Agatha Christie's Poirot Episode Guide - inaf iasf bologna

Agatha Christie’s Poirot Episode Guide
The Tragedy at Marsdon Manor
Season 3
Episode Number: 27
Season Episode: 5
Originally aired: Sunday February 3, 1991
Writer:
Agatha Christie, David Renwick
Director: Renny Rye
Show Stars: Hugh Fraser (Captain Arthur Hastings), Philip Jackson (Chief Inspector
James Japp), Pauline Moran (Miss Felicity Lemon), David Suchet
(Hercule Poirot)
Recurring Role: Richard Bebb (voice of newsreader)
Guest Stars: Desmond Barrit (Samuel Naughton), Anita Carey (Miss Rawlinson),
Neil Duncan (Captain Black), Edward Jewesbury (Dr Bernard), Pat
Keen (Civil Defence officer), David Lloyd (II) (museum attendant), Ian
McCulloch (Jonathan Maltravers), Hilary Sesta (doctor’s receptionist),
Ralph Watson (Danvers), Geoffrey Swann (Police Sergeant), Geraldine
Alexander (Susan Maltravers)
Summary: Poirot is summoned to Marsdon by the owner of a country inn there
to solve a murder. But the inn-keeper is a would-be thriller writer, and
to Poirot’s dismay the murder turns out to be fictional. Thankfully,
though, there is soon a real (if seemingly supernatural) murder at the
big house. Things get even more interesting when a young wife claims
that a tree in her garden is haunted by a laughing ghost, and there are
also signs of black magic from East Africa. Poirot lays a clever ambush
to smoke out the killer,confident that he or she will turn out to be
human.
Poirot has been asked by a friend, who is the director
of the Northern Union Insurance Company, to investigate
the case of a middle-aged man who died of an
internal haemorrhage just a few weeks after insuring his
life for fifty thousand pounds. There were rumours that
the man — Mr Maltravers — was in a difficult financial
position and the suggestion has been made that he paid
the insurance premiums and then committed suicide for
the benefit of his beautiful young wife. Poirot and Hastings
travel to Marsdon Manor in Essex where the dead
man was found in the grounds, with a small rook rifle
by his side. They interview the widow and can find nothing
wrong. They are leaving when a young man, Captain
Black, arrives. A gardener tells Poirot that he visited the
house the day before the death. Poirot interviews Black
and by using word association finds out that he knew
of someone who committed suicide with a rook rifle in
East Africa when he was out there. Poirot realises that
this story, told at the dinner table the day before the
tragedy, gave Mrs Maltravers the idea as to how to kill
her husband by making him demonstrate to her how the
African farmer would have put the gun in his mouth.
She then pulled the trigger and the unsuspicious local
doctor certified a natural death. Mr Maltravers is then seen by a maid in the garden. She thinks
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