Tommy Beresford's Secret To Success

10 Downing St
The Home of the British Prime Minister

Agatha Christie's description of Tommy Beresford is anything but complimentary. His bared head revealed a shock of exquisitely slicked-back red hair. His face was pleasantly ugly— nondescript, yet unmistakably the face of a gentleman and a sportsman. His clothes are threadbare, and he has little money. Yet, along with her more popular creation, Hercule Poirot, Tommy would go on to have some fantastic success in solving mysteries. In fact, he and his friend Prudence "Tuppence" Cowley have such great initial success in the novel The Secret Adversary that Mr. Carter, in charge of the British Secret Service, decides to enlist their services on an unofficial basis. He will quietly bankroll their efforts, but if they get into trouble, they are on their own.

And get into trouble they do. First Tommy goes missing for days, when he is held hostage by agents of the mysterious Mr. Brown. When he returns to the Ritz Hotel, where he and Tuppence have been staying, he arrives within minutes of Tuppence going out. And, as it happens, she was lured out by a fake message, and consequently goes missing for days. So Tommy must go out and search for her. After a week of fruitless searching, he nearly gives her up, until he stumbles upon a clue that gives him hope.

So when Mr. Carter must appraise the British Prime Minister on the current status of their efforts to recover these politically damaging secret documents, who does he report on? James Bond, or one of his 00 associates? Some long-term, commissioned officer in the Secret Service? No. According to Mr. Carter, the person with the most likelihood of recapturing the secret papers, it would seem, is none other than unofficial, untrained Tommy Beresford. 

What's he like, this lad?" the Prime Minister asks. Mr. Carter responds:

"Outwardly, he's an ordinary clean-limbed, rather block-headed young Englishman. Slow in his mental processes. On the other hand, it's quite impossible to lead him astray through his imagination. He hasn't got any— so he's difficult to deceive. He worries things out slowly, and once he's got hold of anything he doesn't let go."

So there you have it: the secret to success in life, direct from Agatha Christie's pen. You don't have to be rich, or experienced, or handsome, or even particularly imaginative. You just have to think things through to the best of your ability, and never give up on what you decide to do. 

Yeah. That's not difficult at all...

Dragon Dave