Literature / Why Didn't They Ask Evans?

Why Didn't They Ask Evans? is a 1934 mystery novel by Agatha Christie.

Bobby Jones, son of the vicar in the fictional Welsh seaside town of Marchbolt, is out golfing one day. He hears a cry while out on the golf course, goes to investigate, and finds that a man has fallen off the cliff by the ocean. The man is at the point of death when he snaps back to consciousness, looks Bobby in the eye, and says "Why didn't they ask Evans?".

The dead man's sister, a Mrs. Amelia Cayman, shows up in town and identifies him as one Alex Pritchard. An inquest is held and a quick verdict of accidental death is returned. That might have been that, except that Bobby, his conscience niggling at him, calls Mrs. Cayman and tells him about her brother's odd last words. Soon after, someone tries to poison Bobby. As Bobby is discussing these events with his friend Lady Frances "Frankie" Derwent, daughter of the local earl, he sees a picture of Mrs. Cayman and realizes that she is not the dead man's sister—her face doesn't match the one on the photo Bobby found in the dead man's pocket. Bobby and Frankie elect to become Amateur Sleuths and investigate the mystery. They discover a complicated plot involving impersonations, forged documents, drugs, and murder.

The story was Adapted into an episode of ITV's Marple (adding the titular character to the narrative) and as a more faithful TV Miniseries in 2022 which starred Will Poulter and Lucy Boynton and was written and directed by Hugh Laurie.

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Tropes featured in the book and adaptions:

• Almost Dead Guy: Bobby finds a dying man who manages to croak out the title question before he expires. This kick-starts the plot as Bobby and Frankie try and solve the mystery.
• Amateur Sleuth: Two of them, as Bobby and Frankie team up to solve the mystery of who fell off the cliff and why.
• Ask a Stupid Question...: A boy comes across a scene with a wrecked car whose front-end is smashed into a stone wall with an injured woman—Lady Frances—hanging halfway out of the car. The boy asks, "Has there been an accident?" prompting Dr. Arbuthnot, Frankie's friend, to say "No, the lady ran her car into the wall on purpose." Though as a matter of fact, the lady did run her car into the wall on purpose.
  • Gender-Inverted Trope later. After Bobby leaves the hospital still in his scrubs, Frankie gives him a lift so the two can properly discuss matters. He takes the opportunity to change back into his clothes in the backseat, whilst Frankie (now in the front) gives him more than a casual glance in the rear-view mirror. This does not escape the attention of the same chauffeur, with her calmly but sheepishly telling him to "do as I say, not as I do."
• Chekhov's Gun: Sylvia says that when she met Alan Carstairs he was in the company of John Savage, a millionaire who later killed himself. It turns out that's why Carstairs was killed: he didn't believe the suicide story and was investigating his old friend's death.
  • Also, earlobes.
• Childhood Friend Romance: When Bobby was little he used to be invited to the Derwent estate to play with Lady Frances. They still have warm feelings for each other but Bobby is now acutely aware of the social gap between an earl's daughter and the son of a vicar.
• Comically Cross-Eyed: Bobby's goofball friend Badger, who wants Bobby to be his partner in a garage business, has eyes with "a distinct disinclination to look in the same direction."
• Contrived Coincidence: Apparently Roger was quick-thinking enough to use the sound of a random airplane passing overhead, to mask the sound of him shooting his brother Henry.
• Crash in Through the Ceiling: Badger accidentally falls through a skylight.
• Dramatic Irony: Bobby is marked for death by the conspirators because they think He Knows Too Much, when in fact he doesn't know anything at all.
• Double Entendre: A possible inadvertent one when Rev. Jones announces that his son Bobby is engaged: Does he mean that Bobby has made a promise of marriage, or that Bobby is getting busy with a girl?
• Epilogue Letter: The next-to-last chapter is a long letter from Roger, who has escaped to South America, to Frankie, which explains all, and fills in some details regarding the criminal deeds.
• Establishing Character Moment: Bobby's first scene has him going to a dying man's aid and then rushing off because he promised to play for the church service, reflecting his kind nature and tendency to put honour before reason.
• Fake Gunshot: Roger shoots Henry while the sound of an overhead plane masks the gunshot. Then he rigs up a squib to go off a few minutes later, after he's rejoined Frankie outside.
• The Flapper: Frankie is the British version of this, an active and clever young woman of leisure who enjoys driving fast and living independently.
• Forging the Will: Roger and Moira pulled this in the backstory, forging a will for John Savage and then murdering him. This is what put Alan Carstairs on their trail.
• Green-Eyed Monster: Played both ways, with Frankie getting jealous of Bobby's protectiveness over Moira and Bobby getting jealous of Frankie's affection for Roger. They snipe at each other about it before finally getting together. And also discovering Moira and Roger are both murderers.
• He Knows Too Much: Bobby Jones witnessed the death of a man who stumbled and fell off a cliff, then tells a woman claiming to be the man's sister that his last words were "Why didn't they ask Evans?" This is enough to convince the conspirators that Bobby has to be killed, which is in turn enough to convince Bobby that the man was murdered, "Evans" knows something important, and he should investigate...
• Hidden Depths: Frankie is quite a bit smarter that one might expect of a young daughter of the aristocracy, managing to figure out most of the plot herself, to the point that Bobby is almost reduced to a Decoy Protagonist.
• Honest John's Dealership: Apparently what Badger means to start up with a garage business. When Badger tries to sell Frankie an old Chrysler that's a "r-r-r-remarkably good value," Bobby interrupts and says "No, not that one. Whatever she buys has to go at least forty miles."
• Inheritance Murder: Why Roger kills his brother Henry, for the family fortune.
  • Zigzagged, in that John Savage is killed for his inheritance, but his will was forged.
  • Lampshaded when Frankie changes her will to leave everything to Bobby, and Bobby snarks that now he'll be blamed if she's killed.
• Interclass Romance: Bobby and Frankie obviously have feelings for each other but he pushes her away because she's of the nobility and he's middle class which pisses Frankie off.
• Karma Houdini: Moira is caught, but her partner in crime Roger, who did the actual murdering, escapes to South America. He even writes Frankie an Epilogue Letter. This is fixed in the series, where he's also arrested and instead Frankie and Bobby talk to him in prison.
• Laser-Guided Karma: Bobby refuses a once-in-a-lifetime job offer because he'd already promised to start a car dealership with Badger. The job offer turned out to be a ploy to kill him off, meaning his loyalty saved his life.
• Last-Minute Hookup: After all the flirting and jealousy and sexual tension, Bobby and Lady Frances declare their love for each other and kiss right at the very end of the last chapter.
• Last Words: The last words of a dying stranger drive the mystery of the book.
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall:
  • Puzzling about how she and Bobby have gotten mixed up in a mystery, Frankie says, "Isn't it odd? We seem, somehow, to have got in between the covers of a book. We're in the middle of someone else's story."
  • After she and Bobby have been tied up and locked away by Roger, Frankie says, "In books there's always an eleventh-hour rescue." Just a few pages later Badger comes crashing through the skylight.
• Leave the Two Lovebirds Alone: Rev. Jones accidentally leads a group of people into the room where Frankie and Bobby are kissing, and immediately shuts the door and announces that his son is engaged.
• Make It Look Like an Accident: The book opens with Alan Carstairs taking a bad step in the fog at the Marchbolt golf course and falling off a cliff. He was pushed by Roger.
  • Moira Nicholson claims that her husband tried to hit her with a car, then claimed it was an accident. She's lying
  • After Bobby and Frankie are captured, Roger says they will soon have an 'accident', their car making a wrong turn and falling into a quarry.
• Morally Ambiguous Doctorate: Dr. Nicholson runs a treatment home for drug addicts, which apparently involves confining them against their will and forcing them to go cold turkey. The only evidence we have of this is Moira Nicholson, who is playing her own game
• Named Like My Name: Lampshaded In-Universe. The first page portrays Bobby Jones out playing golf. Then after Mr. Jones slices the ball off into the rough, the narration clarifies that it is not Bobby Jones the (Real Life) world-famous golfer, but a different Bobby Jones, son of the local vicar.
• Narrative Profanity Filter: Combined with Have a Gay Old Time. When Bobby hits his golf ball into the bunker, he utters "a decidedly profane ejaculation."
• Never Suicide
  • Henry Bassington-ffrench didn't shoot himself; it was actually a clever murder by his brother Roger, who forged a suicide note.
  • And in the backstory Roger and Moira pulled the same scam with John Savage, which is what Alan Carstairs was investigating when they killed him too.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: The conspirators never seem to make any attempt to ascertain just how much Bobby knows; in fact, he knows nothing. But the attempts to get him out of the way convince him that something fishy is going on, and he determines to find out.
• Questioning Title?: Why Didn't They Ask Evans?
• Samus Is a Girl: Bobby and Frankie spend the whole book wondering who Evans is, only to find out that Evans was the Jones's parlormaid.
• Sarcastic Confession: Lady Frances with the help of her friend Dr. Arbuthnot, decides to fake a car wreck in order to gain entrance to what she believes is the murderer's house. The results in the following exchange:
  Passerby: I say, has there been an accident?
  Dr. Arbuthnot: No, the lady ran her car into the wall on purpose.
• Shout-Out: When Frankie is wondering if maybe Bobby saw some identifying feature of the dead man, Bobby says to her "Your mind is running on Dr. Thorndyke, I see."
• Spirited Young Lady: Frankie can play the part of proper Lady Frances Derwent when needed, but she'd much rather be zooming around in her car and solving crimes with the vicar's son.
• Stutter Stop: If being Comically Cross-Eyed didn't already mark Badger as silly, he has a stutter. Frankie finds it irritating.
  "I always was a p-p-putrid r-r-r-r-rider," said Badger. "I s-s-s-still am."
• Tampering with Food and Drink: Seems to be a regular thing with Moira Nicholson: First Bobby's beer bottle, then it's implied that she drugged Bobby and Frankie's coffee at the cafe.
• Title Drop: The title is the last utterance by the Almost Dead Guy that Bobby finds dying at the base of a cliff.
• Unexpected Inheritance: John Savage leaves most of his estate to Rose Templeton, a woman he only met a few months before which is seen as out of character. It turns out to be a case of Forging the Will.
  • Also discussed when Frankie changes her will to leave everything to Bobby, which would be viewed as highly unorthodox and indicates how serious her feelings for him are.
• Unresolved Sexual Tension: Between Frankie and Bobby. Frankie seems much more willing to turn it into resolved sexual tension, but Bobby holds back due to the class division between them. They get married in the end.
• Wham Line: How the mystery of who Evans is, is finally revealed. Bobby and Frankie, in the course of investigating, find themselves looking into the will of a man who'd committed suicide several months prior. Frankie wants to know why the man had the gardener called in to witness the will, when there was a parlormaid in the house who could have done just as well:

  Frankie: Why didn't they ask the parlormaid?
  Bobby: Funny you should ask that...The parlormaid's name was Evans.

• Wounded Gazelle Gambit: Moira Nicholson intentionally injects herself with morphia, to make it seem like her husband was holding her against her will.
• You Meddling Kids: A good part of the Epilogue Letter consists of this.

Tropes specific to the 2022 miniseries:

• Adaptational Expansion: This adaption greater weight to Bobby's time in the Navy, including that he rose to the rank of lieutenant, saved Knocker's life when they served together, and is generally more impacted by the experience.
• Adaptational Explanation:
  • In the book, Bobby survives his poisoning attempt due to an unexplained medical miracle, while in the series he gets sick manning a carnival ride and vomits up the poison.
  • Originally Roger Bassington-ffrench disguised shooting Henry during a convenient overhead plane - here the house has regular shots going off to scare the birds which provides a more plausible and premeditated cover.
• Adaptational Karma: Roger Bassington-ffrench escapes in the original book but is caught and imprisoned here.
• Adaptation Name Change: Bobby's friend and business partner Beadon goes by "Knocker" instead of "Badger."
• Adapted Out: Bobby's three older brothers are omitted, emphasising his relationship with his father.
• Backseat Changing Room: Occurs twice.
  • Frankie leaves the hospital where Bobby is recovering and gets changed in the back of a car driven by her family's long-suffering chauffeur. Unfortunately for Bobby, the clothes she changed out of were "borrowed" from him. As Frankie gets changed, she calmly admonishes the chauffeur for consulting the rearview more often than necessary.
• Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: Moira, Frankie, and Sylvia.
• Cerebus Callback: Early on, Bobby and Frankie are annoyed with the titular question and agree people's Last Words should be nice, firm statements. When they're imprisoned by Roger, they prepare to exchange their own final statements with each other.
  Bobby: "No questions, agreed? A statement."
  Frankie: "Definitely a statement. You first."
• Costume Porn: Frankie wears a selection of gorgeous 1930's outfits, from formal wear to biker jackets.
• Dying Declaration of Love / Interrupted Declaration of Love: Bobby finally confesses his feelings for Frankie when they're about to be killed by Roger. Then Knocker bursts in.
  Bobby: "Frankie, for as long as I've known you - " (Knocker falls through the window)
• Establishing Character Moment: Frankie is introduced scolding Bobby for using her childhood nickname, before revealing that she was teasing and using his own nickname in turn - establishing her as fun-loving, and unbothered by airs and graces.
• Gallows Humour: When facing certain death, Bobby and Frankie comfort each other by joking that they'd be saved if only Roger knew they were too stupid to ever solve the mystery.
  Bobby: [to Roger] "You zap me with 50,000 volts until I can't remember my own name or your name, more to the point."
  Frankie: [laughing] "Except you don't need 50,000 volts with brains like ours. Five ought to do it."
• Good-Looking Privates: Frankie recalls Bobby looked "dreamy" in his navy uniform and also admires him in the chauffeur get-up.
• Interclass Romance: Highlighted in this version with Bobby almost being run over by Frankie's snobbish cousin and having to serve her aristocratic friends at the carnival.
• Nice to the Waiter: Frankie is good friends with her chauffeur, and happily gallivants around with used car salesmen Bobby and Knocker.
• She Is All Grown Up: Bobby has this reaction when he sees Frankie again, although he also had a crush on her when they were younger.
• Shipper on Deck: Knocker for Bobby/Frankie, teasingly calling Frankie "your girl" despite Bobby's protests. Hilariously, Roger Bassington-ffrench is a fan as well - taking the time in their final conversation (while he's in prison no less) to ask when the pair are getting married.
• Snark-to-Snark Combat: Frankie and Bobby throughout the mystery solving.
• Spoiled Sweet: Despite being the daughter of a lord, Frankie is down-to-earth and friendly with everyone. Lampshaded when Moira calls her an "entitled arrogant bitch", and Frankie hits back that she's literally entitled but won't accept the other insults.
• Watching the Reflection Undress:
  • Frankie leaves the hospital where Bobby is recovering and gets changed in the back of a car driven by her family's long-suffering chauffeur. Unfortunately for Bobby, the clothes she changed out of were "borrowed" from him. As Frankie gets changed, she calmly admonishes the chauffeur for consulting the rearview more often than necessary.
  • Later, after Bobby leaves the hospital still in his scrubs, Frankie gives him a lift so the two can properly discuss matters. He takes the opportunity to change back into his clothes in the backseat, whilst Frankie (now in the front) gives him more than a casual glance in the rear-view mirror. This does not escape the attention of the same chauffeur, with her calmly but sheepishly telling him to "Do as I say, not as I do."