Stop the Christie Murder: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd & Evil Under the Sun

 *Spoilers*

Both mysteries could be stopped by my prevention investigators hanging around where they aren't wanted.

In fact, a tremendous number of fictional murders could be prevented by snoopy, loud, obnoxious characters who ignore social cues and just won't go away! 

The question therefore becomes, Will the murderers try again?

The murder of Roger Ackroyd is entirely dependent on Roger Ackroyd's lady friend not telling him she is being blackmailed before she commits suicide. She sends him a letter instead, and the blackmailer kills him before he can open it. 

A lingering, unwanted guest who rifles through people's mail would take care of that matter in the present. But would that put off the murderer in the long run?

I say, "Yes." Pierre Bayard in Who Killed Roger Ackroyd? makes a strong case that the blackmailer is a weak-willed doofus to begin with, not exactly given to murderous action and not very good at planning. The sister is actually the murderer! 

In either case (sister or brother malefactor), there is a very narrow window before the authorities bear down on the blackmailer and his family and make his life a misery. My prevention investigators simply have to stall the blackmailer and his sister. 

In the second case, Christie presents a couple in which the man is a serial killer and his wife abets him. They could easily be forestalled in the related book--again, my prevention investigators simply have to hang around the victim until she accuses them of stalking her. Or hang around the isolated beach until they annoy any and all visitors. Or hang around the murderer until...he goes after one of them. 

The snag here, of course, is that one person may be saved but the couple will likely keep on killing. Although they ostensibly kill for money, they obviously enjoy the evil thrill of the whole thing. 

Which means that my prevention investigators will either have to catch the murderer in the act or prove he and his wife are responsible for a prior murder; Poirot ends up performing the latter task. 

Evil Under the Sun is one of those mysteries where the mystery itself rests on the utterly implausible notion that nobody but the murderer will check the supposed dead body on the beach for signs of life.

However, aside from this silliness, the overall psychology of the book is quite good. My prevention investigators will have to be clever and on the alert to keep bad stuff from happening in the present and in the future.

I don't think it would be difficult for them to figure out the victim--"eternal and pre-destined," Poirot calls her. The next step is to shadow her continually. When she goes to the beach (stupidly but predictably) to meet the serial killer (hey, there were girls who went off with Bundy though he had to ask quite a number before he "caught" one), they keep her in the nearby cave.

They may not even have to send her back into danger. Once they see what Patrick intends to do--create a false public alarm--they can haul him into the nearest police station for questioning until the prior case is proved.  He will no doubt claim that he and his wife were joking but he also has a short temper. A skilled interrogator could likely trip him up.