Agatha Christie's Poirot Episode Guide - inaf iasf bologna

Agatha Christie’s Poirot Episode Guide
hotel at about quarter to 12, which would mean it was impossible for her to have committed
the murder because the murder was committed at exactly quarter to 12. The Gardeners were
with Hercule Poirot at that time of the murder and thus cleared of suspicion. Rosamund Darnley
claims that she went to Sunny Ledge (above the Pixy Cove) to read a book. She says that she
saw no one because she was concentrating on reading but while Emily and Patrick were rowing
a boat, they saw her there. As for the rest of the group, Stephen Lane and Major Barry went out
and Horace Blatt sailed. Christine, Rosamund, Kenneth and Mr. Gardener all went to play tennis
at noon.
Meanwhile, Poirot asks the chambermaid, Gladys
Narracott, if she has observed whether a bottle was
missing. He asks this because earlier that day of the
murder Emily Brewster told them that she had nearly
been hit with a thrown bottle. The chambermaid did not
notice that a bottle was missing, but notes something
else that seemed odd: somebody ran a bath at noon.
Poirot says that the bath was nothing important but the
bottle was very important. The chambermaid also heard
Kenneth Marshall typing in his room, thus corroborating
Kenneth’s story and clearing him of suspicion.
Meanwhile, when the investigating officers and Poirot
go to Pixy Cove to investigate the place, they find a
pair of new scissors, a fragment of pipe, and a bottle.
The pipe could be Kenneth’s, as he told the investigating
officers and Poirot earlier that he had mislaid his
pipe. But he is not the only one who smokes a pipe.
On entering Pixy’s Cave the investigators find heroin.
There are suspicions that Horace Blatt has something
to do with smuggling of drugs or with the murder. Poirot
also enquires about the murder of Alice Corrigan many
years ago. It emerges that she was also strangled but
her murderer was never caught. Alice’s husband Edward
claimed innocence and had an alibi because he
was away at that time, thus, making him impossible to commit the murder. Alice’s body was
found at the time by a school teacher.
Poirot has an idea to go for a picnic, perhaps to make a little test. Christine and Emily had
both mentioned that they were afraid of heights (also called acrophobia). Therefore, when they
are made to cross a narrow bridge with running water below nearby on the way to the picnic,
they should feel giddy and uncomfortable doing so. Emily does, yet Christine crosses the bridge
without any problems. Therefore it is shown that she has told at least one lie - could all she had
said earlier be lies too?
When they return to the hotel after the picnic, the chambermaid advises them that Linda
is not feeling well. On entering her room it transpires that Linda took six sleeping pills in an
unsuccessful attempt at suicide, leaving a letter confessing that she was the one who killed
Arlena. As she recovers, the true nature of her confession is revealed - the mysterious parcel of
candles she had dropped earlier was part of a magic spell directed at Arlena, and she mistakenly
believed it to have killed her. After that Poirot tells everyone the identity of the murderer.
Patrick Redfern’s real identity is Edward Corrigan, the husband of Alice Corrigan who was also
murdered by Patrick years ago. The games mistress who found her body was Christine Redfern,
then known as Christine Deverill, and she also helped Edward to kill Alice. What everybody
witnessed from the day Arlena arrived was a plan of Patrick and Christine. Patrick was not
having an affair with Arlena, he was pretending to be smitten. He was also taking large amounts
of money from her.
Arlena was unsuspecting, but if Kenneth knew that Arlena had nearly emptied the account,
he would come out looking for Patrick. So, the duo decided to get rid of Arlena. Arlena went on
the fatal day to meet Patrick, just as Poirot suspected. Patrick instructed her to remain hidden
under the Cove. Meanwhile, Christine saw Linda with the candles and understood what she was
up to. She deliberately set Linda’s watch 20 minutes forward. When she asked Linda to check
124