4:50 from Paddington

4.50 from Paddington

Dust-jacket illustration of the first UK edition
Author	Agatha Christie
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Genre	Crime novel
Published	1957 (Collins Crime Club)
Media type	Print (hardback & paperback)
Pages	256 pp. (first edition, hardcover)
Preceded by	The Burden
Followed by	Ordeal by Innocence

4.50 from Paddington is a detective fiction novel by Agatha Christie, first published in November 1957. The 1961 film Murder, She Said was based on it. This work was also published in the United States as "What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw."

Mrs. Elspeth McGillicuddy has come from a shopping expedition to visit her old friend Jane Marple for Christmas. On the way, her train passes another train running parallel to her. Then, a blind in one of the compartments flies up and she sees a man with his back to her strangling a woman. She reports it to a ticket collector who does not believe her. When arriving at Miss Marple's cottage, she tells all to her. Mrs McGillicuddy describes the woman as having blonde hair and wearing a fur coat. Only Miss Marple believes her story as there is no evidence of wrongdoing. The first task is to ascertain where the body could have been hidden. Comparison of the facts of the murder with the train timetable and the local geography lead to the grounds of Rutherford Hall as the only possible location: it is shielded from the surrounding community, the railway abuts the grounds, and so on. Lucy Eyelesbarrow, a young professional housekeeper and an acquaintance of Miss Marple, is sent undercover to Rutherford Hall.

Josiah Crackenthorpe, purveyor of tea biscuits, built Rutherford Hall in 1884. His son, Luther, now a semi-invalid widower, had displayed spendthrift qualities in his youth. To preserve the family fortune, Josiah has left his considerable fortune in trust, the income from which is to be paid to Luther for life. After Luther's death, the capital is to be divided equally among Luther's children. Luther Crackenthorpe is merely the trustee of Rutherford Hall and hence, according to the will, cannot sell the house. The house itself will be inherited by Luther Crackenthorpe's eldest surviving son or his issue.

The eldest of Luther Crackenthorpe's children, Edmund, died during World War II. His youngest daughter, Edith ("Edie"), died four years before the novel begins, leaving a son, Alexander. The remaining heirs to the estate are Cedric, an Ibiza-based bohemian painter and lover of women; Harold, a cold and stuffy banker; Alfred, the black sheep of the family who is known to engage in shady business dealings and Emma, a spinster. Non-Crackenthorpe characters include Lucy Eyelesbarrow, Bryan Eastley (Alexander's father), James Stoddart-West (a school friend of Alexander), and local physician Dr Quimper, who looks after Luther but is secretly in love with Emma.