The Mysterious Affair at Styles - Post N° 3

             Being a detective is quite difficult. Particularly in Mrs. Inglethorp's case, there are many clues and many interpretations of what could have happened to her the night of her murder. Mr. Poirot continues investigating the case with Mr. Hastings' help. I believe Mr. Hastings has a much better understanding of the situation than in the past while he is also learning how Hercule Poriot thinks. Now they start to look more like two detectives doing an investigation than only Poirot doing it and Hastings studying his actions. However, Mr. Hastings is also starting to show his emotions towards Mary Cavendish even though that does not stop him from noticing her odd behavior.

                Overall, Hastings is becoming more like a detective thanks to Poirot's influence, he is improving his analytic skills and acting according to his feelings although he regretted doing so. I also noticed he is beginning to think more like Poirot because he understands him better along with realizing that his own suspicions were wrong. In Mrs. Inglethorp's inquest, Hastings was able to hear the speeches of different people and realized there are different versions of what happened the night of the murder. Him and Poirot will need to continue investigating, but now Poirot has an apprentice who is getting better at the job every day.

Pictures:

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEhK-RTLzT4nD_j8cEhnFlvTVGMquQfPqO1bJXHW5CjRBm2kLLilGz0WkaTA1VtVKZjmiS0Lw7dvKdLbbDlKbGBIRfqdzvXnJNogIIN_6TJVkyDDG1etKeYVvX-6TxoH2_E1_mXD5ZTj6Y0JBHkaWww=

https://www.sydneymitchell.co.uk/sites/default/files/pictures/coroners_court_picture_small_size_sydney_mitchell.jpg

The Mysterious Affair at Styles - Post N°2

        Mr. Poirot and Mr. Hastings continue their investigation, discovering different clues of what could have happened the day of Emily Inglethorp's death. Hastings analyzes Poirot's behavior even though he does not understand in which direction the investigation is going. He also noticed that there was no one in the house who expressed true grief for Mrs. Inglethorp besides Dorcas, Mrs. Inglethorp's maid. Mr. Hastings is more aware of the other people's emotions than in the past and is more patient with Mr. Poirot although he does not agree with him about the situation they are dealing with. Poirot is the real detective, so probably Hastings will start trusting him more in the future since Poirot is more experienced and knows what he is doing despite the fact that Hastings believes he is too old to do the investigation.

          Mr. Hastings is slowly learning  to use his instinct. Not understanding what Poirot is doing is partly helpful for Hastings since it teaches him that not everything is always solved with reasoning. Moreover, I believe Hastings could become a detective like Poirot if he continuous working with him. At the beginning he only trusted in what he thought, but with time Hastings is becoming more open to things that may not look logical.

          In conclusion, working with Poirot is helping Hastings to stop being a detective as a hobby and start investigating serious cases. He is in fact slowly getting better and  will become more useful to Poirot as the investigation progresses.  Besides, his ability to analyze situations is quite good and it will be convenient in his journey.

Image:

https://www.campustraining.es/noticias/que-estudiar-para-ser-detective/

The Mysterious Affair at Styles - Post N° 1

 

When Captain Arthur Hastings arrives to Styles during an ongoing war and after staying in a convalescent home, he meets with his old friend John Cavendish. John invites Arthur to stay at his house which is owned by his stepmother Emily Inglethorp, who shares the house with her second husband Alfred Inglethorp, her two stepsons from her first marriage John and Lawrence Cavendish, John Cavendish’s wife Mary Cavendish, Emily´s companion Evelyn Howard, an orphan named Cynthia Murdoch and Emily’s maids Dorcas and Annie.  Not everyone got along in the house since most of them, specially John Cavendish and Evelyn Howard, were suspicious about Alfred Inglethorp’s real intention when marrying Mrs. Inglethorp. He was twenty years younger than her, so the other members of the family thought that his only reason to marry Mrs. Inglethorp was her money. Everything seemed to be fine despite the conflict and Arthur Hastings was also getting along quite well with everyone in the family. However, that changed when Mrs. Inglethorp suddenly died of strychnine poisoning.

Arthur Hastings is a polite and serious man. He had been invalided from the Front during the war. After arriving at Styles Court, Arthur Hastings praises his deductive skills and reveals his secret hobby is being a detective. Probably his perception about himself changed after asking his old friend Belgian Detective Hercule Poirot for help to solve the murder of Emily Inglethorp. Mr. Hastings occasionally disagrees with Mr. Poirot during the process of their investigation, but Mr. Poirot is more experienced and teaches Hastings in which aspects he needs to pay more attention to, although Poirot later clarifies that every detail is important. Mr. Hastings becomes confused yet still accompanies Mr. Poirot while analyzing the steps he follows in order to solve the murder.

Mr. Hastings is not as good as a detective as is Hercule Poirot, but he still is helpful to report the events that happened the night of Mrs. Inglethorp's death and also solve the case. Hastings narrates the story, hence it is easier to know what he thinks about what is happening around him. Even though he does not mention it, his experience assisting Poirot was different from what he expected. Poirot does things differently from what Hasting would have imagined and focuses on details Hastings would not focus on. Thanks to Poirot's participation essential clues about the case were found and that made Hastings understand that Poirot knew what he was doing. Besides Poirot's complex thoughts and instructions, Hastings is determined to help him solve the case to find out who is the murderer of Emily Inglethorp. 

Pictures: 

https://depositphotos.com/126376882/stock-illustration-glass-bottles-of-poison-vector.html

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/515240013591262638/