Loch Ness Monsters and Raining Frogs The Worlds Most Puzzling Mysteries Solved by Albert Jack Page B
Authors: Albert Jack
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also appears to rule out human interference.
Earthquakes have been considered, especially as Barbados sits on a seismic fault line, but no quakes had been reported during the period in which the vault was disturbed and there was no evidence of any other damage caused, either in nearby vaults or elsewhere on the island. Some prefer the idea that unseen magnetic forces were at work, especially as the coffins were usually found to be facing in the opposite direction to the one in which they were placed, suggesting they had rotated on their own axis. This may also explain why the wooden casket of Thomasina Goddard remained unaffected until it was smashed to pieces by the others. But lead is not a magnetic material. Furthermore, if such forces had been at work, locals would have noticed its effect on other metals in the graveyard, such as iron headstones or steel plaques. The church bell would surely have kept ringing too.
The wildest theory about what had caused the disturbances in the Chase Vault actually came from the creator of Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who, maybe unsurprisingly, appears to crop up in a number of mystery stories (including two in this book—“Fairies at the Bottom of the Garden,” page 101, and “Whatever Happened to the Crew of the
Mary Celeste?”
page 138). Conan Doyle believed supernatural forces had been at work but was unable to offer any further explanation except to suggest that the coffins had been moved by the spirits of the two family members who had apparently committed suicide and were therefore “cursed and restless” and in conflict with each other. Indeed, since Dorcas and her father have been separated, there have been no other signs of disturbance at any of the new grave locations.
Gas emitted from the decomposing bodies was considered but soon ruled out as incapable of disturbing a heavy lead coffin. The only other suggestion that comes close to fitting the facts would be a flood. Natural flooding of an underground vault would disrupt the coffins, causing them to float around and come to rest in a different place as the water subsided. But that wouldn't explain why the coffins were standing on end; nor was there any evidence of water damage each time the vault was reopened. It seems that the mysteries of the Chase Vault have never been adequately explained, and probably never will be. I think we're going to have to mark this one “unsolved.”
How did the world's favorite crime writer become
involved in a mystery of her very own?
Agatha Miller was born in 1890, the youngest child of a wealthy American businessman in England. But after her father contracted double pneumonia, he was unable to provide for his young family and sank into a depression, dying when Agatha was only eleven. The poverty-stricken Millers almost lost their home as a result. The lesson was a harsh one for the young Agatha, and her continuing sense of financial insecurity was later to have disastrous consequences.
At a dance in Devon in 1912, Agatha, now an attractive twenty-two-year-old, met a tall, dashing young army officer. Archibald Christie had trained at the Royal Woolwich Military Academy in Lon don and had been posted to Exeter soon after he had been commissioned. Over the next two years, they slowly fell in love. When war broke out in 1914, Archie was sent to France. During his first return on leave later that year, the couple quickly got married. While Archie served in Europe, Agatha became a voluntary nurse at the Red Cross Hospital in Torquay and spent her many free hours (not many casualties were sent to Torquay) reading hundreds of detective stories.
She was desperate to be a writer like her elder sister, Madge, whom she idolized and whose stories were regularly published in
Vanity Fair.
In a moment of inspiration Madge challenged her to write a good detective story, Agatha's favorite genre. At the time, Torquay was full of Belgian refugees, and her first story featured a
Earthquakes have been considered, especially as Barbados sits on a seismic fault line, but no quakes had been reported during the period in which the vault was disturbed and there was no evidence of any other damage caused, either in nearby vaults or elsewhere on the island. Some prefer the idea that unseen magnetic forces were at work, especially as the coffins were usually found to be facing in the opposite direction to the one in which they were placed, suggesting they had rotated on their own axis. This may also explain why the wooden casket of Thomasina Goddard remained unaffected until it was smashed to pieces by the others. But lead is not a magnetic material. Furthermore, if such forces had been at work, locals would have noticed its effect on other metals in the graveyard, such as iron headstones or steel plaques. The church bell would surely have kept ringing too.
The wildest theory about what had caused the disturbances in the Chase Vault actually came from the creator of Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who, maybe unsurprisingly, appears to crop up in a number of mystery stories (including two in this book—“Fairies at the Bottom of the Garden,” page 101, and “Whatever Happened to the Crew of the
Mary Celeste?”
page 138). Conan Doyle believed supernatural forces had been at work but was unable to offer any further explanation except to suggest that the coffins had been moved by the spirits of the two family members who had apparently committed suicide and were therefore “cursed and restless” and in conflict with each other. Indeed, since Dorcas and her father have been separated, there have been no other signs of disturbance at any of the new grave locations.
Gas emitted from the decomposing bodies was considered but soon ruled out as incapable of disturbing a heavy lead coffin. The only other suggestion that comes close to fitting the facts would be a flood. Natural flooding of an underground vault would disrupt the coffins, causing them to float around and come to rest in a different place as the water subsided. But that wouldn't explain why the coffins were standing on end; nor was there any evidence of water damage each time the vault was reopened. It seems that the mysteries of the Chase Vault have never been adequately explained, and probably never will be. I think we're going to have to mark this one “unsolved.”
How did the world's favorite crime writer become
involved in a mystery of her very own?
Agatha Miller was born in 1890, the youngest child of a wealthy American businessman in England. But after her father contracted double pneumonia, he was unable to provide for his young family and sank into a depression, dying when Agatha was only eleven. The poverty-stricken Millers almost lost their home as a result. The lesson was a harsh one for the young Agatha, and her continuing sense of financial insecurity was later to have disastrous consequences.
At a dance in Devon in 1912, Agatha, now an attractive twenty-two-year-old, met a tall, dashing young army officer. Archibald Christie had trained at the Royal Woolwich Military Academy in Lon don and had been posted to Exeter soon after he had been commissioned. Over the next two years, they slowly fell in love. When war broke out in 1914, Archie was sent to France. During his first return on leave later that year, the couple quickly got married. While Archie served in Europe, Agatha became a voluntary nurse at the Red Cross Hospital in Torquay and spent her many free hours (not many casualties were sent to Torquay) reading hundreds of detective stories.
She was desperate to be a writer like her elder sister, Madge, whom she idolized and whose stories were regularly published in
Vanity Fair.
In a moment of inspiration Madge challenged her to write a good detective story, Agatha's favorite genre. At the time, Torquay was full of Belgian refugees, and her first story featured a
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