The Mind Creative FEB 2014
Years later, the affair took a bizarre turn.
Christie was said to have spent a lot of her time in the 1920's and
30's at the Pera Palas Hotel in Istanbul, where in Room 411, she
wrote Murder on the Orient Express in room 411. The room is
preserved to this day as a tribute to her genius.
During the preparation for the movie Agatha (1979), at the behest
of the studios, the renowned psychic, Tamara Rand, agreed to hold
a séance in Room 411. Rand claims that during the séance, she
witnessed Christie hide a key under the floorboards in her room.
Apparently, some workers tore up the floorboards and found a
small, rusty key. The press was ecstatic about the potential of the
discovery when Rand claimed that this key would open Christie's
diary and would reveal the secret to her disappearance. However,
the hotel management and the movie studio could not reach an
agreement on the price to be paid for the key and the key never
actually left the premises of the hotel. Another key numbered 411
was later found in another room in the Pera Palas in 1987, adding
further confusion to this mystery.
I”I married an archaeologist because the older I grow,
the more he appreciates me” - Agatha Christie
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