The Investigation's False Trails

The Hollow

This flow follows Inspector Grange as practical policing repeatedly collides with the Angkatells' evasive social world.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

The Obvious Arrest The Obvious Arrest from "The Hollow". Gerda as Suspect Initial Inference Inspector Grange sees Gerda beside the body with a revolver and assumes jealousy.

The Obvious Arrest from "The Hollow". Gerda as Suspect Initial Inference Inspector Grange sees Gerda beside the body with a revolver and assumes jealousy.

Gerda as Suspect Initial Inference Inspector Grange sees Gerda beside the body with a revolver and assumes jealousy. The physical image seems stronger than her confused explanation. Limited Imagination His early theory depends on ordinary domestic violence. It cannot yet account for the staged quality of the scene.

The Gun Contradiction The Gun Contradiction from "The Hollow". Forensic Reversal New Evidence Grange learns that the revolver Gerda held did not fire the fatal bullet. The central assumption of the investigation collapses.

The Gun Contradiction from "The Hollow". Forensic Reversal New Evidence Grange learns that the revolver Gerda held did not fire the fatal bullet. The central assumption of the investigation collapses.

Forensic Reversal New Evidence Grange learns that the revolver Gerda held did not fire the fatal bullet. The central assumption of the investigation collapses. Frustrated Logic He recognizes a frame-up but cannot understand why the murderer chose such an elaborate method. Evidence now expands the mystery instead of narrowing it.

The Missing Weapon The Missing Weapon from "The Hollow". A Countrywide Search Material Absence Police search The Hollow and its surrounding woods for the missing revolver.

The Missing Weapon from "The Hollow". A Countrywide Search Material Absence Police search The Hollow and its surrounding woods for the missing revolver.

A Countrywide Search Material Absence Police search The Hollow and its surrounding woods for the missing revolver. The weapon remains hidden despite repeated searches. Suspicion Distributed Because several people carried baskets or had large pockets, opportunity can be assigned to almost everyone. Physical geography becomes a map of uncertainty.

The Fingerprint Failure The Fingerprint Failure from "The Hollow". An Outsider's Prints Apparent Breakthrough A revolver is found in Poirot's hedge with clear fingerprints.

The Fingerprint Failure from "The Hollow". An Outsider's Prints Apparent Breakthrough A revolver is found in Poirot's hedge with clear fingerprints.

An Outsider's Prints Apparent Breakthrough A revolver is found in Poirot's hedge with clear fingerprints. Grange expects the prints to identify someone in the household. Renewed Defeat The fingerprints belong to none of the suspects. The discovery seems to prove an invisible outsider, exactly the false direction Henrietta intended.

The Unsolved Verdict The Unsolved Verdict from "The Hollow". Unknown Person or Persons Legal Limitation The inquest records wilful murder by a person or persons unknown.

The Unsolved Verdict from "The Hollow". Unknown Person or Persons Legal Limitation The inquest records wilful murder by a person or persons unknown.

Unknown Person or Persons Legal Limitation The inquest records wilful murder by a person or persons unknown. The law acknowledges the killing without identifying its author. Private Failure Grange remains defeated by a crime that is morally known within the household but legally unresolved. The verdict becomes the public form of a collective secret.

Sunday afternoon

Monday morning

During the fortnight adjournment

Near the second inquest

Wednesday after the adjournment