Stengelberg

Stengelberg was the trained hospital nurse employed in the Armstrong household at the time of the kidnapping and murder of three-year-old Daisy Armstrong. She was devoted to the child and to her mother, Sonia Armstrong, and her role in the household placed her at the center of the tragedy that destroyed the family.

Identity and Role in the Armstrong Household

Stengelberg was a trained hospital nurse, not a nursery-maid or governess. She was employed specifically to care for Daisy Armstrong, the only child of Colonel Armstrong and his wife, Sonia Armstrong. According to Countess Andrenyi, who was Sonia Armstrong's younger sister and lived in the household at the time, Stengelberg was "devoted to Daisy—and to my sister." The household also included a French nursery-maid named Susanne, who looked after Daisy's clothes and acted as a lady's-maid to the younger sister, and a governess or secretary named Miss Freebody. Stengelberg's professional nursing background distinguished her from the other domestic staff.

The Kidnapping and Its Aftermath

When Daisy Armstrong was kidnapped, an impossibly high ransom was demanded. The parents paid two hundred thousand dollars, but the child's dead body was discovered; she had been dead for at least a fortnight. The shock caused Mrs. Armstrong to give birth prematurely to a stillborn child, and she herself died. Colonel Armstrong, heartbroken, shot himself. The tragedy also claimed a third victim: Susanne, the French nursery-maid, who was suspected by police of complicity in the crime. Despite her hysterical denials, the police refused to believe her, and in despair she threw herself from a window and was killed. It was later proved that she had been absolutely innocent. Stengelberg, as the nurse, was present throughout this catastrophe, witnessing the destruction of the family she served.

Connection to the Conspiracy

Stengelberg's precise role in the conspiracy to murder Ratchett—the man who, under the alias Cassetti, had orchestrated the kidnapping and was acquitted on a technicality—is not detailed in the evidence. However, the conspiracy included twelve people connected to the Armstrong case, each of whom stabbed Ratchett once in the darkened compartment. The group was organized by Linda Arden, Mrs. Armstrong's mother and a celebrated actress, who traveled under the alias Mrs. Hubbard. The other conspirators included the chauffeur Antonio Foscarelli, the nurse Greta Ohlsson, the governess Mary Debenham, Colonel Arbuthnot (Colonel Armstrong's best friend), Hector MacQueen (whose father was the district attorney in the case), the valet Masterman (formerly Colonel Armstrong's batman), Pierre Michel (the father of Susanne), and Cyrus Hardman (who had loved Susanne). Stengelberg's name does not appear among those who confessed or were identified as participants in the stabbing. It is possible that she was not among the twelve who struck, or that her role was limited to the planning stages or to providing information about the household.

Narrative Significance

Stengelberg represents the professional caregiving class within the Armstrong household—a figure whose devotion to the family made her a witness to its destruction. Her presence in the story underscores the extent of the tragedy: the kidnapping did not only kill Daisy and her parents but also shattered the lives of everyone connected to the family, from the chauffeur to the nurse. The conspiracy to execute Ratchett drew on every level of the household, from the aristocratic Princess Dragomiroff (Sonia's godmother) to the servants, suggesting that the crime was an act of collective justice by a community bound by love for the lost child. Stengelberg's absence from the final confession scene may indicate that she was not among the twelve executioners, but her role as the nurse who cared for Daisy places her among those whose lives were irrevocably altered by the Armstrong tragedy.