Posted by Jon on June 22, 1999 at 15:02:06 from 199.158.80.11:
In Reply to: Re: The Big Six - or Four posted by David Brooks on June 22, 1999 at 14:07:18:
In context, it's clear that Dorothea's referring to (fictitious?) Scotland Yard detectives. I haven't been able to turn up any references to an actual "Big Five" in Scotland Yard. Anyone else know of one, or a possible reason for having one (5 Detective Superintendants or some other level of the organization?). Unless we proceed with the assumption (espoused tongue-in-cheek a while ago here) that the children in the stories were all hardened criminals? I haven't read The Big Four recently (more like in the past 20 years!), but isn't it possible that Christie was also playing off a generally-known "Big Five" in Scotland Yard.