In Search of an Author: On the Track of Agatha Christie
In a hot, airless little room in Bulawayo, an elderly man rummages through disintegrating brown envelopes and rusty files. Faint labels carry captions such as: ‘Railway Staff 1932-33’ and ‘Wages March 1952’. There are dusty black and white photographs on the wall of men in dark suits and hats. Unsmiling, they all look alarmingly similar with their handle-bar moustaches and their arms crossed resolutely across their chests. ‘No. I thought I might have something, but no.’ He reluctantly admits defeat, so convinced was he that he might be able to help me in my search. I am in the archives of the Railway Museum in Bulawayo. The buildings themselves are run down and we are surrounded by the great hulks of rusting train carcasses. The museum, now a separate entity from the National Railways of Zimbabwe, is run by a couple of train enthusiasts, who are extremely kn...