Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Mysterious Affair at Styles, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Logic and Deduction
Love and Passion
Suspense, Intrigue, and Secrecy
Wealth, Inheritance, and Power
Summary
Analysis
John Cavendish is tried for murder two months later. In the intervening time, Hastings picks Poirot’s brains about the case. Hastings himself never suspected John, even though Poirot implies that John was an obvious potential culprit—after all, if Alfred Inglethorp wasn’t the one whom people overheard arguing with Emily Inglethorp, then it must have been either John or Lawrence. Still, though, Poirot doesn’t necessarily think John will be found guilty, since there are still some missing links in the case. For this reason, Poirot will not take part in the trial. Instead, he’ll continue to investigate, saying that it’s important for Mary Cavendish to believe that Poirot is working for John, when—in reality—he’ll be working against him.
In many ways, it makes sense that John would have killed his stepmother. He did, after all, have a motive to murder her, since doing so would potentially help him inherit Styles Court and the family fortune. Poirot, however, isn’t satisfied with the evidence against John, which is why he wants to go out and gather more, evidently believing there’s still a missing link that, once found, will prove the killer’s guilt once and for all.
Themes
When Hastings criticizes Poirot’s plan to undermine Mary and John Cavendish, Poirot tells him that there’s nothing else to be done: they are dealing with a very intelligent criminal and must therefore act accordingly.
Hastings dislikes the idea of going behind John’s back. His hesitancy ultimately suggests that he has trouble accepting the idea that John is the murderer. Poirot, however, is only interested in finding the truth, so he ignores Hastings’s sentimentality in the pursuit of incontrovertible evidence.
Themes
The trial is set to take place in London in September. Hastings has been working at the war office in London, and Mary Cavendish rents a house in the city for everyone to stay in while the trial unfolds. On the day of the trial, a lawyer named Mr. Philips opens the proceedings by making a case against John. Mr. Philips says that John was having an affair with Mrs. Raikes and that Emily Inglethorp confronted him about his infidelity on the afternoon before her death. Mr. Philips also claims that John purchased strychnine the previous day while disguised as Alfred Inglethorp. According to Mr. Philips, Emily Inglethorp made a new will after her argument with John—a will that benefited Alfred instead of John. Mr. Philips claims that John poisoned Emily and then destroyed the new will.
The case against John is compelling. He certainly had a motive to kill his stepmother, since even he has admitted that he’s in a period of financial hardship. And, of course, murdering Emily would potentially alleviate that hardship. It remains to be seen, though, how John’s defense attorney will spin the story, as it has become quite clear throughout the investigation that John isn’t the only person who could have killed Emily.
Themes
As witnesses are called to the stand, it emerges that the same vial of strychnine Mr. Mace sold to the person he thought was Mr. Inglethorp was later found by Jimmy Japp in John Cavendish’s bedroom. He also found a monocle like the one Alfred wears in John’s bedroom. When John’s defense attorney, Sir Ernest Heavywether, cross examines the witnesses, he makes a number of insinuations about Lawrence Cavendish. At the end of the day, when they’re on their way home for the evening, Poirot muses about Heavywether’s tactics, guessing that the attorney is simply trying to suggest that there’s as much evidence against Lawrence as there is against John—after all, there is the letter from the costume company suggesting that Lawrence wrote them to obtain a fake beard.
At this point in the trial, it isn’t very clear whether or not John is the murderer. After all, Poirot’s right that there’s just as much evidence to convict Lawrence Cavendish. And yet, the discovery of the strychnine vial and the monocle amongst John’s possessions is undeniably suspicious and sinister, suggesting that it will be hard for his lawyer to prove his innocence. Indeed, it’s perhaps because Sir Ernest Heavywether recognizes the difficulty of proving John’s innocence once and for all that he attempts to simply direct attention toward other people and their suspicious behavior—if he can’t clear John’s name, he can at least cast doubt on everyone else.
Themes
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The next day, the prosecution presents more evidence, including a strip of “blotting paper” found in Emily Inglethorp’s checkbook—a close study of the paper shows that it still bears the hint of some words written on the will, which she covered with the blotting paper. “…everything of which I die possessed I leave to my beloved husband Alfred Ing…,” read the faint words.
The blotting paper presented in court seems to prove that the will John Cavendish has been accused of destroying did, in fact, benefit Alfred Inglethorp. If this is the case, then it would make sense for John to want to burn it, since his stepmother’s previous will named him—John—as the person who would inherit her fortune.
Themes
Finally, Lawrence is called to the stand. Sir Heavywether ruthlessly questions him, making it clear that Lawrence would be the one to inherit Styles Court if something happened to prevent John from inheriting it. Heavywether also brings up the trip Lawrence made with Hastings to the dispensary on Tuesday the 17th. He asks Lawrence if he unlocked the poison cupboard and touched some of the bottles, and Lawrence has no choice to admit that he did. Heavywether reveals that Lawrence’s fingerprints were found on a bottle of strychnine. Lawrence has little to say in his own defense, and Heavywether finishes questioning him.
Unable to unequivocally prove John Cavendish’s innocence, Heavywether casts doubt on Lawrence to illustrate just how much evidence there is against other people involved in the case. Lawrence, for his part, is in a particularly tricky position, since the evidence against him seems just as definitive and condemning as the evidence against John. In fact, the evidence against both brothers is so convincing that some readers might suspect that they worked together to kill Emily Inglethorp.
Themes
Heavywether says that John did not buy the strychnine on Monday the 16th, claiming that he was at that time in a place called Marston’s Spinney because an anonymous note had summoned him there. It’s clear, Heavywether suggests, that the true criminal lured John to this remote destination so that he would have no alibi, since he was alone at Marston’s Spinney. But when Mr. Philips cross-examines John, he once again casts suspicion on him.
At the inquest, Alfred Inglethorp made himself look guilty by refusing to give specific information about his whereabouts on the day that somebody who looked like him purchased strychnine. It was later suggested, though, that Alfred did have a good alibi, since he was with Mrs. Raikes. John now finds himself in a similar predicament, but his alibi is just as weak as Alfred’s original excuse, though this might be because the cunning criminal tricked him into going somewhere so remote that it would be impossible for him to clear his name.
Themes
That evening, Poirot goes to his room without having tea. Hastings can tell that the detective is disturbed, so he follows him in the hopes of talking about the case. But Poirot only wants to sit and build a house of cards, saying that doing precise work with his hands helps him think more clearly—and clarity, he suggests, is exactly what the case lacks right now. Hastings compliments his friend on his steady hands, saying that he has only seen Poirot’s hands shake once: when Poirot straightened out the trinkets on the mantelpiece after discovering that Emily Inglethorp’s dispatch case had been forced open. As soon as he reminds Poirot of this moment, Poirot jumps up and yells that he has an idea. He rushes out of the house and does not return that night.
Poirot once again emphasizes the importance of organization and clarity. Detective work requires a logical, ordered mind, which is why he feels it necessary to sit in concentration instead of always talking about his ideas. Hastings, however, doesn’t have this kind of discipline, so he tends to think aloud without paying much attention to what he's saying—an approach that, just this once, seems to have helped Poirot realize something crucial, though it’s unclear what, exactly, came to mind.
Themes
