Now! Then! 11 days after Agatha Christie’s disappearance, her (adulterous) husband and the police find her concealed in plain sight at the Harrogate Hydropathic

14 December 1926: 11 days after Agatha Christie’s disappearance, her (adulterous) husband and the police find her concealed in plain sight at the Harrogate Hydropathic

The Daily News, quoting Colonel Christie’s claim that his wife had said she could disappear at will, published two facial composites (left and right) based on a photo taken before her disappearance (centre) (Daily News 1926/12/11).

Daily Mail. 1926/12/15. Mrs. Christie Found. London. Get it:

Excerpt

A statement by the manager of the hydro appears to indicate that Mrs Christie was quite composed at seeing her husband, but Colonel Christie says that “she has suffered from complete loss of memory and that she does not know me and does not know where she is.” Accounts of Mrs Christie’s life at the hotel state that she seemed normal and happy, that she sang, danced, played billiards, read the newspaper reports of the disappearance, chatted with her fellow-guests, and went for walks.

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To facilitate reading, the spelling and punctuation of elderly excerpts have generally been modernised, and distracting excision scars concealed. My selections, translations, and editions are copyright.
Abbreviations:

ER: East Riding
GM: Greater Manchester
NR: North Riding
NY: North Yorkshire
SY: South Yorkshire
WR: West Riding
WY: West Yorkshire

Comment

Christie was betrayed to the police by two members of the hotel band, Bob Leeming (saxophone) and Bob Tappin (drums, banjo and a monocle), but

Rosie Asher, the chambermaid, confided that she had first noticed the mysterious guest because of her unusual shoes with their large buckles and distinctive black handbag which boasted the latest in fashion accessories, a zip. Until then, Rosie had only seen the handbags with this sort of fastener in London magazines. “I didn’t dare let on at the time. I suppose I was one of the first to know, but it was more than my job was worth to get involved. I just went about my normal business. She had only one small case but said her luggage was coming along later. I though it all a bit odd. I was putting some newspapers on a table when I saw some pictures of this person. I noticed right away that she had unusual-looking shoes and handbag. I thought: I’ve seen those somewhere before. Then it dawned on me.” Her lasting impression of Agatha: “I do remember she liked dancing. She was often in the ballroom and was a most attractive woman” (Cade 2011).

I also enjoyed Lucy Worsley’s biography (Worsley 2022),

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Original

MRS. CHRISTIE FOUND. AT HARROGATE HYDRO UNDER ASSUMED NAME. IDENTIFIED BY HUSBAND.
“She does not know me and she does not know where she is.”
Mrs. Agatha Christie, the writer of sensational detective stories, who vanished from her home, Styles, Sunningdale, Berkshire, 12 days ago, was found last night at the Hydropathic, a leading hotel at Harrogate, Yorkshire, where she has been staying under an assumed name since the day following her disappearance.
She was identified by her husband, Colonel Christie, who, with police officers, visited the hydro after receiving information that a woman staying there resembled a photograph of Mrs. Christie published in The Daily Mail.
SINGING AND DANCING.
As to the details of the meeting the reports are conflicting. A statement by the manager of the hydro appears to indicate that Mrs. Christie was quite composed at seeing her husband, but Colonel Christie says that “she has suffered from complete loss of memory and that she does not know me and does not know where she is.”
Accounts of Mrs. Christie’s life at the hotel state that she seemed normal and happy, that she sang, danced, played billiards, read the newspaper reports of the disappearance, chatted with her fellow-guests, and went for walks. She is said to have represented herself as coming from South Africa.

225 words.