Original subtitles

[ Introduction to "Kiss a Dream" plays ]

♪ I never thought I'd meet a dream ♪

♪ And she'd kiss me good night ♪

♪ But here I am, and there you are ♪

♪ Love never felt so right ♪

Good night, Annie.

-Good night, Fi. -Oh, Annie?

Will you be going down the Bluebell tonight?

No, not tonight. Tired.

Early night?

Oh. I wish it was early.

[ Chuckles ]

See you tomorrow.

♪ When I see your smiling face ♪

♪ I know that dreams come true ♪

♪ Once... ♪

COLIN: Well, tonight's my lucky night, gentlemen.

I thank you all for turning up

with your pockets full of donations

to what I can assure you will be a very worthy cause.

♪ ...is here with me ♪

♪ Yet I'm wide awake ♪

-[ Telephone rings ] -I will raise you.

Let me see.

What kind of folks do we think you've got?

Do you have the kind of daddy who will pay your debts?

OFFICER: Lieutenant Race.

Excuse me, chaps.

[ Indistinct conversation I

Race.

You must come now.

Fiona darling, I can't.

I need 20 more minutes, sweetie. It's -- It's a good night.

It's her, Colin. She's taking something from the map room.

COLIN: 20 minutes, then you've got me for a lifetime.

You won't be able to get rid of me.

-She's rolling it up -- -Fiona, listen.

20 minutes, and then we can celebrate.

But just wait.

Right. Where were we?

Good night.

Good night, ma'am.

[ Breathing heavily I

ANNABEL: Fiona!

Fiona, come here.

Fiona!

Fiona, come here.

Fiona! Stop!

Come here.

-What are you doing? -l saw you.

-l saw you take the papers. -Come back with us.

Get away!

Stop! Please!

Stop!

[ Tires screech I

[ Indistinct shouting I

[ Clock ticking ]

Subtitling made possible by Acorn Media

And so, madam, may I ask you a question?

And so, madam, may I ask you a question?

You may, but I might not answer.

My mother told me it was rude to answer a question

before 6:00 in the evening.

[ Laughter]

Especially from Swedish gentlemen, Herr Hjerson.

But I am Finnish.

I wish you would finish.

I'd like to go and get myself a drink.

[ Laughter]

Do you not think that the murder of your husband...

Lipstick.

HJERSON: ...the scarlet lipstick on his collar,

-the Bible on his desk... -The Good Samaritan.

HJERSON: ...open at the page of the Good Samaritan,

-the word "Revenge"... -Revenge.

...written in his blood on the blotter

is littered with what we call in Finnish "puna silli"?

-Red herrings, madam. -[ Sighs ]

Red herrings!

[ Dramatic music plays I

[ Applause ]

[ Indistinct conversation, laughter ]

WOMAN: She's terribly suspicious in my book.

No, it's the vicar.

Never trust a vicar who wears shorts.

WOMAN #2: Isn't Ariadne Oliver clever?

I didn't think fiction was your thing, Poirot.

Oh, mon dieu.

It is my friend Colin.

But it has been so long.

Good evening, sir.

How does your father, my good friend Colonel Race?

-The old man's fine. -Ah.

Enjoying his retirement.

Another whiskey for my young friend, s'il vous plait.

-Thank you. -[ Bell rings ]

MAN: Ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats.

COLIN: I need your help, sir.

But of course.

I realize that this meeting, it is not a coincidence.

I imagine that you sought me at my apartment

and George, mon valet, told you where I could be found.

But if I may, you have the appearance

of such a one who has traveled this evening a great distance.

-Ah. Dover. -Ah.

Can we talk after the final act?

I don't want to ruin your enjoyment of the play.

Oh, no, no, no, no. For Poirot, the play, it is over.

With my dear friend Mme. Oliver,

the puzzle, it is not so intricate.

No, no, she is not in the same class

as, par example, M. Garry Gregson.

You are acquainted with his books?

Of course.

Alors, let us find somewhere here to sit,

and you'll permit me to help you, mon ami.

-COLIN: There's a girl in Dover. -Uh-huh.

She works in one of those secretarial bureaus.

You know, a typist place you ring in,

and you hire a typist for an hour or whatever you want.

And how does she call herself?

Sheila Webb. Are you all right?

Ah, oui, oui.

Poirot, he listens.

Anyway, yesterday a very strange thing

happened to Sheila Webb.

NORA: 4 and 6.

I only got them yesterday from Jolly's,

and the heel snaps off like a twig in a storm.

Here, Sheila. Have a look at this.

4 and 6 from Jolly's. I strut off to lunch.

And the heel snaps in a grate like a twig in a storm.

Aren't you supposed to be typing up

Mr. Levine's manuscript, Nora?

"Naked Love." Yes, Miss Martindale.

Then put your shoes away and get on with "Naked Love."

Miss Webb, may I have a word?

"Desire had him in its grasp.

With frenzied fingers,

he tore the fragile chiffon from her breasts

and bent her over the soap --" What?

I've had a call from a Miss Pebmarsh.

She wants a stenographer for 3:00.

She asked for you particularly.

Have you worked for her before?

I can't remember doing so, Miss Martindale.

19 Wilbraham Crescent.

I can't remember going there.

Well, it's you she asked for, for 3:00.

Have you any other appointments?

Oh, yes.

Professor Purdy at 5:00 at the Castle Hotel.

[ Telephone rings I

Cavendish Secretarial Services. One moment, please.

Sheila, Miss Pebmarsh said if she's not there,

the door's not latched.

You're to let yourself in and wait.

Good afternoon. How may I help you?

COLIN: So Sheila goes.

And she really doesn't recognize the place.

Wilbraham Crescent is one of those quiet streets

away from the seafront

where everyone keeps themselves to themselves.

[ Gulls crying I

Hello?

Miss Pebmarsh?

Sheila Webb here from Cavendish.

Miss Pebmarsh, if it's all right,

I'm gonna sit in the front room.

[ Cuckoo clock chimes I]

Is somebody here?

I-ls somebody in my house?

There's somebody in this room.

Who are you?

Don't step on him. He's dead! You're gonna step on him!

Who are you?

[ Sobs, screams I]

-Oh, please help me. -What is it?

He's in there. He's dead and...

He's dead, and he's just lying there dead,

-stabbed on the floor. -Who's been stabbed? Calm down.

-In there! -Someone's dead in there?

Yes. Please help me.

I will help you. I will help you.

Are you saying there's a dead man lying in Number 19?

-Yes. -All right.

Well, let's go in.

No, no. No, no, no.

Then let me go in. And then I'll call the police.

-She's in there, too. -Who?

Miss Pebmarsh.

Right. Well, sit down and, uh, breathe.

Stay here. I will help you.

Yes.

Miss Pebmarsh?

Who are you?

I'm Lieutenant Race. I was passing by.

There's a dead man behind my sofa.

How did this happen?

I don't know.

Who is he?

I don't know.

I live alone. I came home from work.

There was an hysteric in the house.

She left screaming.

And I find a dead man behind the sofa.

You're very calm.

When you saw what I saw in the Great War, Lieutenant Race,

you know a dead man is not something to be scared of.

If you will invite the young hysteric in,

I'll make her a cup of sweet tea.

I'll call the police.

Very good.

POIROT: Who was this dead man?

COLIN: Well...it's much stranger than that, Poirot.

Was he known to Mlle. Sheila Webb?

Apparently not.

No, I've never seen him before, Inspector.

And you're positive about that?

Miss Martindale said to come here for 3:00 and let myself in.

And then I noticed the clocks,

and I thought I might have got the wrong time.

And then, just before Miss Pebmarsh arrived,

I noticed the man lying there.

Have you worked for Miss Pebmarsh before?

No. And that's the thing, sir.

She asked for me specially. I don't know how she knew me.

Sir.

We can't find the murder weapon. There's no knife.

HARDCASTLE: He's a Mr. R.H. Curry,

Metropolitan and Provincial Insurance.

I don't know him.

Stay here.

I've never heard the name Curry or the name of his firm.

Were you expecting any visitor today?

No. And I've never seen this man before.

HARDCASTLE: Take him away.

COLIN: Just the typist you ordered.

I didn't order a typist.

What are you talking about?

You didn't ring up the Cavendish Bureau at lunchtime today

and ask for the services of Sheila Webb?

Certainly not.

And I've never heard of a Sheila Webb.

Where were you at lunchtime?

I work part time at Mr. Wright's photography studio

on the parade --

taking bookings, seeing people in.

Lunchtime can be quite busy.

And you didn't call the Cavendish Bureau?

No, young man, I did not.

I did my shift and returned home as usual just after 3:00.

I know I wasn't late

because I heard my cuckoo clock as I approached the door.

What about your other clocks?

Why were they all set to 13 minutes past 4.007

What other clocks?

Your four other clocks in the sitting room.

There are no four other clocks in the sitting room.

Just my cuckoo clock.

POIROT: And Mlle. Pebmarsh --

Does she always keep unlocked her door?

You're thinking, I imagine, of her neighbors?

-Oui. -They saw nothing.

On one side there's a cat lady

who literally could speak of nothing else.

Tiddly-Pops likes chicken, and Copenhagen loves his kidneys.

Don't you, Copey?

COLIN: On the other side, a brother and sister -- academics.

They saw nothing at all during lunchtime.

At the back of the house, there's no access at all.

And Mlle. Martindale?

It wasn't Miss Pebmarsh who rang me?

Did you take the call yourself?

Yes. At about a quarter to 2:00.

And I put her in the book.

POIROT: These clocks --

Definitely they do not belong to Mlle. Pebmarsh?

That's what she says.

Eh, bien. It is a puzzle.

But there is something else that puzzles Poirot.

You.

Why was Colin Race in Wilbraham Crescent

at 3:00 yesterday afternoon?

And why do the police permit

that you should ask questions during the interviews?

And why is it that your eyes

are inflamed with crying, my dear friend?

I have a commission in the Navy, but I'm...

But I'm MIG.

Under Dover Castle, ever since the Napoleonic Wars,

there's been a series of tunnels.

We're in the process of turning them into a bombproof HQ

where the Navy could police the Channel from

were things to come to a second war with Germany.

I've been trying to locate a German mole amongst the staff,

and three nights ago, I found her.

Annabel Larkin.

She was followed, and she was killed,

along with the woman I loved, Fiona Hanbury...

...who died because I wasn't there.

Amongst Fiona's things, I found this.

POIROT: A crescent.

The letter "M." 61.

I think it's a note as to where Fiona followed Larkin.

Or where the contact was.

I checked out the Crescent Pub,

and the half dozen Crescent Roads in Dover.

Yet, and were you checking out Wilbraham Crescent

at the very instant that Sheila Webb,

she runs out of Number 19?

Yes. I was checking again.

It was closest to the scene of the accident.

And I may sound crazy,

but I don't believe it was a coincidence.

I believe the man dead in Wilbraham Crescent

must be connected in some way to Annabel Larkin.

Possible.

And I don't believe what the police are thinking.

That Sheila Webb is a murderer.

-I see. -She's the main suspect.

She was the one that found the body.

She's the one they can place alone in the house.

I saw how scared she was when she ran out.

-Please help me. -I know she's not a murderer.

I will. I will help you.

And I will not let another girl down

because I was unable to help.

Good morning, gentlemen.

Well, it seems this is a time for cooperation

between the Navy and the police, don't you agree?

We want to flush out

what remains of this German cell in Dover.

Intelligence tells me it could well be connected

with the murder of this insurance agent in --

where was it? -- Wilbraham Crescent.

That hasn't been verified yet, Admiral.

It's not Wilbraham Crescent?

No, that he was an insurance agent.

Inspector, may I introduce you to Hercule Poirot,

who Lieutenant Race has requested be brought in

-to help this investigation. -Well, I think we can --

I've verified this with Whitehall and Scotland Yard,

and they tell me he is a private detective

of excellent reputation

and that we're lucky to have him on board.

If that's what I have to work with, that's what I work with.

Any ideas, Mr. Poirot, just pop them in the pot.

Merci.

It seems that if we solve one of our problems here,

we'll solve the other.

Monsieur, may I have a word?

Admiral.

Inspector.

HAMLING: I remember your days

from the Belgian police force, monsieur.

Or at least your reputation.

When did you leave?

After the Great War.

Yes.

Do you know what they called

this stretch of the Channel during the war?

POIROT: Hellfire Corner.

And it will be again

because there will be a second war, Poirot.

And if Germany invades, this is where they'll come.

What was stolen the other night

were the plans of our minefields between here and France.

It is essential that those plans

are recovered before they leave these shores, monsieur.

If Hitler sees them,

then the front door of England will be wide open.

You'll find us very organized here, Mr. Poirot.

Very thorough.

Only last year we dealt with the suspicious death

of a taxi driver, and Scotland Yard made a point

of admiring our attention to detail.

Evidence, as you see,

is documented in a system of my own devising.

The prime suspect has her own board, as does the victim,

where we will build up detailed profiles.

But for me, the key is this diagram here,

and the key phrase for my investigation is,

"Someone will have seen something."

Oui, c'est tres bien, ca.

HARDCASTLE: As you can see

from the unusual design of the street,

it is actually a crescent

that doubles backs on itself, Mr. Poirot.

Oui.

All of them knew Miss Pebmarsh had a set routine

and the house would be empty in the middle of the day.

POIROT: Ah.

And who lives opposite Mlle. Pebmarsh at Number 61?

Mr. and Mrs. Bland.

A M. Bland?

Already that arouses my suspicious.

Oh, no, no, no, no. He's a good man.

Built my mother-in-law a fireplace, actually.

I had London run a check on him straightaway, sir.

He's as clean as a whistle.

And the murder weapon, it has been recovered?

Um, no, no.

And there was no sign of a struggle

in the house of Mlle. Pebmarsh?

Absolutely not.

Then I would like to interview the neighbors today, if I may.

Already done.

-There are the statements. -Non.

Poirot would like to ask questions of his own.

Yes. Already done it.

Non.

I would like to ask questions of my own, Inspector Hardcastle.

Of course you would. Of course.

These are the clocks?

Yeah, and we're on the sniff

to find out where and when they were purchased.

Dresden china clock.

A French thing.

Yeah. Ormolu.

And the silver carriage.

Where is the fourth clock?

There were only three clocks, Sir.

Unless you count the cuckoo clock.

No, no, no. I do not count the cuckoo.

There was a fourth clock, a traveling clock.

-And on it the name Rosemary. -That's right.

Don't tell me we've lost a clock, for goodness' sake.

When I boxed the evidence, sir,

there were definitely only three clocks in that room.

SHEILA: Well, of course I remember the Rosemary clock.

Have the police lost it?

POIROT: Perhaps.

-Perhaps it is stolen. -Why?

I do not know, mademoiselle.

I cannot think it would be of any value.

No, it was a shabby thing.

The ormolu was pretty, though.

Oui, oui.

Thank you.

Non, non, non. Non.

Merci.

I'l have them both, then.

Mademoiselle, the Lieutenant Race has told to me

that these last few days have been for you quite an ordeal.

Yes.

It's not the shock of seeing a dead man.

That passes.

It's the terrible suspicion the police have of me now.

Did you see that board he had up, Poirot?

He had nothing on it. No evidence, nothing.

Have you told to the police

the truth in everything, mademoiselle?

Of course, sir.

Then you have no need to worry.

I need to get back to work.

And so should we.

Will you be all right getting back, Miss Webb?

Yes, I'll be fine. Thank you.

Mademoiselle?

Do you know what means the name Rosemary?

No.

It means "remembrance."

Oh. Remembrance.

[ Chuckles ]

Goodbye.

Au revoir.

Merci.

I saw and heard nothing on the day of the murder

I saw and heard nothing on the day of the murder

until I heard the girl scream.

Tiddly-Pops was having one of his turns, you see,

and I was singing to him to calm him down.

[ Cat meows ]

You seem a bit agitated yourself, monsieur.

Shall I sing to you?

Non, non, non. Merci, madame.

Tell to me, if you please,

do you have much contact with Mlle. Pebmarsh?

HEMMINGS: Oh, no, no.

She keeps herself to herself

and does terribly well for a blindy.

I see her pass by the window

to and from the photographic studio regular as clockwork.

I think if she were a cat,

she'd be one of T.S. Eliot's practical cats, don't you?

Oui.

[ Sneezes, sniffs ]

Madame, do you think I might possibly see your garden

and so remove myself from here?

Oh, yes, yes.

Have you realized that if you write T.S. Eliot backwards,

it spells "toilets"?

Well, almost.

Copenhagen pointed that out to me, didn't you, Copey?

[ Cat meows ]

The bane of our neighborhood are the Mabbutts.

Number 62.

He has girls with catapults.

In fact, I heard Miss Pebmarsh have hard words with Mr. Mabbutt

just the other evening about their behavior.

May I ask, was there any connection

between the murdered man and Miss Pebmarsh, Lieutenant?

I believe not.

Oh.

That's unusual, too.

So he just came there to be killed, did he?

Miss Pebmarsh is as quiet as a church mouse,

-isn't she, Matthew? -Yes.

We hear neither hide nor hair.

We told the other inspector this.

I don't know why we're being asked again.

She would have left her house at 11:00 on the day of the murder

and got back at 3:00.

Yes. Well, that's her routine. I'm sure everyone knows that.

And it is during that time that M. Curry

would have entered the house and met his death.

Tell to me, if you please -- Before the girl screamed,

did you hear perhaps any sound of a struggle?

We don't know this man,

and our studies are at the back of the house, Lieutenant.

We're academics, you see.

RACHEL: And neither my brother nor I heard anything at all

during luncheon.

We like this street because it's quiet, also.

Yes.

The only trouble we've had is that Mrs. Hemmings.

The cat lady?

She might play the scatty old dear, Lieutenant,

but scratch the surface,

and she's a poisonous old bitch, believe me.

Rachel, we must get back to work.

Yes.

Good day, gentlemen.

-Good day, madame. -MATTHEW: Good day.

Well, it's like every other street in England --

full of people who keep themselves to themselves

while hating each other at the same time.

You should know we've had a --

Well, I was gonna say a breakthrough,

but actually it's the opposite.

The name Curry has turned out to be bogus,

and the Metropolitan and Provincial Insurance Company

does not and never has existed.

Was there anything else found on the dead man --

uh, labels on his clothes or a wallet?

All the labels were cut out.

We have no idea at all who he is.

This is most extraordinary.

Can I tag along with you for a while?

Someone will have seen something, remember?

Yes, of course.

Uh, bien, now we go en arriére,

to the rear to a M. and Mme. Bland.

[ Sniffs ]

I don't recognize him, no. Do you, Joe?

No. I wish I did.

And we've never had anything to do with the blind lady.

You read about these murders, don't you,

Jack the Ripper, "Brides in the Bath" Smith,

and you think, "If only I'd been there, seen something.

Stopped it in some way, or if I couldn't stop it,

at least been useful to the police afterwards."

And now there's one in our neighborhood,

and we just didn't look out the window at the right time,

did we, Valerie?

Well, you'll often find

there's an element of luck in police work.

Witnesses looking out of windows at the right time and...

That's it. It's luck.

It's like -- like falling in love.

It's just lucky that you were there on that night

and she was there, and it was luck that bought you together.

And where is it that you met your husband, Mme. Bland?

Well, she was an actress, weren't you?

I was quite low at the time.

And, uh, it just so happened

that Valerie was playing "The Mikado" in Dover, weren't you?

And we'd always go to the same pub after the show.

JOE: And I went there just to get out the house,

and, well, luck struck.

C'est formidable.

This is all very lovely,

but if we can get back to the investigation --

Why weren't you working on the day of the murder?

Oh, well, I'm almost retired now, Hardcastle.

I've still got the van just to keep my hand in,

but Valerie inherited, uh, well...

A little bit of cash.

Well, a lot, actually. [ Laughs]

From her Canadian family.

Pardon. You are from Canada, madame?

Well, I haven't lived there for -- What is it?

Oh, well, it must be nearly 20 years.

Is it 207

Yes, and she lost her accent when she went to drama school.

Ah.

With the money, I don't have to work.

COLIN: That's a bit of luck.

Luck again. It's everywhere.

Luck struck.

Luck struck, you see.

[ Sighs]

Although it didn't strike for this poor fellow.

CHRISTOPHER: It's a pity the Blands weren't murdered,

don't you think?

Or the entire neighborhood.

That cat woman struggles for a reason to exist, if you ask me.

Pebmarsh lives in a netherworld all of her own.

And those Waterhouses are a bit too quiet,

a bit too hush-hush, if you know what I mean.

No, I don't know the deceased. Sorry.

POIROT: I do not know what you mean, M. Mabbutt.

I don't trust people who read or write books, M. Poirot.

Never have.

It's folks like that got the world into the mess it's in.

Were you here at lunchtime on the day of the murder?

I was, which is unusual.

I'm often away in the week and leave everything to the nanny.

My wife has passed on.

I work for Armstrong Ordnance.

We have contracts with the French.

I spend most weeks over there.

Your country is as badly prepared for war

as ours is, Poirot.

I'm Belgian, not French.

-Are you, now? -Oui.

A Walloon.

Well, Belgium won't last a week

if it all goes belly up, will it?

HARDCASTLE: Have you been visited

by anyone selling insurance in the last week?

I told your constable all this. No.

And I didn't hear sounds of a struggle or some such either.

Can I show you some pictures of some clocks?

I've left them inside. Will you accompany me?

What do I have to look at clocks for?

To see if you recognize them, Sir.

They're central to the murder.

Very well. If I must.

I would get your contacts to investigate that man, mon ami.

I'm on it, yes. Regular trips to the Continent.

That's normally exactly what we'd look for.

But he's helping arm the French. He's hardly pro-German.

But the letter "M" on the note of Mlle. Fiona --

It could be Mabbultt.

Mabbutt lives in Number 62, Poirot, not 61.

Oui. That is true.

I'll check on the Blands' finances as well.

Make sure they got that windfall the way they say they did

and it's not been channeled from some continental bank.

Bon.

[ Girls laugh ]

Is that the garden of Mlle. Pebmarsh?

Are you trying to work out who killed that man?

Oui.

Were you playing here on the day that he died, mademoiselle?

Our nanny grounded us for two days.

-We kept hitting the cats. -Ah.

So she kept us in. We missed all the fun.

Alors, you call yourself Mlle. Jenny.

And how do you call yourself, mademoiselle?

May.

And how do you call yourself?

Hercule Poirot.

That's not a name. It's a noise.

Alors, Mlle. Jenny and Mlle. May, will you help Poirot?

Merci.

Merci.

I've been through this with the police already, M. Poirot.

-Oui, mademoiselle. -And I did not make that call

requesting the services of Sheila Webb.

Have you ever used a secretary from the Cavendish Bureau?

I may have lost my sight in the last 15 years, monsieur,

but I have not lost my self-sufficiency.

Have you ever had any dealings with the bureau?

Well, I know where it is on the parade.

I pass it every day.

And some of the secretaries

may have been in for portraits with their sweethearts,

but apart from that...

Your M. Wright is an artist most fine.

I believe he is. Yes.

One of the clocks found in your house

has gone missing, Miss Pebmarsh.

A small traveling clock

with the word "Rosemary" engraved on the --

If I may, Inspector.

Mlle. Pebmarsh, would you tell to me, please,

your glaucoma --

Is it hereditary or brought on by the trauma?

I drove an ambulance in your neck of the woods

during the war, monsieur,

and was temporarily blinded by the blast of a shell.

I regained my sight only for it to gradually deteriorate.

My sympathies.

I don't seek sympathy, monsieur.

Non.

NORA: Miss Martindale is this way, gentlemen,

but do watch your step.

There's half-finished romances

lying all over the place in here, isn't there, girls?

Oh. Tomorrow's inquest, Inspector.

-HARDCASTLE: Yes. -How early

would you recommend we get there?

Only we're all terribly excited,

and, well, we wouldn't want to end up

with seats down the back, would we, Miss Martindale?

It's not a football match, Nora.

An inquest Is a serious legal procedure.

Oh, I know. It's like a public hanging.

I'm sorry, gentlemen. Please come in.

May I introduce Hercule Poirot?

-All right. -Enchanté, mademoiselle.

Merci.

I typed up a bodice ripper last year about a public hanging,

and it was so thrilling, well, you'd wonder

-why they put a stop to them. -Yes. Thank you, Nora.

Miss Martindale,

would you again go over the events of the phone call

from someone purporting to be Miss Pebmarsh?

Yes.

Yes. I was sitting here when the call came through.

I made a note in the book,

-and then I -- -POIROT: Mademoiselle?

If I may ask, did you do the typing for Garry Gregson?

Yes.

Yes. I was his private secretary.

I set up the bureau with the money he left me after he died.

But I am a reader most admiring, mademoiselle.

Oh. I still manage his estate.

All of his papers are here, published and unpublished.

"Bachelors in Peril."

Mm. Certainly one of his best.

Oh, for goodness' sake.

A puzzle most intriguing, but it did not confuse Poirot.

Mm.

-"The Train at the Station." -Ah, oui.

The hair of the mustache on the cocktail glass, uh?

The three pairs of shoes, size 6,

all designed to throw one off the scent, huh?

But not Hercule Poirot.

Is there any chance we can get back

to the real police work here?

-How is your afternoon? -Miserable.

Miss Martindale is as suspicious of me as the policemen.

Has your funny little friend found out who did it yet?

But if you ask me, Pebmarsh could easily be lying

about not making that phone call.

That's what I've been thinking.

The body was found in her house.

She could easily have pinched that clock.

And whoever stole it must be connected because it's...

What are you doing this evening?

Avoiding people.

Yeah. Me too.

I've got to go back to the castle, but after, would you --

Do you want to avoid meeting people together?

Yes.

Good.

"How did you become blind?" "Where did you fall in love?"

"What's your favorite Garry Gregson novel?"

What on earth have these got to do with the investigation?

-Probably nothing. -So why ask them?

To gather information.

What information?

Police work is facts, alibis, evidence, not gossip.

How did any case get solved in Belgium

while you were in charge?

Through the listening, through observation.

And every case, it was solved, I can assure you.

Mademoiselle.

It's been a long day. I'm sorry.

Can I give you a lift to your hotel?

Ah, oui, merci,

but is there a hotel that you would recommend, Inspector?

Because I have not had the time to make the reservation.

And also I must telephone to George, mon valet,

for my valise.

Yes, I know a good one. The Travellers.

I'll stand you a drink.

-You coming? -Can you drop me at the castle?

Of course.

You're in for a treat, Mr. Poirot.

We'll get a missing-persons campaign out on Curry,

pictures in the paper, bobbies at the train station.

The whole works.

Someone will have seen something.

Oui.

Inspector, this bar, does it have a menu for the cocktails?

That's the finest brew on the south coast, mate.

The key now is to find the identity of the murdered man.

Is this the best hotel in Dover?

Yeah.

Let's line a few more of these up, shall we?

Terry?

COLIN: [ Laughs ]

SHEILA: What are you laughing about?

Poirot.

I left him at the Travellers Inn

looking like a petit four in a chip shop.

He was trying to keep it in, but he's having 40 fits

at the thought of having to stay there.

[ Laughs ]

It's nice to see you laugh.

Will you tell me about the girl who died --

Fiona?

Fiona.

And then will you tell me about you?

[ Indistinct conversations I

BARTENDER: Sir.

H-Hello?

Is that the Castle Hotel?

Bon.

I wonder, do you have available for a few days a suite?

Oui. Hercule Poirot.

Non, non, non. Hercule.

Oui.

Poirot.

That will do. Merci.

I'm telling you, Mr. Poirot,

Sheila Webb made that call to Martindale.

But there is no reason why she would.

There is no evidence. There is that.

But in my gut, I think once we have the evidence,

it will point to her.

But do you not think, as does the Admiral Hamling,

that the murder is connected

in some way to the theft of documents?

Ah, oui?

Merci. bientot.

-Merci, monsieur. -No, I don't.

That's Navy talk.

They think everything's related to the coming war.

There will be no war.

But I think the man will have a link to Sheila Webb.

She arranged to meet him there and killed him.

But with what motive, Inspector?

The clocks and the 4:13 and the Rosemary

will all come back to her.

I've seen girls like that before,

and they're manipulative.

And let's see how she does under pressure

at the inquest tomorrow.

SHEILA: I'm adopted. I have no one.

I was adopted by an elderly couple

who had no children of their own, and...

Well, they're dead now.

It's times like this I long to have a family to go home to.

Do you have a sweetheart?

No.

Damaged goods.

I don't think so.

You talk of Fiona

in a way I don't think anyone has ever talked of me.

That's nice.

This is nice, Colin.

RACHEL: Aah!

MATTHEW: What is it?

[ Both speaking German ]

How do I look? Is this too red?

I don't want to appear a dubious character.

The inquest will be full of plainclothes detectives

eyeing the faces of the crowd,

surreptitiously looking for giveaway signs --

at least that's what happened in Garry Gregson's "Dusty Death."

Do you remember that, Miss Martindale?

MARTINDALE: Thank you, Nora. Yes, I do.

NORA: That's how they caught the murderer.

Gave himself away with a nervous twitch.

Will you elbow me if I start twitching involuntarily,

Miss Martindale?

I'm worried about twitching involuntarily.

Used to be a habit of my mother's.

Have you polished my new brogues, Valerie?

Have you polished my brogues?!

I'm sorry.

I do not want to miss a word of this inquest.

By the back door.

Thank you.

I don't want to go, Joe.

Get your coat on.

Just get it on.

Come on, girls.

[ Indistinct conversations I

Best seats in the house.

-Sheila. -Hmm?

It'll be all right.

No. Don't.

What's wrong? It'll be fine.

They're very dry -- inquests.

You just rattle the facts out.

This arrived for me this morning.

I received the call from a Miss Pebmarsh

at about a quarter to 2:00, during the lunch hour.

She was most particular

in requesting the services of my employee, Miss Sheila Webb.

I made a note in the book, and then I checked

Miss Webb's other appointments for that afternoon.

Well, I wasn't the one who made the call

to the Cavendish Bureau, I assure you.

I merely arrived home from work just after 3:00

and found a young lady in my front room

suffering from a fit of hysterics.

She ran out of the house,

and then I discovered the body behind the sofa.

SHEILA: I spent my lunch break alone

in the little café on the corner of the parade,

and I must have got back about quarter past 2:00

and left immediately for Wilbraham Crescent.

I entered the house, as instructed,

and noticed all the clocks in the sitting room were --

Well, they were wrong.

This threw me a little, and I-l checked my own wristwatch.

And then...I saw the legs of a dead man I didn't recognize

sticking out from behind the sofa.

If it pleases the court, I'd like to read a statement

from the report of the police surgeon

which has been handed to me.

"After a thorough examination

of the contents of the deceased's stomach,

I conclude that he had not had lunch but had had a drink

and that the drink had been spiked with chloral hydrate" --

a process known as a "Mickey Finn," your honor.

He'd been drugged before he'd been stabbed.

Would you like to come and have a cup of tea, dear?

No, thank you.

VAL: Must have been a terrible shock.

Well, if you'd like a cup of tea,

my name's Val, and we're at number 61.

Thank you.

How long before he was stabbed

was our M. Curry drugged with the chloral hydrate?

The surgeon says

the effects of the drug can last up to four hours.

So he was almost certainly drugged at another location

and then taken to Number 19 Wilbraham Crescent.

Let's talk about this back at the station, Poirot.

Inspector Mr. Hardcastle?

It was exactly as was said by Mme. Hemmings --

"He just came here to be killed."

Inspector?

-What is it, miss? -I'd just like to speak to him.

He's going back to the station now,

if you want to contact him there.

-But I don't see how what she -- -Yes, thank you, madam.

What she said couldn't possibly be true!

COLIN: If Curry was killed in a different location,

that puts Pebmarsh back in the frame.

-Not at all. -Even a blind woman

can stab a drugged man in the heart.

The time of his death

is estimated at between 2:00 and 3:00.

And I have literally millions of witnesses

who saw her at the photographic studio during that time.

I exaggerate through excitement, obviously.

But Sheila Webb arrives there --

what do you think to this, Poirot? --

through a booking she's made herself by ringing Martindale,

stabs the fella, raises the alarm.

You didn't see how scared she was

when she came out of that house, Hardcastle.

-Didn't I? -COLIN: How she's been set up

every step of the way.

Look at this.

[ Telephone ringing I

"Remember 4:13."

Someone is definitely putting the frights on her.

-Inspector... -The only thing missing

is that it's not written in blood.

JENKINS: Inspector, there's a Nora Brent on the phone

who would like to speak to you regarding the inquest,

and, um, and we have someone

who has an identification of the dead man.

Tell her to ring back later.

Ah, Mr. Bland. Please come in.

JENKINS: I'm afraid the inspector is busy at the moment.

I need to speak to him,

because what she said couldn't possibly be true.

S-She was lying at the inquest, you see.

JENKINS: I'm sorry, madam,

but it's just not possible at the moment.

I'm gonna come round.

JOE: I've seen this man before.

I didn't know it, but then I saw the girl at the inquest.

Which girl was this?

The girl Sheila Webb.

Now, I'd definitely seen her before.

It was like having a sixth sense of déja vu,

which is a feeling I'd not previously experienced.

And where had you seen before the Mlle. Webb?

JOE: Well, uh, Mrs. Bland and I

were at the fine-art fair at the Castle Hotel.

Uh, now that our pockets are a little deeper, Hardcastle,

we get invited to things like that.

And, uh, Sheila Webb was walking through the foyer,

having come from upstairs -- with a man.

[ Chuckles softly ] This man.

When was this?

The day before the murder.

Are you sure?

Of course he's sure, Lieutenant Race.

It's not everyone whose judgment has melted

-in the face of a pretty girl. -What are you suggesting?

Thank you for coming, Mr. Bland.

I am questioning your ability to think professionally

about a young woman you were seen kissing

moments before the coroner's inquest.

Shall we go and talk to her?

Jenkins, we need to get down to the parade

and find Miss Sheila Webb.

You think she did it, don't you?

At this point in time, Poirot, he rules out nothing.

Oh, doesn't he?

Well, I know she isn't involved.

I know she's a good person who needs our help.

The world is full of good people who do bad things, mon ami.

[ Gulls crying I

[ Gulls crying I

MAN: So, where are you gonna go?

SHEILA: I don't have anywhere to go!

Don't know what I'm gonna do! Don't -- Don't touch me!

MAN: Sheila...come back inside.

I don't want you to follow me, because this all stops now.

-Come back inside. -Do you understand?

Come back inside, Sheila. Come on. Calm down.

[ Indistinct conversations I

WOMAN: We were just walking past.

W-We didn't know. We just looked inside the box --

[ Screams I

HARDCASTLE: Who is it, Jenkins?!

Nora Brent, sir. She was trying to talk to you earlier.

Will someone please get them to stop hurting my girls?

Will you get it to stop?!

WOMAN: [ Voice breaking ] Oh, lovely Nora.

HARDCASTLE: Using her exact words,

what did Nora Brent say to you, Constable?

She said she couldn't see how what she said could be true,

that she was lying at the inquest.

And this is Sheila Webb

-she's talking about? -I believe so.

But she didn't mention her name?

Constable Jenkins, are you absolutely certain

that those were her exact words?

It is very important.

I'm sure, yes. I think so.

I-It was busy. Everyone was on their way out.

Miss Martindale, Sheila Webb was seen with the dead man

at the Castle Hotel a day before the murder.

The Castle Hotel?

That would be during working hours.

Did she have an appointment there?

Well, she often has an appointment there.

She had a regular client who resides at the Castle Hotel.

And I use the word "client" with all its meaning, sir.

Sheila Webb has a habit of inappropriate familiarity

with some of our male clients --

a Professor Purdy, especially, who resides at the Castle Hotel

and who requests her services at least once a week.

He's bought her gifts, I believe.

Perhaps you've noticed a silver wristwatch,

which a girl like Sheila couldn't possibly afford.

Oui, mademoiselle.

It would not be at all surprised to hear that she had been seen

with other gentlemen at the Castle Hotel.

That's a disgraceful insinuation.

Is it, Lieutenant?

Surely, you've been aware

of the effect Sheila Webb has on a certain type of man.

Tell to me, if you please --

Has Mlle. Sheila Webb or Mlle. Nora Brent

ever worked on the estate of Garry Gregson?

HARDCASTLE: Not again.

Who cares about Garry ruddy Gregson?

Can't you see the case that is building in front of you here?

No, monsieur. I deal with all matters Gregson.

Merci, mademoiselle.

Come on.

Where is it that you go, Inspector?

To show the dead man's photograph

to the Castle staff, of course.

-Are you coming? -Non.

-No? -Non.

I don't even begin to understand you, Poirot.

GUARD: Good evening, sir.

COLIN: Good evening.

HAMLING: What news have you got for me, Race?

Well, I ran checks on the residents and neighbors

of 61 Wilbraham Crescent as well as I can,

-and there seems to be -- -And what did you find?

Not much, if the truth be told.

The Blands have come into money,

but as you can see from these bank transactions,

it's genuinely an inheritance from Canada.

The call on Mabbutt next door was of interest to us

because he travels extensively on the Continent.

Yes.

Mabbutt works for Armstrong Ordnance, doesn't he,

who supply the French army with weapons?

-He does. -So not your usual German spy.

No.

-Anything else? -Not as yet.

Does this second murder on the parade

have anything to do with Wilbraham Crescent?

-Yes. -In what way?

I-l don't know.

You don't know much, do you, Lieutenant?

Does Poirot?

Not yet.

Maybe this business in Wilbraham Crescent

has nothing to do with the leak and Fiona Hanbury's death.

Maybe you're wrong, Lieutenant.

I don't think so, sir.

Well, you have one more day, and then I'll bring in other agents.

Do you understand?

FIONA: Is that mine?

Yes.

Where did you find it?

I'm sorry I wasn't there for you.

What do you mean?

On the night you died.

Let me get my hat and my coat.

Let's go down the Bluebell. Then let's go to my house.

-All right? -All right.

Stay here.

JENKINS: Do you recognize him?

Has he been in the hotel any time in the past week?

WOMAN: I don't think so.

JENKINS: Possibly accompanied by a young lady --

a Miss Sheila Webb.

I cannot believe that poor girl was murdered in broad daylight,

I cannot believe that poor girl was murdered in broad daylight,

where anyone could have seen.

It sounds a most desperate crime.

POIROT: Oui. Most desperate indeed.

Tell to me, if you please -- After the inquest,

did Mlle. Nora Brent say anything to you?

No. Why would she?

So you did not know her at all?

She had not made, perhaps, a visit to the studio here

with a sweetheart?

I don't recognize the name, but it's possible.

Appointments are usually made in the man's name.

-Ah. -You're welcome to look.

Mr. Wright keeps copies of every photograph he's ever taken,

and he's been here over 30 years.

Oh, merci, mademoiselle,

but I do not think that will be necessary.

Does M. Wright develop his own portraits?

Oh, yes. He does everything here.

If he sends out to a lab,

the results are never as professional.

Oui, d'accord.

Ah. "Pebmarsh."

So you have had taken your own portrait?

No, monsieur.

These are my sons.

They passed through here during the war

and sent a portrait back to me.

They are most handsome.

Yes, they were. They were.

I volunteered for service after I lost them

and then, after the war, came here.

And it pains me to think, monsieur,

that if this peace does not hold,

there will soon be another generation of boys

in these files,

who send photos back to their parents...

but never get home.

SHEILA: Hello.

[ Gulls crying I

COLIN: Where have you been?

Can I be with you tonight?

Ah, Poirot. Just in time to help.

We've had over 200 responses

to the picture of the dead man in the paper.

We're trying to cross-reference them,

see if the same name keeps coming up

or the photograph fits.

Could they not identify him at the Castle Hotel?

No. Nothing.

They knew Sheila Webb and Professor Purdy,

but I think the Blands must have seen them and got mistaken,

too eager to help.

Do you agree?

No.

I do not think it is important who he is...

but who he is.

Right.

Well, I'm not gonna rise to that one.

Bonsoir.

Oh, the clocks, Poirot -- all bought from the same stall

in Deal Market within the last month.

No I.D. on the buyer, though.

All bought there except the...

The Rosemary clock.

Yes. The Rosemary.

Just as I thought.

Thank you, Inspector.

"It's not important who he is but who he is.”

"Not important who he is but who he js.”

Anyone understand that?

[ Clock ticking ]

Most extraordinary.

Forgive me, but unless I am mistaken,

you must be Professor Purdy.

Where did you go after the inquest?

I want the truth.

For a walk on the front.

It could easily have been me who made the call to Miss Pebmarsh.

Easily me who killed that man. I could've done it all.

I mean, there's no proof that it wasn't.

I just needed time to think what to do.

But when I made my way back to work, I saw Nora was dead.

I knew I'd be blamed for that as well.

I left Dover this afternoon and wasn't gonna come back...

-which would have been bad. -Yes, it would.

You need to see the police and clear your name.

Yes, I know.

You believe I'm innocent, don't you?

You believe it wasn't me.

I'm gonna get us both a drink.

There's glasses in the kitchenette.

SHEILA: These small ones?

Yes.

When did you get this?

A -- -When did you get it?

Colin, I --

I'm taking you with me to the police station now.

Now.

HARDCASTLE: Where did you get the murder weapon?

HARDCASTLE: Where did you get the murder weapon?

All right. Where did you get the clock?

Unless I am mistaken, Inspector,

Mlle. Webb received the clock when she was a child...

...for her birthday.

Or was it Christmas, perhaps?

SHEILA: When I was born.

The home told me it was a gift from my mother,

who I never knew.

What are you talking about?

POIROT: Rosemary is the first name of Mlle. Webb.

Is that not so?

Mlle. R.S. Webb.

Yes.

POIROT: Rosemary Sheila.

And yet you choose to use your second name, non?

HARDCASTLE: May I continue?

Qui. Bien sar. Pardon.

If the clock was yours,

what was it doing at Miss Pebmarsh's house?

She does not know, Inspector, which is why she stole it.

[ Clocks ticking ]

[ Sighs]

[ Metal rattles ]

Ah. The spring -- It is broken, n'est pas?

So it is possible that a few weeks previously

you took it to the jewelers to have it repaired?

And then, what, you lost it.

And the next time you see it,

itis at Number 19 Wilbraham Crescent.

And there is there a dead man.

The police -- They are everywhere.

And so you think to yourself,

"Why is someone trying to frame me for murder?"

And then you notice that all the clocks, they spell 4:13 --

the number of the very room in the hotel

where, in your loneliness, you have begun a love affair

with a man who does not care for you.

And so you think to yourself,

"Why is someone trying to expose my shame?"

And you do not know.

And the knife?

I suspect that you have never seen this before,

or else almost certainly you would have got rid of it.

Inspector, may I ask a question?

Of course.

Will you be answering it as well?

Mademoiselle, when you returned from lunch

on the day of the murder, Mlle. Nora Brent --

-What was she doing? -Talking.

-Nora was always talking. -About what?

I strut off to lunch.

And the heel snaps in a grate like a twig in a storm.

So now we make the progress.

And in which grate was it did Mlle. Nora Brent break her shoe?

Yes, which was it?

Let's bring the grate in for questioning, shall we?

Inspector, as you told to me only yesterday,

can not you see the case that is building in front of you?

Not the case about the grate, no.

I don't know which grate it was, sir.

[ Clears throat] She's here, Inspector.

Who's here?

One name came up five times in response to the newspapers.

Then the dead man's widow rings up

and says she wants to come in to identify the body.

His name's Harry Castleton.

Put this one back in her cell, Constable.

This is far from over.

MERLINA: [ Clicks tongue ] That's him.

That's Harry.

When's the last time you saw your husband, Mrs. Castleton?

15 years ago. And he wasn't much of a husband.

I don't even know if Castleton was his real name.

He said he was in insurance.

But that was just a ruse

so that he could travel around and run scams on lonely women.

I gave him the heave-ho

when I discovered that he was engaged to that...

Schoolteacher she was.

But by then, he had taken me for all my savings.

Did your husband have any distinguishing marks?

No.

Yes, he did -- um, behind his left ear.

He cut himself shaving once.

Made a terrible mess in the sink.

Thank you for coming, Mrs. Castleton.

I don't use that name now.

My name is Rival -- Merlina Rival.

It was my stage name before I ever met my husband,

and I reverted to it the moment he disappeared.

This murder gets more complicated by the minute.

Mais oui.

Which can only mean one thing, mon ami.

The solution -- It must be very simple.

Where are you going?

Well, I feel it is necessary

to speak once again to the cat lady -- Mme. Hemmings.

Why?

HEMMINGS: What an excitement, everybody.

HEMMINGS: What an excitement, everybody.

The big French tom's paying us another visit.

I am Belgian, madame.

Please sit yourself down,

although you might find the sofa a little damp.

Tiddly-Pops is sometimes tiddly by name as well as by nature.

Would you like me to fold up a bath towel

and put it on the seat?

The dampness takes time to seep through then, I find.

Madame, you told to me that,

in the garden the other evening, you overheard hard words

pass between M. Mabbutt and Mlle. Pebmarsh.

Yes.

Why was that unusual?

Well, because he's never there.

And when he is, he's very polite --

a lovely man.

It's that bad-tempered nanny

everyone usually has ding-dongs with.

Can you remember what was said?

Well, you were there, weren't you, Copey?

PEBMARSH: We need to do it now, Mr. Mabbutt!

MABBUTT: Not with them swarming all over the place, no.

PEBMARSH: It will all be wasted if we don't act now.

She was talking about her plants, I imagine,

the way those girls trample all over them.

And this discussion,

did it take place the evening after the body was discovered

in the sitting room of Mlle. Pebmarsh?

No, it was Wednesday,

because we'd all just enjoyed "Band Wagon" on the wireless.

But it was Wednesday that the body was discovered.

No, Tuesday, thank you, yes, because I noticed

the laundry van pull up to her house at lunchtime.

The laundry always arrives on Tuesday.

VAL: Monsieur! Hello!

Hello.

Hello.

Mrs. Bland.

Ah. Mme. Bland!

I hear on the jungle drums that you've identified the dead man.

Well, shall we say the police, they are confident.

-That's wonderful. -Yes indeed.

Oh, tell to me, if you please, madame,

from where in Canada are you?

It is simply that I have some friends in Montreal,

and I wondered if you knew them.

Oh, not the French-speaking part, no.

Edmonton it was. Alberta.

Ah. Je suis désolé. How foolish of me, huh?

Did you find that when you were coming over here

everyone would say to you,

"I know someone in England -- Newcastle...

-Please to say hello"? -Oh, yes!

-People can be so silly. -Well...

But it was natural for me to settle in Dover because

-this is where my sister lives. -Ah.

-As well as meeting Joe here. -But of course.

Well, I'll let you get on, monsieur.

But that's wonderful news about the identification.

Yes indeed.

Madame.

[ Snap, girls laughing ]

We did what you asked. Do you want to come and see?

Oui.

Mlle. Jenny, Mlle. May, tell to me what is it you have found.

Coins.

Coins?

About two and six.

Ah, but that's very good.

And you found all this in the garden of Mlle. Pebmarsh?

But you haven't seen the best thing yet.

But that was in our garden, not hers.

What is the best thing?

Ah. S'il te plait?

Merci.

[ Metal rattles ]

[ Telephone ringing I

You may have known him under a name other than Castleton.

No, sir. No.

And he was putting pressure on you for money, maybe.

-Maybe he was blackmailing -- -JENKINS: Sir. It's Poirot.

HARDCASTLE: [ Sighs]

Hardcastle.

Inspector, it is a matter of urgency

that you dispatch but immediately a telegram

to Somerset House.

It is also a matter of urgency

that I continue to interview my prime suspect.

So will you go away for 10 blinking minutes?

Non. And you must release Mlle. Sheila Webb.

-Release her? -Oui.

It is evident to Poirot that she is not guilty,

but I will need her help to prove it.

Also, I will need to speak to her

over the telephone but immediately

after I have given you instructions for Somerset House.

What is going on, Poirot?

I will tell to you everything that Poirot has discovered,

but you must promise to release Mlle. Sheila Webb

and act according to my instructions.

[ Sighs] Go on.

You must get Somerset House to verify the marriage record

of Harry Castleton to Mlle. Merlina Rival.

And you must also get them to verify something else for me.

COLIN: This is Annabel Larkin's, I'm sure.

And this was discovered in Mabbutt's garden?

Also, I learned from his daughters

that this afternoon, he intends to travel to France.

You must prevent this.

No. You've got the wrong end of the stick.

Trawling through the histories of the neighbors, we found this.

The Waterhouses, with their perfect English name,

their perfect English voices, are German.

They came over in 1936 from Munich.

They changed their name from Tuchman.

But of course they are German.

Well, did you not notice the slips in the way they spoke?

We like this street because it's quiet, also.

POIROT: The use of the word "also"

at the end of the sentence.

A mistake most common

in even the most fluent German when they speak English.

Why didn't you say?

Because they cannot be connected, Lieutenant.

Maybe they buried this in Mabbutt's garden

-to draw us away -- -No, no, no. No.

M. Mabbutt and Mlle. Pebmarsh

were overheard on the evening of the murder.

We need to do it now, Mr. Mabbutt!

Not with them swarming all over the place, no.

It will all be wasted if we don't act now.

POIROT: It was presumed

that they were arguing about the children.

But non, Poirot thinks not.

Poirot suspects that they were talking

about the police that were now in the neighborhood

and the importance of getting the stolen documents

to their contact on the Continent.

Miss Pebmarsh?

Consider this.

The note that was made by Mlle. Fiona

on the night she followed Larkin.

It would have been made in haste, huh?

A piece of paper pulled from her handbag, a scribble.

What does it mean?

Number 617? No one knows what it means.

Exactement, mon ami. Exactement.

So, if you please?

Perhaps Poirot is correct when he does this.

COLIN: 19 Wilbraham Crescent.

Mlle. Pebmarsh.

[ Door closes I]

Can I ask you where you're going please, M. Mabbutt?

-Why are you asking? -Routine.

Well, I'm taking the Calais ferry

in three-quarters of an hour

and have business in France for the next three days.

-Good day to you. -Will you step over

to the car, please, sir?

Just a minute of your time.

MABBUTT: What is the meaning of this, Lieutenant?

Bear with us, sir. I apologize for the inconvenience.

[ Bell rings I

Good afternoon.

Good afternoon, mademoiselle. It is I, Hercule Poirot.

And w-what can I do for you, monsieur?

Bien, mademoiselle, I have reason to believe

that Mlle. Nora Brent may have visited the studio here

to have a photograph taken with a gentleman.

And I wondered if I might take you up on your offer most kind

to have a look through your records.

Of course.

Not knowing the gentleman's name, I suppose it would be best

if you were to start at the beginning of the alphabet

and work your way through.

Oui, d'accord.

Then you should begin here.

Merci.

[ Sighs]

Fine weather for a crossing today, sir.

How long is this going to take?

Just a few minutes more.

What have we here?

Get off! Get off!

Get off! Get off me!

Would you like a cup of tea, monsieur?

Non, non, non. Non, merci, mademoiselle.

I think I have found what I am looking for.

Already?

Oui.

I thought that the sweetheart of Mlle. Nora Brent

had a name at the beginning of the alphabet,

and luck, it has struck.

[ Bell rings, door closes I

Millicent Pebmarsh,

I'm Lieutenant Race of the Royal Navy,

and I'm arresting you under suspicion of high treason.

Would you please accompany me?

[ Indistinct conversations I

So, let's have another one, then.

Come on.

Mrs. Rival?

Oh, hello.

I've said everything I had to say,

and I'm back to London on the 2:15, so...

Thanking you.

Chin-chin.

Can I ask when Harry Castleton cut himself shaving?

Well, I don't know when.

When we were together.

15 years ago?

I told you I haven't seen him for 15 years.

-Didn't you take notes? -The police surgeon tells me

it's a much more recent scar -- perhaps only two years old.

Well, I remember him doing it.

So your police surgeon is incorrect, your honor.

Mrs. Rival, you know that perverting the course of justice

carries a maximum prison sentence of four years?

Which is why I don't do it.

Is this your correct address in London?

I believe it is, yes.

Good.

[ Typewriter clicking ]

Oh, Sheila. Nice to have you back.

I've been typing up

some of the work that Nora left unfinished on "Naked Love."

Now that you're back, perhaps you could take it over.

Of course, Miss Martindale.

Well, the manuscript's in my office.

It's lunchtime, girls.

COLIN: Quite an operation you had going here.

Larkin would steal the documents.

Pebmarsh would make a copy.

And Mabbutt would make a drop somewhere in France.

And all of you recruited by the Waterhouses.

Non, Lieutenant.

[ Laughing ] The Waterhouses?

You were doing quite well until you mentioned that scum.

Excuse me.

-What are we doing here? -Are we under arrest?

Why did you change your name from Tuchman to Waterhouse?

Why are you living in England under false identities?

Weil wir Juden sind.

What?

We are Jewish.

This is England.

Why are you disguising the fact you're Jewish?

Do you think that anti-Semitism

doesn't exist here as well, Lieutenant?

This is our third English city in the last two years.

RACHEL: When you have lived through what we did in Munich,

Lieutenant, at the first sign of it, you move on.

All we want is to live our lives quietly,

without threat, without prejudice.

The irony is, Lieutenant,

it's in our country's interests to have peace with Germany --

to stop the Communists creeping ever westward.

We are patriots who pass information to Hitler

because if Chamberlain's policy of appeasement doesn't hold

and someone like Churchill gets his hands on power,

we will be dragged into a war

a hundred times worse than the last one.

And in that scenario, the quicker Germany knocks out

a weak liberal England, the better for all Europe.

Or what would remain of Europe under the Nazis.

Monsieur, you have not seen your country

overrun by foreign tyranny.

I have.

And I tell you, monsieur,

that I value the "weak liberal England," as you call it,

as a country well worth the fighting for.

But you won't do the fighting, will you, monsieur?

It will be the young boys again.

And if I can save one life by keeping this country weak

so it cannot engage in war with Germany,

then I will be proud of what I've done.

Fiona Hanbury had a life.

I think people like that are called collateral, Lieutenant.

They die for a greater good.

Please! Stop!

[ Tires screech I

The man found dead in Miss Pebmarsh's sitting room

also had a life, Mabbutt, as did the secretary Nora Brent.

No, sir.

M. Poirot and I don't believe those deaths

had anything to do with these people.

In fact, if we're correct,

Inspector Hardcastle is, at this moment,

making an arrest in that murder investigation.

He practically put a black cap on his head

and gave me four years,

I'm not gonna go to prison for four years.

I won't do it. [ Sniffles ]

Well, I want more money -- more than the £200.

No, I want more.

All right. I know where that is. I'll meet you there.

JENKINS: Where do you think she's heading?

HARDCASTLE: Down to the sea front --

if she can stay upright.

[ Both chuckle ]

Can you see her?

-No. -Where'd she go?

[ Woman screaming ]

Sir.

So, now we are all assembled.

What's this about, Inspector?

Mr. Poirot would like a word.

Ah, but first, please, to sit down, all of you.

Please, Mlle. Martindale. M. and Mme. Bland.

Mlle. Sheila Webb.

I thank you all very, very much for coming here this evening.

We had little choice.

Oui.

This has been a puzzle most intriguing

which has tested Poirot... but not found him wanting.

So first, if I may, let us take a look at the facts.

We have a telephone call made to the Cavendish Bureau,

requesting the services of a secretary by name --

Mlle. Sheila Webb --

a telephone call that nobody admits to making.

She arrives in a room full of clocks

that nobody admits to owning.

But all of these clocks, they spell exactly the same time --

4:13 -- which has no significance.

She finds there a dead man with an identification that is false

and who is impossible to trace, because nobody knows him.

I hope you will agree with me on these facts, Mlle. Martindale.

Yes.

Mme. Bland?

I don't understand

why myself and my husband have been summoned here.

All will become clear, madame.

Then we have the note most threatening

that was sent to Mlle. Sheila Webb.

We have the second murder, that of the poor Nora Brent,

who was a colleague of Mlle. Webb.

And we have the identification definitive

of the dead man, down to the scar behind his left ear,

A gentleman who apparently was seen in the hotel

with Mlle. Sheila Webb,

a man who preyed on women who are vulnerable.

And then we have complication upon complication.

We have evidence that is totally circumstantial

that builds and builds into a wall of proof

against Mlle. Sheila Webb.

But Poirot, he realizes that in amongst this --

What is the word for "obscurisement"? --

this -- this dark cloud of matter,

there is one fact that can be proved.

Is that not so, monsieur?

Which is what?

Which is the eyewitness, Lieutenant Race,

who saw a woman so frightened, so bewildered

that it was not possible for her to have committed murder.

It was the Lieutenant Race who also who led Poirot

to the solution when he said of the note most threatening...

The only thing missing is that it's not written in blood.

Mes amis, there are moments for a detective when the light...

it goes on.

Where had I heard before that expression?

Cheap thriller on the stage?

Exactement, mon ami! Exactement.

...the word "Revenge" written in his blood on the blotter...

Hélas! The cheap thriller, right?

The plots that are complicated.

The usual diet of the Cavendish Bureau,

Mlle. Martindale,

and it made me to think of la pauvre Mlle. Nora Brent,

a young woman who was killed

because the heel of a shoe broke...

Fiddlesticks!

POIROT: ...20 yards from her place of work,

which meant that she returned early to her desk

in her lunch hour that day.

She knew that the telephone, it did not sound.

She knew that there was no telephone call

from Mlle. Pebmarsh

requesting the services of the secretary Mlle. Sheila Webb.

I received the call from a Miss Pebmarsh

at about a quarter to 2:00, during the lunch hour.

NORA: I don't see how what she said could be true.

JENKINS: Yes. Thank you, madam.

What she said couldn't possibly be true!

POIROT: So she had to be silenced.

[ Gasping ]

POIROT: Is that not so, Mlle. Martindale?

That is ridiculous.

No more ridiculous than the cheap thrillers,

the plots that are complicated

that you had spent your life working amongst.

Lunchtime, girls.

POIROT: And it was at the instigation of Hercule Poirot

that Mlle. Sheila Webb, she made the search

of the papers of the estate of Garry Gregson,

and she found this short story that Poirot, he remembered.

It is full of clocks, identifications that are false.

There is even a buildup of evidence

to frame a person who is innocent,

who felt so implicated in a crime they did not commit

that they became frightened and irrational

and therefore more suspicious to the police.

It is all here, mademoiselle!

You could not even think of a plot of your own devising!

Oh, except, pardon, for the addition you made of the clock,

the Rosemary clock

that you stole from the handbag of Mlle. Sheila Webb

when she took it to the jewelers to be repaired.

Is that not so?

And then you frighten her with a number --

4:13 -- the time of the clocks, but also the room in the hotel

where Mlle. Sheila Webb conducted her love affair

that was to you oh, so shameful.

But she is not what she seems,

because for Mlle. Sheila Webb, her love, it was real.

Why would I want that man dead

in Wilbraham Crescent, monsieur?

I didn't even know him.

Do you know what this is, Mme. Bland?

It is the death certificate of the first Mme. Bland.

Not you, but a woman from Canada.

The woman who inherited all of the money.

When the inheritance came through,

Joe said no one would know.

They didn't know his wife was dead,

and all we had to do was --

Shut up, Val!

-Shut up! -[ Gasps I]

[ Grunts ]

HARDCASTLE: So, who is the dead man, Poirot?

I do not know, Inspector.

But as I told to you before...

...it is not important who he is, but who he is.

And Poirot suspects that he is a friend or relative

of the first Mme. Bland

who left Canada, came to this country to look her up.

This was a man

who knew that the money had gone to the wrong woman.

A man who, if murdered,

would become almost impossible to trace

for the police in England.

Mme. Bland, you said something strange to Poirot.

But it was natural for me to settle in Dover

because this is where my sister lives.

Your sister, Mme. Bland --

Your sister, who is as Canadian as you are.

When the letter from his wife's uncle arrived,

Joe said he and Kathy could work it out.

He could rig the old van up to look like the laundry.

Ah, yes, of course -- the laundry van

that was seen to arrive by Mme. Hemmings.

But it arrived on the wrong day.

It arrived on the Wednesday

-instead of the Tuesday. -Yes, you see,

because they wanted to dump him at the blind woman's.

Find a mark on his body and get a Merlina to verify it.

Who you knew from your days in the theater?

Come on in. This way.

I hope this isn't an inconvenience.

Oh, not at all.

There. Look. He has a scar behind his left ear.

[ Grunts ]

Kathy said she knew how to make it work,

that there was a young tart at the bureau

who no one would miss, who would deserve it.

She said she'd set her up, it would be all right.

They said there would be no reason

for the body to be at the blind woman's house with Sheila Webb

and it would just confuse the police.

It would be confusion upon confusion,

complication upon complication.

JOE: [ Grunts ]

VAL: Joe worked so hard all his life for nothing,

and the money was so huge -- It -- It was so huge!

[ Man groans I

[ Clocks ticking ]

But they made me do it -- They -- They made me

put the knife into Sheila Webb's bag at the inquest.

If you'd like a cup of tea...

They made me press Merlina to come and lie,

to falsify the marriage and falsely identify the body

and -- and -- and then, when she was scared, to...

to come to the seafront so they could kill her!

[ Voice breaking ] It was only going to be the one death.

it was only going to be the one!

[ Sobs I]

[ Gulls crying I

[ Door closes I]

All right, madam. In the back.

Thank you.

Mademoiselle.

HARDCASTLE: Thank you, Mr. Poirot.

And if you're staying in Dover tonight,

I'd very much like to stand you another pint.

Well, that is most kind of you, Inspector,

but it is tonight that I travel to London.

But if you should ever find yourself there,

if you please to look me up, I will stand for you the cocktail.

Right. Pleasure to know you, sir.

-Inspector. -Lieutenant.

M. Colin, do I have to tell you to go after her?

No.

Then go after her.

[ Footsteps approaching I

COLIN: I've only known you a few days...

...and already it's like we've fallen in love,

married, had seven children, divorced,

met again under peculiar circumstances,

married, had a few more children,

divorced...

She must have hated me so much.

Shall we start again, Sheila?

Yes, please.

Let's start again.

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