The Sittaford Mystery by Agatha Christie. Short summary

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Friends gather for dinner on a winter evening and decide to have a séance. During the séance, a spirit announces that Captain Joseph Trevelyan, who lives six miles away, has just been murdered.

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One Friday Mrs. Willett of the village of Sittaford, had a group of friends over: Captain Trevelyan, Major Burnaby, Mr. Rycroft, Mr. Ronnie Garfield, and Mr. Duke. The guests decided to amuse themselves and have a séance, at which they received a message that their acquaintance Captain Trevelyan had been murdered.

Major Barnaby went to Trevelyan’s home and discovered that the murder had indeed taken place — the captain’s body lay on the floor of the house. In his will, Captain Trevelyan divided the estate equally among his four relatives: a sister and three nephews. One of the nephews, James Pearson, is arrested for murder.

Emily Trefusis, James Pearson’s fiancée, begins her own investigation. She is assisted by journalist Charles Enderby. After a long investigation Emily manages to find out that the killer is Major Barnaby. He cleverly faked an «otherworldly voice» during a séance, killed Captain Trevelyan and pretended to come later. The motive was the money he owed Capt.