The Witness for the Prosecution by Agatha Christie - Essay Example

YourLast 1 Examine ways in which the quote "Where large sums of money are concerned it is advisable not to trust anybody" is linked with the witness of the prosecution "The Witness for the Prosecution" is an extremely popular play of Agatha Christie published between 1954-1955 called " Witness of the prosecution " in which Mr. Leonard Vole is accused of killing a rich old widow Miss Emily French who left her will on Mr Voles name, though he was not proven guilty by the jury but indeed he was the murderer which can be concluded by reading the last conversation between Mrs. Leonard Vole and Mr. Leonards lawyer who is Mr. Wilfrid since she knew her husband very well. The play starts off with Mr Mayhew a middle aged solicitor meeting the lawyer Mr Wilfrid along with Leonard Vole who is the suspect. Mr. Leonard starts telling his case to Mr Wilfrid that he first incidentally met her for the first time when he helped by rescuing her dropped parcels (4) at oxford street and got into her good books after which they met at a movie theater when Ms Emily French decided to call Mr Vole over to her house where she lived with a house keeper Janet Mackenzie and eight cats. Mr Vole initially came to the house once a week but later his visits to Emily Frenchs house became often. Miss Emily French had a habit of letting the other person know that she’s well off in her conversations and I assume that Mr. Leonard Vole as he was jobless and thought of using Miss Emily French to fulfill his financial needs. He never told Ms French that he had a wife and the reason he gave for that was pretty vague but he did admit to the fact that he did not make his wife visit Emily French because he wanted Ms French to fund his inventions so though he didnt accept but he was planning to rob the old woman since the beginning. When Mr Wilfrid told him very clearly that the he would be accused of swindling her or killing her because no good-looking twenty seven year old man would waste his precious time on an old widow without any interest so Mr Vole told him that he did expect Ms Emily French to help him if he was in a compromising situation ever which again gave readers a slight hint of Mr Leonard Voles smart plan of killing the poor old widow. Miss Janet Mackenzie who was the house keeper of (late) Miss Emily French never liked Mr Leonard Vole. She told the court how Mr Vole use to come often to their house and use to flatter Ms French by how young she looked and noticing any new clothes she was wearing. (17) Miss French who was before an independent lady and used to manage all her income tax work and other money related work all alone had become completely dependent on Mr. Leonard Vole. Of course Mr. Leonard took advantage of this and was misusing Ms Frenchs trust throughout. Janet Mackenzie was sure it was Mr Leonard Vole who killed Ms Emily French because the day Ms French died she heard Mr Leonard Vole and Ms French talking to each other when she came back home from her night out to collect her friends cardigan at around twenty-five past nine which is the time which Dr Wyatt who did the autopsy of Ms French gave for the murder so Mr Voles insistence that he was home at that time turns out false. She then told the court that when she came back home later from her nigt out she saw Ms French lying on the floor dead. Ms Janet Mackenzie also told the court about how Mr Vole used to interfere in Ms Frenchs business affairs. Mr Wilfrid who believed that Mr Leonard Vole is innocent tried putting the blame on Janet. Ms Janet also told the court on how she strongly felt that Ms Emily French was falling for Mr Leonard Vole who was just misusing her trust and swindling her. Ms Janet also told the judge the conversation between Mr Leonard Vole and Ms Emily French when Ms French decided to make Mr Vole her heir which was the cunning plan of Mr Vole leaving behind a good amount of money eighty five thousand pounds for him which seems a good enough reason for Leonard to kill Emily French. Mr Leonard was though saved because of his wife who blindly loved him even though she knew that Mr Vole had killed Ms French but still she played a smart game of first acting like ahe is against Mr Vole and then proving herself wrong in the court so that Leonard is saved and she goes to jail for sometime as a punishment of her perjury. We get to know that Leonard Vole killed Emily French exactly when she is telling Mr Wilfrid of her plan in the end of which she mentions that she knew her husband wasnt innocent. In The Witness of the Prosecution" Agatha Christie very well depicts a story in which how easily and smartly Mr Leonard Vole misused the trust and swindled Ms Emily French who was a rich woman. Miss Emily French who trusted a stranger blindly with her business affairs and made a stranger an heir to her will of eighty five thousand pounds had to pay for the consequences and thus was murdered by that stranger. Work cited: Christie, Agatha. ""Witness for the Prosecution" by Agatha Christie, The Best Plays of 1954-1955, The Best Plays of 1954-1955 (1955) by Louis Kronenberger, pp. 149-179 ." All Periodicals. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Feb. 2013. Read More