Poisoning + Science + Murder = #DIYSciFilm
Gather round, mes amis, and prepare to exercise your little grey cells with this recap of July’s #DIYSciFilm event–in which our DIY Science Zone experts apply their chemistry smarts to the 1990 TV adaptation of Agatha Christie’s The Mysterious Affair at Styles.
Recovering from the horrors of World War I, British Army officer Arthur Hastings hopes to find peace and quiet at a country manor in the English countryside. But when the matriarch dies during the night from strychnine poisoning, Hastings enlists the help of an old friend staying nearby with other war refugees to help solve the murder: former Belgian police detective Hercule Poirot.
DIY Scientists Torrey Stenmark and Raychelle Burks are both chemists and murder mystery fans, and their interest was piqued by the poisoning storyline. They had cause for confidence in the scientific accuracy of what they were about to watch:
Agatha Christie worked as a dispenser during both World Wars. Her knowledge of poisons was first hand. #diyscifilm
— Kathryn Harkup (@RotwangsRobot) July 24, 2015
Things were off to a simmeringly suspicious start with awkward dinner scenes, questionable husbands, an abundance of redheads, and insinuations of murder at every turn.
#DIYSciFilm “How do you do?” “Very suspiciously, thank you. And you?” — Jason Thibeault (@lousycanuck) July 24, 2015
Watch out for hospital workers. People in the medical profession are the most likely murderers in #AgathaChristie stories. #diyscifilm — Kathryn Harkup (@RotwangsRobot) July 24, 2015
“There are probably countless poisonings that go undiscovered.” I wonder how true that is or ever was? #DIYSciFilm — Social Justice Bard (@vixy) July 24, 2015
#DIYSciFilm “There was a murder. I was a suspect for a time because I used the same weapon.” “How dreadful.” “Why? I didn’t get caught.” — Jason Thibeault (@lousycanuck) July 24, 2015
Not content to stick to science, the livetweeters also delved into the interesting historical notes and talking points provided by the show, which was based on Christie’s first novel, published in 1920. For us, the story is a period piece, but when it was written it was steeped in current and recent events, some of them very real and personal to Christie:
Belgian refuges were stationed near where Agatha Christie lived during WWI. #diyscifilm — Kathryn Harkup (@RotwangsRobot) July 24, 2015
Tennis really was played on grass. I’m not sure how well the balls bounced… #DIYSciFilm — Social Justice Bard (@vixy) July 24, 2015
“Land girls” – also a thing in England during war. Not enough men to work the fields, so… #DIYSciFilm — Social Justice Bard (@vixy) July 24, 2015
Wounded soldiers, some of them… RT @Chemjobber: Always seems like people walking with sticks a lot in shows like this. #diyscifilm — Social Justice Bard (@vixy) July 24, 2015
The pacing of murder mysteries was also a bit different back in those days, unlike modern dramas that reveal the corpse in the cold open.
#DIYSciFilm So with Poirot, is half of the show waiting to see WHO gets murdered, then sorting the clues relevant to that person afterward? — Jason Thibeault (@lousycanuck) July 24, 2015
Then, 30+ minutes in, strychnine strikes! It’s the go-to poison of many discerning writers over the years, plus George R. R. Martin. [Insert rimshot here.]
Strychnine poisoning. When you want someone to suffer. #DIYscifilm (some people deserve it, tho http://t.co/RgPjnXSAVn) — Raychelle Burks (@DrRubidium) July 24, 2015
The livetweeters gave the poisoning portrayal some mixed reviews:
Convulsions – 9/10 for effort 4/10 for accuracy. Arms and legs should be stretched out. Arching of the back. Eyes bulging. #diyscifilm — Kathryn Harkup (@RotwangsRobot) July 24, 2015
Yes, convulsions, break, convulsions. Most people survived 2-5 attacks before suffocation. #DIYscifilm https://t.co/N5IQIBVmdE — Kathryn Harkup (@RotwangsRobot) July 24, 2015
Kathryn Harkup, in addition to being a science communicator and chemist, is the author of Author of A is for Arsenic: The Poisons of Agatha Christie (out this September). Kathryn dropped some strychnine knowledge:
A lethal dose of strychnine is about 100mg but 30mg has killed. 1 grain = 63mg #diyscifilm — Kathryn Harkup (@RotwangsRobot) July 24, 2015
Strychnine could be bought easily in 1920s England. It was in tonics and pesticides. #diyscifilm — Kathryn Harkup (@RotwangsRobot) July 24, 2015
Poison books were introduced in the 1850s to try and keep track of sales of lethal substances. #diyscifilm — Kathryn Harkup (@RotwangsRobot) July 24, 2015
It can be extracted from stomach contents and human tissue using the Stas method (available since 1850). #DIYscifilm https://t.co/trMXTMe7fz — Kathryn Harkup (@RotwangsRobot) July 24, 2015
The mystery’s solution hinges on a chemical property that delays the effect of the strychnine–the kind of tricksy twist that Agatha Christie loved. (And her non-pharmaceutical-dispenser readers like me hated–I never had a hope of figuring out howdunnit!) Kathryn Harkup broke it down for us in the livetweet:
Brace yourselves. Here comes the science bit. #diyscifilm — Kathryn Harkup (@RotwangsRobot) July 24, 2015
Bromide added to strychnine tonic does cause precipitation and the last dose could be fatal. This has happened in real life.#diyscifilm — Kathryn Harkup (@RotwangsRobot) July 24, 2015
‘The Art of Dispensing’, which #AgathaChristie studied, describes the problems of adding bromide to strychnine tonics. #diyscifilm — Kathryn Harkup (@RotwangsRobot) July 24, 2015
The delay in action of the strychnine is not explained in the film. In the book it is due to morphine added to the cocoa. #diyscifilm — Kathryn Harkup (@RotwangsRobot) July 24, 2015
Morphine slows the muscles of the gut delaying emptying of stomach. Strychnine can’t be absorbed from the stomach, only the gut. #diyscifilm — Kathryn Harkup (@RotwangsRobot) July 24, 2015
I wanted to capture the fashion commentary, but there was just too much to embed it all! Highlights include Poirot’s “exquisite patent leather pointy toe shoes,” Evie’s “sensible shoes,” the point at which we reached “critical mass of tweed,” and drooling over Poirot’s “exquisite leather case of chemicals and tools” and purple writing case. (What? Those are totally accessories!)
All in all, it was a great evening. We learned a little history, we learned a little chemistry/biology, and we were wowed by one Belgian detective’s ridiculous waxed mustache.
[thermometer height=250 raised=940 target=6000]Follow Torrey Stenmark (@tereshkova2001) and Raychelle Burks (@DrRubidium) for the next #DIYSciFilm livetweet event. Or, if you can’t wait that long, join Jason Thibeault (@lousycanuck) on Saturday at 8pm Central time/6pm Pacific, when he livetweets his adventures with Britney Spears’ 2002 movie Crossroads, which he’s watching as his Act of Whimsy in celebration of the fact that our DIY Science Zone fundraiser has passed $500–and don’t forget to donate to the Zone!