Just ahead of Part Eleven of our nightly audio adventure, a reminder that tomorrow the Thursday rerun of Steyn's Song of the Week airs on Serenade Radio in the UK at 9pm Greenwich Mean Time - that's 4pm North American Eastern.
On yesterday's episode of The Magnificent Affair at Styles we discussed Agatha Christie's not so subtle transformation of Boots Cash Chemist into "Coot's Cash Chemist". Elizabeth, a First Fortnight Founding Member of The Mark Steyn Club, writes from Florida:
I did not know that Boots was the largest chemist in the world. But interestingly the stock WAG is Walgreens Boots Alliance. And I always thought what does Boots have to do with it, but now I know. Guess they're keeping Walgreens afloat, or perhaps growing together in the Covid world.
Boots became the largest chemist in the world all by itself many decades ago, Elizabeth. The so-called "Walgreens Boots Alliance" dates only a few years back - and, to the best of my knowledge, they're big but not "the largest chemist in the world".
In tonight's episode of The Mysterious Affair at Styles, Hercule Poirot explains to Hastings why the overwhelming evidence of Mr Inglethorpe's guilt is, in fact, overwhelming evidence of something entirely different:
"But the evidence is so conclusive."
"Yes, too conclusive."
We turned in at the gate of Leastways Cottage, and proceeded up the now familiar stairs.
"Yes, yes, too conclusive," continued Poirot, almost to himself. "Real evidence is usually vague and unsatisfactory. It has to be examined—sifted. But here the whole thing is cut and dried. No, my friend, this evidence has been very cleverly manufactured—so cleverly that it has defeated its own ends."
Members of The Mark Steyn Club can hear me read Part Eleven of The Mysterious Affair at Styles simply by clicking here and logging-in.
We like both actual history and fictional fancies here at SteynOnline, but there's nothing healthier than taking a short break from the hell of the hamster-wheel news-cycle and exploring the delights of our Tales for Our Time home page. It's configured in Netflix tile style, with the stories organized by category - thrillers, fantasy, romance, etc - which we hope will make it easy for you to find a favorite diversion of an evening. You can access all fifty of our cracking capers here - and all previous episodes of our current adventure here.
If you've yet to hear any of our Tales for Our Time, you can do so by joining The Mark Steyn Club and enjoy our nightly audio adventures every evening twenty minutes before lowering your lamp - or hoard the episodes and binge-listen at the weekend or on a long car journey, if your government currently permits you to take one. For more details on that and other benefits to Steyn Club membership, see here - and don't forget our special Gift Membership.
Please join me right here tomorrow evening for another episode of The Mysterious Affair at Styles.
