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
Hastings recognizes the handwriting on the envelope as Mrs. Inglethorp’s and wonders if she was in the midst of some kind of “demoniacal possession.” Before he can think this over, though, Poirot declares that they have to go examine the coffee cups—a suggestion that annoys Hastings, who’s sure that the cocoa was what the murderer poisoned. But Poirot simply laughs at his friend’s obsession with the cocoa. He then leads Hastings to the drawing room, where he asks him to tell him everything about the coffee hour the night before. Hastings tells him where everyone was, pointing out each person’s coffee cup, since Annie has yet to clean them up.
Yet again, Poirot doesn’t dwell on confusing new aspects of the case. He doesn’t sit in the boudoir mulling over what the note means, like Hastings would if he were left to his own devices. Instead, he moves on, simply filing the information in his mind and waiting for a better time to continue thinking about it, perhaps when his thoughts about the note link up to some new finding.
Themes
Poirot takes samples from each of the five coffee cups (Mr. Inglethorp doesn’t drink coffee), tasting them as he goes. As he does this, a look of surprise crosses over him, but he doesn’t explain the reaction—he simply says that he had suspected something but that he now thinks he was wrong. He and Hastings then meet John Cavendish, who tells them breakfast is ready. He also asks about the investigation, noting that his brother, Lawrence, insists that their stepmother must have died of heart failure. It has been hard for everyone in the house, he adds, to be around Mr. Inglethorp, since everyone thinks he’s the murderer.
The fact that Poirot tastes everyone’s coffee illustrates his exhaustive approach to detective work. Instead of assuming that Emily Inglethorp’s coffee—which spilled on the carpet in her bedroom—was the only thing that might yield up any clues, he goes through all of the coffee cups, apparently making some sort of discovery in the process (though he once again withholds his findings). On another note, John’s comment about Lawrence once again casts suspicion on his brother, since it seems so clear that Emily was poisoned, thus raising the question: why does Lawrence want people to think Emily died of natural causes?
Themes
The mood at breakfast isn’t very uplifting, but it’s also not overrun with sorrow. Hastings thinks this is because everyone present is devoted to upholding a sense of “decorum,” though he wonders if this kind of “self-control” is a sign of politeness or a sign that nobody cares that much about Mrs. Inglethorp’s death. Alfred Inglethorp, in fact, is the only person who seems stricken by guilt, but everyone dislikes his display of emotion, thinking that he’s simply acting.
The lack of genuine emotion at the breakfast table hints that Emily Inglethorp was not well-liked. What’s more, the idea that nobody cares much about her death hints that anyone could be the murderer, though the fact that Alfred is the only sad person also casts suspicion on him, since it makes him stand out and forces everyone to wonder if he’s faking his sorrow.
Themes
Cynthia complains about having a headache, so Poirot jumps up and offers to get her some coffee, claiming that it’s the best remedy for headaches. She accepts but asks him not to put sugar in it. He obliges, asking if she gave up sugar because of wartime rationing, but she says she has never taken sugar in her coffee—a comment that brings excitement to Poirot’s eyes. Hastings notices this change come over his friend and can tell that Poirot is making all kinds of calculations in his mind, though it’s unclear why.
What, exactly, is going through Poirot’s head in this moment remains unclear. However, it seems likely that there’s some kind of connection between Cynthia’s remark about sugar and the fact that Poirot sampled everyone’s coffee right before breakfast. In some way, Cynthia’s preference for unsweetened coffee has factored into Poirot’s calculations about what happened the evening before Mrs. Inglethorp’s death.
Themes
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Mrs. Inglethorp’s lawyer, Mr. Wells, arrives at Styles. John invites Poirot and Hastings to meet with him and Wells in the study. On their way, Poirot whispers to Hastings about the coffee cups, saying that his instincts were right and that it’s good he tasted all of the coffee left in the cups—comments that make no sense to Hastings. When they reach the study, Mr. Wells tells them that there will certainly be an inquest and that both John Cavendish and Mr. Inglethorp will be called to the stand to give information about what happened on the day of Mrs. Inglethorp’s death.
Hastings continues to experience a state of complete confusion as the details of the case become increasingly hard to track. Thankfully for him, though, Mr. Wells confirms that there will be an inquest, which will perhaps clarify some of the hazier aspects of the investigation, since the point of an inquest is to uncover the circumstances surrounding a given incident.
Themes
Poirot asks Mr. Wells if the letter that Mrs. Inglethorp wrote to him contained anything of importance, but the lawyer says that it simply asked him to come to see her the next day because she wanted his advice on a pressing matter. Poirot also asks who would inherit Mrs. Inglethorp’s money, and Mr. Wells says that—according to her most recent will, which was made in August of the previous year—her entire fortune would go to John Cavendish. At first, Poirot thinks this is unfair to Lawrence, but Mr. Wells explains that Lawrence would also receive a good deal of money, since his father’s will stipulated that he should receive some of his leftover money upon Mrs. Inglethorp’s death.
Although nobody blatantly addresses the implications of Emily Inglethorp’s will, the fact is that whoever is set to inherit her money will naturally attract some suspicion. After all, her death benefits anyone whom her will designates as her inheritor. As such, both John and Lawrence would have had a motive to murder her.
Themes
Even if Mrs. Inglethorp’s most recent will was fair to both her sons, Poirot points out that it must not be valid anymore, since she married Mr. Inglethorp. By British law, her will was made “null and void” when she got married, and Mr. Wells notes that it’s unclear whether or not she was aware of that at the time of her death. John, however, insists that she was aware, since he talked about it with her yesterday.
Because Emily’s will—which left everything to John—was made “null and void” when she remarried, Alfred Inglethorp yet again seems like a likely culprit, since he stands to benefit greatly from her death. Once again, then, he emerges as a prime suspect.
Themes
John Cavendish and Mr. Wells are about to search through Mrs. Inglethorp’s papers to see if she happened to have made a new will, but Poirot saves them the trouble: she did make a new one. But it doesn’t exist anymore, since it was burned in her fireplace. He shows them the fragment he found among the ashes. It’s possible that the will was old, not new, but Poirot thinks it was made yesterday afternoon.
There’s quite a bit of confusion surrounding Emily Inglethorp’s will—a confusion that will continue to run throughout the novel. Whether or not she made a new will before her death is very important, since it would suggest that something had happened to make her change her mind about who should inherit her fortune. And yet, the fact that the new will was destroyed suggests foul play, inviting readers to wonder about the circumstances leading to its destruction.
Themes
To prove his point, Poirot asks John to call for one of his gardeners. When the gardener, Manning, arrives he answers Poirot’s questions, explaining that he was planting begonias when Emily Inglethorp came to the window and asked the other gardener to go into town to obtain a “form of will.” Once he’d brought it back, she spent some time with the will and then asked both Manning and the other gardener to come inside to sign something. She put a piece of paper over the top of the will so that they couldn’t see what it said, and then they signed their names as witnesses.
Manning’s story about Emily Inglethorp inviting him and the other gardener into the house confirms Poirot’s theory that she created a new will before dying. The two gardeners served as official witnesses, though they don’t actually know what the will entailed. Nonetheless, Manning makes it clear that Poirot was right: for some reason, Emily felt it necessary to create a new will, and though her reasons remain unknown, the mere fact that she did so adds even more suspense and intrigue to the investigation.
Themes
Mr. Wells realizes that Emily Inglethorp wanted him to come to the house that morning to make the new will she’d created official. When John Cavendish asks how Poirot knew Manning and the other gardener had served as witnesses, Poirot simply smiles and says, “A scribbled-over old envelope, and a freshly planted bed of begonias.”
Yet again, Poirot’s thought process is hard to follow, even when he ostensibly explains his reasoning. In this case, what he says to John is very enigmatic, though it suggests that something about the envelope he found in the boudoir (with “possessed” written all over it) and the begonias he noticed earlier somehow came together in his mind to create a cohesive clue—a good illustration of his impressive powers of deduction.
Themes
The sound of a car arriving outside interrupts the conversation; Evelyn Howard has returned. Hastings and the others go down to greet her, and when John Cavendish introduces Poirot as a detective helping them investigate the case, she wonders why they need anyone to investigate at all—Alfred Inglethorp, she believes, clearly murdered Emily. She asks them if they’ve already taken him to prison, and when John tells her to be careful about flinging around accusations because some people—like Lawrence—think the death was a natural accident, she grows angry. She even shames him for indulging such foolish thinking. Hastings, for his part, realizes how hard it is going to be for John, as a host, to have Evelyn Howard and Alfred Inglethorp in the house at the same time.
Unlike Poirot, Evelyn Howard is perfectly willing to get carried away with a hunch or suspicion. Of course, her behavior here is in keeping with the fact that she strongly dislikes Alfred. In fact, the only reason she wasn’t in the house at the time of the murder is that she argued with Emily about Alfred, insisting that he didn’t love her and even implying that he might kill her one day in order to steal her fortune. It’s no wonder, then, that she accuses him of the crime without stopping to consider any other possibilities.
Themes
Literary Devices
Later that day, Poirot seeks out Evelyn Howard and asks her if he can depend on her help. She says he can, but she still doesn’t see why he needs much assistance, since it’s so obvious to her that Alfred Inglethorp is the murderer. Still, Poirot presses on. He says he specifically needs her help because she’s the only person who seems to have shed a tear about Emily’s death. Evelyn becomes somewhat defensive, going on a rant about how Emily blocked people out by always demanding something in return whenever she helped people. Evelyn, however, didn’t let Emily push her around, and in that way, she was actually able to get close to her. But Alfred Inglethorp ruined all that by murdering her.
Evelyn’s remark about Emily always pushing people away and expecting something in return for her kindness helps make sense of why nobody seems particularly upset about her death—she was, it seems, hard to love. All the same, Evelyn appears to have devoted herself to her friend, which is perhaps why she so vehemently wants to apprehend Alfred. Her passion about this matter is striking, since it stands in stark contrast to the way everyone else has responded to Emily’s death.
Themes
After speaking with Evelyn Howard, Poirot and Hastings meet up with John Cavendish and Mr. Wells again. They go to Mrs. Inglethorp’s bedroom to look through her purple dispatch case. Poirot pulls out the key that he took, explaining that he locked the case earlier that morning. However, Cavendish points out that the case isn’t locked. Poirot is shocked—he, after all, has both of the keys that open the dispatch case, meaning that somebody entered the room and forced the dispatch case’s lock within the last hour. Poirot thinks the person could have unlocked the room itself with almost any of the keys intended for the other bedrooms, since the locks are fairly generic.
The fact that the dispatch case is open suggests that the murderer returned to the scene of the crime. Moreover, this must have happened rather recently, since only a short period of time has passed since Poirot locked the dispatch case earlier in the morning. It’s reasonable to conclude, then, that the killer has been in the house at the same time as Poirot and Hastings.
Themes
Thinking out loud, Poirot straightens out the objects sitting on the mantelpiece. Hastings notices that his friend’s hands are shaking as he suggests that there must have been some kind of evidence in the dispatch case—a piece of evidence so crucial that the murderer thought it was worth taking the risk of breaking into the bedroom while everyone was home and forcing the case’s lock open. Frantic with the idea of trying to find whatever document was taken from the case, Poirot rushes out of the room.
Once again, Poirot shows excitement but doesn’t necessarily explain his entire thought process. This time, though, he at least notes the main implications of what has just happened, telling Hastings that the dispatch case must have contained something extremely condemning, since the murderer otherwise wouldn’t have taken a chance by returning to the scene of the crime in broad daylight to retrieve it.
Themes
Hastings runs into Mary Cavendish outside the room and asks if Alfred and Evelyn have interacted. She, for her part, doesn’t care if they encounter each other—in fact, she’d like to see them argue things out, since everyone is keeping their thoughts and feelings pent up. Hastings points out that John, Mary’s husband, feels differently and doesn’t want Alfred and Evelyn to cross paths, but Mary dismisses this with a disparaging few words about her husband. Hastings finds that her comment annoys him, so he stands up for John, eventually insinuating that Mary spends too much time with Dr. Bauerstein—a comment he instantly regrets. Without a word, Mary walks away.
Hastings fails to hide his jealousy of Mary’s close relationship with Dr. Bauerstein. Of course, his jealousy isn’t all that justified, since he and Mary certainly aren’t romantically involved with each other—in fact, he only met Mary a few days ago. Nonetheless, he has clearly let himself get swept up in his feelings for her, which is a good indication of his tendency to act somewhat impulsively on his own emotions.
Themes
Hastings hears Poirot speaking loudly to everyone in the house. He goes downstairs and pulls his friend aside, asking if it’s a good idea to tell the whole household that somebody broke into Emily Inglethorp’s bedroom and forced open the dispatch case. Poirot agrees that maybe it’s not the best idea, but it’s too late now. They then decide to return to Poirot’s lodgings in town. On their way out of the house, Poirot stops Cynthia and asks if she’s the one who mixed Mrs. Inglethorp’s sleeping powders. Cynthia tentatively says that she did, explaining that they’re made of bromide.
It's somewhat uncharacteristic of Poirot to make a mistake while investigating. Hastings thinks it’s unwise for Poirot to put the whole household on alert, and though Poirot eventually agrees, it seems unlikely that he let himself get carried away—rather, it’s quite probable that his decision to tell everyone that somebody broke into the dispatch case was a very calculated, strategic choice, even if he decides to hide that from Hastings. After all, Poirot believes in rationality, so it’s unlikely that he would really let himself behave irrationally just because he’s flustered.
Themes
On the way back to town, Poirot explains that Mr. Wells and John Cavendish opened Emily Inglethorp’s writing desk and found yet another will, this one from just before her marriage. The will left everything to Alfred Inglethorp, who claims to have been unaware of its existence. Poirot then tells Hastings how he knew that Mrs. Inglethorp had written a new will yesterday. The scrap of paper with the word “possessed” written on it is what tipped him off, since he could tell that Mrs. Inglethorp was trying to figure out how to spell the word. Plus, the word itself is something frequently used in a will.
Although Poirot tends to work in secrecy, he slowly divulges his thoughts to Hastings—when, that is, it’s appropriate to do so. He withholds information because he doesn’t want to get carried away with an idea (like Hastings himself often does). Finally, though, he reveals his powerful skill at making informed hypotheses, outlining that he knew Emily had made a new will because of her botched attempt to spell “possessed” on the envelope. It thus becomes clear that Poirot is quite talented at making calculated inferences based on the information at hand—even if he doesn’t divulge those inferences right away.
Themes
What’s more, Poirot explains, there was a little bit of garden soil on the floor of her boudoir, suggesting that the gardeners had come inside. Because the begonias right outside the boudoir were newly planted, he knew Mrs. Inglethorp must have summoned the gardeners yesterday afternoon. When Hastings admires his friend and admits that he himself had let his mind run wild with ideas after seeing the scrap paper with the word “possessed” on it, Poirot says that Hastings let his imagination have too much power. “Imagination is a good servant,” he says, “and a bad master.”
Poirot’s comment about imagination underscores his belief in the importance of rationality and logic. Imagination can certainly be helpful, but only when it’s in service of a grounded, logical theory. But if people lead with a fantastical, grandiose theory, then their overactive imaginations can lead them astray.
Themes
Still answering Hastings’s questions, Poirot says he didn’t actually know that one of the dispatch case’s keys was missing—it was just a guess. The key on Mrs. Inglethorp’s keyring that opened the dispatch case was very shiny, suggesting to him that it was a replacement, not the original. Hastings insists that Alfred Inglethorp must have stolen the original key, but Poirot expresses doubt: he isn’t so sure that Alfred is guilty. Turning to another aspect of the case, he asks Hastings what he thinks about the argument he overhead between Mary Cavendish and Mrs. Inglethorp, but Hastings says it’s probably unimportant—a comment that annoys Poirot, since nothing should be written off as trivial.
Despite Poirot’s willingness to help his friend develop the discerning mind of a detective, Hastings seems somewhat incapable of recognizing what is perhaps the most important aspect of good detective work: a fine attention to detail. Poirot has already said that details that don’t make sense or seem irrelevant often yield the most important clues, but Hastings seems to have forgotten this advice. As such, he doesn’t even try to connect the argument he overheard to any of Poirot’s findings—a mistake that Poirot clearly sees as lazy, though he doesn’t say how, exactly, the conversation might fit into the broader picture.
Themes
Poirot invites Hastings into his apartment, where they sit and think about the case. Eventually, they look down into the street and see a pharmacist named Mr. Mace sprinting toward the building. When he arrives, he frantically asks if Mrs. Inglethorp was poisoned by strychnine. Poirot answers in a low voice that Hastings can’t hear, and then Mr. Mace leaves. Poirot notes that the man will certainly have evidence to present at the inquest.
Again, it’s unclear what’s happening at this point in the novel, though it’s certainly significant that a pharmacist seems so flustered by the possibility that Emily was poisoned using strychnine. His question seems to suggest that he might have had something to do with selling the strychnine to whoever murdered Emily, which would—as Poirot hints—give him something very important to say at the inquest.
Themes
Hastings tries to get Poirot to tell him what he’s thinking, but his friend demands silence. He needs a moment to collect his thoughts, since everything is out of order. Finally, he emerges from contemplation feeling a bit better. He says that there are two important things to consider: first, that the weather yesterday was extremely warm and pleasant, and second, that Mr. Inglethorp has a black beard and wears distinctive clothes and glasses. Hastings is bewildered, but Poirot won’t tell him why these things are important, noting that Hastings should be able to come to his own conclusions.
Poirot doesn’t want to proceed until he has collected his thoughts, clearly recognizing that taking a moment to think is a crucial part of detective work. After he puts his thoughts in order, though, he speaks cryptically to Hastings, once again withholding his own ideas and leaving his friend—and, of course, the readers—in a state of suspense and anticipation.
Themes
For his part, Poirot says he owes a lot to Mrs. Inglethorp, since she was kind to Belgian refugees like himself. With this in mind, he will intervene if it seems like her husband is about to be arrested. “She would never forgive me if I let Alfred Inglethorp, her husband, be arrested now—when a word from me could save him!” he declares.
Poirot’s desire to protect Alfred is hard to understand, since he hasn’t given much information to prove that Alfred is innocent. What’s more, it’s unlikely that he would want to save Alfred simply because that’s what Emily would have wanted—Poirot wants to respect Emily’s memory, but it’s doubtful that he'd overlook the truth in order to do so. It’s probable, then, that there’s something to suggest that Alfred shouldn’t be arrested at this time, though Poirot keeps his reasons secret.
Themes
