- 5/23/2025
#missmarplewhydidntheyaskevans #romeoandjuliet #thescapegoat
Lucy Crale enlists Poirot to investigate the 14-year-old murder in which her mother was hanged for poisoning her artist father. Starring: David Suchet, Rachael Stirling, Aidan Gillen, Toby Stephens, Gemma Jones, Patrick Malahide, Marc Warren, Julie Cox, Aimee Mullins.
Lucy Crale enlists Poirot to investigate the 14-year-old murder in which her mother was hanged for poisoning her artist father. Starring: David Suchet, Rachael Stirling, Aidan Gillen, Toby Stephens, Gemma Jones, Patrick Malahide, Marc Warren, Julie Cox, Aimee Mullins.
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Short filmTranscript
00:00I once had a girl, it was almost blue, Oh, the daintiest thing, it was sweet and it's
00:27a little forget-me-nots here and there. When I had an arm, I walked on the air,
00:35And it warped, and it warped, and it warped in its way,
00:43And it wasn't long...
00:52Oh, Lucy.
01:06Oh, hello darling.
01:08The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not fall. He maketh me to lie down. In green pastures
01:27he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul.
01:57Oh, Lucy.
02:27Oh, Lucy.
02:57Oh, Lucy.
03:27Merci. Santé. Santé.
03:39Alors, Mademoiselle Marchand.
03:44For starters, Monsieur Poirot, that is not my name.
03:48Pardon, but I understood it was Mademoiselle Marchand that I was to meet.
03:54That is the name I was given as a child. My real name is Crail, Lucy Crail.
03:59Crail? Now I seem to remember...
04:01Yes, my father was Ammius Crail, the artist, and my mother was...
04:07Caroline Crail.
04:10That's right.
04:12Yes, yes. The story most tragic.
04:21But it was a long time ago, yes?
04:23Fourteen years.
04:24Fourteen years? You know, I saw a picture that your father painted in the Tate.
04:36Girl in Shadow.
04:37Girl in Shadow, that was the one. It was a composition most striking.
04:40Yes, he was a great painter.
04:43His reputation is, yes, considerable.
04:45I'm not here to discuss his art, Monsieur Poirot. I'm here because I want you to investigate his murder.
04:51I was seven at the time, too young really to know anything about it.
04:57We lived in Devon in a house called Alderbury.
05:01My parents were very much in love, and in many ways it was an idyllic childhood.
05:09Then one day I was suddenly taken from my home and sent to relatives in Canada.
05:16And finally, when I turned 21, they were obliged to tell me the truth.
05:21For one thing, I came into my own money.
05:25And then you see, there's the letter.
05:30The letter?
05:31Which my mother wrote me just before she died.
05:35That was the first I knew, that my mother was hanged for killing my father.
05:43What did she write?
05:45Not simply that she didn't do it.
05:48She's innocent, and that I could always be sure of that.
05:52That is what I want you to prove.
05:55But why Hercule Poirot, mademoiselle?
05:58I've heard about you, the things you've done, the way you work.
06:04It's psychology. It's your forte, n'est-ce pas?
06:07Mais c'est vrai.
06:09My success, it is founded on psychology.
06:13The why of human behavior.
06:15It is this that I use.
06:21Tout de même, mademoiselle.
06:23It is so long since it happened.
06:25Secrets and lies, monsieur.
06:28The past keeps pulling me back.
06:32It won't let me be.
06:34And until these ghosts are laid to rest,
06:37I can't move on.
06:47I am honored by your faith in me.
06:56But I cannot, you understand, accept your assurance of the innocence of your mother.
07:02Bien, she was guilty, what then?
07:04I have to know the truth, monsieur.
07:06And if the truth is not what you wish to hear?
07:10I have to know.
07:34To the last of the five.
07:36From there to a lawful place of execution.
07:40Where you will be hanged by the neck until death.
07:45Not one of my greatest successes, I have to say.
07:51The defense was suicide, yes?
07:53And?
07:55And the defense was suicide.
07:58I have to say.
08:02The defense was suicide, yes?
08:04Didn't go down too well, I'm afraid.
08:06Ammius Crail simply wasn't that kind of chap.
08:09Wine, women, beer, the lusts of the flesh, you know.
08:13The idea of his killing himself out of conscience, well, frankly, I don't think he had one.
08:18So in your opinion, surmounting you, Caroline Crail, she was guilty?
08:23I rather thought we were taking that for granted.
08:26Did she ever admit as much?
08:28Monsieur Parrish, she didn't need to.
08:30I knew we'd lost as soon as she stepped into the witness box.
08:34She certainly had motive.
08:36Ammius Crail was always getting mixed up with some woman or other, but this was rather different.
08:40A girl, Elsa Greer, just turned 18.
08:45Quite a looker, I must say.
08:47She knew what she wanted, and that was Ammius Crail.
08:50She got him to paint her, and he ended up falling for her.
08:56Caroline Crail was overheard to say that if he didn't give her up, she would kill him.
09:02What was the evidence against her?
09:05She stole some poison from a neighbour who dabbled in herbs and the like.
09:09She hid it in a scent bottle.
09:11When the police found it in her room, she claimed she'd meant to kill herself.
09:15What she couldn't explain was why the bottle was empty, and only her fingerprints were on it.
09:19We contended, of course, that Ammius Crail had used it to kill himself.
09:23But if he had, his fingerprints would have been on it as well.
09:29And how did she give it to him, this poison?
09:32Used a pipette to spike his beer.
09:35Pardon, monsieur, spike?
09:37Er, tampon.
09:39Took him a bottle while he was painting.
09:42The police found the pipette crushed near the scene of the crime.
09:45Oh, the prosecution had a field day.
09:54So...
09:56She put the cognac in, into the bottle, before taking it to him.
10:00No, there was no cognac in the bottle at all, only in the glass.
10:03I see.
10:05Was that you being inscrutable, monsieur Poirot?
10:08Non, non, non, non, non, pardon.
10:11But there were, I believe, other people present at the time.
10:14Oh, yes, there were, let me think, five, if memory serves.
10:18Philip Blake, stockbroker, one of Crail's best friends.
10:23Meredith, his elder brother,
10:26lives across the estuary from the house where the murder took place.
10:30Elsa Greer, of course, currently Lady Ditcham,
10:34though nowadays she spends most of her time in the gossip columns of the divorce court.
10:39There was a governess, Miss, um, Wilson...
10:42Williams, that's it.
10:44Very capable, but not exactly a barrel of laughs.
10:50Then, of course, there was Angela, Caroline's half-sister.
10:54Oh, she'd been packed off to school by the time of the trial.
10:57Poor thing.
10:58She had, perhaps, her problems.
11:00There was a rather unfortunate incident when she was a toddler.
11:04Caroline Crail, as a young girl, threw a bit of a tantrum.
11:09I did argue that she was not a sound mind, but, um...
11:14Fascinating creature.
11:16I'll never forget her, you know.
11:18She had a quality one couldn't help but admire.
11:22Somehow, she was... above it all.
11:26What people will do in the name of love.
11:30It makes fools of us all, n'est-ce pas?
11:34Eh bien, I thank you, Sir Montague.
11:36You have been most helpful.
11:38Pleasure meeting you.
11:40Tell to me, if you please,
11:42if, as her daughter hopes, Caroline Crail did not kill her husband...
11:46But she did, old boy. Take my word for it.
11:49Then it makes the logic that one of these five people must have done so.
11:52There's no reason why any of them should.
11:55No, but all the same, I think I shall pay to them each a visit.
11:58Get five different versions of the same event.
12:07Thank you, Holigans.
12:08Bless you, Mr Blake.
12:12Probably good egg, old Hollinghurst.
12:14Even though he does bat for the other side.
12:17Tally-ho.
12:20Tally-ho.
12:23Well, who'd have thought it?
12:25Raising a glass with the famous Hercule Poirot.
12:28Poirot, Monsieur Hercule Poirot.
12:31Poirot.
12:32Poirot. Could never get my tongue around French.
12:35Let's keep the old entendre cordial, eh?
12:37But I am Belgian, Monsieur, not French.
12:42So, what can I do for you?
12:45It is a Creel case, Monsieur.
12:47It is that which I wish to discuss with you.
12:52What the hell for?
12:53Because I have accepted a commission, Monsieur, to review the case.
12:56From whom?
12:58Lucy Creel.
13:02Lucy Creel?
13:03Oui, Monsieur.
13:06Nothing to discuss.
13:08Five minutes of your time, Monsieur Blake. That is all I ask.
13:10What the hell is she poking her nose in for?
13:12Because she wishes to know the truth.
13:14Everyone knows the truth.
13:15But all she wishes is to assess for herself the facts.
13:18It's over. Dead. Buried.
13:21As are her parents, Monsieur.
13:29Hermes Creel was the best friend a chap could have.
13:34Knew each other since we were children. We all did.
13:36Myself, my brother, Caroline.
13:38Nobis, you see, darling, darling.
13:41Hermes was a great fellow.
13:44All that talent, that lust for life, wiped out because of her.
13:50You did not like her?
13:52Rotten, through and through.
13:55And Hermes could never see it.
13:58But he was also something of a rutter, was he not?
14:00That's what she'd have you believe.
14:03Oh, she liked playing the injured party and did it very well, but...
14:06Underneath it all, she was cold and calculating.
14:09Had a devil of a temper.
14:11Tried to kill her baby sister, for God's sake.
14:14You say true?
14:15Damn right.
14:17Chucked a paperweight at her and blinded the little blighter in one eye.
14:21Disfigured for life.
14:25Do you know the reason for this fit of temper?
14:27Sibling jealousy. Simple as that.
14:30And it was jealousy that made her kill Hermes.
14:34I tell you, that woman was trouble.
14:37Even as a girl.
14:39The way she played us boys along.
14:42Gave us all the once-over, but finally settled on Hermes.
14:45Not surprising, really.
14:47He was in line to inherit Alderbury and was shown talent as an artist.
14:51A rich genius. What could be better?
14:55It is surprising, is it not?
14:58How soon in life the die is cast.
15:03Yes, I suppose it is.
15:06Anyway, after the marriage,
15:09I kept my distance for a while, at least.
15:13I seemed to succumb to temptation.
15:16Temptation, monsieur?
15:19Alderbury.
15:21Alderbury.
15:23A place I couldn't resist.
15:26At some of the happiest times of my life in that house.
15:40That September, like the summers of childhood,
15:44I was hoping for a peaceful few weeks.
15:48Uncle Phil!
15:49But I should have known better.
15:53Good morning, Mr Blake.
15:55Good morning, Mrs Spriggs.
15:57Good to see you again.
15:58Good to see you too.
16:01They've been at it for hours.
16:05Hello, Uncle Phil.
16:06Hello there.
16:07Are you grown?
16:09Angela looking after you, is she?
16:11No.
16:12No?
16:13Hello?
16:15Give her a chance now.
16:21Why won't you listen to me, Amelia?
16:23Caroline, for God's sake!
16:25Oh, that's right.
16:26Run away like you always do.
16:28There goes the jardinier.
16:32There was always something of an atmosphere.
16:34This time, you could cut it with a knife.
16:38And I soon saw why.
16:43Amelia Solchev, how the hell are you?
16:46Lovely, isn't she?
16:51Sometimes I wish I'd never met her.
16:56Thank God you've turned up.
16:57Living in a house full of women's enough to send any man off his chump.
17:01Philip, how lovely to see you.
17:03Hello, Caroline.
17:04Just in time for lunch.
17:06Will Elsie be joining us?
17:08Elsa.
17:09Amias is doing her portrait.
17:11Skittish little thing.
17:13She should watch all that sun, you know.
17:15Can be very ageing.
17:21Things are a bit rocky at the moment.
17:23Is it serious, then?
17:24Elsa and me.
17:26It'll be a damned good painting.
17:27That's not what I asked.
17:30You know me, Phil.
17:32I can't help myself.
17:39Then things got worse.
17:43Amias and Caroline's half-sister Angela have been bickering all morning.
17:48Could you stop that, please, Angela?
17:50What?
17:51Slurping.
17:53I'm not slurping.
17:54Yes, you are.
17:57Amias.
18:03I thought I might try that other kimono.
18:05The canary yellow.
18:07It could look rather stunning against that water, don't you think?
18:10Canary.
18:11How lovely.
18:13Of course, on some people it might look a little.
18:15How shall I put it?
18:16Don't worry, Caroline.
18:18I'm young enough to carry it off.
18:20We're not changing anything.
18:22Did you hear that?
18:23It's like feeding time in the monkey house.
18:26Why can't you just leave me alone?
18:35I haven't seen this before.
18:36It's by Volga McDowell.
18:38A young Norwegian.
18:39Extraordinary, don't you think?
18:41Everyone's talking about him.
18:43Got a sense of humour, I'll give him that.
18:46Don't you agree, Miss Williams?
18:49Beachwood, isn't it?
18:52Thank you, Mrs. Leeds.
19:17This room would be so lovely if it weren't so cluttered.
19:22When I'm living here, I'll throw out all the rubbish.
19:25Which, let's face it, is practically everything.
19:28And I've always thought copper-coloured curtains would be simply divine.
19:33Don't you think they look rather lovely in the setting sun?
19:39Are you thinking of buying, then, Elsa?
19:43That won't be necessary.
19:45You seem to have lost me, my dear.
19:47All this pretense. It's so dishonest.
19:52Amos and I love each other and we're going to be married.
19:55So I shall be moving in.
19:57As I suspected, my dear.
19:59You're completely insane.
20:03Bloody beasts give him the most frightful indigestion.
20:06I'll ask Mrs. Spriggs for some bicarbonate of soda.
20:09Good thinking.
20:11By the way, Elsa says you want to marry her.
20:16Is this true?
20:21Is it true?
20:23It's only fair that she should know.
20:28Amias, is it true?
20:33Then... it is.
20:42If you'll excuse me, I'll just...
20:44You know, looking back...
20:48I wouldn't be surprised if she'd made up her mind to kill him, then.
20:57Amias, do tidy yourself up. We're going over to Meredith's for dinner.
21:00Oh, yes. I'd forgotten.
21:02Philip, you should do some fishing while you're here.
21:05The sea's probably swarming with mackerel.
21:12So we all trooped off to Mary's.
21:16Not very merry that afternoon.
21:31Amias can't do this.
21:35Looks like he's going to.
21:37He can't just leave his wife and child for some slip of a go.
21:42She's too young to know what she's doing.
21:44She knows, all right.
21:51Poor old Mary.
21:53All that sensitivity, no use at all.
21:56Hard to believe we come from the same stable.
22:02After tea, he took us to his lab.
22:06Cognine. I've never heard of this.
22:09It's distilled from the flowers of the spotted hemlock.
22:13It's highly poisonous, but it can be efficacious in the treatment of...
22:17Then he had the cheek to read us some classical tripe
22:21about the death of Socrates or Plato or some sort.
22:24The man who administered the poison pinched his foot
22:28and asked if he felt it.
22:30Socrates said no.
22:32Then he did the same to his legs,
22:34and gradually, moving upwards in this way,
22:37he let us see that he was getting cold and numb.
22:43He said that when it reached the heart,
22:47Socrates would be gone.
22:49Socrates would be gone.
22:53Back at HQ that evening,
22:55Agnes and Angela had a god-almighty row about something or other.
22:59But that was nothing out of the ordinary.
23:03I even think she might have thrown something at him.
23:06Can you remember what?
23:07Good Lord, no. It was 14 years ago.
23:10Oh, yes, yes, of course.
23:12You are being most helpful, Monsieur Blake.
23:15The next morning, when I came downstairs,
23:18I heard Amias and Caroline had it in the library.
23:21I don't know where they got the energy from.
23:23I swear to God!
23:25You and your women. Someday I'll kill you, Amias.
23:29I swear to God I will.
23:33Good morning.
23:36Lovely day.
23:38I want to get on.
23:40I'll go change.
23:42Don't be long.
23:44Bloody women.
23:47And off he went, back to his painting,
23:50while I went back inside.
23:53Good morning.
23:55Too cruel.
23:57She hardly noticed me.
23:59Now, of course I know why.
24:10Hello?
24:12What the hell's the matter?
24:16I don't know.
24:25I heard these noises in the laboratory.
24:29So I went to have a look,
24:32and the guanidine bottle was not only out of place,
24:35but it was practically empty,
24:37and I swear to you, Phil, that yesterday it was full.
24:39Are you sure?
24:40Of course I'm sure.
24:42I'm very careful about these things.
24:45It must have been Caroline.
24:48I should have gone straight to Amias and warned him.
24:51That's absurd.
24:53Caroline wouldn't dream of such a thing.
24:55Then what's your explanation?
24:57For God's sake.
24:58We'll discuss it after lunch.
25:00I'll see to her packing.
25:02What were you two up to?
25:04Oh, what a surprise.
25:06We were just having a chat about Angela and school.
25:10I'm not at all sure it's the right thing.
25:14Sorry about that.
25:16Hello, everybody.
25:18I'd kill for a cold beer.
25:20I'll send some down.
25:25I think we could all do with one.
25:29And that's what had happened.
25:31Why don't I take it?
25:33Oh, no. Enjoy the sun.
25:36At the time, I reasoned in my majesty
25:39She couldn't stand the thought of the two of them being alone together.
25:43I should have realized, but instead I just sat and watched.
25:49I had the chance to save him, and I did nothing.
25:55You reproach yourself unduly, Monsieur Blake.
25:59Amias didn't join us for lunch.
26:03And then Caroline took him coffee.
26:07He was so calm and collected, and yet she must have known by then he'd be dead.
26:14Miss Williams went with her, and then Meredith wandered off.
26:21But it wasn't long before we saw him again.
26:24Get a doctor, quick.
26:26What's wrong?
26:28It's Amias.
26:30What?
26:31I'm afraid he's dead.
26:38Find the doctor. I'll take care of her.
26:42She was like an avenging fury.
26:45I've never seen anything like it.
26:48You killed him! You killed him!
27:08You killed my dearest friend.
27:11No.
27:15He did it himself.
27:17Tell that to the police.
27:27They didn't believe her either.
27:31Amias, Monsieur Blake,
27:34the truth, it has the habit of revealing itself.
27:46Monsieur Poirot.
27:48Lady Titichem.
27:50Let's get on with it, shall we?
27:53I said all I had to say about the Creel case many years ago,
27:58but I found your letter rather intriguing.
28:03How lucky you are curiosity got the better of me.
28:10Indeed I am, my lady.
28:15It must be very painful for you to recall.
28:19Painful? No.
28:22My father was a mill hand, worked his way up and made a mint.
28:26You can't do that with thin skin, and I, Monsieur Poirot,
28:29are my father's daughter.
28:31I am not as sensitive as you might think.
28:34Then that makes my task a little easier.
28:36One so often jumps to the wrong conclusion.
28:39At the trial, for example, people thought
28:41what a terrible ordeal it must have been for me.
28:44The brutish questions, the ghastly journalists,
28:47the mindless screaming crowds.
28:50But the English are a people very moral, n'est-ce pas?
28:53That's one way of looking at it.
28:55Hello, if you did not find the trial an ordeal, how did you find it?
28:59I enjoyed it.
29:01You see, I got exactly what I wanted.
29:05And what was that?
29:10Caroline Creel at the end of a rope.
29:13Coffee?
29:19Thank you, Tipping.
29:21Thank you, Tipping.
29:24You said in your letter that Mademoiselle...
29:27Le Marchand?
29:28That's right.
29:30Had commissioned you. I don't believe I know her.
29:33She is the daughter of Amieus and Caroline Creel.
29:36Oh, yes, of course. There was a child.
29:40Oh, dear. Does she think it was my fault?
29:43That is a possible interpretation, oui.
29:46How very stupid. Cream?
29:48Non, non, merci.
29:52So you take no responsibility?
29:55Why should I?
29:57I loved him, and I would have made him happy.
30:00And that woman killed him to stop that from happening.
30:04You have to understand.
30:06Amieus Creel did not seduce an innocent young girl.
30:10It wasn't like that at all.
30:15Elsa Greer.
30:17As soon as I laid eyes on him, I knew I had to have him.
30:21I want you to paint me.
30:23I don't do portraits.
30:25I'm rather rich, you know.
30:27I can afford to pay.
30:30And what makes you think I'd want to paint you?
30:35But you do, don't you?
30:38And I always get what I want.
30:41So when do we start?
30:43If I paint you, you realise I'll make love to you.
30:48I'd have thought that went without saying.
30:52So he invited me down to their house. Quite bold of him, really.
30:56But Caroline didn't seem to mind.
30:59She didn't like me, but then why should she?
31:02And we never said anything that she couldn't have overheard.
31:14But we were more than aware of what was going on.
31:18What is it?
31:21I think you ought to go back to London.
31:26But the picture...
31:28We've hardly started.
31:31I don't know.
31:34I don't know.
31:37I don't know.
31:40I don't know.
31:44I don't know.
31:47I can't paint you, Elsa.
31:50Why?
31:51You know why.
31:53So I left.
31:55I didn't write or telephone.
31:57And then after ten days...
32:04He couldn't keep away.
32:06We were together for two weeks.
32:08And soon we realised that we had to be together.
32:11Always.
32:12I want you to come back to Alderbury.
32:15I've decided to finish the painting.
32:19What about Caroline?
32:21What about her?
32:24Shouldn't you tell her?
32:26What on earth for?
32:29She's bound to find out sooner or later.
32:32We'll get the picture finished first.
32:36But you will tell her, won't you?
32:38Yes.
32:39Promise?
32:42Promise.
32:47Do you think she'll make a terrible fuss?
32:50She always makes a fuss.
32:54She loves me.
32:57Then she should put your happiness first.
33:04He painted in a kind of frenzy.
33:06I've never seen him like that before.
33:13Keep still, for God's sake.
33:15I was convinced we should tell her,
33:17but Amias wouldn't hear of it.
33:19And then one day I...
33:21lost my patience.
33:23Amias and I love each other.
33:25And we are going to be married.
33:27So I shall be moving in.
33:29Amias.
33:30Caroline.
33:31Caroline.
33:32Caroline.
33:33Caroline.
33:34Caroline.
33:35Caroline.
33:36Caroline.
33:37Caroline.
33:38Caroline.
33:39Caroline.
33:40I shall be moving in.
33:42Amias was furious.
33:45But he had to admit what I said was true.
33:49And I still think I was right.
33:51Honesty is, after all, the best policy.
33:53Don't you agree, Monsieur Poirot?
33:55Desirable, certainly, but not always advisable.
33:58We believe in plain speaking where I come from.
34:00I'm very pleased to hear it, madame.
34:02But Caroline had a devious way about her.
34:07When we went to Meredith's for tea that afternoon,
34:09she behaved as if nothing had happened.
34:12I even began to think she was taking it rather well.
34:16How wrong I was.
34:19If you please to tell me, Lady Titicham,
34:23in plain speaking,
34:25if when you were all assembled in the laboratory of Monsieur Blake,
34:30you observed Caroline Crail take the con in.
34:34No, I did not.
34:36I seem to remember chatting to Meredith in the doorway,
34:39so I wouldn't have been able to see a thing.
34:41Caroline.
34:42Sorry, Mary, it's such a fascinating collection.
34:46But of course she did take it, and we all know why.
34:49Perhaps not everyone is as sure as you.
34:52I actually heard her threaten him.
34:54You and your women.
34:55Someday I'll kill you, Amias.
34:57Oh, don't be an idiot.
34:58I swear to God, I will.
34:59You can threaten me all you like, forget this.
35:01I am going to marry Elsa, and nothing's going to stop me.
35:03I'll kill you rather than let you go.
35:05Morning.
35:07For God's sake!
35:15Lovely day.
35:16I want to get on.
35:19I'll go change.
35:20Don't be long.
35:21Which I did.
35:23Then I went to join him, and I poured him a beer.
35:32She's making a terrible song and dance.
35:35I told you she would.
35:40To my Mona Lisa.
35:42My darling Amias.
35:47God, it's warm.
35:48I can get you a cold one.
35:49On that seat.
35:51Sit down.
35:52Now.
35:53He painted as if his life depended on it.
35:58Dear Amias.
36:01I loved him so much.
36:06It happened shortly after that.
36:09I popped up to the house to fetch a shawl, and when I came back, she was there.
36:17Sorry about that.
36:21Hello, everybody.
36:23I'd kill for a cold beer.
36:25I'll send some down.
36:36She must have known then what she meant to do.
36:39She brought it back about ten minutes later.
36:46Oh, tastes foul.
36:49Everything tastes foul today.
36:51Too much bile, my dear.
36:54It'll choke you one of these days.
36:58I didn't suspect a thing.
36:59I didn't suspect a thing.
37:02About forty minutes later, he complained of stiffness and pains.
37:06Oh, bloody rheumatism.
37:09Then the bell sounded for lunch, and Meredith came to fetch me.
37:14Amias decided to skip lunch, as he often did.
37:17Old grump, he doesn't want any lunch.
37:20So we left him.
37:23To die alone.
37:25BELL RINGS
37:28Amias!
37:30Amias!
37:31And I just knew it was Caroline.
37:34How could she do that?
37:36How could she?
37:38It is a story...
37:41most...
37:43tragic, Nesman.
37:46Hanging was too good for her.
37:54MUSIC PLAYS
38:11Monsieur Black?
38:22Little Lucy.
38:25A grown woman.
38:27One can hardly believe it.
38:29Time passes swiftly, does it not?
38:32Poor child.
38:33Such a terrible shock.
38:35How much better to let it all be.
38:41The whole point, you see, is that Amias Grail was an artist.
38:45And his art was his passion.
38:47When he painted, he was like a man...
38:50possessed.
38:52He meant to finish that portrait, whatever the cost.
38:56Elsa was terrifically enthusiastic about the painting, and...
39:00Caroline...
39:04Yes?
39:06I'd always been...
39:09very fond of her.
39:11Come on, Mary, come on!
39:15There was a time when I'd hoped to marry her.
39:18But that was soon nipped in the bud.
39:21Still, I remained, if I may say so...
39:24devoted to her service.
39:28Dear God.
39:31When I think of what they did to her...
39:34strung up like an animal.
39:38Such a...
39:40gentle creature.
39:44LAUGHTER
39:51I remember a conversation we had shortly after it all began.
39:58Do you think he really cares for her?
40:06He's very committed to the painting.
40:11He's in love with her, isn't he?
40:18A great deal, I think.
40:22There's only one person he really cares for,
40:26and I think that's you.
40:29These infatuations, they come and they go.
40:32That's what I used to think.
40:36But this time I've a feeling it's serious.
40:41She's just a girl.
40:44But that's the trouble.
40:46The way she looks at him.
40:49So intense.
40:52I...
40:54I'm afraid, Meredith.
40:59It's...
41:01It's nothing.
41:03I hope you're right.
41:07But I can't help feeling I'd like to take a hatchet to her.
41:11A hatchet?
41:13It's a small axe.
41:15Yes, I know what a hatchet is, monsieur. I was commenting rather on her remark.
41:18It was merely to make a point.
41:19She made her point a little more forcibly, did she not, with her baby sister Angela?
41:23Ah.
41:25The paperweight.
41:26Oui.
41:27Well, there's a moment of sibling jealousy, monsieur Poirot, for which she never forgave herself.
41:30And disfigured the girl for life?
41:32Well, that was the problem.
41:33It was a constant reminder that she tried desperately to make amends,
41:37which in turn made Ammius very jealous.
41:40You knew him for many years, Nespa?
41:43Since boyhood.
41:45But he was always more Philip's friend than mine.
41:50You did not like him.
41:52I thought his conduct was frankly disgraceful.
41:56Don't you understand?
41:59This painting's the best thing I've done, and I'm determined to see it through.
42:04No, I think it's a disgrace.
42:08The way you treat Caroline, the way you've always treated her,
42:11what about Lucy, for heaven's sake?
42:13You can't just throw it all away.
42:15You're a good man, Mary, but such an old softy.
42:19Wait till the picture's finished, then you'll see I was right.
42:25That grin he gave me.
42:33I'll never forget Caroline that afternoon.
42:36She made such an effort, and yet behind it all,
42:38Is there anything the matter, my dear?
42:42Everything.
42:45It's gone.
42:48Finished.
42:51When she said at the trial that she took the poison to kill herself,
42:56I swear she was speaking the truth.
43:03But why did you take your own life?
43:06But why did you take your guests into the laboratory?
43:10Someone must have suggested it.
43:11Caroline Crail, perhaps?
43:13Well, I often took guests into my laboratory. It wasn't unusual.
43:17This is valerian.
43:18The one that cats like?
43:19Yes, they can't get enough of it.
43:21It can be used as a sleeping draught.
43:28Elsa, you should have a sniff.
43:31I got a lot of pleasure from my Bruce.
43:33Gathering the plants at night, macerating them, and all the rest of it.
43:38It's astonishing how a simple decoction can work wonders.
43:41Cognine.
43:44I've never heard of these.
43:46It's distilled from the flowers of the spotted hemlock.
43:49Isn't that what Socrates took?
43:51That's right.
43:53You know, there's the most moving description of his death in Plato's Phaedo.
43:58Plato's Phaedo.
44:00Well, I could read it to you if you'd like.
44:07Sorry. Sorry. Must be the heat.
44:10The man who administered the poison pinched his foot.
44:14He asked if he felt it, and Socrates said no.
44:18Then he did the same to his legs, and gradually moving upwards in this way,
44:22he let us see that he was getting cold and numb.
44:25He said that when it reached the heart, Socrates would be gone.
44:32And that is how Ammias let his fade.
44:37The very next day.
44:40When did Madame Creel take the cognine from the bottle?
44:43Well, just before she came into the study, I...
44:48I think Philip and Angela left first, followed by Ammias.
44:53I was in the doorway waiting to lock up, having a word with Elsa anyway.
44:57I suppose that's when she took it.
44:59Caroline.
45:00Oh, sorry, Mary. Such a fascinating connection.
45:24DOOR CLOSES
45:31DOOR OPENS
45:33DOOR CLOSES
45:34DOOR CLOSES
45:41MUSIC PLAYS
46:04MUSIC FADES
Recommended
40:21
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