Motive v. Opportunity is a short story written by Agatha Christie and first published in The Royal Magazine in April 1928 in the UK. In the U.S., the story was first published in Detective Story Magazine in June 1928. It is the fifth short story of the Tuesday Night Club story arc.
In 1932, the story was gathered and published as the fifth story of the short story collection The Thirteen Problems. It is preceded by The Blood-Stained Pavement and followed by The Thumb Mark of St. Peter.
Synopsis[]
At the fifth meeting of the Tuesday Night Club, Mr Petherick presents a mystery involving a tampered will. The persons who had the opportunity to do the deed did not have the motive as the will favoured them. On the other hand, the people with the motive did not have the opportunity.
Plot summary[]
(may contain spoilers - click on expand to read)
Mr Petherick tells his story, which has a legal background. A client of his, whom he calls Simon Clode, was a wealthy man whose only son was killed in the First World War. This son left an orphaned granddaughter, who in turn died while she was still a child, leaving the old man bereft and grief-stricken. A brother of Clode's also died, and his three children (Grace, Mary and George) came to live with their Uncle Simon. Clode's will left his estate to these three in equal shares. Once the three children were grown, Grace left to marry a lawyer named Philip Garrod, but still lived near Clode's home. George found employment in a bank and also moved away, while Mary stayed behind to care for her uncle. The old man, still pining for his granddaughter, fell victim to the American spiritualist Mrs Eurydice Spragg and her husband, Absalom. Mrs Spragg conducted many séances, which supposedly allowed Clode to 'contact' his late granddaughter; the old man came to utterly rely on the pair, until the Spraggs were virtually resident in the house.
Mr Petherick was alarmed by these developments; after a visit to Clode, Petherick suggested to Philip Garrod that Professor Longman, an authority on spiritualism, be invited to witness to several of the Spragg's séances at Clode's home. Longman duly visited, and afterwards wrote Philip a letter, which Philip showed to Clode; the letter stated the Spraggs were likely frauds. Unconvinced, the old man threw Philip out of the house in a fit of rage.
Clode's health began to deteriorate; on his deathbed, Clode sent for Petherick, ordering him to draw up a new will leaving the vast portion of his large estate to the Spraggs, and only £5000 apiece to his nieces and nephew. Petherick remonstrated with Clode, but to no avail. Two servants were summoned to witness the will, with one of them fetching a pen from the drawer for Clode. Clode wrote out the will himself, and it was signed by the servants. Petherick placed the will in a sealed envelope, which he put into his overcoat pocket.
After this part of the business had been concluded, Petherick went downstairs for tea, and to help George Clode with some matters to do with the estate. During this period, Petherick left his overcoat where only Mrs Spragg could have gained access to the envelope with the will in it. Petherick took it to his office afterwards, where he was soon visited by Mr Spragg, who was left alone with the will for a few moments.
Two months later, Clode died. When the will was opened, the sheet was blank. Petherick's problem was that Mr and Mrs Spragg had the opportunity to change the will, but no motive, as the will was in their favor. However, George had a motive, but no opportunity, for he was never left alone with the will. Miss Marple guesses the solution when she compares the actions of the servants to those of Tommy Symonds – a local mischievous boy. The pen that was used to write out the will contained a solution of starch in water with a few drops of iodine in it (disappearing ink). Petherick confirms that Philip confessed as much in a guarded conversation he had with him a month later. The house servants were told which pen to fetch for Simon Clode if it looked like he was going to be signing a legal form, and they complied with the instructions. The three children gained their rightful inheritance.
Characters[]
- Jane Marple
- Raymond West
- Joyce Lemprière
- Henry Clithering
- Dr Pender
- Mr Petherick
- Simon Clode
- Christobel Clode
- Grace Garrod
- Mary Clode
- George Clode
- Philip Garrod
- Mrs Eurydice Spragg
- Absalom Spragg
- Tommy Symmonds
- Professor Longman
Locations[]
Tropes and themes[]
Research notes[]
Film, TV, or theatrical versions[]
Agatha Christie's Great Detectives Poirot and Marple[]
NHK produced an anime adaptation of the story as episode 27 of their Japanese anime series Agatha Christie's Great Detectives Poirot and Marple with the same title: Motive v. Opportunity. The episode was broadcast in 2004 and features Miss Marple and her great niece Mabel West.
Publication history[]
- 1928: The Royal Magazine (London), issue 354 April 1928 - with illustrations by Gilbert Wilkinson[1]
- 1928: Detective Story Magazine (New York), Volume 102 Number 3, 30 June 1928 - as "Where's the Catch?"
- 1931: Hush, vol. 2 no. 10, Mar 1931.
- 1932: The Thirteen Problems/The Tuesday Club Murders
- 1932: Collins Crime Club (London), June 1932, Hardcover, 256 pp
- 1933: Dodd Mead and Company (New York), 1933, Hardcover, 253 pp
- 1943: Dell Books (New York), Paperback, (Dell number 8)
- 1953: Penguin Books, Paperback, (Penguin number 929), 224 pp (under slightly revised title of Miss Marple and the Thirteen Problems)
- 1958: Avon Books (New York), Paperback (Avon number T245)
- 1961: Pan Books, Paperback (Great Pan G472), 186 pp
- 1963: Dell Books (New York), Paperback, 192 pp
- 1965: Fontana Books (Imprint of HarperCollins), Paperback, 192 pp
- 1968: Ulverscroft Large-print Edition, Hardcover, 207 pp ISBN 0-85456-475-6
- 1972: Greenway edition of collected works (William Collins), Hardcover, 222 pp
- 1973: Greenway edition of collected works (Dodd Mead), Hardcover, 222 pp
- 2005: Marple Facsimile edition (Facsimile of 1932 UK first edition), September 12, 2005, Hardcover, ISBN 0-00-720843-X
- 1966: Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, vol. 47 no. 3, whole no. 268, Mar 1966.
- 1966: 13 Clues for Miss Marple, Dodd Mead, 1966.
- 2008: Miss Marple and Mystery: The Complete Short Stories, HarperCollins (London), 2008.