spoken nothing but “wicked lies” and that she should leave the house immediately—which is exactly what Evelyn plans to do. Before she goes, though, she pulls Hastings aside and tells him to look after her dear friend Emily. She doesn’t trust anyone else in the household, but she can see that Hastings is an honest man. He promises to do whatever he can to protect her, though he notes that her worries seem unfounded. Nevertheless, Evelyn pushes him to stay vigilant; all he needs to do is keep an eye on what goes on at Styles, and he’ll see how untrustworthy everyone is. He must especially watch out for Alfred Inglethorp, Evelyn says.

Hastings sees Evelyn out to the driveway, where a car is waiting for her. As everyone watches her leave, Hastings sees a bearded man walking toward the house. He asks John about this man, and John tensely replies that his name is Dr. Bauerstein, a doctor staying in the village after a nervous breakdown. Dr. Bauerstein is a renowned expert on poison and also happens to be close friends with Mary Cavendish, though John doesn’t seem to want to talk about this detail.

John invites Hastings for a short walk, complaining as they go about the disagreement between his stepmother and Evelyn Howard. As they walk, they pass a pretty woman named Mrs. Raikes. Hastings is about to point out that Mrs. Raikes is the woman Evelyn Howard accused Alfred Inglethorp of having an affair with, but John quickly cuts him off before he can finish the sentence, as if he doesn’t want to talk about Mrs. Raikes.

Sensing John’s discomfort, Hastings changes the subject by complimenting the beauty and serenity of Styles. John agrees and notes that he will inherit it someday—he should have already inherited it, he says, but his father was unreasonable with his will. If the will had been better, John wouldn’t be so financially strained right now. Hastings is surprised to hear that his friend doesn’t have much money and asks if Lawrence—John’s brother—could lend him some. But Lawrence wasted all his money self-publishing his terrible poetry. As Hastings and John return from their walk, Hastings feels a “sinister” feeling afoot at Styles, sensing that anything could happen now that Evelyn Howard is gone.