" Good night Annie." " Good night Fi." "Oh Annie?" "Will you be going down The Bluebell tonight?" "No, not tonight, tired." " Early night?" " I wish it was early." "See you tomorrow." "...well tonight's my lucky night gentlemen." "I thank you all for turning up with your pockets full of donations to what I can assure you will be a very worthy cause." "I will raise you..." "let me see, what kind of folks do we think you've got do you have the kind of Daddy who will pay your debts?" "Lieutenant Race." "Excuse me chaps." " Race." " You must come now." "Fiona darling, I can't." "I need twenty more minutes Sweetie, it's a good night." "It's her Oolin, she's taking something from the map room..." "Twenty minutes, then you've got me for a lifetime, you won't be able to get rid of me." "She's rolling it up in her..." "Fiona, listen, twenty minutes, and then w e can celebrate." "Just wait." "Right, where were we?" " Good night." " Goodnight ma'am." "Fiona!" "Fiona come here." "Fiona!" "Fiona come here." "Fiona!" "Stop!" "Oome here." "What are you doing?" "I saw you." "I saw you take the papers." " Oome back with us." " Get away!" "Stop!" "Please!" "Stop!" "And so madam, may I ask you a question?" "You may, but I might not answer." "My mother taught me it was rude to answer a question before six o'clock in the evening." "Especially from Swedish gentlemen, Herr Hjerson." "But I'm Finnish." "I wish you would finish, I'd like to go and get myself a drink." "Do you not think that the murder of your husband " "Lipstick." "the scarlet lipstick on his collar, the Bible on his desk..." "The Good Samaritan." "...open at the page of The Good Samaritan, the word..." "Revenge..." ""Revenge" written in his blood on the blotter." "...is littered with what we call in Finnish "puna silli"?" "Red Herrings, madam." "Red Herrings." " ... is terribly suspicious in my book." " Oh, it's the vicar." "...isn't Ariadne Oliver clever." "I didn't think fiction was your thing Poirot." "Oh, mon dieu." "It is my friend Oolin." "But it has been so long." "Good evening Sir." "How does your father, my good friend Oolonel Race?" "The old man's fine." "Enjoying his retirement." "Another whiskey for my young friend, s'il vous plait." "Thank you." "Ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats." "I need your help, sir." "But of course." "I realise that this meeting it is not a coincidence." "I imagine that you sought me at my apartment and George, mon valet, told you where I could be found." "But if I may, you have the appearance of such a one who has travelled this evening a great distance." " Dover." " Ah." "Oan we talk after the final act?" "I don't want to ruin your enjoyment of the play." "No, no, no, for Poirot the play it is over." "With my dear friend Madame Oliver the puzzle it is not so intricate." "No, no, she is not in the same class as par example Ms Garry Gregson," " you are acquainted with his books?" " Of course." "Alors, let us find somewhere here to sit and you'll permit me to help you, mon ami." " There's a girl in Dover." " Ah she works in one of those s ecretarial bureaus, you know a typist place you ring in and hire a typist for an hour or whatever you want..." "And how does she call herself?" "Sheila Webb." "Are you all right?" "Ah, oui, oui." "Poirot he listens." "Anyway, yesterday a very strange thing happened to Sheila Webb." "four and six, I only got them yesterday from Jolly's and the heel's snaps off like a twig in a storm." "Sheila, have a look at this!" "Four and six from Jolly's, I strut off to lunch and the heel snaps in a grate like a twig in a storm." "Aren't you supposed to be typing up Mr Levine's manuscript Nora?" ""Naked Love", yes Miss Martindale." "Then put your shoes away and get on with "Naked Love"." "Miss Webb may I have a word?" "chiffon from her breasts and bent her over the soap" - what?" "I've had a call from a Miss Pebmarsh." "She wants a stenographer for three o'clock." "She asked for you particularly." "Have you worked for her before?" "I can't remember doing so Miss Martindale." "19 Wilbraham Orescent." "I can't remember going there." "Well it's you she asked for, for three." "Have you any other appointments?" "Oh yes Professor Purdy at 5 at the Oastle Hotel." "Oavendish Secretarial Services - one moment please." "Sheila, Miss Pebmarsh said if she's not there, the door's not latched, you're to let yourself in and wait." "Good afternoon." "How may I help you?" "So Sheila goes." "And she really doesn't recognise the place." "Wilbraham Orescent is one of those quiet streets away from the sea front, where everyone keeps themselves to themselves." "Hello?" "Miss Pebmarsh?" "Sheila Webb here from Oavendish?" "Miss Pebmarsh, if it's all right, I'm going to sit in the front room." "Is somebody here?" "Is somebody in my house?" "There's somebody in this room." "Who are you?" "Don't step on him he's dead!" "YOU'RE GOING TO STEP ON HIM!" "WHO ARE YOU!" " Please help me!" " What is it?" "He's in there, he's dead and he's dead and he's just lying there dead, stabbed on the floor." " Who's been stabbed, calm down." " In there!" " Someone's dead in there?" " Yes, please help me." "I will help you, I will help you." "Are you saying there's a dead man lying in number 19?" "Yes." " All right." "Well let's go in." " No, no, no." "Look, then let me go in." "And then I'll call the police." " She's in there too." " Who?" "Miss Pebmarsh." "Right, well sit down and breathe." " Stay here." "I will help you." " Yes." " Miss Pebmarsh?" " Who are you?" "I'm Lieutenant Race." "I was passing by." "There's a dead man behind my sofa." " How did this happen?" " I don't know." " Who is he?" " I don't know." "I live alone." "I came home from work." "There was an hysteric in the house." "She left screaming." "And I find a dead man behind the sofa." "You're very calm." "When you saw what I saw in the Great War, Lieutenant Race." "You know a dead man is not something to be scared of." "If you will invite the young hysteric in, I'll make her a cup of sweet tea." " I'll call the police." " Very good." "Who was this dead man?" "Well... it's much stranger than that Poirot." "Was he known to Mdms Sheila Webb?" "Apparently not." "No I've never seen him before Inspector." "And you're positive about that?" "Miss Martindale said to come here for three o'clock and let myself in." "And then I noticed the clocks, and I thought I might have got the wrong time, and then just before Miss Pebmarsh arrived I noticed the man lying there." "Have you worked for Miss Pebmarsh before?" "No, and that's the thing sir." "She asked for me specially, I don't know how she knew me." "Sir." "We can't find the murder weapon, there's no knife." "He's a "Mr RH Ourry." "Metropolitan and Provincial Insurance"." "I don't know him." "Stay here." "I've never heard the name Ourry, or the name of his firm." "Were you expecting any visitor today?" "No." "And I've never seen this man before." "Take him away." "Just the typist you ordered." "I didn't order a typist, what are you talking about?" "You didn't ring up the Oavendish Bureau at lunchtime today and ask for the services of Sheila Webb?" "Oertainly not." "And I've never heard of a Sheila Webb." "Where were you at lunchtime?" "I work part time at Mr Wright's photography studio on the parade." "Taking bookings." "Seeing people in." "Lunchtime can be quite busy." "And you didn't call the Oavendish Bureau?" "No, young man, I did not." "I did my shift and returned home as usual just after three." "I know I wasn't late because I heard my cuckoo clock as I approached the door." "What about your other clocks?" "Why were they all set to thirteen minutes past four?" "What "other clocks"?" "Your four other clocks in the sitting room." "There are no four other clocks in the sitting room." "Just my cuckoo clock." "Mdms Pebmarsh does she always keep unlocked her door?" "You're thinking I imagine of her neighbours?" "Oui." "They saw nothing." "On one side there's a cat lady who literally could speak of nothing else." "Tiddly-pops likes chicken, and Oopenhagen loves his kidneys - don't you Oopey?" "On the other side a brother and sister - academics." "They saw nothing at all during lunch time." "At the back of the house there's no access at all." "And Mdms Martindale?" "It wasn't Miss Pebmarsh who rang me?" "Did you take the call yourself?" "Yes, at about a quarter to two." "And I put her in the book." "These clocks." "Definitely they do not belong to Mdms Pebmarsh's?" "That's what she says." "Eh bien." "It is a puzzle." "But there is something else that puzzles Poirot." "You." "Why was Oolin Race in Wilbraham Orescent at three o'clock yesterday afternoon?" "And why do the police permit that you should ask questions during the interviews?" "And why is it that your eyes are inflamed with crying my dear friend?" "I have a commission in the Navy, but I'm..." "I'm Ml6." "Under Dover Oastle, ever since the Napoleonic wars there's been a series of tunnels." "We are in the process of turning them into a bomb-proof HQ where the Navy could police the channel from were things to come a second war with Germany." "I've been trying to locate a German mole amongst the staff, and... three nights ago I found her." "Annabel Larkin." "She was followed and she was killed." "Along with the woman I loved." "Fiona Hanbury." "Who died because I wasn't there." "Amongst Fiona's things I found this." "A crescent." "The letter M." "61." "I think it's a note as to where Fiona followed Larkin." "Where the contact was." "I checked out The Orescent pub, and the half dozen crescent roads in Dover." "Yet, and you were checking out Wilbraham Orescent at the very instant as Sheila Webb she runs out of number 19." "Yes, I was checking again, it was closest to the scene of the accident and I may sound crazy, but I don't believe it was a coincidence." "believe the man dead in Wilbraham Orescent must be connected in some way to Annabel Larkin..." "Possible." "And I don't believe what the police are thinking." "That Sheila Webb is a murderer." " I see." " She's the main suspect." "She was the one that found the body, she's the one they can place alone in the house." "I saw how scared she was when she ran out." "Help me!" "I know she's not a murderer." "I will." "I will help you." " and I will not let another girl down because I was unable to help." "Good morning Gentlemen." "between the Navy and the Police, don't you agree?" "We want to flush out what remains of this German cell in Dover." "Intelligence tells me it could well be connected with the murder of this Insurance agent in - where was it?" " Wilbraham Orescent." "That hasn't been verified yet, Admiral." "It's not Wilbraham Orescent?" "No, that he was an Insurance agent." "Inspector may I introduce you to Hercule Poirot who Lieutenant Race has requested be brought in to help this investigation." "Well I think we can..." "I've verified this with Whitehall and Scotland Yard and they tell me he is a private detective of excellent reputation, and that we're lucky to have him on board." "If that's what I have to work with, that's what I work with." "Any ideas Mr Poirot, just pop them in the pot." "Merci." "It seems that if we solve one of our problems here, we'll solve the other." "Monsieur, may I have a word?" "Admiral." "Inspector." "I remember your days from the Belgian police force Monsieur." "Or at least your reputation." " When did you leave?" " After the Great War." "Yes." "Do you know what they called this stretch of the channel during the war?" "Hellfire Oorner." "And it will be again." "Because there will be a second war Poirot." "And if Germany invades, this is where they'll come." "What was stolen the other night were the plans of our minefields between here and France." "It is essential that those plans are recovered before they leave these shores Monsieur." "If Hitler sees them then the front door of England will be wide open." "You'll find us very organised here Mr Poirot, very thorough." "Only last year we dealt with the suspicious death of a taxi driver and Scotland Yard made a point of admiring our attention to detail." "Evidence as you see is documented in a system of my own devising." "The Prime Suspect has her own board, as does the victim, where we will build up detailed profiles." "But for me the key is this diagram here, and the key phrase for my investigation is" ""Someone Will Have Seen Something"!" "Oui, c'est tres bien ca." "As you can see, from the unusual design of the street, it is actually a crescent that doubles backs on itself Mr Poirot." "Oui." "All of them knew Miss Pebmarsh had a set routine, and the house would be empty in the middle of the day." "And who lives opposite Mdms Pebmarsh at number 61?" "Mr and Mrs Bland." "A Ms Bland?" "Already that arouses my suspicious." "Oh no, no, no, he's a good man." "Built my mother-in-law a fireplace actually." "I had London run a check on him straight away, sir, he's as clean as a whistle." "And the murder weapon, it has been recovered?" "Er no, no." "And there was no sign of a struggle in the house of Mdms Pebmarsh?" "Absolutely not." "Then I would like to interview the neighbours today, if I may." "Already done." "There are the statements." "Non." "Poirot would like to ask questions of his own." "Yes." "Already done it." "I would like to ask questions of my own Inspector Hardcastle." "Of course you would." "Of course." "These are the clocks?" "Yes, and we're on the sniff to find out where and when they were purchased." "Dresden Ohina clock." "A French thing..." "Ormolu." "And the silver carriage." "Where is the fourth clock?" "There were only three clocks sir." "Unless you count the cuckoo clock." "No, no, no I do not count the cuckoo, there was a fourth clock, a travelling clock." "And on it a name. "Rosemary"." "That's right." "Don't tell me we've lost a clock, for goodness sake!" "When I boxed the evidence sir, there were definitely only three clocks in that room." "Well of course I remember the "Rosemary" clock, have the police lost it?" "Perhaps." "Perhaps it is stolen." " Why?" " I do not know Mademoiselle." "I cannot think it would be of any value." "No it was a shabby thing." "The ormolu was pretty though." "Oui, oui." "Thank you." "Non, non, non." "Merci." "I'll have them both then." "Mademoiselle, the Lieutenant Race has told to me that these last few days have been for you quite an ordeal." "Yes." "It's not the shock of seeing a dead man, that passes." "It's the terrible suspicion the police have of me now." "It's..." "Did you see that board he had up Poirot?" "He had nothing on it, no evidence, nothing." "Have you told to the police the truth in everything mademoiselle?" "Of course sir." "Then you have no need to worry." "I need to get back to work." "And so should we." "Will you be all right getting back Miss Webb?" "Yes, I'll be fine." "Thank you." "Mademoiselle?" "Do you know what means the name Rosemary?" "No." "It means "Remembrance"." "Oh." "Remembrance." " Good bye." " Au revoir." "Merci." "I saw and heard nothing on the day of the murder until I heard the girl scream." "Tiddly-pops was having one of his turns you see and I was singing to him to calm him down you seem a bit agitated yourself Monsieur shall I sing to you?" "Non, non, non, merci, Madame." "Tell to me if you please, do you have much contact with Mdms Pebmarsh?" "Oh no, no, she keeps herself to herself, and does terribly well for a blindy." "I see her pass by the window to and from the photographic studio, regular as clockwork." "I think if she were a cat she'd be one of TS Eliot's practical cats don't you?" "Oui." "Pardon, Madame, do you think I might possibly see your garden and so remove myself from here?" "Oh yes, yes, have you realised that if you write" "TS Eliot backwards it spells toilets?" "Well almost." "Oopenhagen pointed that out to me, didn't you Oopey?" "The bane of our neighbourhood..." "are the Mabbutts." "Number sixty-two." "He has girls with catapults." "In fact I heard Miss Pebmarsh have hard words with Mr Mabbutt just the other evening about their behaviour." "May I ask, was there any connection between the murdered man and Miss Pebmarsh, Lieutenant?" "I believe not." "That's unusual too." "So he just came there to be killed did he?" "Miss Pebmarsh is as quiet as a church mouse, isn't she Matthew?" "Yes." "We heard neither hide nor hair - we told the other Inspector this, I don't know why we're being asked again." "She would have left her house at eleven on the day of the murder and got back at three." "Yes, well that's her routine, I'm sure everyone knows that." "And it is during that time that Ms Ourry would have entered the house and met his death." "Tell to me if you please, before the girl screamed did you hear perhaps any sound of a struggle?" "We don't know this man, and our studies are at the back of the house Lieutenant." "We're academics you see..." "And neither my brother nor I heard anything at all during luncheon." "We like this street because it's quiet also." "Yes the only trouble we've had is that Mrs Hemmings." "The cat lady?" "She might play the scatty old dear Lieutenant, but scratch the surface and she's a poisonous old bitch believe me." "Rachel we must get back to work." "Yes." "Good day Gentlemen." " Good day Madame." " Good day." "Well it's like every other street in England." "Full of people who keep themselves to themselves while hating each other at the same time." "You should know we've had a, well I was going to say breakthrough, but actually it's the opposite." "The name Ourry has turned out to be bogus, and the Metropolitan and Provincial Insurance Oompany does not and never has existed." "There was anything else found on the dead man?" "Labels on his clothes, or a wallet?" "All the labels were cut out." "We have no idea at all who he is." "This is most extraordinary." "Oan I tag along with you for a while?" "Someone will have seen something, remember." "Yes, of course." "Eh bien, now we go en arriere, to the rear to a Monsieur and Madame Bland." "I don't recognise him no, do you Joe?" "No, I wish I did." "And we've never had anything to do with the blind lady." "You read about these murders don't you, Jack the Ripper, Brides In The Bath Smith, and you think if only I'd been there and seen something." "Stopped it in some way, or if I couldn't stop it ay least been useful to the police afterwards." "And now there's one in our neighbourhood and we just didn't look out the window at the right time did we Valerie?" "Well you'll often find there's an element of luck in police work." "Witnesses looking out of windows at the right time and..." "That's it, it's luck." "It's like falling in love, it's just lucky that you were there on that night, and she was there, and it was luck that bought you together." "And where is it that you met your husband, Madame Bland?" "Well she was an actress, weren't you?" "I was quite low at the time, and itjust so happened that Valerie was playing The Mikado in Dover weren't you?" "And we'd always go to the same pub after the show." "And I went there, just to get out the house, and, well, luck struck." "O'est formidable." "Well this is all very lovely but, if we can get back to the investigation, why weren't you working on the day of the murder?" "Oh I'm almost retired now Hardcastle." "I've still got the van just to keep my hand in, but Valerie inherited, well..." "A little bit of cash." "Well a lot actually, from her Oanadian family." "Pardon." "You are from Oanada Madame?" "Well I haven't lived there for, what is it?" "Oh well it must be nearly twenty years." "Is it twenty?" "And she lost her accent when she went to drama school." "Ah." "And with the money I don't have to work." "That's a bit of luck." "Luck again, it's everywhere." " Luck Struck." " Luck struck you see." "Although it didn't strike for this poor fellow." "It's a pity the Blands weren't murdered, don't you think?" "Or the entire neighbourhood." "That cat woman struggles for a reason to exist, if you ask me." "Pebmarsh lives in a netherworld all of her own." "And those Waterhouses are a bit too quiet, a bit too hush-hush, if you know what I mean." "No, I don't know the deceased, sorry." "I do not know what you mean, Ms Mabbutt." "I don't trust people who read or write books Monsieur Poirot." "Never have." "It's folks like that who have got the world into the mess it's in." "Were you here at lunchtime on the day of the murder?" "I was, which is unusual." "I'm often away in the week and leave everything to the nanny, my wife has passed on." "I work for Armstrong Ordnance." "We have contracts with the French," "I spend most weeks over there." "Your country is as badly prepared for war as ours is Poirot." "I'm Belgian." "Not French." " Are you now?" " Yes." "A Walloon." "Well Belgium won't last a week if it all goes belly up will it?" "Have you been visited by anyone selling insurance in the last week?" "I told your constable all this, no." "And I didn't hear sounds of a struggle or somesuch either." "Oan I show you some pictures of some clocks?" "I've left them inside, will you accompany me?" "What do I have to look at clocks for?" "To see if you recognise them sir, they're central to the murder." "Very well." "If I must." "I would get your contacts to investigate that man mon ami." "I'm on it yes, regular trips to the continent, he's normally exactly what we'd look for." "But he's helping arm the French, he's hardly pro-German." "Put a letter M on the note of Mademoiselle Fiona's it could be Mabbutt." "Mabbutt lives at number 62 Poirot, not 61." "Oui." "That is true." "I'll check on the Bland's finances as well." "Make sure they got that windfall the way they say they did, and it's not been channeled from some continental bank." "Yes." "Is that the garden of Mdms Pebmarsh?" "Are you trying to work out who killed that man?" "Oui." "Were you playing here on the day that he died mademoiselle?" "Our nanny grounded us for two days." "Kept hitting the cats," "Ah!" "So she kept us in and we missed all the fun." "Alors, you call yourself mademoiselle Jenny." "And how do you call yourself, madamoiselle?" "May." "And how do you call yourself?" "Hercule Poirot." "That's not a name it's a noise." "Alors, mademoiselle Jenny and mademoiselle May will you help Poirot?" "Merci." "I have been through this with the police already Monsieur Poirot." "Oui mademoiselle." "And I did not make that call requesting the services of Sheila Webb." "Have you ever used a secretary from the Oavendish Bureau?" "I may have lost my sight in the last fifteen years Monsieur, but I have not lost my self-sufficiency." "Have you ever had any dealings with the bureau?" "Well I know where it is on the parade, I pass it every day." "And some of the secretaries may have been in for portraits with their sweethearts, but apart from that..." "Your Ms Wright is an artist most fine." "I believe he is, yes." "One of the clocks found in your house has gone missing Miss Pebmarsh, a small travelling clock with the word Rosemary engraved on the..." "If I may, Inspector." "Mademoiselle Pedmarsh would you tell to me please your glaucoma is it hereditary or brought on by the trauma?" "I drove an ambulance in your neck of the woods during the war Monsieur, and was temporarily blinded by the blast of a shell." "I regained my sight only for it to gradually deteriorate." " My sympathies." " I don't seek sympathy, Monsieur." "Non." "Miss Martindale is this way Gentlemen, but do watch your step there's half-finished romances lying all over the place in here isn't there girls?" " Tomorrow's inquest Inspector..." " Yes." "How early would you recommend we get there?" "Only we're all terribly excited and we wouldn't want to end up with seats at the back would we Miss Martindale?" "It's not a football match Nora." "An inquest is a serious legal procedure." "Oh I know." "It's like a public hanging." "I'm sorry Gentlemen, please come in." "May I introduce Hercule Poirot." "All right." "Enchante, madamoiselle." "Merci." "I typed up a bodice ripper last year about a public hanging and it was so thrilling you wondered why they ever put a stop to them." "Yes. thank you Nora." "Miss Martindale would you again go over the events of the phone call from someone purporting to be Miss Pebmarsh." "Yes." "Yes, I was sitting here when the call came through." "I made a note in the book and then I..." "Mademoiselle?" "If I may ask, did you do the typing for Garry Gregson?" "Yes." "Yes I was his private secretary." "I set up the bureau with the money he left me after he died." "But I am a reader most admiring madamoiselle." "I still manage his estate, all of his papers are here, published and unpublished." ""Bachelors In Peril"." "Oertainly one of his best." "Oh for goodness sake." "A puzzle most intriguing, but it did not confuse Poirot." ""The Train At The Station"?" "Ah, oui, the hair of the moustache on the cocktail glass, the three pairs of shoes size six all designed to throw one off the scent, but not Hercule Poirot!" "..." "Is there any chance we can get back to the real police work here?" " How's your afternoon?" " Miserable." "Miss Martindale is as suspicious of me as the policeman." "Has your funny little friend found out who did it yet?" "But if you ask me, Pebmarsh could easily be lying about not making that phone call." "That's what I've been thinking." "The body was found in her house, she could easily have pinched that clock, whoever stole it must be connected because it's..." "What are you doing this evening?" "Avoiding people." "Yep." "Me too." "I've got to go back to the castle but after would you, do you want to avoid meeting people together?" " Yes." " Good." ""How did you become blind", "where did you fall in love"," ""what's your favourite Garry Gregson novel", what on earth have these got to do with the investigation?" " Probably nothing." " So why ask them?" " To gather information." " What information?" "Police work is facts, alibis, evidence, not gossip!" "How did any case get solved in Belgium while you were in charge?" "Through the listening, through observation." "And every case it was solved, I can assure you." "Mademoiselle." "It's been a long day, I'm sorry." "Oan I give you a lift to your hotel." "Ah oui, merci, but is there a hotel that you would recommend Inspector?" "Because I have not had the time to make a reservation and also I must telephone to George, mon valet, for my valise." "Yes I know a good one." "The Travellers." "I'll stand you a drink." " You coming?" " Oan you drop me at the castle?" "Of course." "You're in for a treat, Mr Poirot." "We'll get a missing person's campaign out on "Ourry", pictures in the paper, bobbies at the train station, the whole works," ""Someone Will Have Seen Something"" "Inspector, this bar, does it have a menu for the cocktails?" "That's the finest brew on the south coast mate - the key now is to find the identity of the murdered man." "Is this the best hotel in Dover?" "Yeah, let's line a few more of these up shall we?" "Terry?" "What are you laughing about?" "Poirot." "I left him at the Travellers Inn looking like petit fours in a chip shop." "He's trying to keep it in, but he's having forty fits about the thought of having to stay there." "It's nice to see you laugh." "Will you tell me about the girl who died." "Fiona?" "Fiona." "And then will you tell me about you?" "Sir." "Hello, is that the Oastle Hotel?" "Bon." "I wonder do you have available for a few days a suite?" "Oui." "Hercule Poirot." "Non, non, non, Hercule." "Oui." "Poir... that will do." "Merci." "I'm telling you Mr Poirot, Sheila Webb made that call to Martindale." "But there is no reason why she would." "There is no evidence, there is that, but in my gut I think once we have the evidence it will point to her." "But do you not think, as does the Admiral Hamling, that the murder is connected in some way to the theft of documents?" "Ah oui." "Merci." "A bientot." "Merci Monsieur." "No I don't, that's Navy talk, they think everything's related to the "coming war"." "There'll be no war." "But I think the man will have a link to Sheila Webb." "She arranged to meet him there and killed him." "But with what motive Inspector?" "The clocks and the four-thirteen and the Rosemary will all come back to her." "I've seen girls like that before and they're manipulative and let us see how she does under pressure at the Inquest tomorrow." "I'm adopted." "I have no-one." "I was adopted by an elderly couple who had no children of their own, and, well, they're dead now." "It's at times like this I long to have a family to go home to." "Do you have a sweetheart?" "No." " "damaged goods"." " I don't think so." "You talk of Fiona in a way I don't think anyone has ever talked of me." "That's nice." "This is nice Oolin." "Ah." "What is it?" "They've put cat muck on the mat again." "They're pigs these people." "They're pigs." "I'll get a dustpan and brush." "How do I look, is this too red, I don't want to appear a dubious character." "The Inquest will be full of plain-clothed detectives eyeing the faces of the crowd surreptitiously looking for give-away-signs, at least that's what happened in Garry Gregson's "Dusty Death"," " do you remember that Miss Martindale?" " Thank you Nora." "Yes I do." "That's how they caught the murderer." "Gave himself away with a nervous twitch." "Will you elbow me if I start twitching involuntarily Miss Martindale," "I'm worried about twitching involuntarily, it used to be a habit of my mother's." "Have you polished my new brogues Valerie?" "HAVE YOU POLISHED MY BROGUES!" "Sorry." "I do not want to miss a word of this inquest." " By the back door." " Thank you." "I don't want to go Joe." "Get your coat on." "Get it on." "Oome on girls!" "Best seats in the house." " Sheila." "It'll be all right." " Don't, don't." "What's wrong?" "It'll be fine." "They're very dry - inquests." "You just rattle the facts out." "This arrived for me this morning." "I received the call from a Miss Pebmarsh at about a quarter to two during the lunch hour." "She was most particular in requesting the services of my employee Miss Sheila Webb." "I made a note in the book and then I checked Miss Webb's other appointments for that afternoon." "Well, I wasn't the one who made the call to the Oavendish Bureau" "I assure you, I merely arrived home from work just after three o'clock and found a young lady in my front room suffering from a fit of hysterics." "She ran out of the house and then I discovered the body behind the sofa." "I spent my lunch break alone in the little cafe on the corner of the parade, and I must have got back at about quarter past two then left immediately for Wilbraham Orescent." "I entered the house, as instructed, and noticed all the clocks in the sitting room were, well they were wrong." "This threw me a little and I checked my own wristwatch and then" "I saw the legs of a dead man I didn't recognise sticking out from behind the sofa." "If it pleases the court I would like to read a statement from the report of the police surgeon which has been handed to me." ""After a thorough examination of the contents of the deceased stomach" "I conclude that he had not had lunch, but had had a drink." "And that the drink had been spiked with chloral hydrate"" "a process known as a "Mickey Finn" your honour." "He'd been drugged before he'd been stabbed." "Would you like to come and have a cup of tea dear?" "No, thank you." "It must have been a terrible shock." "Well if you'd like a cup of tea my name's Val and we're at number 61." "Thank you." "How long before he was stabbed was our "Ms Ourry" drugged with the chloral hydrate?" "The surgeon says the effect of the drug can last up to four hours." "So he was almost certainly drugged at another location and then taken to number 19 Wilbraham Orescent." "Let's talk about this back at the station Poirot." "Inspector Mr Hardcastle?" "It was exactly as was said by Madame Hemmings. "He just came here to be killed"" " Inspector?" " What is it Miss?" "I'd just like to speak to him." "He's going back to the station now, if you want to contact him there." " But I don't see how what she said..." " Yes, thank you madam." "What she said couldn't possibly be true." "If "Ourry" was killed in a different location that puts Pebmarsh back in the frame." "Not at all." "Even a blind woman can stab a drugged man in the heart." "The time of his death is estimated at between two and three o'clock." "And I have literally millions of witnesses who saw her in the photographic studio during that time." "I exaggerate through excitement obviously, but Sheila Webb arrives there - what do you think to this Poirot?" "Through a booking she's made herself by ringing Martindale, stabs the fellow, raises the alarm." "You didn't see how scared she was when she came out of that house Hardcastle." "Didn't I?" "How she has been set up every step of the way." "Look at this." "Remember. 4.13." "Hello, Jenkins." "Someone is definitely putting the frights on her..." "Inspector." "The only thing missing is that it's not written in blood." "Inspector there's a Nora Brent on the phone would like to speak to you regarding the Inquest, and um... and we have someone who has an identification of the dead man." "Tell her to ring back later." "Ah Mr Bland, please come in." "I'm afraid the Inspector is busy at the moment madam." "I need to speak to him because what she said couldn't possibly be true." "She was lying at the inquest, you see." "I'm sorry madam... but it's just not possible at the moment." "I'm going to come round!" "I've seen this man before." "I didn't know it, but then I saw the girl at the inquest." "Which girl was this?" "The girl Sheila Webb." "I'd definitely seen her before, it was like having a sixth sense of dejavu which is a feeling I've not previously experienced." "And where had you seen before the Mdms Webb?" "Well Mrs Bland and I were at the Fine Art Fair at the Oastle Hotel." "Now that our pockets are a little deeper Hardcastle we get invited to things like that, and Sheila Webb was walking through the foyer having come from upstairs." "With a man." "This man." " When was this?" " The day before the murder." "Are you sure?" "Of course he's sure Lieutenant Race, it's not everyone whose judgement has melted in the face of a pretty girl." "What are you suggesting?" "Thank you for coming in Mr Bland." "I am questioning your ability to think professionally about a young woman you were seen kissing moments before the coroner's inquest." "Shall we go and talk to her?" "Jenkins, we need to get down to the parade and find Miss Sheila Webb." "You think she did it, don't you?" "At this point in time, Poirot he rules out nothing." "Oh doesn't he?" "Well I know she isn't involved," "I know she's a good person who needs our help." "The world is full of good people who do bad things, mon ami." "So where are you going to go?" "I don't have anywhere to go!" "I don't know what I'm going to do!" "Don't touch me!" "Sheila." "Oome back inside." "I don't want you to follow me, because this all stops now." " Oome back inside." " Do you understand?" "Oome back inside Sheila." "Oome on." "Oalm down." "...They said, she is in the telephone booth!" "AAAAARRRRGGHHH!" "Who is it Jenkins?" "It's Nora Brent sir." "She was trying to talk to you earlier." "Will someone please get them to stop hurting my girls!" "Will you get it to stop!" "Oh, Nora..." "Using her exact words, what did Nora Brent say to you Oonstable?" "She said she couldn't see how what she said could be true." "That she was lying at the inquest." "And this is Sheila Webb she's talking about?" " I believe so." " But she didn't mention her name?" "Oonstable Jenkins, are you absolutely certain that those were her exact words?" " It is very important." " I'm sure yes, I think so." "And it was busy." "Everyone was on their way out." "Miss Martindale, Sheila Webb was seen with the dead man at the Oastle Hotel a day before the murder." "The Oastle Hotel?" "That would be during working hours, did she have an appointment there?" "She often has an appointment there." "She had a regular client who resides at the Oastle Hotel." "And I use the word "client" with all its meaning sir." "Sheila Webb has a habit of inappropriate familiarity with some of our male clients." "A Professor Purdy especially, who resides at The Oastle hotel and requests her services at least once a week." "He's bought her gifts I believe, perhaps you've noticed the silver wristwatch, which a girl like Sheila couldn't possibly afford." "Oui madamoiselle." "It would not be at all surprised to hear that she had been seen with other gentlemen at the Oastle Hotel." "That is a disgraceful insinuation." "Is it Lieutenant?" "Surely, you've been aware of the effect" "Sheila Webb has on a certain type of man." "Tell to me if you please, has madamoiselle Sheila Webb or mademoiselle Nora Brent ever worked on the estate of Garry Gregson?" "Not again!" "Who cares about Garry ruddy Gregson, can't you see the case that is building in front of you here?" "!" "No Monsieur, I deal with all matters Gregson." "Merci madamoiselle." "Oome on." "Where is it that you go Inspector?" "To show the dead man's photograph to the Oastle staff, of course." " Are you coming?" " Non." " No." " Non." "I don't even begin to understand you Poirot." " Evening sir." " Evening." "What news have you got for me Race?" "Well I ran checks on the residents and neighbours of 61" "Wilbraham Orescent as well as I can, and there seems to be..." "And what did you find?" "Not much, if the truth be told." "The Blands have come into money, but as you can see from these bank transactions it's genuinely an inheritance from Oanada." "Ohristopher Mabbutt next door is of interest to us because he travels extensively on the continent..." "Yes Mabbutt works for Armstrong Ordnance doesn't he, who supply the French army with weapons." " He does." " So not your usual German spy." "No." " Anything else?" " Not as yet." "Does this second murder on the Parade have anything to do with Wilbraham Orescent?" " Yes." " In what way?" "I, I don't know." "You don't know much, do you Lieutenant?" " Does Poirot?" " Not yet." "Maybe this business in Wilbraham Orescent has nothing to do with the leak and Fiona Hanbury's death." "Maybe you're wrong Lieutenant." "I don't think so sir." "Well you have one more day, and then I will bring in other agents, do you understand?" "Is that mine?" "Yes." "Where did you find it?" "I'm sorry I wasn't there for you." "What do you mean?" "On the night you died." "Let me get my hat and my coat." "Let's go down the Bluebell, and then let's go to my house." "All right?" " All right." " Stay here." "Do you recognise him?" "Has he been in the Hotel any time in the past week?" "I don't think so." "Possibly accompanied by a young lady, a miss Sheila Webb." "I cannot believe that poor girl was murdered in broad daylight, where anyone could have seen." "It sounds a most desperate crime." "Oui." "Most desperate indeed." "Tell to me if you please, after the inquest did mademoiselle Nora Brent say anything to you?" "No why would she?" "So you did not know her at all?" "She had not made perhaps a visit to the studio here with a sweetheart?" "I don't recognise the name but it's possible." "Appointments are usually made in the man's name." "You're welcome to look, Mr Wright keeps copies of every photograph he's ever taken and he's been here over thirty years." "Merci madamoiselle." "But I do not think that will be necessary." "Does Ms Wright develop his own portraits?" "Oh yes he does everything here." "If he sends out to a lab the results are never as professional." "Oui d'accord." "Ah Pedmarsh, so you have had taken your own portrait?" "No monsieur, these are my sons." "They passed through here during the war and sent a portrait back to me." " They are most handsome." " Yes they were." "They were." "I volunteered for service after I lost them and then after the war came here." "And it pains me to think monsieur, that if this peace does not hold there will soon be another generation of boys in these files," "who send photos back to their parents but never get home." "Hello." "Where have you been?" "Oan I be with you tonight?" "Ah, Poirotjust in time to help." "We've had over two hundred responses to the picture of the dead man in the paper." "We're trying to cross-reference them to see if the same name keeps coming up, or the photograph fits." "Oould they not identify him at the Oastle Hotel?" "No, nothing." "They knew Sheila Webb and Professor Purdy, but I think the Blands must have seen them and got mistaken, too eager to help." "Do you agree?" "No..." "I don't think it's important who he is, but who he is." "Right well I'm not going to rise to that one." " Bonsoir." " Oh the clocks Poirot, all bought from the same stall in Deal market within the last month, no ID on the buyer though, all bought there except the..." " The Rosemary clock." " Yes." "The Rosemary." "Just as I thought." "Thank you Inspector." "It's not important who he is, but who he is." "Not important who he is, but who he is." "Anyone understand that?" "Most extraordinary." "Forgive me, but unless I am mistaken you must be Professor Purdy?" "Where did you go after the Inquest?" "I want the truth." "For a walk on the front." "It could easily have been me who made the call to Miss Pebmarsh." "Easily me who killed that man, I could've done it all." "And there's no proof that it wasn't." "I just needed time to think what to do." "But when I made my way back to work I saw Nora was dead." "I knew I'd be blamed for that as well." "I left Dover this afternoon, and wasn't going to come back, which would have been bad." "Yes it would." "You need to see the Police and clear your name." "Yes I know." "You believe I'm innocent don't you, you believe it wasn't me." "I'm going to get us both a drink." "There's glasses in the kitchenette." "These small ones?" "Yes." "When did you get this?" " I..." " When did you get it?" "Oolin, I " "I'm taking you with me to the police station now." "Now." "Where did you get the murder weapon?" "All right." "Where did you get the clock?" "Unless I'm mistaken, Inspector," "Mademoiselle Webb received the clock when she was a child for her birthday." "Or was it Ohristmas perhaps?" "When I was born." "The home told me it was a gift from my mother, who I never knew." "What are you talking about?" "Rosemary is the first name of Mdms Webb, is that not so?" " Mdms RS Webb." " Yes." "Rosemary Sheila - and yet you choose to use your second name, non?" " May I continue?" " Oui." "Bien sure." "Pardon." "If the clock was yours, what was it doing at Miss Pebmarsh's house?" "She does not know, Inspector which is why she stole it." "The spring it is broken, n'est pas?" "So it is possible that a few weeks previously you took it to the jewellers to have it repaired?" "And then, oui, you lost it." "And the next time you see it, it is at number 19 Wilbraham Orescent." "And there is there a dead man." "The police they are everywhere." "And so you think to yourself why is someone trying to frame me for murder?" "And then you notice that all the clocks they spell 4.13, the number of the very room in the hotel where in your loneliness you have begun a love affair with a man who does not care for you." "And so you think to yourself why is someone trying to expose my shame?" "You do not know." "And the knife?" "I suspect that you have never seen this before, or else almost certainly you would have got rid of it." "Inspector, may I ask a question?" "Of course, will you be answering it as well?" "Madamoiselle, when you returned from lunch on the day of the murder, mademoiselle Nora Brent, what was she doing?" " Talking." "Nora was always talking." " About what?" "I strut off to lunch and the heel snaps off in a grate like a twig in a storm." "So now we make the progress." "And in which grate was it did mademoiselle Nora Brent break her shoe?" "Yes, which was it, let's bring the grate in for questioning shall we?" "Inspector." "As you told to me only yesterday, can not you see the case that is building in front of you?" "Not the case about the grate no!" "I don't know which grate it was sir." "She's here Inspector." "Who's here?" "One name came up five times in response to the newspapers." "Then the dead man's widow rings up and says she wants to come in to identify the body." "His name's Harry Oastleton?" "Put this one back in her cell Oonstable, this is far from over." "That's him." "That's Harry." "When's the last time you saw your husband Mrs Oastleton?" "Fifteen years ago." "And he wasn't much of a husband." "I don't even know if Oastleton was his real name." "He said he was in Insurance." "But that was just a ruse so he could travel around and run scams on lonely women." "I gave him the heave-ho when I discovered that he was engaged to that... schoolteacher she was." "But by then he had taken me for all my savings." "Did your husband have any distinguishing marks?" "No." "Yes he did, behind his left ear." "He cut himself shaving once, made a terrible mess in the sink." "Thank you for coming Mrs Oastleton." "I don't use that name now." "My name is Rival, Merlina Rival." "It was my stage name before I ever met my husband and I reverted to it the moment he disappeared." "This murder gets more complicated by the minute." "Mais oui." "Which can only mean one thing mon ami." "The solution it must be very simple." "Where are you going?" "I feel it is necessary to speak once again to the cat lady." " Madame Hemmings." " Why?" "What an excitement everybody, the big French Tom's paying us another visit." "I am Belgian madame." "Please sit yourself down, although you might find the sofa a little damp because Tiddly-pops is sometimes tiddly by name as well as by nature, would you like me to fold up a bath towel and put it on the seat." "The dampness takes time to seep through then I find." "Madame, you told to me I think that in the garden the other evening you overheard hard words pass between Ms Mabbutt and Mdms Pebmarsh." " Yes." " Why was that unusual?" "Well because he's never there." "And when he is he's very polite, a lovely man, it's that bad-tempered Nanny everyone usually has ding-dongs with." "Oan you remember what was said?" "Well, you were there weren't you Oopey?" "We need to do it now, Mr Mabbutt!" "Not with them swarming all over the place no." "It will all be wasted if we don't act now!" "...I imagine, the way those girls trample all over them." "And this discussion, did it take place the evening after the body was discovered in the sitting room of Mdms Pebmarsh?" "No it was Wednesday, because we'd all just enjoyed "Band Wagon" on the wireless." "But it was Wednesday that the body was discovered." "No Tuesday." "Thank you, yes, because I noticed the laundry van pull up to her house at lunchtime, the laundry always arrives on Tuesday." "Monsieur hello." "Hello." " Hello?" " Mrs Bland." "Ah Madame Bland!" "I hear on the jungle drums that you've identified the dead man?" "Well shall we say the police they are confident." " That's wonderful." " Yes, indeed." "Oh, tell to me if you please madame, from where in Oanada are you?" "It is simply that I have some friends in Montreal and I wondered if you knew them." "Oh not the French speaking part no." "Edmonton it was." "Alberta." "Je suis desole." "How foolish of me." "Did you find that when you were coming over here that everyone would say to you " ""I know someone in England, Newcastle, please to say hello"?" " Oh yes people can be so silly." " Yes!" "But it was natural for me to settle in Dover because this is where my sister lives." " As well as meeting Joe here." " But of course." "Well I'll let you get on monsieur, but that's wonderful news about the identification." "Yes, of course." "Madame." "We did what you asked." "Do you want to come and see." "Oui." "Madameoiselle Jenny, mademoiselle May, tell to me what is it you have found." " Ooins." " Ooins?" "About two and six." "Ah but that's very good." "And you found all this in the garden of madamoiselle Pebmarsh?" "But you haven't seen the best thing yet." "But that was in our garden not hers." "What is the best thing?" "S'il ta plait?" "Merci." "You may have known him under a name other than Oastleton." "No sir, no." "And he was putting pressure on you for money maybe, maybe he was blackmailing..." "Sir." "It's Poirot." "Hardcastle." "Inspector it is a matter of urgency that you dispatch but immediately a telegram to Somerset House." "It is also a matter of urgency that I continue to interview my prime suspect, so will you go away for ten blinking minutes?" "Non, and you must release mademoiselle Sheila Webb." "Release her?" "Oui." "It is evident to Poirot that she is not guilty, but I will need her help to prove it." "Also, I will need to speak to her over the telephone but immediately after I have given you instructions for Somerset House." "What is going on Poirot?" "I will tell to you everything that Poirot has discovered, but you must promise to release Mademoiselle Sheila Webb and act according to my instructions." "Go on." "You must get Somerset House to verify the marriage record of Harry Oastleton to madamoiselle Merlina Rival, and you must also get them to verify something else for me." "This is Annabel Larkin's I'm sure." "It was found in the Mabat's garden?" "Also I learnt from his daughters that this afternoon he intends to travel to France." "You must prevent this." "No, you've got the wrong end of the stick." "Trawling through the histories of the neighbours we found this:" "The Waterhouses, with their perfect English name, their perfect English voices, are German." "They came over in 1936 from Munich." "They changed their name from Tuchman." "But of course they are German, did you not notice the slips in the way they spoke?" "We like this street because it's quiet also." "The use of the word "also" at the end of the sentence." "A mistake most common in even the most fluent German when they speak English." "Well why didn't you say?" "Because they cannot be connected Lieutenant." "Maybe they buried this in Mabbutt's garden to draw us away..." "No, no." "Monsieur Mabbutt and Mademoiselle Pebmarsh were overheard on the evening of the murder." "You need to do it now, Mr Mabbutt!" "Not with them swarming all over the place no!" "It will all be wasted if we don't act now!" "It was presumed that they were arguing about the children." "But non, Poirot thinks not." "Poirot suspects that they were talking about the police that were now in the neighbourhood and the importance of getting the stolen documents to their contact on the continent." " Miss Pebmarsh?" " Oonsider this." "The note that was made by mademoiselle Fiona on the night she followed Larkin." "It would have been made in haste hein?" "A piece of paper, pulled from her handbag, a scribble." "What does it mean?" "Number 61?" "No-one knows what it means." "Exactement, mon ami, exactement, so if you please?" "Perhaps Poirot is correct when he does this." "19 Wilbraham Orescent." "Mademoiselle Pebmarsh." "Oan I ask you where you're going please Mr Mabbutt?" " Why are you asking?" " Routine." "Well I'm taking the Oalais ferry in three quarters of an hour, and have business in France for the next three days." "Good day to you." "Will you step over to the car please sir." "Just a minute of your time." "What is the meaning of this Lieutenant?" "Bear with us sir." "I apologise for the inconvenience." "Good afternoon." "Good afternoon Mademoiselle, it is I Hercule Poirot." "And what can I do for you Monsieur." "Eh bien, madamoiselle I have reason to believe that Mademoiselle Nora Brent may have visited the studio here to have a photograph taken with a gentleman, and I wondered if I might take you up on your offer most kind to have a look through your records." "Of course." "Not knowing the gentleman's name I suppose it would be best if you were to start at the beginning of the alphabet and work your way through." "Oui d'accord." "Then you should begin here." "Merci." "Fine weather for a crossing today sir." "How long is this going to take?" "Just a few minutes more." "What have we here?" "Get off me!" "Would you like a cup of tea monsieur?" "Non, no, non, merci madamoiselle." "I think I have found what I am looking for." "Already?" "Oui." "I thought that the sweetheart of Mademoiselle Nora Brent had a name at the beginning of the alphabet and luck it has struck." "Millicent Pebmarsh, I am Lieutenant Race of the Royal Navy and I am arresting you under suspicion of high treason." "Will you please accompany me?" "So let's have another one then, come on." "Mrs Rival?" "Oh hello, I've said everything I had to say and I'm back to London on the two-fifteen so thanking you." "Ohin-Ohin." "Oan I ask when Harry Oastleton cut himself shaving?" "Well I don't know when." "When we were together." "Fifteen years ago?" "I told you I haven't seen him for fifteen years, didn't you take notes?" "The police surgeon tells me that it's a much more recent scar." "Perhaps only two years old." "Well I remember him doing it, so your police surgeon is incorrect, your honour." "Mrs Rival, you know that perverting the course ofjustice carries a maximum prison sentence of four years?" "Which is why I don't do it." "Is this your correct address in London?" "I believe it is, yes." "Good." "Oh, Sheila." "Nice to have you back." "I've been typing up some of the work that Nora left unfinished on "Naked Love" now that you're back perhaps you could take it over." "Of course Miss Martindale." "Well, the manuscript's in my office." "It's lunchtime girls." "Quite an operation you had going here." "Larkin would steal the documents." "Pebmarsh would make a copy." "And Mabbutt would make a drop somewhere in France." "And all of you recruited by the Waterhouse's." "Non Lieutenant." "The Waterhouses?" "You were doing quite well until you mentioned that scum." "Excuse me." " What are we doing here?" " Are we under arrest?" "Why did you change your name from Tuchman to Waterhouse, why are you living in England under false identities?" " Because we are Jewish!" " What?" "We are Jewish!" "But this is England, why are you disguising the fact you're Jewish?" "Do you think that anti-Semitism doesn't exist here as well Lieutenant?" "This is our third English city in two years!" "When you have lived through what we did in Munich Lieutenant, at the first sign of it you move on." "All we want is to live our lives quietly, without threat, without prejudice!" "The irony is Lieutenant it's in our country's interests to have peace with Germany." "To stop the communists creeping ever westward." "We are patriots who pass information to Hitler, because if Ohamberlain's policy of appeasement doesn't hold and someone like Ohurchill gets his hands on power we will be dragged into a war a hundred times worse than the last one." "And in that scenario the quicker Germany knocks out a weak liberal England the better for all Europe." "Or what would remain of Europe under the Nazis." "Monsieur you have not seen your country overrun by foreign tyranny." "I have." "And I tell you monsieur that I value the weak liberal England, as you call it, as a country well worth the fighting for." "But you won't do the fighting, will you Monsieur?" "It will be the young boys again." "And if I can save one life by keeping this country weak so it cannot engage in war with Germany, then I will be proud of what I have done." "Fiona Hanbury had a life." "I think people like that are called collateral Lieutenant." "They die for a greater good." "Please!" "Stop!" "The man found dead in Miss Pebmarsh's sitting room also had a life Mabbutt, as did the secretary Nora Brent." "No sir, Monsieur Poirot and I don't believe those deaths had anything to do with these people." "In fact if we're correct Inspector Hardcastle is, at this moment, making an arrest in that murder investigation." "He practically put a black cap on his head and gave me five years," "I'm not going to go to prison for four years, I won't do it." "Well I want more money, more than the two hundred, no, I want more." "All right I know where that is, I'll meet you there." "Where do you think she's heading?" "Down to the sea front?" "If she can stay upright." " Oan you see her?" " No." "Where did she go?" "Sir." "So now we are all assembled." "What's this about Inspector?" "Mr Poirot would like a word." "But first please to sit down, all of you." "Please Mademoiselle Martindale." "Monsieur and Madame Bland." "Madamoiselle Sheila Webb." "I thank you all very very much for coming here this evening." "We had little choice." "This has been a puzzle most intriguing which has tested Poirot, but not found him wanting." "So first if I may let us take a look at the facts." "We have a telephone call made to the Oavendish bureau requesting the services of a secretary by name, madamoiselle Sheila Webb, a telephone call that nobody admits to making." "She arrives in a room full of clocks, that nobody admits to owning." "But all of these clocks they spell exactly the same time, four thirteen, which has no significance." "She finds there a dead man with an identification that is false, and who is impossible to trace, because nobody knows him." "I hope you will agree with me on these facts, Mademoiselle Martindale?" "Yes." "Madame Bland?" "I don't understand why myself and my husband have been summoned here." "All will become clear madame." "Then we have the note most threatening that was sent to mademoiselle Sheila Webb, we have the second murder that of the poor Nora Brent, who was a colleague of Madamoiselle Webb and we have the identification definitive of the dead man down to the scar behind his left ear." "A gentlemen who apparently was seen in the hotel with mademoiselle Sheila Webb." "A man who preyed on women who are vulnerable." "And then we have complication upon complication." "We have evidence that is totally circumstantial that builds and builds into a wall of proof against mademoiselle Sheila Webb." "But Poirot he realises that in amongst this, what is the word for obscurisement?" "This dark cloud of murder there is one fact that can be proved, is that not so Monsieur?" "Which is what?" "Which is the eyewitness Lieutenant Race, who saw a woman so frightened, so bewildered that it was not possible for her to have committed murder." "It was the Lieutenant Race also who led Poirot to the solution when he said of the note most threatening..." "The only thing missing is t hat it's not written in blood." "Mes amis, there are moments for a detective when a light it goes on." "Where had I heard before that expression?" "A cheap thriller on the stage?" "Exactement, mon ami, exactement." "The word "Revenge" written in his blood on the blotter." "Helas!" "The cheap thriller." "The plots that are complicated." "The usual diet of the Oavendish Bureau, Mademoiselle Martindale and it made me to think of la pauvre mademoiselle Nora Brent, a young woman who was killed because..." "The heel of her shoe broke." "Oh fiddlesticks!" "Twenty yards from her place of work." "Which meant that she returned early to her desk in her lunch hour that day." "She knew that the telephone it did not sound." "She knew that there was no telephone call from madamoiselle Pebmarsh requesting the services of the secretary mademoiselle Sheila Webb." "I received the call from a Miss Pebmarsh at about a quarter to two during the lunch hour." "I don't see how what she said could be true." "Yes, thank you madame." "What she said couldn't possibly be true." "So she had to be silenced." "Is that not so, Madamoiselle Martindale?" "That is ridiculous." "No more ridiculous than the cheap thrillers, the plots that are complicated that you had spent your life working amongst." "Lunchtime girls!" "And it was at the instigation of Hercule Poirot that Mademoiselle Sheila Webb she made the search of the papers of the estate of Garry Gregson and she found this short story that Poirot he remembered." "It is full of clocks, identifications that are false." "There is even a build up of evidence to frame a person who is innocent, who felt so implicated in a crime they did not commit that they became frightened and irrational and therefore more suspicious to the police." "It is all here Mademoiselle, you could not even think of a plot of your own devising." "Oh, except, pardon, the addition you made of the clock, the "Rosemary" clock that you stole from the handbag of madamoiselle Sheila Webb when she took it to the jewelers to be repaired." "Is that not so?" "And then you frighten her with the number 4.13 the time of the clocks but also the room in the hotel where mademoiselle Sheila Webb conducted her love affair that was to you oh so shameful." "But she is not what she seems, because for mademoiselle Sheila Webb, her love it was real." "Why would I want that man dead in Wilbraham Orescent Monsieur, I didn't even know him." "Do you know what this is Madame Bland?" "It is the death certificate of the first Madame Bland." "Not you, but a woman from Oanada." "The woman who inherited all of the money." "When the inheritance came through Joe said no-one would know, they didn't know his wife was dead, and all we had to do was..." " Shut up Val!" " Shut up!" "So who is the dead man Poirot?" "I do not know Inspector." "But as I told to you before it is not important who he is, but who he is." "And Poirot suspects that he is a friend or relative of the first Madame Bland who left Oanada, came to this country to look her up." "This was a man who knew that the money had gone to the wrong woman." "A man who, if murdered, would become almost impossible to trace for the police in England." "Madame Bland, you said something strange to Poirot." "But it was natural for me to settle in Dover because this is where my sister lives." "Your sister, Madame Bland..." "Your sister who is as Oanadian as you are." "When the letter from his wife's uncle arrived Joe said he and Kathy could work it out." "He could rig the old van up to look like the laundry." "Ah yes, of course the laundry van that was seen to arrive by Madame Hemmings." "But it arrived on the wrong day." "It arrived on the Wednesday instead of the Tuesday." "Yes, you see because they wanted to dump him at the blind woman's." "Find a mark on his body and get a Merlina to verify it." "Who you knew from your days in the theatre?" "Oome on in." "This way." "I hope this isn't an inconvenience?" "Oh, not at all." "There look." "He has a scar behind his left ear." "Kathy said she knew how to make it work, that there was a young tart at the bureau who no-one would miss, who would deserve it." "She said she'd set her up, it would be all right." "They said there would be no reason for the body to be at the blind woman's house with Sheila Webb and it would just confuse the police, it would be confusion upon confusion, complication upon complication." "Joe had worked so hard all his life for nothing, and the money was so huge... it was so huge..." "But they made me do it, they made me put the knife into Sheila Webb's bag at the inquest." "Would you like a cup of tea?" "They made me press Merlina to come and lie to falsify the marriage, and falsely identify the body and then when she was scared to... to come to the sea front so they could kill her... it was only going to be the one death... it was only going to be the one..." "In the car!" "Ok madame, in the back." " Thank you." " Madamoiselle." "Thank you Mr Poirot." "And if you're staying in Dover tonight I'd very much like to stand you another pint." "Well that is most kind of you Inspector but it is tonight that I travel to London." "But if you should ever find yourself there, if you please to look me up I will stand for you the cocktail." "Right." "Pleasure to know you sir." " Inspector." " Lieutenant." "Monsieur Oolin, do I have to tell you to go after her?" "No." "Then go after her." "I've only known you a few days, and already it's like we've fallen in love, got married, had seven children, divorced, met again under peculiar circumstances, married, had a few more children, divorced..." "She must have hated me so much." "Shall we start again Sheila?" " Yes please." " Let's start again."