One of Agatha Christie’s most beloved detectives is Jane Marple, an elderly spinster who spent her entire life in the quiet little village of St. Mary Mead. She frequently solved murders because she recognized parallel behaviors between the principals involved in the case and people that she had known from her village.

Using this basic approach, here is what I recognized while watching the Senate Judiciary Committee this past week taking testimony from Christine Blasey Ford and from Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, regarding incidents that allegedly transpired when both were in high school (Ford then being 15, Kavanaugh 17):

1. Dr. Ford is a truth-teller by nature. I know such people when I encounter them. She reminds me of Kathy.
2. Judge Kavanaugh unwittingly confirmed the outlines of Dr. Ford’s declarations by demonstrating the very same m.o. with the Democratic Senators: In order to keep anyone from telling on him, Judge Kavanaugh starts out by turning the volume up LOUD–to drown out those voices. Then, is there any who believe that, were it physically possible and neither a felony nor career suicide, Kavanaugh would not have willingly placed his hand over every single one of their mouths until they gave up their struggle against his getting what he wants? He reminds me of Jack.
3. Senator Flake turned out to be Mark Judge Redux. Sometimes seemingly sympathetic to Dr. Ford, sometimes cheering Judge Kavanaugh on, Flake actually ended up jumping on the bed himself–thereby finally allowing the door to be opened (in this case, for FBI investigations). Senator Flake reminds me of Jessica.
4. Someone(s) in his past severely hurt and quite possibly sexually assaulted Lindsay Graham. His need for denial is so palpably strong, so visceral, that it brings to mind other males I have encountered who have invested much of their emotional lives as adults into suppressing and denying their own damaged pasts. His was not simply an audition for the post of Attorney-General, nor was it impassioned indignation. It was a scream for everyone to STOP MAKING A BIG DEAL about this STUFF-THAT-NEVER-HAPPENED, accompanied by tragically feckless threats about how he was going to MAKE EVERYONE PAY (for what-never-happened). He reminds me of Michael.

As was so often the case with Miss Marple, the challenge is whether we can act in time to prevent another tragedy from occurring.