The Fourth Man: an Agatha Christie Short Story

by Agatha Christie

A lawyer, a doctor and a clergyman are on a train discussing the details of a peculiar case of a woman suffering from a multiple personality disorder. Remarkably, in an impossible feat of strength she strangled herself to death. Their seatmate, a stranger who knew the woman, overhears their conversation and reveals a disturbing truth…

Librarian's note: this classic Agatha Christie short story is available individually as an eBook.

Librarian's note #2: previously published in the print anthologies The Hound of Death and Other Stories, and Witness for The Prosecution and Other Stories.

Genres: Mystery, Short Stories, Agatha Christie, Fiction, Classics, Audiobook, Crime

33 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 1, 1925

About the author

Agatha Christie also wrote romance novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott, and was occasionally published under the name Agatha Christie Mallowan.

Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, DBE (née Miller) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. She also wrote the world's longest-running play, the murder mystery The Mousetrap, which has been performed in the West End of London since 1952. A writer during the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction", Christie has been called the "Queen of Crime". She also wrote six novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. In 1971, she was made a Dame (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for her contributions to literature. Guinness World Records lists Christie as the best-selling fiction writer of all time, her novels having sold more than two billion copies.

This best-selling author of all time wrote 66 crime novels and story collections, fourteen plays, and six novels under a pseudonym in romance. Her books sold more than a billion copies in the English language and a billion in translation. According to Index Translationum, people translated her works into 103 languages at least, the most for an individual author. Of the most enduring figures in crime literature, she created Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple. She atuhored The Mousetrap, the longest-running play in the history of modern theater.

Associated Names:
Agata Christie
Agata Kristi
Агата Кристи (Russian)
Агата Крісті (Ukrainian)
Αγκάθα Κρίστι (Greek)
アガサ クリスティ (Japanese)
阿嘉莎·克莉絲蒂 (Chinese)

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one was an incredibly inaccurate portrayal of dissociative identity disorder (multiple personalities) AND hypnotism but it was so entertaining! Bananas plot about a woman with DID that killed herself. Or was she actually killing someone else?
A wacky must-read.



Nothing about this one makes real sense but I feel like it's one of those that really shouldn't be missed. Back in my younger days we all thought that having multiple personalities was one of those things that seemed to think was half mystical, so it's no wonder that Christie managed to make crazy seem crazier.
It's a mental illness meets magical ghost story, with a bit of hypno-mystery thrown in.
Honestly, what's not to love?

Originally published in 1925 in Pearson's Magazine.
Reas as part of the short story collection The Last Seance: Tales of the Supernatural.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A man is travelling in a rail car with a doctor and an attorney. A fourth man is also in the car, but he appears to be asleep. They have a discussion about a woman in France that was afflicted with multiple personalities. Turns out, the fourth man is not asleep and knows the woman's true story. Another Christie short story with supernatural elements.

This story was first published in The Grand Magazine in 1925, and then in The Hound of Death in 1933 (UK). It wasn't published in the US until The Witness for the Prosecution and Other Stories in 1948. I listened to the audio version of this short story in WPOS. Narrated by Christopher Lee, the story was excellent!

I couldn't find any radio adaptations of this story, but it was adapted for television (The Agatha Christie Hour, episode 4) in 1982.

I enjoyed this story. The premise is a bit far-fetched -- but isn't every supernatural tale?? I love listening to Christopher Lee read the stories from HOD. His voice just works so well with creepy/weird stories!

On to the next!

[‎‧₊˚✧tes✧˚₊‧‎ · Rating 5 out of 5]

This blew me away. At the beginning it was just these men sitting in a train compartment with this stranger and I was like "Okay, it's gonna be talk about some murder or something like that", didn't really interest me from the beginning. But then, as I went deeper and deeper into the story, I was more and more fascinated and intrigued.Didn't think 15 pages would be able to do something like this. Wow.

[Chari · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audiobook

[Agla]

Another weird, paranormal-ish entry for Agatha. Those are not my favorite, it has everything: multiple personality, hypnosis, reincarnation.

[Jack Heath · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 Stars. I enjoyed the ending but getting through the first 15 or so of the 19 pages in total was a challenge. I kept saying to myself, "Keep reading Jack; this is Agatha Christie!" Then it exploded into the ether of greatness. Three men, lead by a church canon, Parfitt by name, plus a lawyer, Sir George Durand, and a doctor, Campbell Clarke, are on a train to Newcastle in the same compartment. They know each other. There's a fourth but he doesn't take part in their initial conversation. More about that later! They get to talking about the famous French case of Felicie Bault. A peasant girl from Brittany. She had developed a multi personality disorder - there are four of them. The first Felicie wrote French poorly whereas Felicie #2 was excellent in French and had some Italian and German. She even had two more personalities. Then she strangled herself! Is that even possible? I mentioned a fourth man in the compartment - this is when Raoul Letardeau surprisingly speaks up. He states that he knew Felicie, grew up with her in fact. He also says that he knew her friend, Annette Ravel. It soon becomes very interesting. (Au2025/De2025)

[Ruchika Pahwa · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's wonderfully written yet the concept of MPD reflected in soul terms is somewhat uneven. The presence of the fourth man in this setting is quite a coincidence but his conversation is fascinating!

[Ekaterine Kav · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was a great short story, but I couldn't really understand the purpose of it.

[Darinda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Multiple personalities with a supernatural touch. Entertaining, but not one of the better Agatha Christie short stories.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

I must say I enjoyed the old fashioned railway carriages . I never travelled first class mind so from memory there were always six seats in my compartment.

The premise of this story is there are four places here and three of the passengers knew or were aware of each other and quickly start up a conversation. Individually they have professions covering one of these three areas; the Church, the Law and Medicine and so were able to converse with ease. The fourth person to all intents and purposes appeared to be asleep and made no contribution to the proceedings.

This is a wonderful idea for a story and Agatha Christie carry’s it off with great skill. The extent of the three’s opinions are partly expanding their expertise and relating newspaper reports and case histories. Suddenly a fourth voice is raised. He is able to challenge their suppositions and speculations because he knew the girl they were discussing personally. His first hand account is both enlightening and threatens to shake the establishment the others represent and undermine their core values.

Without doubt another tale the author leaves with her audience to mull over, long after the final page is turned.

[Aisha · Rating 5 out of 5]

За последние два дня с детективами (нужен минимум год передышки до следующего) поймала себя на мысли, что кроме желания поскорее дочитать они уже никаких чувств не вызывают. Так в принципе и должно быть, если бы не два детектива, с которыми я неосознанно сравниваю все другие. Эту повесть детективом не назовёшь, но то, что она написана Кристи откладывает её на полку с ними. Совершенно завораживающая история, особенно (или только) для детского ума. Вторая книга тоже авторства Кристи, хотя писательница она по-моему откровенно слабая и скорее всего вся моя любовь к двум её произведениям происходит от детской впечатлительности. В общем просто захотелось добавить к себе эту повесть тоже, и хоть где-то выразить своё восхищение пятеркой, тем более точно помню дату прочтения. :)
P.s. Вторая книга - «Место назначения неизвестно», не столько примечательна самой историей, сколько атмосферой и темой лепрозориев.

[Forked Radish · Rating 4 out of 5]

Felicie 3: "Depraved in a Parisian and not a provincial way. She knew all the Paris argot, and the expressions of the chic demi monde. Her language was filthy and she would rail against religion and so-called 'good people' in the most blasphemous terms." A depraved Parisian is a tautology.

[Abeer Albossany · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although it's a short story, it was a very fine and united story. A lot of mystery was confide to it, yet it was as scary as any horror novel. It has a strong meaning which opens many windows to the world of spirit and the physical one as well.

[As You Wish · Rating 3 out of 5]

What can be said but that we have come a long way in our thinking about psychological conditions since this story was written. It was an interesting take on having a silent character who goes on to take over the rest of the story. But as far as the psychology aspects, I'll pass.

[Joop · Rating 4 out of 5]

Een van de goed geschreven korte verhaaltjes.

[Susy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[ashley g · Rating 2 out of 5]

so a clergyman, a lawyer and a doctor walk into a bar… (would be a far more riveting tale than their nerdy train ride gab sesh btw! just something to think about miss christie!)

[Neha Singh · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

ok, so the premise of this story is pretty excellent. the set-up is something out of my dreams (a doctor, a clergyman and a lawyer walk into a bar and hell, and philosophy ensue, but the twist of it being an Agatha Christie novel). the set-up between the dissection of the human mind, spirit and soul at the beginning of the book was compelling, as well as the idea that people don't have things wrong with them vs the idea of the nervous disease is so difficult to understand and ascertain, and it still is. kind of. too sad, but whatevs, mate, you know? but it was really a good set-up.

then the introduction of Felicie Bault as a character was very intriguing. even though we never meet these characters and we're only introduced to them in a retelling, the fourth man manages to weave together a pretty wild story. he out there spilling the tea for my hungry ass.

the ending and the take of it at the end was pretty chilling given all the things. my understanding gives it this almost old time victorian horror vibes, which i'm here for. i think i'll be thinking about how unique this story is and the depth she gave in a few pages is pretty extraordinary. Christie out there proving you don't need 1,000 pages to tell a good story. it was just missing the touch of a 5 star. i think i wanted this to be like the philosophical version of 12 Angry Men, with more like speculations about the universe and like be like 80 pages longer. i would love for them to be like talking forever and ever.

this story is almost paranormal Christie if you take the ending the same as i have, which she loves to do but sometimes, she really mucks it up (like when she had the haunted doll that just wanted to be loved? spoiler, i guess, but i don't know if anyone actually wants to read that in a book so...)

[Alethia Gaona · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 estrellas. Autora con una gran maestría al describir personajes. Este caso es muy interesante. Personalidad múltiple o una grandiosa actuación, huérfanas tuberculosis la otra fuerte y cuatro personalidades algunas muy inteligentes. Cuatro personajes de áreas diversas médico abogado clérigo y gente del pueblo. El último a mi parecer el más importante pues estaba relacionado con el personaje principal de la narración y con otro más también importante. Usan mucho el término estúpida el cual es raro en la actualidad pero en el pasado así se referían a las personas con un cierto grado de retraso mental. No es ofensivo aunque si diferente para nosotros. En mi opinión No tienen y No deben modificar las obras de esta autora ni de otros autores para que entre en lo políticamente correcto. Es absurdo porque se pierde el carácter de los personajes y el valor enorme histórico de situarte en un punto de la época y sus opiniones culturales y diferencias. Excelente relato

[Jerel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fascinating short story from Agatha Christie that delves into the supernatural and psychiatry. The story begins with three men sharing a compartment on a train representing elements of society including the Church, the Law, and Medicine. They are having a fascinating discussion about dissociative identity disorder, or "multiple personality disorder, and a specific case involving Felice Bault. They had not paid any attention the the fourth man, a foreigner with a French accent, who appeared to be sleeping. He tells them that he actually grew up with Felice Bault, and that her story is intertwined with that of another girl named Annette Ravel. The substance of his narrative reveals an entirely different take on Felice's situation and death. I was riveted to the pages to get to the twist that the Fourth Man revealed, and it once again shows how amazing Christie was at expressing an amazing and entertaining story in so few words.

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5

Já li uns livros da Agatha e uma das coisas que me incomodou em alguns foi o tamanho, a enrolação pra resolver o mistério. Resolvi ler esse conto pra saber se uma história menor e mais concisa escrita pela mesma pessoa seria melhor. Gostei bastante da ideia da história, o mistério e as possibilidades. Tive a sensação que o objetivo final dela foi deixar um pouco em aberto o que realmente aconteceu: é possível pensar em algumas teorias bem diferentes.

Normalmente contos em que a história é contada por meio de uma conversa me irritam um pouco (porque é meio clichê/fácil?/previsível) mas eu achei bem interessante nesse caso. Acho que na verdade eu gostei mais por causa da narração mesmo. Apesar de ter precisado ler enquanto escutava por causa do sotaque, gostei demais do narrador e das diferentes vozes que ele fez pros personagens.

[Carole Jarvis · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Fourth Man is another example of how much Christie could pack into the short story format. Four men are riding in a carriage and engaged in conversation - three whom the world would respect (clergyman, doctor, lawyer) and an unknown fourth gentleman. As they begin talking about a famous case of split personality, it is soon revealed that it is the fourth man - the common man - who sees the true picture. The story is intriguing, as it involves jealousy, hypnotism, and possession. I'm not sure I fully understood it, but definitely enjoyed reading and reflecting on it.

[Andrea (andreareadsalot) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this is one that I am going to be thinking about for a long long time. The setup was excellent but the twist at the end really makes me wonder. This is one that can be left to interpretation of the reader. I need someone to read it so we can theorize together!! The ending is not completely clear but the impliimplication is mind blowing.

Plot: A lawyer, a pastor and a doctor sit on a train and reminisce about a mysterious case of the past. That case is not what it seems.

Overall rating: 4.25/5.

TW: multi personality disorder, suicide, death, mental illness

[Emily Weigel · Rating 3 out of 5]

The most confusing Christie short story I’ve read, to be honest. I believe I understand what she’s insinuating, but no one came right out and said one thing or another. Worth reading, but not my favorite.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

A group of men sitting on a train discussing the case of felicie bault, a French Girl’s death who had multiple personalities. This story is overheard by a fourth passenger, a doctor, who knew the individual in question.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my first time reading Agatha Christie. Although the story is short and open-ended, it made me think—which is the whole point, after all. I expected a scientific approach, but I enjoyed the supernatural touch.

[Annette]

Entretenido, y me identifiqué con Annette por el nombre, pero más con Felisa por sus múltiples personalidades independientes!

[Barbara Nutting · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read 2020

[Daphne99 · Rating 3 out of 5]

*3,5 Leuk kort verhaal