The Witness for the Prosecution


"The Witness for the Prosecution" is a short story and play by British author Agatha Christie. The story was initially published as "Traitor's Hands" in Flynn's, a weekly pulp magazine, in the edition of 31 January 1925.
In 1933, the story was published for the first time as "The Witness for the Prosecution" in the collection The Hound of Death that appeared only in the United Kingdom. In 1948, it was published in the United States under that title in the collection Witness for the Prosecution and Other Stories. The story has been adapted for stage, film and television.

Plot

Leonard Vole is arrested for the murder of Emily French, a wealthy old woman. Unaware that he was a married man, Miss French made him her principal heir, casting suspicion on Leonard. When his wife, Romaine, agrees to testify, she does so not in Leonard's defence but as a witness for the prosecution. Romaine's decision is part of a complicated plan to free her husband. Instead of testifying for his defence she first gives the prosecution its strongest evidence, then fabricates new evidence that discredits her testimony, believing that her impeachment as an unfaithful wife would improve Leonard's chances of acquittal far more than her testimony for the defence. The plan works and he is acquitted. It is then revealed that Leonard Vole actually did kill Emily French.

Alterations

The original short story ended abruptly with the major twist—Romaine's revelation that Leonard Vole was in fact guilty. Over time, Christie grew dissatisfied with this abrupt and dystopian ending, which would have had to be sanitised in any event for stage and film versions where such a brutal crime going unpunished would have been unthinkable at the time.
In her subsequent rewriting of the story as a play she added a young mistress for Leonard, who does not appear until the end of the play. The mistress and Leonard are about to leave Romaine to be arrested for perjury, when Romaine grabs a knife, and stabs and kills Leonard. She will be defended by the same attorney she tricked into getting Leonard acquitted in the first place. This remained the standard production format until Sarah Phelps' 2016 television version, which restored the original ending but changed the fates of other characters.

Characters (play)

  • Leonard Vole, the accused
  • Emily French, the victim
  • Janet Mackenzie, Emily French's maid
  • Romaine Heilger/Vole, "wife" of the accused
  • Mr Mayhew / Mayherne, the solicitor of the accused
  • Sir Wilfrid Robarts, QC, senior counsel of the accused
  • Mr Myers, QC, the Crown prosecutor
  • Mr Justice Wainwright, the judge
  • Inspector Hearne, the arresting officer
  • Greta, Sir Wilfrid's typist
  • Carter, Sir Wilfrid's clerk

Publishing history

In other media

Theatre

Witness for the Prosecution was adapted as a play by Agatha Christie. The play opened in London on 28 October 1953 at the Winter Garden Theatre, produced by Peter Saunders, and directed by Wallace Douglas. The premiere cast included Derek Blomfield as Leonard Vole, Patricia Jessel as Romaine Vole, and David Horne as Sir Wilfrid Robarts.
  • The play opened on Broadway on 16 December 1954.
  • 2002 Свидетель обвинения
  • 2005 Khara Sangaycha Tar
  • 2011 Witness for the Prosecution
  • 2017 A unique courtroom staging opened at London County Hall to critical acclaim, directed by Lucy Bailey and produced by Eleanor Lloyd Productions and Rebecca Stafford Productions
  • 2018 "奪命証人" Witness for the Prosecution by Carina Lau, Paul Chun Pui and Tse Kwan Ho
  • 2018 Tomar Kono Satyo Nei
  • 2024 Pieter Toerien presents Agatha Christie’s Witness for the Prosecution starring Graham Hopkins, Sharon Spiegel Wagner, Mike Huff, Peter Terry, Craig Jackson, Brett Kruger, Dianne Simpson, Matthew Lotter, Micah Stojakovic and Jordan Soares

Film

Television