Afternoon Reading - Agatha Christie's Mysterious Mr Quin - The Sign in the Sky

Following the success of the first series of The Mysterious Mr Quin, Martin Jarvis reads three more stories about Agatha Christie's personal favourite character. Mr Quin assists his friend Mr Satterthwaite to investigate mysteries. But one mystery remains - who is Mr Harley Quin himself? Mr Satterthwaite, and Mr Quin discuss the outcome of a trial. Martin Wylde has been found guilty of the murder of Vivian Barnaby. Satterthwaite knew the victim and her husband Sir George, and thinks Wylde is an unlikely murderer but the evidence seems convincing. Younger than her husband, Vivian formed a relationship with Wylde, but he became anxious to end the liaison to pursue a romance with a local girl, Sylvia Dale. At trial, Wylde admitted that, in answer to her letter, he had gone to the Hall for a final meeting. He then went home, accidentally leaving his shotgun behind. The household staff heard a shot and found Vivian dead in the music room. All the evidence was highly dependent on the time-lines of everyone's story. Quin encourages Satterthwaite to visit the only member of the household who was present on the day of the murder but had not given evidence, a housekeeper who had taken up a lucrative job in Canada. She has one piece of new information. Just before she heard the shot she saw the smoke from the local train which seemed to be forming the shape of a giant hand in the sky. She felt that - given it was also Friday the 13th - it was 'a sign'. With the help of Mr Quin will Satterthwaite be able find the murderer and save a possibly innocent man? Producer: Rosalind Ayres A Jarvis & Ayres Production for BBC Radio 4.