The Bird with the Broken Wing

While staying with the Keeleys at their country house Mr Satterthwaite happens to be in the library while the young guests are holding a séance. Among the nonsensical messages is one clear one: QUIN and LAIDELL. Before long there is a tragic death in the house and Satterthwaite, with the help of a message from Mr Quin, correctly determines that it wasn’t suicide, but murder...

Based on the character of Harlequin from the Italian Commedia dell'arte, Agatha Christie indulges in her fascination with the supernatural as well as her love of theatre and performance. The story was first published in the collection The Mysterious Mr Quin, Collins 1930. Unlike the other stories in the collection it did not appear in a magazine beforehand. The collection was dedicated to its eponymous hero and is the only book of Agatha Christie's to be dedicated to a fictional character. The story has never been adapted.