At the 'Bells and Motley' - a Harley Quin Short Story

Harley Quin #3

by Agatha Christie

When Mr. Satterthwaite’s chauffeured car breaks down in isolated Kirtlington Mallet, he seeks refuge at the local inn while waiting for the repairs. It's the 'Bells and Motley'. What a strange place.

At the inn, he finds only one other guest - his friend, the mysterious Mr. Quin. Satterthwaite is astonished. They meet the chatty pub owner and the conversation soon turns to a local man named Stephen Grant. He's been detained for murder. Can our pair save him? Can they unravel the confusing facts?

Librarian's note #1: this short story was published in Grand Magazine (1925) and then in the print anthology The Mysterious Mr. Quin which was first published in 1930.

Librarian's note #2: the print anthology contains 12 Mr. Quin short stories. Besides those, there are two more found in other collections: The Love Detectives, and The Harlequin Tea Set. Mr. Satterthwaite also appears in Three Act Tragedy and Dead Man's Mirror. All by Agatha Christie, of course!

Librarian's note #3: the entries for all fourteen Mr. Quin short stories can be found on GR by searching for: a Harley Quin short story. Or for Harley Quin. Details such as characters and settings are included for each.

Genres: Agatha Christie, Mystery, Short Stories, Fiction, Crime, Mystery Thriller, Audiobook

100 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 17, 1926

About the author

Agatha Christie also wrote romance novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott, and was occasionally published under the name Agatha Christie Mallowan.

Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, DBE (née Miller) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. She also wrote the world's longest-running play, the murder mystery The Mousetrap, which has been performed in the West End of London since 1952. A writer during the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction", Christie has been called the "Queen of Crime". She also wrote six novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. In 1971, she was made a Dame (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for her contributions to literature. Guinness World Records lists Christie as the best-selling fiction writer of all time, her novels having sold more than two billion copies.

This best-selling author of all time wrote 66 crime novels and story collections, fourteen plays, and six novels under a pseudonym in romance. Her books sold more than a billion copies in the English language and a billion in translation. According to Index Translationum, people translated her works into 103 languages at least, the most for an individual author. Of the most enduring figures in crime literature, she created Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple. She atuhored The Mousetrap, the longest-running play in the history of modern theater.

Associated Names:
Agata Christie
Agata Kristi
Агата Кристи (Russian)
Агата Крісті (Ukrainian)
Αγκάθα Κρίστι (Greek)
アガサ クリスティ (Japanese)
阿嘉莎·克莉絲蒂 (Chinese)

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Bells and Motley refers to the inn Mr. Satterthwaite goes into when his car gets a flat tire.
Naturally, he runs into his old acquaintance, Harley Quin. They end up discussing a local unsolved disappearance of Captain Richard Harwell, who had recently married a French Canadian heiress.
No one is ever arrested, but suspicion has rested on the young man that the innkeeper's daughter had been in love with at the time.
But is anything what it seems?



A theme in Agatha Christie's novels is that unsolved crimes hurt the innocent who remain under a cloud of suspicion, never able to clear their names, until the guilty are brought to justice.
Of course, this time around, it's up to Satterthwaite to look back at the circumstances that surrounded the incident and find a way to prove what actually happened.
This one wasn't as supernatural as some of the Harley Quin stories, but it had a nice mystery to it.

Originally published in 1925 in the Grand Magazine.
Read as part of the short story collection The Mysterious Mr. Quin.

[Bobby Underwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

For fans of Satterthwaite and the supernatural and mysterious Mr. Quin, there is some wonderful interaction between the two in this one. There is a compelling back and forth over a meal while Satterthwaite is stranded somewhere due to car trouble, and happens upon his mysterious old friend, Mr. Quin.

Satterthwaite comes alive as always when urged on by Mr. Quin, expounding on the mysterious disappearance for which the Bells and Motley is famous. Christie deftly weaves the unraveling of an old mystery, which has at its edge, like a faint echo, the heart of a young girl. There exists a promise of romance if Satterthwaite, urged on by the mysterious Mr. Quin, can figure out what happened. Only then can the suspicion haunting a young man's life — much to the distress of a girl obviously in love with him — finally be removed.

The Bells and Motley, by the way, also plays a part in Agatha Christie's Murder is Easy. Highly recommended.

[Jack Heath · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 Stars. Christie has devised an ingenious little trick by the criminal element. I can't say more lest I give away the plot, but I'm sure readers will a see a touch of intelligence in their actions. The story? Mr. Satterthwaite and Mr. Quin were late on the scene. As usual Harley Quin pulls strings. Did he arrange for Satterthwaite's car to have 2 flat tires, and a third breakdown in the "God-forsaken hole" of Kirtlington Mallet? The third for sure, or our two heroes don't meet at that strange hotel and pub called, Bells and Motley. As an aside, aren't you pleased that cars are much more dependable today than a century ago? The story first appeared in Flynn's Weekly in 1926; mine came from The Mysterious Mr. Quin of 2003. Billy Jones, the innkeeper, tells the two about the strange disappearance three months ago of Captain Richard Harwell soon after his marriage to a beautiful French Canadian, Mlle. Eleanor Le Couteau [which means knife!]. She too is mysterious. A local lad had been detained in regard to his disappearance but nothing was proven. The two detectives debate back and forth, and then the ingenious little trick is revealed. Enjoy. (Se2021/Se2025)

[Kirsti · Rating 3 out of 5]

Now that the early Agatha Christie stories are public domain, publishers are offering them in all kinds of formats. I like that I can pick up one short story at a time whenever I have a few minutes. This is a lightweight (by today's standards) but appealing story. At one point one of the characters urges another character to cast his mind forward 100 years, to 2025.

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another splendid mystery set out by Agatha Christie for Mr Satterthwaite to muse over with the gentle promptings of the man know to him as Mr Quin.

Another journey is interrupted with a puncture and while it is being fixed Mr Satterthwaite wanders to the local inn for a bite to eat. Imagine his surprise when he finds his ‘friend’ staying there for one night only and just about to enjoy his evening meal.

A storm is brewing which is associated with an unsolved disappearance of a newly married man. No-one has been charged and suspicion rests on a local man although there is insufficient evidence. Without a body the whole affair is a subject of conjecture and gossip with the main protagonists subsequently moving away. The local man cannot leave however and his life has become one where fingers are pointed and conversations stop when he approaches the bar. The publican’s daughter loves this man but her father will not hear of her becoming involved.

Over dinner Quin prompts Satterthwaite to recount the facts and theories around the case and encourages him to see things for what they are and reason over what perhaps occurred.

A lovely meal isn’t spoiled by such conversation and once the tyre is fixed and the storm has passed Satterthwaite has a potential solution to the mystery and Quin has served his purpose.

[Abeer Albossany · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am starting to believe that Satterthwaite is MR Quin himself. Nice story

[nic p]

4.5/5

[Tina · Rating 4 out of 5]

*3.75 out of 5 Stars

When Mr. Satterthwaite's car breaks down at Kirtlington Mallet, he decides to dine at the Bells and Motley inn while waiting for it to be repaired. There, he happens to run into Mr. Quin (by fate or by design?!) - what better way to pass the time than to try and solve the mysterious disappearance of Captain Richard Harwell?! It was a mystery many had puzzled over in the last 3 months and even Mr. Satterthwaite had his theories.

"The longer the time that has elapsed, the more things fall into proportion. One sees them in their true relationship to one another."

That is the idea behind solving most mysteries for Mr. Quin. In recounting the events and circumstances around an unsolved mystery after a sufficient amount of time has passed, he seems to be able to find clues and solve the mystery when no one else could.

This one was quite fun, clever and puzzling too but felt a little too easy. Still enjoyable though I was more interested in how Mr. Quin somehow may have maneuvered Mr. Satterthwaite into meeting him there so they could solve the case and he could do something about it.

[Meg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mr. Satterthwaite is traveling and is detained by a flat tire so he decides to go to the pub for dinner. There he runs into his acquaintance Mr. Quinn. Over dinner, they chat with the pub owner who discusses the local mystery of the disappearance of Captain Harwell, who is the wife of Miss Eleanor, a young and rich French Canadian who recently bought a stately home in the area. Miss Eleanor had inherited a great deal of money and a number of antiques that she used to decorate her home. One morning, Captain Harwel left the house and was never seen again. Miss Eleanor, heartbroken, sold the house and all its contents for a tidy sum of money. Somehow Mr. Satterthwaite and Mr. Quinn figure out that they were really part of the crime ring from France who came to England to offload their haul but had to do so without raising suspicion so they created the ruse of a grieving young wife selling all her property when her husband goes missing and no one suspected a thing. Seems like quite a leap to me but it was entertaining.

[Carole Jarvis · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The longer the time that has elapsed, the more things fall into proportion. One sees them in their true relationship to one another." - Mr. Quin

This is a delightful short story, with all the detecting playing out between Harley Quin and Mr. Satterthwaite over a cozy pub meal on a stormy night. Creative weaving of storyline, with one hint dropped earlier in the narrative that I only recalled at the conclusion. This is one of my favorite Quin stories.

[Serena · Rating 5 out of 5]

the Mysterious Mr. Quin

My Rating System:
* couldn't finish, ** wouldn't recommend, *** would recommend, **** would read again, ***** have read again.

[Barbara Nutting · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read 2020

[Aisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

[4.25/5]

[OutSideTheBoxox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Magic realism is so engaging and used so well here.

[Forked Radish · Rating 3 out of 5]

Agatha Christie uses "evolved" i.e. ". . . like every other Britain, had evolved his own theories." as a synonym for developed. Thereby, illustrating her lack of "breeding", aka education.

[itchy · Rating 3 out of 5]

eponymous sentence:
p6: "...A man of magic...."

Read as part of the collection The Mysterious Mr. Quin.

[Jocelyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Harley Quin stories also have an element of lifting suspicion from hopefully innocent parties by getting at the truth. Harley quin emphasizes looking at the past to see things more clearly.

[William Vaudin · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’m noticing a pattern with these stories, as in a lot of them are just sitting around “talking” about the mystery, rather than actually going out and trying to solve it. But at least the last two had some substans, this one, literally nothing happens. It’s just Quin and Satterthwaite just “talking” about a mystery they heard about second hand, where’s the intrigue in that? At least with the first one, we got a sense of atmosphere, here, there are vertually no other characters outside of the main two and some background characters.
And as for the mystery itself, it’s nothing. I liked the idea of having the whole mystery based around a story being told in a quiet old pub like a ghost story, but that’s clearly not what Christie was going for. It should have been like the Twilight Zone episode “Will the Real Martian, Please Stand Up” where the missing person was “in” the pub and the suspicion fell on the other patrons. But then that would be an actual plot and that’s “not” what Agatha Christe wanted here.
This was just a waist of time through and through. I just forced my way through this one and didn’t really pay any attention to the actual words because I just wanted it to be over so bad. This one just follows the pattern of the last two stories of shoving a butt tone of exposition that could fill a whole chapter of a novel, into one paragraph of a short story. I really hope Christie learns how to make this series work for the next nine stories, because if she doesn’t, then I’ll be really disappointed with this collection.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Here we have the next Harley Quin Story. Here the duo find themselves sitting in a pub/ inn to see through a storm. They start talking about the disappearance of a Captain who worked at the establishment to try and figure out what happened. Can they figure it out all on hearsay and what they know?

Think of the duo as Holmes and Watson sitting down over a pint of beer figuring out an old case. It is all rather amusing and fun to read to see what conclusions they come to.

[Janete on hiatus due health issues · Rating 2 out of 5]

SYNOPSIS: "When Mr. Satterthwaite’s chauffeured car breaks down in isolated Kirklington Mallet, he seeks refuge at the local inn (the "Bells and Motley"). There he finds only one other guest—the mysterious Mr. Quin. Can they both save Stephen, a local man, from being unjustly sentenced for murder?"

[Royden Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I am getting into the way the Mr. Quin stories go.. I think that this is my favourite so far, and I am getting used to the way the stories end.

[Joop · Rating 3 out of 5]

Op zich goed maar m.i. niet af.

[Rolf · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit too convoluted in its plot.

[Barry · Rating 5 out of 5]

So who actually is Harley Quin? I don't think we'll ever know.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Here we have the next Harley Quin Story. Here the duo find themselves sitting in a pub/ inn to see through a storm. They start talking about the disappearance of a Captain who worked at the establishment to try and figure out what happened. Can they figure it out all on hearsay and what they know?

Think of the duo as Holmes and Watson sitting down over a pint of beer figuring out an old case. It is all rather amusing and fun to read to see what conclusions they come to.