Caroline Horst Engelsk A Fredag d.

3 Oktober

THREE IS A LUCKY NUMBER

The short story “Three is a lucky number” written by Margery Allingham is told from a 3 rd
person narrators view with insight in the main characters thoughts and considerations.
Ronald Frederick Torbay is the name of the main character and he is a cold-blooded killer.
He currently lives on a long suburban street with his third wife Edyth.
Ronald is a very intelligent man. He is capable of almost everything and he sees to that
everything is done perfectly down to the tiniest detail. He is aware of his cleverness and that
he is wiser than most human beings. As his career in homicide is improving he is determined
to keep a tight hold on himself so the success won’t go to his head.

Besides the fact that he is aware of how smart he is, Ronald doesn’t think very highly of his
own looks.
“That narrow slip, quite straight, was almost lipless and, unconsciously, he persuaded it to relax
into a half smile. Even Ronald Torbay did not like his own mouth.” (S.88, Ll.19-20)
The fact that he thinks the world of his own intelligence but don’t like his face is telling us that
he doesn’t care much about his looks. He is not the kind of man whom women are drawn to.
That is why he is aiming for middle-aged single women with low self-esteem whom are
desperately looking for love.

Because of his “mastermind” he thinks of the murdering as a job and of his wives as subjects.
“ He always thought of his wives as “subjects”.” (S. 90, Ll.8-9)
Ronald sees the wives as subjects to keep a distance from getting emotionally involved. He
needs to have his head in the game and therefor any feelings can’t occur. Emotions will only
make his so-called career difficult for him.
When he chooses a subject he works very carefully. He is certain to get their attention and
make them feel special.
“Ronald was careful not to let her toes touch the ground. He devoted his entire attention to
her…” (S.90, Ll31-32)
When Ronald is choosing to provide a desperate woman with extra attention and lots of love
they will quickly fall in love with him. They will feel blessed and happy to have met such a
lovely and caring man and they will be easy to manipulate into everything he ask them to.

Ronald has been getting away with two murders on two different women. He feels certain
arrogance about his doings and with his experience in killing he is confident with the third
homicide he is about to commit. However Edyth is showing a bit of cautiousness concerning
her business papers. She is acting strange; asking weird questions, and refuse to discuss her
paper work with Ronald. This is making Ronald very leery.
“Ronald had given up feeling angry with her and decided to act” (S. 91, Ll. 27-28)
When Ronald feels the tiniest bit of resistance he needs to act quickly. Edyth is being annoying
and difficult to manipulate and therefor must she die now.

Edyth is on the other hand a very love giving and kind person, at first she doesn’t suspect
Ronald and she certainly don’t want to believe the horrifying truth. However when the facts
have been put on the table she is willing to do something about it. From Ronald point of view
you get the idea of Edyth being a naïve and gullible housewife just as stupid as any other

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Caroline Horst Engelsk A Fredag d. 3 Oktober

woman. However Edyth shows a great courage and vigour in the letter she writes to Ronald in
the end.
“For a long time I have been hoping that it might not be necessary to write it but now your
behaviour has forced me to face some very unpleasant possibilities. “ (S.97, Ll. 10-12)
Edyth is very intelligent and brave, and further on in the letter she describes how she for long
have been planning this and how she was willing to stay put as a decoy.
“ That is why I am forcing myself to be brave and to play my part….” (S. 98, Ll.18-19)
She has outsmarted Ronald and that can make you come to doubt on how intelligent he really
is.

This is clearly a crime story about committing a crime but as the reader you don’t feel any
sympathy with Ronald and you definitely don’t wish for him to succeed. This is very different
from “Lamb to the slaughter” because you wish for the main character Mary to cover up the
murder of her husband.
Whether to call it a hardboiled crime or not depends very much on how you imagine the
setting to be. Ronald is a character that is perfect for the hardboiled genre, but however the
suburban road doesn’t fit in. It is the best of both crime fiction-worlds.