Anthony Sessle

In the short story The Sunningdale Mystery, Captain Anthony Sessle was a business partner of Mr Hollaby in the Porcupine Assurance Company. An avid golfer, he played golf almost daily at the Sunningdale Golf Club and was usually been in a bright blue jacket. One morning, Sessle was fond dead on the seventh tee, having been stabbed to death with a hatpin.

The circumstances of his death was mysterious. The evening before, Sessle had been playing a round with Hollaby. As they walked towards the seventh tee, Hollaby saw that Sessle, who had gone ahead of him, was speaking with a tall woman dressed in brown. They went off together towards the bushes. He returned shortly thereafter but something had happened because his his playing had become considerably worse. Two other witnesses, Major Barnard and Mr Lecky were in the flight behind them and they also saw the same thing. Sessle played on for a while, but also finishing the eigth hole, he declared that the light was too poor and took one of the slips and left the course for the Windlesham Road, heading for his cottage.

Police subsequently arrested a typist Doris Evans, as accounts, including her own, showed that she had gone to visit Sessle shortly before his death.

After his death, it was discovered that Sessle and Hollaby's firm, the Porcupine Assurance Company, was in the process of liquidation because someone had embezzled the money. This led to the police hypothesis that Sessle might have been the culprit.

In studying this case, Tommy Beresford opined that on the face of it, Sessle was an unlikely criminal. "It’s the last thing you’d have expected of a man like Sessle," Tommy told Tuppence. Sessle was an ex-soldier who had come into some money and had retired and gone into the insurance business. Moreover, he was said to be popular in his club. He and his wife were also thought to be a loving couple and the whole idea of him wanting a fling with Doris Evans seemed incredible.

Some researchers believe the character of Anthony Sessle is patterned after Christie's first husband Archibald Christie. Like Sessle, he was an ex-military officer. He and Agatha Christie moved into Scotswood near the golf course. Archie became a member of the Sunningdale Golf Club, and like Sessle, became an enthusiast and practiced everyday.

Portrayals
Captain Anthony Sessle appears in LWT's 1983 TV adaptation of The Sunningdale Mystery but the actor who portrayed him is not credited. He only as a small part, most of the time he is seen as a dead body. There are also some brief scenes in flashback of him with the woman in brown.