First broadcast 28th February 1993.
Gervase Chevenix, a dislikeable man who hired Poirot to investigate the possibly shady dealings of his business associate, is murdered shortly after.
David Suchet as Hercule Poirot
Hugh Fraser as Captain Hastings
Philip Jackson as Chief Inspector Japp
Iain Cuthbertson as Gervase Chevenix
Emma Fielding as Ruth Chevenix
Fiona Walker as Miss Lingard
Zena Walker as Vanda Chevenix
Richard Lintern as John Lake
Jeremy Northam as Hugo Trent
Tushka Bergen as Susan Cardwell (as Tushika Bergen)
James Greene as Snell
Jon Croft as Lawrence
John Rolfe as Registrar
Derek Smee as Auctioneer
Gervase Chevenix, a dislikeable man who hired Poirot to investigate the possibly shady dealings of his business associate, is murdered shortly after.
David Suchet as Hercule Poirot
Hugh Fraser as Captain Hastings
Philip Jackson as Chief Inspector Japp
Iain Cuthbertson as Gervase Chevenix
Emma Fielding as Ruth Chevenix
Fiona Walker as Miss Lingard
Zena Walker as Vanda Chevenix
Richard Lintern as John Lake
Jeremy Northam as Hugo Trent
Tushka Bergen as Susan Cardwell (as Tushika Bergen)
James Greene as Snell
Jon Croft as Lawrence
John Rolfe as Registrar
Derek Smee as Auctioneer
Category
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TVTranscript
00:00Ladies and gentlemen, lot 22, an Edgar Brandt wrought iron wall mirror and console table.
00:15I shall open the bidding at 30 pounds.
00:20Do I see 30 pounds?
00:2130 pounds.
00:22Is this what you came for, Morrow?
00:23Yes, it is, Hastings.
00:24I thought for the vestibule, you know, by the door.
00:2540 pounds.
00:27How high will you go?
00:3090 pounds, it will be enough.
00:3350 pounds.
00:3560 pounds.
00:36And 70.
00:37Yes.
00:3880 pounds.
00:39Thank you, madam.
00:4090 pounds.
00:41At 90 pounds then.
00:42At 90 pounds, any more?
00:43No.
00:44No more.
00:45We need more.
00:46At 90 pounds.
00:48At 90 pounds.
00:50Thank you, your honor.
00:55How much more?
00:57A hundred pounds.
01:05It's with you, sir.
01:11A hundred and twenty.
01:22Sir?
01:26At one hundred and twenty pounds, then.
01:29Any more?
01:31Sold to Mr. Chabonix.
01:36Well, that was a bit of bad luck, Poirot.
01:38I thought you had it there.
01:40Sir Hastings, did I?
01:42Mr. Poirot? You are Hercule Poirot, are you not?
01:45The detective?
01:47Yes. No hard feelings, I hope?
01:49Non.
01:51Good. My card.
01:54Tell me, what do you know about modern art, Mr. Poirot?
01:58I'm a collector. Also, I deal in paintings and sculptures.
02:01That's my business.
02:03And I have to tell you, I'm not a man who's easily fooled.
02:07That is self-evident, monsieur.
02:09Sir, it may surprise you to learn that I believe I'm being defrauded.
02:12I want you to look into it.
02:14The services of Hercule Poirot are not inexpensive.
02:17Maybe I'll give you the mirror. What do you say?
02:20I've got a place, Hamburg Close, near Wimberley.
02:23How about tomorrow?
02:25That is out of the question.
02:27The day after, then. Let me know.
02:31Well, that was a bit of a cheap, wasn't it?
02:33Yes, indeed, Hastings.
02:35This...
02:37Jervais Chabonix?
02:40It does not occur to him that Poirot is also a man of importance?
02:43A man of affairs?
02:46And yet he summons me like a mere nobody, an obedient dog.
02:49I take it you'll refuse.
02:51To refuse? Yes, it is my first instinct.
02:54But you know, Hastings, a man with so much arrogance as this...
03:00even he may be vulnerable in ways he cannot see.
03:03And he did offer you that mirror.
03:07That, too.
03:09I'll get the tickets tomorrow.
03:14And do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?
03:19I do.
03:21Well, there we are, then.
03:23Now, let me see.
03:26Do you have a ring?
03:28Yes.
03:30That's right.
03:34John Lake, Ruth Chabonix,
03:37I am pleased to declare you man and wife.
03:42I wish it didn't have to be like this.
03:53I do love you.
04:21Mr Poirot?
04:23Yes?
04:24My name's Susan Cardwell. Do you mind if I join you?
04:27Not at all, mademoiselle.
04:29You try it, please.
04:36Not at all, mademoiselle. You try it, please.
04:43This is my associate, Captain Hastings.
04:45How do you do?
04:46May I offer you a cup of coffee?
04:48Oh, I won't, thank you.
04:50My fiancé, Hugo, told me to look out for you.
04:53Actually, he's not my fiancé. Not officially, anyway.
04:56Hugo?
04:57Oh, Hugo Trent.
04:59Chavez's nephew. He's meeting you at the station,
05:01so he suggested I come on the same train.
05:04Are you staying with Monsieur Chabonix?
05:06Unfortunately, yes.
05:09Well, I've only met him once,
05:11and he was absolutely horrible to me.
05:14He doesn't approve of you?
05:16It's not that. It's just...
05:18Well, it's... it's Hugo and me.
05:21You see, Chavez has always had his heart set on Hugo
05:24marrying his daughter, Ruth.
05:26But he's not inclined to do that.
05:28No.
05:29You see, Ruth was adopted.
05:31I suppose Chavez thinks marrying her to his nephew will...
05:35will make her more completely his.
05:38But he can't force them to marry, can he?
05:41He can try. He will try.
05:44I think he enjoys it, manipulating other people.
05:50I really hate him, you know. I do.
05:53And I'm not going to let him spoil my life.
06:02PANTING
06:09Here's Hugo.
06:11Susan.
06:13Mwah!
06:14You must be Mr Poirot.
06:16Monsieur?
06:17And?
06:18Arthur Hastings.
06:19Hugo Trent.
06:20Uh, look, I'm supposed to be driving you to Hamburg close,
06:23but I've got to stop off at my studio.
06:25Do you mind terribly?
06:27Not at all.
06:28It's on the way.
06:32And these are my designs.
06:34All of them.
06:36What we're doing here is revolutionary, Mr Poirot.
06:39What do you think?
06:41I think it is most remarkable.
06:44Is it all metal?
06:46Tubular steel.
06:47You see, who needs wood, Captain Hastings?
06:50Wood expands, it perishes, it dries out.
06:53But metal, metal is perfect.
06:55You see, triangulated joinery.
06:58There's no fuss.
06:59Oh, yes, I see.
07:01Hugo.
07:02Give me a minute, Lawrence.
07:05Look at this.
07:07Sit down.
07:20What do you think?
07:22I think...
07:24that it is perfectly conceived.
07:28This is the future, Mr Poirot.
07:30And I could sell thousands if only...
07:32Uncle Gervais.
07:34He does not support this enterprise.
07:37Just getting this far has been a struggle.
07:39Now the banks are closing in,
07:41and I may have to sell my designs just to pay them off.
07:44Hugo, they telephoned while you were out.
07:47They won't give you any more time.
07:49I'll have to speak to them.
07:51Excuse me, Mr Poirot.
07:53Lawrence will have to drive you.
07:57Damn him to hell.
08:00MUSIC PLAYS
08:26Hmm. Quite a place.
08:28Good afternoon, gentlemen.
08:30Mr Chevenix is waiting for you.
08:32Merci.
08:33Enter!
08:38Monsieur Poirot, sir.
08:40Oh, Mr Poirot.
08:42Good of you to come.
08:44You brought your secretary.
08:47This is my associate, Captain Hastings.
08:50Oh, yes. I saw him at the auction.
08:53Well, what do you think?
08:55Hung it this morning. Looks good, doesn't it?
08:58Yes. Indeed.
09:00Shall I come back later, Mr Chevenix?
09:02Yes. You can sort out that stuff on Matisse.
09:06This is Miss Lingard, my research assistant.
09:09How do you do?
09:11Mademoiselle Lingard?
09:12We're working on a study of Fauvism
09:14for the British Museum of Modern Art.
09:17Oh, Miss Lingard.
09:19Is that architect here?
09:21I believe so, Mr Chevenix.
09:24Have him come in, will you?
09:28ÂŁ10,000, Mr Poirot.
09:31Not a drop in the ocean.
09:33That's how much I paid him, John Lake.
09:36And this is the fraud you wish me to investigate?
09:39Yes.
09:40For what purpose did you give him the money?
09:43A big development in London.
09:45Shops, offices, apartments.
09:47He's building it, and he's got me to invest.
09:50So far, he hasn't even laid a brick.
09:53And I'm beginning to wonder if he ever will.
09:58You wanted to see me, Gervais?
10:00Come in, Lake.
10:02There's someone I want you to meet.
10:04This is Hercule Poirot.
10:08The detective?
10:10Yes.
10:12Why don't you take Mr Poirot into the garden
10:14and get him some tea?
10:16I'll see you at dinner.
10:17We'll meet in the hall, quarter past eight.
10:19Do try not to be late.
10:21Snell rings the first gong at eight minutes past the hour
10:24and the second at 8.15.
10:26I'll see you then.
10:28Gentlemen.
10:38I, uh...
10:40I don't suppose...
10:42You're not here on business, Mr Poirot?
10:44That is precisely why I am here, Monsieur Lake.
10:47Oh. That's difficult, Gervais.
10:49He likes to spring his surprises.
10:57Let me introduce you.
10:59This is Mrs Vanda Chevenix.
11:01Hercule Poirot. Captain Hastings.
11:03Madame. How do you do?
11:05And her daughter, Miss Chevenix.
11:08Ruth.
11:10Mademoiselle. Hello.
11:12Hello.
11:14Apparently, Mr Poirot is doing some work for your father.
11:18For Gervais? Really?
11:20Oui.
11:22It is about the deaf.
11:26What deaf, Madame Chevenix?
11:28Saffra warned me there would be a deaf.
11:32She told me not to be afraid.
11:35Uh, who's Saffra?
11:37She was a servant of a menhotel.
11:40She is my spiritual guide.
11:43Oh, come on, Vanda.
11:45I'm sure Mr Poirot doesn't want to hear about all that.
11:48Au contraire, mademoiselle.
11:50Poirot interests himself always in matters of the occult.
11:56You permit?
11:58Merci.
12:11It is very old.
12:13It is 3,000 years old.
12:16It was hers.
12:19This belonged to Saffra?
12:22She is never wrong.
12:25I, uh... I'd better be going.
12:29I'll walk round with you. Excuse me.
12:32Right.
12:34T?
12:55Evening, Hugo.
12:57Where are you going, Ruth?
12:59I've dropped my brooch somewhere. Outside, I think.
13:02Have you spoken to Gervais?
13:04Yes. He's impossible.
13:25Water.
13:36Entrez.
13:39Oh, you're not ready yet.
13:41Well, we have plenty of time, mon ami.
13:43Are you sure? I could have sworn I heard the first gong.
13:47Hmm. Let me see.
13:54Well, it is six minutes past eight only.
14:24SIREN WAILS
14:48What was that?
14:50How do you not know?
14:53DOOR OPENS
15:02Good evening, Miss Ruth.
15:06Oh. Good evening, Miss Lingard.
15:13Is something the matter?
15:17I'm not late, am I?
15:19Do you hear it, Susan? What?
15:21Just now. I thought it was a car backfiring.
15:24Ruth. What's going on?
15:27We thought we heard a gun going off.
15:29Oh, yes. I thought I heard something.
15:31It came from upstairs.
15:33No, it was a car. It came from over there.
15:36I heard it, too.
15:38Snell?
15:40Yes, ma'am.
15:42It is 8.15. Time for the second gong.
15:46Yes, ma'am.
15:49But where is Monsieur Chevenix?
15:52He is never late.
15:54He was working in the study lab.
16:11The store must be broken open immediately.
16:13Here. Let me.
16:19THUD
16:21THUD
16:24THUD
16:27THUD
16:41All right.
16:48I told you Safra is never wrong.
17:19THUD
17:27Evening, Poirot.
17:29Chief Inspector Japp.
17:31Right. Where's the body?
17:33This way, Chief Inspector.
17:41Chief Inspector.
17:49MUSIC PLAYS
18:00Suicide.
18:02So it would appear.
18:04I'd say it was obvious.
18:06The bullet must have gone straight through his head and hit the mirror.
18:10So it would appear.
18:13He left a note.
18:19Sorry.
18:23I suppose that says it all.
18:26Look at this, Chief Inspector.
18:33What is it?
18:35It is a small fragment of the looking-glass.
18:38That must be strange.
18:40Looking-glass?
18:42Must be splinters all over the place.
18:44Who found the body?
18:46We did. We heard a shot at about ten past eight,
18:49and then we broke in the door.
19:02Let me see.
19:07Ah. Just as I thought.
19:09He locked himself in.
19:11That more or less wraps it up.
19:13You believe so?
19:15Well, we've got a dead man.
19:17You heard a shot, he's alone in the room,
19:19the gun's in his hand and the door's locked.
19:21And what about the windows?
19:30False.
19:32And this one.
19:39This one too.
19:41Right. Well, I'd better go and have a word with Mrs Chevenix.
19:45Not that there's much to say.
19:51You know, it does look like suicide, Poirot.
19:55Oui, c'est possible, mon ami.
19:58And yet, there are many things I wish to know.
20:10For example,
20:12why was the mirror broken?
20:14And why was there mud on the shoes belonging to Mademoiselle Ruth Chevenix?
20:20VoilĂ .
20:22Footprints?
20:24Yes, Hastings, they are the footprints of a lady,
20:26and directly outside the study of Monsieur Chevenix.
20:28But the French window is locked from the inside.
20:30But this window, Hastings, it can be locked from the outside.
20:33Regard.
20:35By raising the metal catch so,
20:40and then with a push...
20:46Good Lord!
20:51You know, Chief Inspector,
20:54life is one of the great illusions.
20:59I'm afraid I don't quite agree with that, Monsieur.
21:02I'm afraid I don't quite agree with that, Monsieur Chevenix.
21:06Gervais knew that.
21:09He and I, you see,
21:11we met on the same plane.
21:14On holiday?
21:16The spiritual plane.
21:20He was one of the great ones.
21:23He too found it hard to conform
21:26to the silly standards of the everyday world.
21:32And he believed me...
21:35about the death.
21:38You'd been told about his death?
21:42Oh, yes.
21:46Saffra told me.
21:48She knew.
21:50Did she, indeed?
21:54Mrs Chevenix, can you tell me
21:56where I might be able to get hold of this Saffra?
22:00She used to live in Egypt.
22:04But she moved?
22:06No.
22:08Perfectly concealed.
22:10Hello, Mr Poirot.
22:12Hello, Mr Poirot.
22:15Monsieur Trent.
22:19Did you see your uncle earlier this evening?
22:22Yes.
22:24It must have been about seven.
22:26He was dressed for dinner.
22:28I went to see him to ask him to help me with my business.
22:32But he wouldn't listen.
22:34He wanted Hugo to marry Ruth.
22:36No marriage to Ruth, no money for me.
22:38That's what it boiled down to.
22:40So, Monsieur Trent,
22:42you had no reason, therefore, to celebrate?
22:45None at all.
22:47It was not you, then, that opened this bottle of champagne?
22:50No.
22:52Curious.
22:54The bottle of champagne, it is opened,
22:56and yet the contents are not consumed.
23:06Ah, there you are, Poirot.
23:08Have you got any idea where I can get hold of this Saffra,
23:11some sort of friend of Mrs Shevenix?
23:13Saffra's dead.
23:15She's Vanda's spirit guide.
23:19Ah.
23:21Might as well be off, then.
23:23You believe there is nothing to investigate?
23:26Gervais Shevenix shot himself.
23:28I'm sure of it.
23:30In that event, Chief Inspector d'Accord,
23:32will you return at once to London?
23:34There are perhaps two questions
23:37that you might be able to answer for me.
23:40Ah, yes.
23:46First question.
23:48Was Monsieur Shevenix right-handed or left-handed?
23:54What's the other question?
23:56It is more simple.
23:58If Monsieur Shevenix shot himself,
24:03what has happened to the bullet?
24:07Oh.
24:09Oh!
24:11He's done it again!
24:20BUZZER
24:26Hello, Shevenix.
24:28Yes, I'll meet you this way.
24:33Miss Shevenix is here.
24:35Mr Poirot, I need to see you.
24:37Pleased to sit down, mademoiselle.
24:41Is it true that Gervais hired you to investigate John Lake?
24:47Oui, mademoiselle.
24:49Monsieur Shevenix believed that he was the object of a fraud.
24:52Well, I've come to tell you that the case is over.
24:55I don't know what he offered to pay you,
24:57but I hope that will cover it.
25:00Mademoiselle,
25:02the company of Monsieur John Lake,
25:07what is he called?
25:09It's Northgate Development.
25:11But I'm telling you, Mr Poirot, there is nothing to investigate.
25:14May I ask, mademoiselle,
25:19were you close to your guardian?
25:24I was grateful to him,
25:27and he wasn't just my guardian.
25:30He was actually my uncle.
25:32But he adopted you.
25:35I was what is quaintly called a love child.
25:39My father was Gervais' younger brother.
25:41He was killed in the war,
25:43and my mother was a typist.
25:45Ah.
25:47And where is she now?
25:49I don't know.
25:51When my father died,
25:53I don't know.
25:55When my father died, she wrote to Gervais.
25:58He couldn't have any children of his own, so he adopted me.
26:01I see.
26:03Pleased to sit down, mademoiselle.
26:10Tell me, mademoiselle,
26:13on the night of the death of Monsieur Chevenix,
26:20where were you at eight o'clock?
26:22I was in the house.
26:24But you went out, I think.
26:25Did I?
26:26Oh, yes. There was mud on your shoes.
26:27I remarked on the fact.
26:29You don't miss a thing, do you?
26:31Well, yes.
26:33I went out twice.
26:35At about six o'clock, I went to pick some daisies,
26:37just by the study.
26:38And later?
26:42It must have been just after eight.
26:45I realized I'd dropped my brooch,
26:47and I went back to get it.
26:49It is as simple as that.
26:51If you don't believe me, you can ask Miss Lingard.
26:54Mademoiselle Lingard?
26:56She was in the lounge when I came in.
27:13Mr. Poirot!
27:15Mademoiselle Lingard.
27:16Captain Hastings.
27:17Miss Lingard.
27:18You quite startled me.
27:20Still working on the book, I see.
27:22Well, yes.
27:23I was paid until the end of the month,
27:25and the book's so nearly finished,
27:27it's a shame to stop now.
27:29But this is not, I believe, a faux painting.
27:32No, it's later.
27:35But it's such a beautiful painting.
27:39So sad.
27:41Yes, indeed.
27:43Mademoiselle Lingard,
27:44I wonder if I might ask you some questions
27:48On the night of his death,
27:50as the study door was being broken open,
27:52I noticed that you bent down to retrieve something.
27:55Oh, yes.
27:58It was this.
28:00Oh, it looks like a bullet.
28:02That's what I thought.
28:04But in fact, it's a gofling.
28:07I believe it belongs to Mr. Trent.
28:10I was meaning to give it back to him.
28:12I wonder what it was doing outside the study.
28:14I've no idea.
28:16I've no idea.
28:17If you permit, I shall return it to him on your behalf.
28:19Oh, thank you.
28:22One final question, Mademoiselle Lingard.
28:25Ruth Chevenix.
28:28What about her?
28:30I understand that you saw her just before the body was discovered.
28:34Yes, it was just after we all heard the shot.
28:38She was with me in the living room.
28:41Ah.
28:42It is as I thought.
28:45Merci.
28:48Well, that seems to back up Ruth's story.
28:51Tell me, Hastings, what was your opinion of Mademoiselle Ruth?
28:54I don't know.
28:56I'd like to know why she seems so keen to defend John Lake.
28:59Precisement.
29:01And that is also the question that exercises the little gray cells of Poirot.
29:10All right, Poirot, you win.
29:12It wasn't suicide.
29:14From what comes this change of mind, Chief Inspector?
29:17Well, it's like you said.
29:19Gervais Chevenix was right-handed.
29:21But when we found him, the gun was in his left hand.
29:23Oui.
29:25And as for the bullet, it's vanished into thin air.
29:29Isn't it in the wall?
29:31Nowhere.
29:34And here's something that you ought to see.
29:40The last will and testament of Gervais Chevenix,
29:43leaving his fortune, and it's a tidy sum,
29:46to Vanda and Ruth Chevenix.
29:49They split it 50-50.
29:51Oh, and there's a bequest of 2,000 pounds to Hugo Trent.
29:58Ah.
30:00So he received his capital after all.
30:02Ah, yes.
30:03Well, there's something else.
30:06We found this in one of his desk drawers.
30:09Unlocked.
30:11Anyone could have seen it.
30:20A second will?
30:22Yes, but unsigned.
30:30What does it entail?
30:32It's completely balmy.
30:35Vanda Chevenix gets everything
30:37if Hugo Trent and Ruth Chevenix don't marry each other.
30:40Oh, I see.
30:42That sounds like a motive for murder if ever I heard one.
30:45Right.
30:46That's what I thought, too.
30:49So you are suggesting that Monsieur Chevenix was killed
30:51to prevent him from signing this new will?
30:53Right.
30:58It is possible, yes.
31:00But there's one thing I'd like to know, Poirot.
31:02What is that, Chief Inspector?
31:04What exactly were you doing at Ambera Close?
31:07How did you get mixed up in all this?
31:10Fraud?
31:12That is what Monsieur Chevenix believed.
31:25Northgate Developments.
31:27Not quite what you'd expect, is it?
31:29Well, if this place is just a front, Captain Hastings,
31:32it's exactly what I'd expect.
31:37Ah, the door's open.
31:47It's very quiet.
31:50There doesn't seem to be anybody about.
31:52The place is deserted.
31:54Must have done a bunk.
31:58I say, Poirot, come and look at this.
32:03Pond Street Harrow.
32:06It's a scale model of the development.
32:08Does it not remind you of something, Hastings?
32:11Looks a bit like Ambera Close.
32:13It is the work of the same hand.
32:19Hastings?
32:21Do you smell of smoke?
32:24Yes.
32:33No!
32:35Oh, there's someone in there!
32:37Jim!
32:39What is it?
32:43What?
32:50It's John Blake.
32:52Come on, get him outside.
32:55Oh, Sam, let's do the fire!
32:57He's bleeding!
32:59Sam, let's do the fire! He's bleeding!
33:03Keep it wetter!
33:05Hastings, follow me!
33:11Careful, Captain Hastings!
33:13Oh, I can't see.
33:30Good Lord!
33:45Mr Poirot.
33:49I'm sorry. I've been foolish.
33:52You wish to tell me about Northgate development, Monsieur Lake?
33:55Yes.
33:58Yes.
34:02I didn't know what I was doing.
34:04That's the truth of it.
34:06I was out of my depth.
34:10To start with, I was just the architect.
34:14Then they asked me if I'd like to be a partner.
34:18I didn't know anything about business, but I was flattered.
34:21And so you helped them to raise the finance?
34:23Yes.
34:25And I disappeared by that, leaving you to carry the can.
34:28That's right.
34:30When Gervaise called you in, I was afraid.
34:33I panicked.
34:36I just wanted to get rid of the evidence.
34:39So it was you that started the blaze?
34:42I set a device.
34:45A timer.
34:48I set a device.
34:50A timer.
34:52Which misfired?
34:59If you...
35:01If you hadn't found me...
35:13Mr Poirot.
35:15Chief Inspector.
35:18I have to go in.
35:20I'm sorry, Miss. No visitors.
35:22But you don't understand. I must see him.
35:24It's family only. Those are doctor's orders.
35:27I am family, Chief Inspector.
35:31I'm his wife.
35:35John and I were married a week ago.
35:40Can I go in?
35:43Your husband awaits you.
35:52Wow, wow, wow.
35:55So Ruth secretly married John.
35:59Well, good luck to her, is all I can say.
36:01But you also have plans for the marriage, ma'am, with her Susan?
36:03Yes.
36:05And from now on, I'll be helping Hugo with his business.
36:08But what brings you here, Mr Poirot?
36:10Do you want to place an order?
36:12Oh, no, no, no, no, no, Mr Trent. It is just this.
36:14It belongs, I think, to you?
36:18Yes.
36:20Yes, it is mine.
36:22Where did you find it?
36:25Mr Trent, on the night that your uncle died,
36:27did you see Mr John Lake?
36:29No.
36:31No, he was in the library.
36:33You heard the shot?
36:35Yes. Well, Susan heard it too.
36:37Yes. I was dashing down the corridor.
36:39I thought it was a car backfiring.
36:41But why were you dashing, mademoiselle?
36:43Well, I'd got muddled with the gongs,
36:45and I was terrified of being late.
36:47You see, I thought I'd already heard the first gong.
36:49Yes, I thought I heard it too.
36:51Exactly, Hastings.
36:54Yet I heard you, Poirot.
36:57Did not hear.
37:05The case is solved.
37:07Solved? How?
37:09Ah, Hastings, did you not hear the testimony of Mademoiselle Cardwell?
37:12And do you not recollect the bottle of champagne?
37:14It's going to take more than champagne to solve this case, Poirot.
37:17What about the bullet, for instance?
37:19You shall have the bullet, Chief Inspector.
37:22Soon, you shall have everything.
37:28I have asked you all to come here
37:30so that you might learn the true facts
37:32concerning the death of Monsieur Jervais-Chevenix.
37:34He is not dead.
37:37Then?
37:38He is on a different spiritual plane, that's all.
37:44First, we must accept the fact that this was no suicide.
37:49Monsieur Chevenix did not kill himself, no.
37:52He was killed.
37:55And by someone in this very room.
37:58It's not possible.
38:00There was no one in here when we broke in.
38:02The door was locked from the inside.
38:04Jervais had the key.
38:06The windows were fastened.
38:08Anyway, no one would have wanted to kill him.
38:10Indeed?
38:12And yet it was you, Mademoiselle Cardwell,
38:14you yourself who told to me that you hated him
38:17and that you would let nothing stand in between you
38:19and Monsieur Hugo Trent.
38:21That's not fair.
38:22And you, Monsieur Trent,
38:24you were desperate to see your business succeed?
38:28It's true. I needed money.
38:30Money which you now have, monsieur.
38:33Money which you would never have received
38:35without the death of your uncle.
38:44You also, monsieur Lake, oh yes,
38:48you are afraid from the moment you set eyes on Poirot.
38:52You have not only committed arson,
38:54you also persuaded monsieur Chevenix
38:56to part with a sum of 10,000 pounds.
38:59That wasn't my fault.
39:02I think monsieur Chevenix might have disagreed.
39:06And you also.
39:09You had every good reason to wish your guardian dead, madame Lake.
39:13I had no reason at all.
39:15Anyway, even if it was murder, it couldn't have been me.
39:17Non.
39:18I told you, monsieur Poirot,
39:19Miss Wolfe was in the living room with me
39:21when monsieur Chevenix was killed.
39:23At what time was that, mademoiselle Lingard,
39:25and at what time did monsieur Chevenix die?
39:27We know what time he died. We heard the shot.
39:30No, no, no.
39:32You were deceived.
39:36At 8 o'clock, monsieur Chevenix was indeed in his study
39:40working at his desk.
39:43But he was not alone in the room.
39:46He turned.
39:50The gun was silenced.
39:53No one heard the shot.
39:58So.
40:00Let us now consider the language of the bullet.
40:07Hastings, please to sit.
40:12The gun was discovered in the left hand of monsieur Chevenix.
40:18Good. My card.
40:20And yet from our very first meeting,
40:22I knew that monsieur Chevenix was right-handed.
40:25But if the bullet was fired from behind,
40:29Hastings,
40:31comme ça,
40:33how could it possibly hit the mirror which is to the side?
40:37Well, it couldn't have.
40:38No.
40:39So now let us suppose that the door to the study was open.
40:42If you please, monsieur Snare.
40:52And again, Hastings,
40:54the gun comme ça.
40:58It would have hit the gong.
41:01So that was the gong I heard.
41:03Well, then how did the mirror get broken?
41:06The murderer wanted to make an appearance of suicide.
41:09But what if the sound of the gong has been heard?
41:12Then it would be known that the door to the study was open and not closed.
41:16Quickly.
41:17The door is closed.
41:20And locked.
41:22The gun is placed into the left hand of the dead man.
41:26The key goes into the pocket.
41:29The suicide note of one word is easily forged.
41:32And the mirror deliberately smashed.
41:40When I first came here, you will remember, chief inspector,
41:43that I discovered a fragment of the looking-glass attached to this brass ornament,
41:48the face of which was also slightly damaged.
41:52It was then that I saw the light.
41:55So what happened then?
41:57How did the killer leave?
42:00The killer left through the window,
42:02cleverly closing the latch from the outside.
42:07VoilĂ .
42:08So who was it? Who was the murderer?
42:12Who entered the house that night from the garden?
42:17And who would have lost everything
42:20if Monsieur Cherevenix had lived to sign his new will?
42:25What new will?
42:26The will that disinherited you completely if you did not marry Monsieur Hugo Trent.
42:31But it was too late, Madame Lake, for you were already married.
42:35No! You're wrong! Stop it!
42:38No, Monsieur Poirot, he's never wrong.
42:40The will, it was left in this room. You could have seen it at any time.
42:43But it was too late to undo what you had already done.
42:45Oh yes, you were married, but to the man your guardian most disliked.
42:48I was going to tell him. I hated lying.
42:51I planned to tell him that very night.
42:53No, not to tell him, Madame. To kill him!
42:55You're wrong!
42:56There's not a word of truth in your story. It's a lie from start to finish.
43:02That is for a jury to decide.
43:05That is for a jury to decide.
43:19Are you sure you're going to be all right, Founder?
43:21Yes, yes. Good night, Hugo.
43:25Good night, Monsieur Cherevenix.
43:28Oh, poor Ruth. I still don't believe it.
43:45I hope you know what you're doing, Poirot.
43:57Vanda, wake up!
44:00Vanda, wake up!
44:15Vanda, wake up!
44:26Who is it?
44:29It's Zoffa, Vanda.
44:33Come downstairs.
44:59It was you, Vanda.
45:04You killed him.
45:07No.
45:08You know it was.
45:11You killed Jervais.
45:15Come down.
45:19Come down!
45:29You killed him because you hated him.
45:34Now you must make amends.
45:38I didn't.
45:40What have you hidden in your locket, Vanda?
45:47The bullet that killed your husband?
45:51No.
45:54You must write a note admitting it.
46:02And then...
46:14It is enough.
46:23I knew that you would write something, Mademoiselle Lingard.
46:26But this?
46:28That's diabolical.
46:30I had to save her.
46:32I had to save Ruth.
46:35Yes, I know.
46:37And in order to save her, you killed Monsieur Jervais Cherevenix.
46:43And you are the real mother of Ruth Cherevenix, are you not?
46:47The typist with whom the brother of Monsieur Jervais Cherevenix fell in love.
46:51How did you know?
46:53There could be no other explanation.
46:56And in the museum, that was when I saw.
47:00But it's such a beautiful painting.
47:04It's so sad.
47:09It was a painting of a mother who loses her child.
47:13And it was then that I saw that you were also a mother who had lost her child.
47:21And you came to this house, I think, to check up on a daughter that you had lost.
47:25So you took up the position of a researcher.
47:29Yes.
47:31And while you were working, you stumbled across the new will.
47:37He was going to ruin her life with his pride and his snobbery.
47:44And so you decided to take matters into your own hand.
47:49You killed Monsieur Jervais Cherevenix exactly as I described.
47:54You then left the study, taking care to leave no footprints in the soil.
48:06But unknown to you, a few moments later, Ruth Cherevenix appeared in search of a brooch which she had lost.
48:16She found it, but in doing so left behind her own footprints.
48:22It was then necessary to continue the illusion of suicide and to establish a false time of death.
48:29It was very clever, that idea of yours, to imitate a gun.
48:36You then went into the living room and were there when Ruth Cherevenix came in.
48:43Good evening, Miss Ruth.
48:46Oh, good evening, Miss Lingard.
48:49I found it most significant that you did not tell to me that Ruth Cherevenix entered the living room from the garden.
48:55Well, how could I? It would have incriminated her.
49:02And there was now but one thing left to do. The bullet.
49:07The bullet?
49:09I found it by the gong when you were breaking it in the door.
49:14I wanted to drop it inside the study, but I didn't get the chance.
49:21In the cufflink of Monsieur Trent?
49:25I stole that from his room. I knew you'd seen me picking up the bullet, so I had to have something to show you.
49:34Yes. You almost succeeded in confusing Poirot.
49:42Chief Inspector.
49:46I think you'd better come along with me, Miss Lingard.
49:53Mr. Poirot, I don't want Ruth to see me.
49:59I don't care what happens to me.
50:02But please, don't let her see me.
50:14You have my word.
50:29You have my word.