- 11/05/2025
First broadcast 8th March 1985.
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TVTranscript
00:00Oh, Mr. Dove.
00:25Oh, my God.
00:30Oh, Mr. Dove, Mr. Dove, Mr. Dove, Mr. Dove.
00:59Excuse me, sir.
01:13What is it?
01:14It's the gates, sir. The perimeter, generally. Swarming with press.
01:16I don't recommend shaking the trees. You'd have photographers dropping around here like ripe plums.
01:20Get onto the local station. Tell them I want some extra men fast.
01:23What did the doc say, sir?
01:26Another poisoning. Cyanide, this time. In the tea. Instantaneous.
01:33Ah, Mr. Dove. Good. Thank you.
01:36You all right?
01:50Yes.
01:52It was you that found her, wasn't it?
01:55Yes.
01:55I want you to tell me what happened.
02:14Now to go.
02:17I'm only trying to do the job, you know.
02:19Come on.
02:19Now to go.
02:20Never mind, sir.
02:21Never mind, sir.
02:22Officer.
02:23Officer.
02:23Officer.
02:24I hope you've got something for you.
02:25Just don't talk this.
02:27And lady, if you do not respect the integrity of this property, then we shall make arrests.
02:31There'll be no other warning.
02:33Yes, please.
02:33I can only repeat.
02:35There is no evidence as yet to confirm that Mrs. Fortescue's death is connected with that
02:40of her husband yesterday.
02:42We'll keep you in touch with all developments.
02:44Now, gentlemen, please.
02:51Relative of a family, is it, madam?
02:52Er, well, not exactly.
02:54No, it's the maid Gladys I'm connected with.
02:57I see.
02:57Well, only relatives are allowed, madam, and they're to be vetted.
03:00Yeah, but it's very important.
03:02Her name is Gladys.
03:03Yes, I, er, well, I understand from the papers that Inspector Neal is in charge of the case.
03:08Now, could you get a message to him?
03:11Yes, madam.
03:12Well, will you tell...
03:13Now, this is very important.
03:14No, I tell you what, no.
03:16I'll, I'll, I'll write...
03:17I'll, er, I'll write him a note.
03:20Yes.
03:20Yes, madam.
03:24Yes!
03:27Yes.
03:28Sorry, sir.
03:29Someone just arrived at the gate.
03:31A Miss Marple.
03:32What's going on about the maid Gladys, sir?
03:35So?
03:37Says she wants to be let in, sir.
03:39For God's sake.
03:41Fair enough.
03:42Good.
03:42Thought I was to give you this, sir.
03:44The old lady was most insistent.
03:51So, you ordered tea for 4.30, and then you went upstairs.
03:56What time did you come downstairs again?
03:59Tea time.
04:02When I got onto the landing, I don't know why, something in the garden caught my attention.
04:06You tree lodge?
04:27Yes. Yes, it is.
04:31Oh, no.
04:34Yes.
04:36What?
04:38Believe me!
04:40You too, no.
04:47Who was it, Gladys?
04:50Wrong number, Miss Duff.
04:52Is tea ready?
04:54Mr. Lance will be here any minute.
04:56Yes, Miss Duff.
05:06As I was spared any further matrimonial warfare between Percival and poor Jennifer,
05:11I went back to sort out the guest room before coming down again to clear the table for the tea tray.
05:16Gladys still hadn't arrived.
05:18Adele was getting impatient.
05:20Where is everyone this afternoon? Where's Jennifer?
05:24I think she's...
05:26Uh...
05:27She and Mr. Percival had a disagreement.
05:29What a surprise!
05:31Rex has left her 40 grand, did you know?
05:34I expect you do.
05:37Anyway, Percy is registering his displeasure.
05:40A wife with independent means.
05:45Anyway, go and fetch her. There's a duck, Miss Duff, will you?
05:49I've got to teach her to stand up to that husband of hers.
05:53Mind you, how do you stand up to a glass of cold water?
05:57Oh, Mrs. Fultescue is expecting you, Mrs. Percival.
06:03Thank you, Miss Duff.
06:05Oh, Gladys!
06:07Why Gladys had suddenly abandoned the tea tray, I can't imagine.
06:25I've no doubt I'll be treated to a string of lame excuses later on.
06:29Hello.
06:31Don't tell me.
06:33You must be the excellent Miss Duff.
06:36Yes, I am the excellent Miss Duff.
06:38You must be Mr. Fultescue.
06:40Do you have any more luggage?
06:42Just this.
06:43Here.
06:44Really? There's no need.
06:45This one's heading for the drawing room, I believe.
06:47Mrs. Fortescue and Mrs. Fortescue, what a pleasure.
06:56I come bearing gifts.
06:58The throi gras sandwiches, I must say, are spectacularly absent,
07:01but we have bread, we have honey, we have fondance and fancies.
07:05We'll manage, I dare say.
07:06Oh, lads, it is good to see you.
07:09And you must be my beautiful stepmother, Adele.
07:17And after tea, Fortescue left the room first?
07:23Yes, Lance left first.
07:25I gather he went up to see Miss Henderson, his aunt.
07:29I heard Mrs. Percival leave almost immediately.
07:33So Mrs. Fortescue was left alone?
07:36Presumably.
07:38And the man in the garden?
07:40Well, I assume that must have been Lance Fortescue.
07:44No, no, couldn't have been.
07:46His train was late.
07:47Didn't arrive till 4.34.
07:48It's five minutes by taxi at least from the station.
07:53Tell me, the person you heard moving about upstairs?
07:58I'm almost certain it was Adele's room.
08:01Quite honestly, it sounded like a man.
08:03Oh, dear, oh, dear.
08:05Well, my only poor consolation, and it is a very poor one.
08:09I'm almost certainly too late anyway.
08:12So you'll be leaving now, ma'am, will you?
08:15Oh, no, no, no, no.
08:16Certainly not.
08:18Come in.
08:19Hello, Percival.
08:20Still swatting.
08:21I wish I had something to take my mind off this horrible business.
08:25Are they ever going to serve supper?
08:26Are they ever going to serve supper?
08:27Are they ever going to serve supper?
08:28Are they ever going to serve supper?
08:29Are they ever going to serve supper?
08:30Come in.
08:31Hello, Percival.
08:32Hello, Percival.
08:33Still swatting.
08:34I wish I had something to take my mind off this horrible business.
08:48Are they ever going to serve supper?
08:49Are they ever going to serve supper?
08:50Oh, I expect so.
08:51Yes.
08:52By the way, Pat has insisted on coming down tonight.
08:53Is that all right?
08:54Well, I hope you don't mind.
08:55It's your house now, isn't it?
08:56Of course your wife's welcome.
08:57Thanks.
08:58There.
08:59We are being civil to each other, at least.
09:00Yes, we are.
09:01Yes, we are.
09:02Here.
09:03Can't I help me, Pat?
09:04Come in.
09:05Time in.
09:06Oh, get going to go.
09:07Come in.
09:08He's sitting and taking a seat.
09:09Come in.
09:11A number of people are coming down tonight.
09:13Is that all right?
09:14I hope you don't mind.
09:16It's your house now, isn't it?
09:17Of course your wife's welcome.
09:18Thanks.
09:19There.
09:20We're being civil to each other, at least.
09:22Yes, we are.
09:32Well, that old pussy outside the gates won't.
09:38Oh, goodness.
09:49Sing a song of sixpence.
09:51What's that supposed to mean?
09:55I think the old girl's got an attic to rent, frankly.
10:01Ah.
10:02Mrs. Adele Fortescue.
10:16Love letters.
10:24Scented or steamy?
10:29Always in my thoughts.
10:32Vivian.
10:34Dubois.
10:35So that's what he was after.
10:36Dubois.
10:38A man in the garden.
10:41What a gold rush.
10:42What a gold rush.
10:43Bloodsons.
10:44That shall sü ELL into the pot.
10:52Well, that's what do you want to do to stop and run?
10:54I'll get to the little pit.
10:55What a gold rush.
10:56What a gold rush.
10:57Where's the miss, is she?
11:24She won't be a minute.
11:26She's just remember the washing.
11:56Oh, I'm sorry, he's dead.
12:05Strangle out the back.
12:07Who are you talking about, Mrs Crump?
12:09Gladys.
12:10Oh, Gladys.
12:12Oh, no, she's got clothes.
12:15Mrs Crump, what are you saying?
12:19They put clothes peg on her.
12:36Hey, have you gotten a note from the old lady?
12:49Her maid was in the garden, hanging out the clothes.
12:54Along came a blackbird and pecked off her nose.
12:59The murderer rising in the light, killeth the poor and needy.
13:16And in the night, is as a thief.
13:25Where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator.
13:35Yes, poor Gladys.
13:43I trained her, you know.
13:45Do you want us to put you into a hotel, madam?
13:47Nonsense.
13:48She'll be staying here.
13:52That's most kind of you.
13:58There you are, Miss Marble.
13:59Oh, thank you very much.
14:07Gladys came to me from the orphanage.
14:09She was very keen on men, poor girl, but I'm afraid men didn't take much notice of her and the other girls rather made use of her.
14:18She enjoyed going to the cinema and she was always dreaming of things that couldn't possibly happen to her.
14:29A poor girl had obviously seen something or noticed something.
14:35I feel to blame.
14:37It makes me very, very angry, you know.
14:39Especially that business of the clothes peg.
14:42It's a cruel and contemptuous gesture.
14:45You understood the significance of the nursery rhyme, Inspector, did you?
14:50In its broad outline, eventually.
14:54Rex, meaning king, in his counting house.
14:58By extension, of course, his wife becomes the queen.
15:02The queen was in the parlour.
15:05Was she eating bread and honey?
15:08I don't know.
15:13The poor maid was in the garden, hanging out the clothes.
15:17You see, the first verse is a difficulty.
15:20We have the pocket full of rye, but I don't understand the blackbirds.
15:24I can see no point in them.
15:26However, they must mean something, don't you think?
15:31The birds began to sing.
15:35Honey, Miss Marple?
15:37At tea time?
15:39Come to think of it, no.
15:41There's usually some savoury sandwiches.
15:43Occasionally bread and jam.
15:45Then some cake.
15:47And biscuits only when Mrs Crump has been baking.
15:50No, I think it's the only time we'd had honey.
15:53That's very interesting.
15:54Thank you, Miss Delve.
15:55I feel Adele's there, sir.
15:56Who benefits?
15:57That is a question.
15:58From killing Gladys, nobody as far as I can see.
15:59Rex?
16:00Well, Adele was going to get £100,000 from his will, but...
16:05who else?
16:07Percival gets most of the estate.
16:11Things were going wrong with the business.
16:12And he looks as if the old man was responsible.
16:14Who else?
16:16I'll see you.
16:18I've cleared Adele's desk, sir.
16:19Who benefits?
16:21That is a question.
16:23From killing Gladys, nobody as far as I can see.
16:26Rex?
16:28Well, Adele was going to get £100,000 from his will, but...
16:31and he looks as if the old man was responsible.
16:35Yep.
16:37Percival benefits.
16:40And his missus.
16:41Yeah.
16:42Not too keen on her husband.
16:43Stands to get £40,000 in her own right.
16:46That would buy her freedom from her purse.
16:48She benefits.
16:50Lance Fortescue, he gets 20% of the residue.
16:54Which may not be all that much when all's said and done.
16:58Besides, he was out of the country when the first murder took place.
17:03Dubois?
17:05Certainly.
17:06If he knew Adele was going to get £100,000, he's not exactly discreet.
17:10He must have known.
17:12He benefits from killing Rex.
17:16But where's the benefit in killing the lovely Adele?
17:21Did she leave a will? Did you find anything in that lot?
17:24No, sir.
17:26It's at Ansel and Worrell's, just off the High Street.
17:32Adele didn't trust the family solicitor.
17:34I don't blame her.
17:36Bloody Billingsby is in Percy's pocket.
17:39Do you happen to know what was in Mrs Fortescue's will, madam?
17:43Well, if I were you, I'd try the Dormey House Hotel.
17:50Or the golf club.
17:54Listen, does anybody fancy a nightcap?
17:59Oh, all right. Be boring, then.
18:01Oh, all right.
18:02I'll take a drink, then.
18:31I suppose it had been going on for, oh, over a year, anyway.
18:38Then, last summer, someone scooped out the inside of one of Mrs Crump's raised pies and stuffed it with dead birds.
18:47And they were blackbirds too, were they?
18:49I suppose so.
18:52It was quite revolting.
18:53Nobody was particularly concerned to establish the species.
18:57Wasn't that a dainty dish to set before the king?
19:01Yes.
19:03Oh!
19:04Good morning, Mr Fortescue.
19:05Tell me House Hotel. I went in one.
19:16You left the hotel about 3.30, and you returned about 5.
19:22Yes.
19:24And your route took you nowhere near Eutree Lodge.
19:28As I told you, I went across the heath, round by the sandpits, and back through Curzon Woods.
19:38As you told us.
19:40And you take this walk for your pleasure.
19:43Yes.
19:44I wanted to think about Mrs Fortescue.
19:48What was your relationship with Mrs Fortescue?
19:53We were friends.
19:54Friends?
19:59She led me to believe that she was quite fond of me.
20:04I liked her, but she was married.
20:08You didn't see much future for the affair.
20:10No.
20:11Quite frankly, I didn't.
20:13So, it was an affair we're talking about.
20:23Tell me, Mr Dubois,
20:25What did you mean when you wrote,
20:29When things are different, all this will seem very small and far away?
20:34Where the hell did you get that?
20:36What things would be different?
20:39You wrote this two weeks ago. Presumably you can remember.
20:46Quite frankly, it suggests to me a future without Mr Fortescue.
20:51And that means one of two things.
20:54Either Mrs Fortescue will leave her husband, or her husband will somehow depart from the scene.
21:00Wouldn't you agree?
21:02You can't build up a case against me, Inspector.
21:07She made a will, you know.
21:09Left you all her money.
21:11Everything she possessed.
21:12I don't want the money. I didn't want a penny of it.
21:17Of course, isn't very much. Jewelry, few fur.
21:21I imagine very little cash at all.
21:24But I thought her husband...
21:28Did you, Mr Dubois?
21:30That's very interesting.
21:31I wondered if you knew the terms of Rex Fortescue's will.
21:43Oh! Oh, Inspector!
21:45Ah, yes, Miss Ma'am.
21:47Blackbirds.
21:49Yes, Ma'am.
21:51You are interested in Blackbirds, I take it?
21:53Well, I'm more interested in Mr Dubois at present.
21:58Oh, dear me, no.
22:00No, do forgive me, Inspector, but you must get to the bottom of this Blackbird business.
22:04Rex Fortescue was the victim of a series of disgusting practical jokes.
22:09Someone put dead Blackbirds, some of them quite decayed,
22:13well, on his desk or on his pillow, where they could.
22:18So, you see, the Blackbirds must mean something.
22:21Do you know they even put some in a pie?
22:24I'll make some inquiries, Ma'am.
22:27Oh, yes.
22:29That is a relief. Thank you, Inspector.
22:35Oh, Inspector!
22:37I wonder if you would allow me to have a brief look at Gladys' room.
22:43How could I say no?
22:45Oh, thank you, yes.
22:47And I know that you'll find the Blackbirds very well worth your while.
22:51Yes.
22:56I'm beginning to wonder who's in charge of this case.
22:59I'll take the family, you take the staff.
23:13To date Homebres
23:18To date Homebres
23:21To date Homebres
23:23To date Homebes
23:25Beuments
23:29To date Homebone
23:31And to date Home definitive
23:32ORGAN PLAYS
24:02I wonder, can you tell me anything about blackbirds, Mrs Fortescue?
24:14Blackbirds? Blackbirds, Inspector, what kind of blackbirds?
24:20Well, just blackbirds, Mrs Fortescue, dead, alive or indifferent.
24:25I've been told they've figured in the life of this household.
24:29In a pie, for example.
24:32I don't know anything about that.
24:35A very nasty, practical joke, I suppose.
24:40It annoyed Rex, really did.
24:44He had Heinrich, that's the gardener, patrol the grounds with a shotgun.
24:49He was afraid of something, not just annoyed.
24:52Oh, quite.
24:53I just think it was a silly joke.
25:01Can you tell me why your late father-in-law left you so much money in your own right?
25:07I asked him for it.
25:09Asked him for it?
25:09Yes.
25:10Just like that?
25:11Yes.
25:13And he gave it to you?
25:14Yes.
25:16I said, Rex, when you die, will you leave me a little money of my own?
25:22Because Percival is so mean.
25:25And Rex said, yes.
25:27So you're going to get your money?
25:29Yes.
25:30Isn't it nice?
25:33Tell me, your late father-in-law's death, what were your feelings about that?
25:42I think I was quite pleased, really.
25:48We were...
25:50I was going to get my money, after all.
25:53After all?
25:55Sorry?
25:56I was going to get my money.
25:59I see.
26:01So you weren't sorry?
26:04Oh, no.
26:05He was a horrid man, you know.
26:12No wonder it's called the gutter press.
26:17I can't believe it's us they're writing about.
26:21I'm sorry, my darling.
26:23I'm bad luck.
26:25I warned you, you know.
26:27Don't say that.
26:28You're not to say that.
26:29It's bloody nonsense.
26:36You're the best luck I ever had.
26:42What is it, darling?
26:46Nothing.
26:55What is it, Lance?
27:01Look here, old thing.
27:03I don't think I can face this idea of being a death squaller, you know.
27:07I really don't.
27:09I mean, it's clear that Percival doesn't want me around the place.
27:11I see.
27:14Then what are you going to do?
27:17I want to go back to Africa, Pat.
27:19I hate this place.
27:21Let's go back.
27:22But how would we manage?
27:27Come in.
27:30Ah, good.
27:32Mr. Fortescue, I wonder if you could help me.
27:38Will you excuse me, Inspector?
27:41Why don't you join us later, Lance?
27:44What?
27:45Miss Marple and me.
27:47For coffee.
27:49Oh, yes.
27:50Good.
27:51Why not?
27:52Yes, Inspector, what is it?
28:00Well, sir, I've been asking everybody this.
28:02I might as well ask you, even though you've been abroad.
28:07Uh, I wonder, could you, could you tell me anything about blackbirds?
28:17Blackbirds?
28:19Oh, you must mean the old blackbird mine.
28:22The one that Father caught a cold over.
28:24He got taken for a ride by some old digger up on the high veldt or somewhere.
28:30There was no gold in the thing, and Father Damney died of malaria for his pains.
28:34There was some scandal about his partner, who actually did die of malaria.
28:39His widow tried to sue him, I think.
28:42Well, Aunt Effie, you know the details.
28:44I don't believe this was ever a happy house, in spite of all the money that's been spent.
28:53But only money, I suspect.
28:56No real affection.
28:58No.
29:00Have you noticed how nothing is really what it seems?
29:04The furniture is supposed to be Louis Sayers, but it's been made in Birmingham.
29:09The paintings are supposed to be Venetian, but they were probably knocked up in Chelsea last week.
29:14Nothing is solid or real.
29:16As if the whole house and everything in it were some kind of gigantic fake.
29:23What did you say, my dear?
29:25About it being a fake?
29:27The whole house and everything that goes on in it.
29:32I said everything in it, not that goes on in it.
29:37Oh, yes, of course.
29:39Stupid of me.
29:44I wondered, ma'am, if you could tell me anything about the Blackbird Mine.
29:52Oh.
29:54You've got on to that, have you?
29:56That was the Marple Woman, wasn't it?
30:00I'll tell you.
30:02My late brother-in-law went into it with a man called Mackenzie.
30:07They went out to Africa together, and Mackenzie died there.
30:11Well, Rex came home.
30:14He subsequently admitted that the thing was worthless.
30:19It hurt its pride, I think.
30:21But then pride and grace ne'er dwelt in one place.
30:27Where was the mine?
30:29Oh, I don't know.
30:30Africa somewhere.
30:32Percival will know.
30:33The, uh, Mackenzie's didn't let it rest, I gather.
30:41Oh, you want the hearsay as well, do you?
30:47I'd be most grateful, ma'am.
30:50Mrs Mackenzie was an unbalanced sort of woman.
30:56Ended up in an asylum, I believe.
30:58She came here, you know.
31:00Dragging along a couple of young children who looked scared to death.
31:05Accused Rex of murdering her husband.
31:09Said she'd bring up her children to take their revenge.
31:16Old sins cast long shadows.
31:25The children.
31:26How about this?
31:29As a motive, at least.
31:32Rex Fortescue swindles some bloke called Mackenzie out of his share of a goldmine.
31:38Mackenzie dies.
31:41One way or another, the widow reckons that Fortescue killed him.
31:45She becomes obsessed by revenge.
31:47She brings up the children to avenge the father.
31:50What happened to the mother?
31:52She ended up in a loony bin.
31:53She may still be there.
31:57They've got to find her.
31:59If she's alive, I want to know where she is.
32:02That's an absolute priority.
32:04And the Mackenzie children, do you reckon one of them could be here?
32:07I mean, here in the house?
32:08Yeah.
32:10Or nearby.
32:13Du Bois, Mary Dove, Jennifer Fortescue, they're all about the right age.
32:20Reckon you know who it is?
32:22Yes.
32:24I do.
32:26Mackenzie's Blackbird Mine?
32:28What or where is that?
32:34I think you know very well, Miss Dove.
32:36I assure you, I'm quite in the dark.
32:40I think you know, Inspector, that it's up to you to prove I am this Miss Mackenzie, whoever
32:45she is.
32:46It will at least provide me with the continued pleasure of your company while you probe the
32:50mystery of my identity.
32:52Please don't mock me, Miss Dove.
32:53I wasn't intending to.
32:56As a matter of fact, I meant it.
32:58Despite the fact that you're keen to implicate me, however obscurely, in murder.
33:04If you continue to look into my affairs and are extremely clever, you will find certain
33:10minor discrepancies in the household accounting.
33:14I have no intention of begging like Jennifer or selling myself like poor Adele.
33:18However, if I find that you are near the heart of my secret, I shall be able to replace the
33:23money, and then it will be impossible to prosecute.
33:28Do you find that immoral?
33:30In such a place as this?
33:37I wish you hadn't, darling.
33:45Yes, George?
33:48Marmalade.
33:58I suppose we get it analysed.
34:00It's bitter enough to disguise the poison, though, isn't it, sir?
34:03And Rex Fortescue was the only one who ever touched the stuff.
34:06Yeah, I know that, but anyone who's able to organise that part of it isn't going to get
34:12rid of the evidence by chucking it out the pantry window into the bushes.
34:15Yes, sir, but it was a lot of luck we were on to the taxing so quickly.
34:20They may have thought they had a day or two in hand.
34:22Yeah.
34:24And if we do find taxing in it, that opens it up a bit, doesn't it?
34:29How do you mean?
34:30Well, anyone could have done it who was in the house after the previous day's breakfast was
34:34put away.
34:34Yeah, but who does that include who wasn't involved before?
34:41Percival Fortescue.
34:42All right.
34:45All right, Inspector.
34:46If you're saying that my father's death was in my immediate financial interest, well then
34:50yes, of course, you're right.
34:51But that does not give me a motive for killing Adele.
34:54I happen to know she willed her £100,000 out of the family.
34:58What would be the point?
35:00Oh, come on, sir.
35:01If you know that, then you must have known that she had to outlive her husband by at
35:05least a month in order to inherit the stuff.
35:08If she didn't, the money reverted to the estate.
35:10In other words, you, sir.
35:12There was point, all right.
35:15Point in killing them both.
35:20With respect.
35:22So, uh, so you thought that daddies had gone out to meet her young man?
35:26Well, I don't know.
35:29She seemed, she seemed, well, kind of waiting for something.
35:34Looking out the window, looking in the mirror.
35:36You know what I mean?
35:37Yes.
35:37Yes, I do, yes.
35:39Got it.
35:41Before she took the tea through, she answered the telephone.
35:44Gladys did.
35:45She didn't as a rule, but this time she fair plummeted through that door after it.
35:50And did she say who it was?
35:53No, she said wrong number.
35:56Indeed.
35:56Indeed, yes.
35:58Most interesting, Mrs. Crump.
36:01Now, I wonder, would you think me very greedy if I helped myself to another biscuit?
36:07So what percentage of the company capital would you estimate all the African holdings to keep?
36:11Oh, come off it, man.
36:12God knows.
36:14I thought I was digging you out of a hole.
36:17Now, make no mistake, I want to get out, but I've got to have some sort of prospects.
36:22I've got Pat to consider.
36:23It can't be as much as 20%.
36:27All right.
36:29All right, all right, yes.
36:30Perhaps that was a bit, a bit churlish of me.
36:34So, you want the balance of your 20% in cash, do you?
36:38Well, we thought if you could secure us a loan, I'll lend us $1,500 a year for the next five years, something like that.
36:46Five years?
36:49All right, four.
36:51I just thought you might have things on a better footing by then, that's all.
36:54Oh, that's true.
36:57Um, do you want this wretched blackbird mine as well?
37:03Sure, sure.
37:04Throw it all in.
37:04What on earth are those?
37:35My birthright.
37:37Tight little Percy just assigned them to me.
37:39A chunk of the dark continent which Percival thinks is worth tuppence.
37:44Oh, Percy, Percy, when you find out.
37:49Come on, gorgeous.
37:50We've got a plane to catch.
37:51You're not just taking it.
38:05Certainly.
38:07First of all, it's the organized work.
38:09You organize it back from the airport.
38:10Come on.
38:28Come on.
38:28Come on.
38:29Oh, good.
38:41Got anything?
38:50Mrs Mackenzie.
38:52Good.
38:53Where is she?
38:54You could walk it in a quarter of an hour.
38:56What?
38:57It's a mile or two-by road, but if you cut through the woods,
38:59Burnham Ridley, the Pine Sanatorium.
39:03Come on.
39:05Let's go talk to the Mackenzie wall.
39:10How big is this place at Burnham Ridley?
39:12Well, it's a converted private house, a couple of acres.
39:14Oh, Inspector.
39:16Yes, Miss Marble.
39:17Oh, you weren't thinking of the sanatorium,
39:20were you visiting there by any chance?
39:22Oh, not that that's important now, no, but I...
39:24What isn't?
39:25Mrs Mackenzie.
39:26No, what is much more to the point is...
39:28But what do you know about Mrs Mackenzie?
39:30Oh, well, just everything there is to know is not that there's very much, I'm afraid.
39:34I went there this morning, the poor dear's mind is completely gone.
39:37No, what is much more important is that I think I saw Lance Fortescue and his wife driving away.
39:43Now, he must be stopped, I'm afraid.
39:47Well, he had business in Paris, I saw no reason to detain him.
39:50He wasn't even in the country when the first murder...
39:52Yes, yes, yes, I know, but I think they ought to be stopped.
39:55Well, don't ask me why.
39:57I can tell you the how.
39:59Well, not the precise how, but the general how.
40:01But the why escapes me, except, of course, that it's greed.
40:04One knows that naturally, but, er...
40:06No, I expect the precise why will emerge in due course, but, er, oh dear.
40:16You think they should be stopped, Miss Marple?
40:19He should.
40:20Yes.
40:21Well, Miss Marple, I failed to listen to you once and I regretted it.
40:30Put out a general call for Fortescue's car.
40:32They'll be heading towards north, I'll keep in my arm.
40:34Come on, sir.
40:38Oh, Miss Marple, perhaps he could elaborate.
40:41Oh, yes.
40:43Yeah, Bentley, registration GXA 579.
40:58General surveillance only.
41:00Right.
41:01We found the pot of marmalade in the garden, but I can't believe...
41:05Oh, so that is how it was done, yes.
41:08Yes, fit is simple, of course.
41:10Yes, but it's such a stupid way of getting rid of the evidence.
41:14Oh, but the killer, Rex Fortescue, wasn't very bright, I'm afraid.
41:19And who was that?
41:20Oh, it was Gladys Martin, of course.
41:23Oh, she didn't mean to.
41:25She put the taxine in the marmalade, but she didn't think it was poison.
41:30What did she think it was?
41:32Oh, I imagine she thought it was some form of a truth drug, you know, something like that.
41:37She was told to put it in, just as she was told to put a handful of rye in Rex Fortescue's pocket, and just as she was told to serve honey for tea.
41:46You have to keep constantly in mind that poor Gladys was not attractive.
41:51She was a lump, I'm afraid, and more importantly still, very credulous.
41:56It would have been quite easy for her to believe in a truth drug if told her by a personable young man.
42:01And who was that?
42:03Well, he called himself Albert Evans.
42:06He met her at a holiday camp.
42:08He flattered her, made love to her, and told her some story of injustice.
42:12You see, that is where the truth drug came in.
42:15It was to have taken effect when Rex Fortescue arrived at his office.
42:19There, forced by this miracle of modern science, he was to have admitted the truth before witnesses.
42:28Her Albert got her to apply for a job here when one came up, and I must say she had very good references, even though I do say it myself.
42:37And when she knew that she had caused his death...
42:42Well, what was the first thing that she said to you when you questioned her?
42:48She said, I didn't do it.
42:51Exactly.
42:52That's exactly what she would say.
42:55If ever she broke a vase or something, you know, she would always say, I didn't do it, Miss Marple.
42:59I can't think how it happened.
43:01Poor dear.
43:03Besides which, her Albert was meeting her the next day, and she knew he would explain everything to her.
43:08You see, that was the telephone call she took just before tea.
43:11So she brought the tray into the hall, she saw him outside, she left the tray, she went out to meet him, and he killed her.
43:26Yes, exactly.
43:29And her Albert?
43:31Oh, I'm so sorry. Didn't I say Lance Fortescue?
43:37Wolves!
43:38There, she blows.
43:39Oh, no.
43:40Please no!
43:41There she blows.
44:00Oh, no.
44:03Please, no.
44:11Oh, no.
44:41Oh, no.
45:11Oh, no.
45:13It was a poor, sad girl Pat who put me onto it.
45:17Blackbird business and a pocket full of rye.
45:20The way things fitted into the rye were all a complete fake.
45:24Like much in this house, used by Lance Fortescue,
45:27had heard about the blackbirds, that's all.
45:30What's happening, Lance?
45:37What have you done?
45:42What have you done?
45:43Have you swindled Percival or something?
45:57What the hell do we do now?
46:00We're observing them.
46:02We were told to keep them under observation and we are.
46:06He told me to go to hell.
46:09And he meant it.
46:13He meant hell.
46:15Who did?
46:16Who did?
46:19His own son.
46:22The bloody sadist.
46:24Well, he's finished hurting people.
46:31I thought the only way to get his hand on the money was to kill his father
46:35and to use the nursery rhyme to cover his tracks.
46:40Just as he used poor Gladys.
46:43After I saw Aunt Effie,
46:46I slipped down the back stairs
46:49and round to the sitting room to see Adele.
46:54I knew the lazy cat would be there.
46:58She said as much just by looking at me.
47:00She was waiting.
47:04I could have laced her tea five times over.
47:10It must have been more than greed to plan all that.
47:15Oh, yes.
47:17And, of course, his real madness was
47:20thinking he could do what he did
47:23and keep the love of a girl like Pat.
47:25It was for us, you see.
47:32I wanted for us to be all right.
47:36You're the only thing I've ever really loved.
47:40The only person who really cared.
47:45I knew you'd see it through, you see.
47:49You're...
47:50You're the one.
47:55I mean...
47:57Are you...
48:00Pat?
48:05I told you.
48:07I'm...
48:08Bad luck.
48:11I can't.
48:12Get out!
48:20Get out!
48:22Get out!
48:37Kick, kick, kick, kick!
48:39What the?
48:42Come on!
49:01I got my soul.
49:04Can I get your démons up again?
49:07Rex Fortescue was about to pull off the most spectacular coup of his life.
49:18All those dud African properties, including the famous Blackbird Mine, were practically next door to each other.
49:26In 12 months, he'd accumulated a small mountain range of high-grade uranium ore.
49:33It's worth millions.
49:35All businessmen are the victims of greed, some way or another, I fear.
49:43I'd like to thank you, Miss Marple.
49:45I don't think I'd have got there without you.
49:47Oh, yes.
49:49These men like Lance, you know, always prove their own hangman.
49:53Oh, yes, you would have got there.
49:55I just happen to know Gladys, and I happen to hear Mrs. Parsons' little children singing, that's all.
50:02Oh, excuse me, Inspector.
50:04Here I go.
50:11Did you want a word, Mrs. Fortescue?
50:14Oh, no.
50:16No, no.
50:18Was it your mother's idea or yours?
50:23The nurse said you were very kind to her.
50:27Poor mummy.
50:27Yes, it was her idea.
50:32I mean, her idea.
50:35But it was you who thought of marrying Percival.
50:38Sort of.
50:39Sort of happened, really.
50:42And the Blackbirds.
50:44Was that your idea of avenging your father?
50:47Mummy made me.
50:49She did.
50:50But nevertheless, it was very naughty.
50:54Rex deserved it.
50:55He was a horrid man.
50:57Well, it's not the point.
51:01No.
51:01Well, you'll be leaving your husband now.
51:05Mm-hmm.
51:09Yes.
51:12Yes.
51:14Well, goodbye, Mrs. Fortescue.
51:17Goodbye.
51:20Well, so the Mackenzie's got their money after all.
51:29At least £40,000 worth of it.
51:33That's what she meant.
51:35Yes, I see.
51:38And all she had to do was ask for it.
51:40Old Rex just gave it to her.
51:42Oh, do you think so?
51:43I think he knew who she was.
51:47But there, we shall never really know now, will we?
51:49Well, goodbye, Inspector.
51:51Goodbye.
51:54No, you're welcome.
51:57It's a very nice day.
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