Season 4, Episode 1 - The ABC Murders (ENG)

- Oh, allow me, mademoiselle.
Voilà.
- Thank you.
- It is like an enormous birthday cake, is it not?
So strange and so out of place in this beautiful neighborhood.
Near the end of the last century when it was being built,
so many of the great artists, they lived here.
Oh, yes.
Renoir, Manet, van Gogh, so many.
It amuses me to imagine their dismay
as they saw it being constructed.
- Well, actually, I think it's rather beautiful.
- You know, when they lived here, mademoiselle,
Montmartre was just a village in the countryside.
Strange church for a village, n'est-ce pas?
However, for myself, I am very happy
that it is no longer the countryside.
I greatly prefer under my feet the paving stones.
Excuse me.
- On demande Monsieur Johnson.
Paging Mr. Johnson.
On demande Monsieur Johnson.
Paging Mr. Johnson.
- I'd much rather spend the afternoon shopping.
There are so many gorgeous shops in Paris.
It's quite absurd.
- We've already bought the tickets, darling.
- It is why we came, Cecily.
- Yes, Venetia, thank you.
I do realize.
But I didn't realize
we'd spend the whole week watching tennis.
For goodness' sake.
Well, really!
I do think Frenchmen are so rude.
Don't you, Venetia?
Where's Madeleine?
Madeleine!
Fetch my cigarettes, will you?
- Yes, Lady Horbury.
- Quarante, trente.
Jeu, Monsieur Perry.
Monsieur Perry mène par quatre jeux à trois
dans le premier set.
- Excuse me.
I'm sorry.
- He was jolly good, even you must admit, Cecily.
- Who was?
- Fred Perry, darling,
the English one.
- I wish I'd seen Perry at Wimbledon last year.
They say he was marvelous.
- Well, let's hope he wins again in the final.
- Yes, that would be nice, wouldn't it?
- Hello. - Hello.
- I felt I ought to apologize...
in case my clapping deafened you.
Oh, no, don't worry.
- Did you enjoy the game?
- Oh, yes.
It's a wonderful tournament, isn't it?
- I'm Norman Gale.
- Jane Grey.
- Wasn't she a queen or something?
- Briefly. No relation, I'm afraid.
I'm just an air stewardess.
- Well, I hope you're not flying back before the final.
- Oh, no, no, definitely not.
I wouldn't miss it for anything.
- Good.
- Garçon!
Garçon!
Oh, for heaven's sake!
- Dix rouge.
- Merci.
- Faites vos jeux, mesdames et messieurs.
Faites vos jeux.
Faites vos jeux, mesdames et messieurs.
Faites vos jeux.
Come on, come on, come on, come on.
- Quinze noir.
Faites vos jeux, mesdames et messieurs.
Faites vos jeux.
- That was a lovely dinner. Thank you, Stephen.
- Glad you enjoyed it.
- You mustn't worry about Cecily not turning up.
Really.
There's probably a perfectly good reason.
She's probably back at the hotel now.
- She's been worse than ever this week.
It was marvelous that you could come with us, Venetia.
- Oh, well.
I'm very good at being a friend of the family.
It's my role in life, I think.
- Oh.
- Bonsoir, madame. Bonsoir, monsieur.
- Good evening.
- Oh, madame.
- Madame Giselle, s'il vous plaît.
- Le premier étage.
I will not tolerate it!
Do you understand?
I will not tolerate it!
Hello, darling.
Can't you sleep?
- It's 3:00.
- Is it?
- Did you see her?
- Who?
- That woman.
- I might have paid her just a little visit, Stephen.
On the other hand, I might not.
- I suppose you went to the casino.
- I might have spent just a few francs, yes, Stephen,
I must confess.
- I'm not helping anymore, Cecily.
I'm simply not.
You'll just have to tell her!
- Oh, don't get so excited, darling.
You and Venetia love riding around on horses,
and I love smoking and drinking
and losing money at the roulette table.
So long as we all leave each other to our own devices,
I don't see what the problem is.
- I'm going back to London in the morning.
- And miss the final?
What will Venetia think?
- Ah, mademoiselle.
I did not take you for an admirer of the avant-garde.
- Hello, again. - Hello.
You are a little baffled by what you see?
- Yes, I'm afraid I am, actually.
- Well, it's hardly surprising, mademoiselle.
The surrealists, you see, they free themselves
from the demands of logic.
They do not paint what we see before us,
the real world as we call it.
No, no, no.
No, they struggle to express the unconscious,
the dream world.
So one cannot approach their work in way that has logic.
You have to experience it.
You have to open your mind to it.
That is all.
Come. I will show you more.
So, Mademoiselle Grey,
how does the world look
now that the surrealists have opened your mind to it?
- It's all looking a little strange now actually.
But I'm sure it's only temporary.
It's been fascinating meeting you, Mr. Poirot.
- Ah, no, no, no, no. You are too kind.
- No, it has.
But now there's a little bit of Paris I'd like to show you,
somewhere I'm almost sure you've never been.
- Oh, I have seen much of Paris, Mademoiselle Grey.
Do not be so sure.
You are very clever, Mademoiselle Grey,
to obtain for me a seat at such short notice.
- That's your seat there.
- Well, thank you. Thank you very much indeed.
You are too kind.
- I'll see you later.
- Indeed. Au revoir.
- Au revoir.
- Excuse me. Pardon.
Pardon.
- I really don't know why you're staying, Cecily.
Why didn't you go back with Stephen?
- Perhaps because even this is preferable
to being stuck in the country
with all that mud and horse manure.
- Oh, you must have known what he was like
before you married him.
- One never knows what one's husband is like
before one marries him.
That's one of the problems with marriage.
- Are you sure you're not staying for other reasons?
- What do you mean?
- What about that actor friend of yours?
Isn't he keen on tennis?
- Trente par tout.
Trente, quarante.
- It is interesting, is it not,
how the British regard tennis as their own invention
and any tennis trophy as rightfully theirs?
When the truth is, it was a French game originally.
Jeu de pomme.
11th century, I think.
- It was a jolly good game, wasn't it?
And Perry absolutely thrashed von Cramm.
Are either of you going to Wimbledon?
- For myself, I think not.
- Depends if I can get the time off.
- Me too.
- Some more. Garçon!
Garçon!
- You've had enough, Cecily.
- I have nothing for you, madame, nothing.
Do you hear?
The cupboard is bare.
No more money, comprenez?
- Pardon, madame.
- Good morning, sir. Welcome aboard.
- I hear Miss Grey will be traveling with us,
ready to cater for our every need.
- How delightful, a little party.
Ah, and there are two more to join us,
two more aficionados of the game of tennis.
- Oh, yes.
Yes, I saw them yesterday. What a coincidence.
- No, no, no, no, Monsieur Gale, it is not a coincidence.
You will go to Paris for the tennis.
The tennis finishes. You go home.
What could be more logical?
- Bonjour, monsieur.
Le Bourget, s'il vous plaît.
- Au revoir, Elise.
A bien tôt.
- Au revoir, madame.
- Good morning, sir. - Good morning.
- It'll be in here, sir, if you need it.
- Thank you.
- Morning. - Good morning.
You're at the end, Mr. Gale, on the right.
- Call me Norman, if you like.
- I shall have a rug, if I may.
Thank you.
- Uh, your hat, sir.
- Thank you very much.
Thank you.
- This way, ladies.
Lady Horbury.
Miss Kerr.
- Is everything all right, Mr. Dupont?
- Yes.
- Would you like me to take your case for you?
- No, no, it contains valuable archaeological pieces.
Equatorial African pipes, you see?
For a lecture I'm giving to the British Archaeological Society.
- Really? How interesting.
If you'll excuse me.
This way, madame.
- Excuse me for asking, sir,
but I couldn't help wondering.
Would you, by any chance, be Mr. Daniel Clancy,
the detective writer?
- Yes. Yes, indeed.
- I'd just like to say, sir,
I'm a great admirer of your Wilbraham Rice stories.
He's so brilliant,
a real genius,
the way he can always work out who did it.
- Yes.
Yes, I don't know how he does it myself sometimes.
- Ow! My fingernail.
Steward!
- What can I do for you, madame?
- Get me my maid.
She's in the other compartment.
Tell her to bring my dressing case.
- Yes, madame.
- Thank you, Madeleine. That'll be all.
- Are you all right, sir?
- No, I am not all right. Thank you.
How can I be all right?
- Would you like something to drink, sir?
- No. Thank you.
Mon estomac.
- Ah.
- Would you like some food, Norman?
- Yes, please.
- If you wouldn't mind, Cecily.
No. My throat.
- Of course not, dear.
- Anything for you, sir? - Uh, no, thank you.
- More coffee, sir?
Coffee, miss?
Lady Horbury?
More coffee, sir?
- Hmm? Uh, no, thank you.
- No, thank you.
- Madame?
More coffee, madame?
Madame?
Oh, my God.
Is there a doctor?
- What is it?
- Is anyone a doctor?
- I'm a dentist if I can be of any help.
- What is it? What has happened?
- I'm afraid she's dead.
- What--what is it, a fit?
- No.
No, I think not.
Regardez.
- It's a wasp sting.
I killed a wasp with my cup.
- Yes, I saw it too.
- People do die of wasp stings, but...
- You must go back to your seats,
please, gentlemen.
We're about to land.
- Qu'est-ce que c'est ça?
- Another wasp?
- Yes, it is very like a wasp.
But it is not a wasp.
- Goodness, it's a dart.
A native dart.
South American, I think.
- You have seen one of these before, monsieur?
- Yes. Yes, indeed.
Better be careful.
- Yes, you are right.
We must be very careful,
because unless I am very much mistaken, mes amis,
the end is coated with poison.
- Sir? - No, thank you.
- No, thank you.
- Sir? - No, thank you.
I'm extremely sorry, ladies and gentlemen.
The police won't keep you very long.
They'll let you go
as soon as they've gone through your hand luggage.
- Excuse me, Mr. Poirot. - Yes.
- Would you mind stepping outside?
- Not at all.
- I knew there was something suspicious about him.
Didn't I say?
- Thank you.
- Well, well, seems you can't even fly on an airplane now
without somebody getting murdered.
I've been onto the Sûreté in Paris.
I spoke to a chap called Fournier.
Inspector Fournier?
- No.
- I asked him to find out about the murdered woman,
but he knew all about her already.
Her name's Giselle, Marie Giselle,
well-known moneylender,
specialized in lending to society people,
always kept an ear open for their latest scandals,
and then used them to blackmail them
when they got behind with their payments.
Anyway, what can you tell me?
I gather you were sitting just a few yards
from the scene of the crime.
- Well, unfortunately, Chief Inspector Japp,
at the time of the murder, I was asleep.
- Asleep? Really?
Oh, well, well.
Still, I dare say you have a theory or two
about who committed it.
- How could I possibly have a theory, Chief Inspector,
when I still do not fully comprehend what happened?
- A bit odd, though, don't you think?
Death by poison dart on a British airplane?
Bizarre isn't the word.
Jean Dupont.
Large book.
In French.
Cigarette holder.
Ivory, I should say.
Small notebook.
Full of scribbled notes.
Ornamental hollow tubes.
- African pipes I think you will find.
I was not asleep all of the time, Chief Inspector.
I heard Monsieur Dupont tell it to the air stewardess,
Mademoiselle Jane Grey.
Monsieur Dupont, he is an archaeologist.
- Could be what we're after.
- What exactly are you after, Chief Inspector?
- Well, the question I'm asking myself, Poirot,
is how did the dart get into the body?
- Ah, you refer, I assume,
to the method used by the South American Indians,
who shoot the native thorns,
such as was discovered by the body,
through the wooden tube, n'est-ce pas?
- Well, yes.
How do you know about South American Indians?
- Because I have talked to Monsieur Daniel Clancy.
The well-known writer of the detective stories?
And creator of the celebrated gentleman detective,
Monsieur Wilbraham Rice?
No?
Voilà.
Well, Monsieur Clancy
was one of the passengers on the airplane.
He has researched into the subject
for one of his books.
- Oh, has he?
- Oui. Well, so he tells me.
If you please, Chief Inspector, when you are finished,
could you let me have a copy of the list
of the personal effects of each passenger?
It would be of great interest to me.
- And why would that interest you?
What are you looking for?
- I do not know.
All I know is that I pursue the object
that will hold the answer to a question that troubles me.
But such are the dilemmas with which we daily struggle.
Are they not?
- Heh.
- Excuse me.
Very helpful.
Norman Gale.
Strand Magazine.
England's Glory box of matches.
Empty.
One white linen coat.
Two dental mirrors.
Dental rolls of cotton wool.
Do you reckon he's a dentist, by any chance?
- It's an unforgivable invasion of privacy.
I demand to speak to my husband and my lawyer at once.
- It won't do any good, Cecily.
- It's perfectly normal procedure, I think you'll find.
After all, the murder weapon might still be concealed
in someone's bag or case.
- Just take me to a telephone.
- This way, madame.
- You stay here.
- Yes, ma'am.
- I'm sorry, sir, but nobody's allowed on the plane.
Those are my orders.
- We need to get on board.
- I've strict instructions. I'm sorry.
- But we haven't cleared up in there.
There's coffee cups and goodness knows what.
- He won't let us on board.
- Oh, dear. - Ridiculous.
In all the time I've worked here--
- If you please, Monsieur Mitchell.
Will you excuse us, Constable?
One moment, if you please.
I have a question, if you would be so good.
Did either of you during the flight see a wasp?
- A sort of squashed wasp, yes, sir,
in the young Frenchman's saucer when I gave him more coffee.
- But did you see the wasp alive?
Did either of you see the wasp flying around the cabin?
- No.
No, I can't say I did.
- Nor did I.
But surely it was the dart that killed the poor woman.
Hasn't that been established?
- Almost certainly, yes, mademoiselle.
- Then why--
- Mademoiselle Grey,
when was the last time you saw to be alive Madame Giselle?
- Well, I suppose
when I collected up the plates after the meal.
- Yes, she was alive when I poured her coffee.
A few minutes later that would be.
- Merci.
Merci bien.
Just one more question.
Madame Giselle, had she ever flown with you before?
- I'd never seen her.
But I've only been working here a few weeks.
- Ah, yes, of course.
And you, monsieur?
- Well, yes, as a matter of fact,
she flew with us quite often.
She usually went in the first plane in the morning,
the 9:00.
This one sometimes gets busy,
but there's always room in the 9:00.
- They've found something, Poirot.
You better come along with me.
- Thank you very much.
- A wooden pipe, Poirot.
- So I see, Chief Inspector.
- Just what I was looking for.
All we need to know now is how it got here.
- You see the markings?
I think you will find...
that it is South American.
Just as is the dart.
- What's that you've got?
- I do not know.
But I am sure all will become clear.
The wooden tube is rather beautiful,
is it not, Chief Inspector?
- Quite frankly, Poirot, I don't much care
whether it's beautiful or South American.
At the moment, I'd just like to know
who was sitting here.
- I was sitting here, Chief Inspector.
- Oh.
Oh, well, that puts a different complexion on it, I suppose.
- Mais non.
Not at all.
Check it for the fingerprints, if you please.
I insist.
I understand it is your duty
as a policeman of Scotland Yard
to regard everyone as guilty
until he is proven to be innocent.
- No, no, really--
- And I tell you, Chief Inspector,
I regard it as my duty to clear my name
of this inexcusable slur as soon as possible.
- Stephen? I had to talk to you.
I must warn you, something awful's happened.
There's been a murder.
Yes, on the plane.
That Giselle woman.
- Oui, Inspecteur.
- Ouvrez la porte! Police!
Ouvrez-nous tout de suite.
Allez... ouvrez! Ouvrez!
Ouvrez la porte!
Ouvrez-nous tout de suite!
Inspecteur Fournier, Sûreté.
- Enchantée, Inspecteur.
- I demand to speak to the person in charge.
- Sorry, madame--
- Don't "madame" me.
Do you know who I am?
- What's going on?
- It really doesn't make any difference.
- What did you say? - I've strict--
- I think you will discover, Chief Inspector,
that it is Lady Horbury.
- Person in charge. - So you say.
But I'm afraid I have strict instructions.
Look, I've told you, madame.
- What seems to be the problem, Constable?
- This lady--
- Are you the senior policeman here?
- Chief Inspector Japp, yes.
- I'd like to talk to you on your own.
I wish to complain.
- If you just go back to the lounge, please, madame,
I shall be questioning everyone shortly.
- Uh, Chief Inspector Japp,
I think it would be better to talk to Lady Horbury now.
She was sitting in the seat directly in front of mine.
- Oh, was she? - Oui.
- Right.
All right, Constable.
Have you ever seen this before, Lady Horbury?
- No, certainly not. Why?
- Lady Horbury, at any time during the flight,
did you see anyone move to the rear of the plane?
- What's it got to do with you?
- Just answer the question, please.
- No.
I was sitting facing the front.
How could I? I never left my seat.
- But I am thinking about the last half hour
in particular.
Did you not notice anyone at all?
- No.
Well, apart from the steward and stewardess.
They were clearing the tables and then serving coffee.
They passed by a few times.
- Did you see a wasp?
- A wasp? No.
- And did you know the murdered woman,
Lady Horbury?
- N-no.
No, I'd never seen her before.
- Just when I thought we were getting somewhere.
- There is something that troubles you, Chief Inspector?
- I've just heard from Fournier.
They've only just dragged themselves round
to Giselle's house.
By the time they got there,
her blasted maid had destroyed all her papers.
- Ah.
Then perhaps it was their lunchtime
when you informed them what happened.
- I beg your pardon.
- Well, it is very important in France, the lunchtime,
but for the eating and afterwards, the sleeping,
not for the catching of the criminals
and the collecting of the evidence.
Why do you need these papers, Chief Inspector?
- Because I think Lady Horbury knew Giselle.
I could see it in her eyes.
But I need proof.
- Well, I told them it's a waste of time
looking through our luggage.
- Just because they've let us go,
it doesn't mean they don't suspect one of us.
- Exactly, all it means is
they couldn't find the evidence to keep us here.
- Excuse me, mademoiselle,
that gentleman over there with the mustaches,
can you tell me who he is?
- Yes. That's Hercule Poirot.
He's the famous detective.
- Tell me, did either of you see anyone pass by Madame Giselle
during the flight?
- Yes, I did.
I was handing out the meals.
I saw Mr. Clancy walk right by her.
He was carrying a book.
I assume he'd taken it from his bag or coat.
He went straight back to his seat with it.
- Did he pause as he walked by?
Or do anything in any way unusual?
- I don't think so.
But I wasn't really concentrating on him.
I'm still not used to the work.
I was terrified of dropping the food.
- I see.
And did either of you see anyone else get up?
- No.
- Well, actually, I got up myself,
but only to go to the toilet.
- Which is at the other end of the cabin.
- Yeah.
- Ah.
Au revoir, Monsieur Gale.
- Monsieur Poirot.
- What an impressive house.
- Yes.
I wish I could say it was mine,
but I'm afraid it's my uncle's.
The surgery's here too. We both work here.
- Well, good-bye. - Ah, good-bye.
I was wondering,
are you possibly free for dinner,
perhaps tomorrow night?
- Goodness.
Well, it's--how lovely. Yes.
- Yes? Good.
I'll telephone you tomorrow.
- You are thinking of Monsieur Gale, mademoiselle?
- No, actually.
I was thinking of Mr. Dupont.
- Ah, the archaeologist.
Why is it that you think of him?
- Well, because he came up and asked me who you were.
- Mm.
- It was a bit odd. That's all.
- And so you see, to Poirot, nobody is above suspicion.
- Well, I hope you don't think
either of them killed the poor woman.
- En effet, mademoiselle, either could have done it.
Merci.
Monsieur Gale, because he could have had access to the poison.
He would have known the doctors. For him, it would be easy.
And Monsieur Dupont,
because he travels around the world
visiting the places exotiques,
he could have purchased the poison and the pipes.
And of course, he killed the wasp.
- But I thought Madame Giselle was killed with the dart.
- Yes, you are right, mademoiselle.
The wasp is not so much interesting
as suggestive, I think.
Ah.
Mademoiselle Grey,
would you be kind enough to help me?
- Afternoon. - Afternoon.
- Ah.
Thank you, mademoiselle.
Good evening.
- Monsieur Poirot?
- Yes.
I'm Lord Horbury.
- Ah, yes.
Please.
- Thank you.
You see, my wife, well,
in many ways, she's just not suited to the life I lead.
It's a bit of a washout, really, our marriage.
It's entirely my fault.
I freely admit that.
I fell for her, you see.
Hook, line, and sinker.
Well, she was an actress.
You know what actresses are like.
- No.
What are actresses like, Lord Horbury?
- Well, um,
all things to all men, in my experience.
I mean, she'd play the country lady but to perfection,
until she got bored with the part.
- So why do you come to me now, Lord Horbury?
- Well, we've had the police round already.
I don't know how they found out.
But they discovered she knew the murdered woman.
- And do you believe that this could have been
sufficient justification for her to kill her?
- No.
As I said, we don't get on.
We don't get on at all.
But, God, I know what she's capable of.
And she's not capable of murder.
Never.
- We've been sitting here watching his house
for an hour and a half.
He's never going to turn up.
- Monsieur Clancy will turn up eventually, mademoiselle.
Have no fear.
- There he is.
- Do not forget the shorthand, mademoiselle.
- But I told you I don't do shorthand.
- Neither, I am sure, does Monsieur Clancy.
Just make the little squiggles with confidence.
It will unnerve him.
Monsieur Clancy, I confess, I am at a loss.
I tried to deduce who is the murderer of Madame Giselle,
but there are several suspects.
The little gray cells, never do they let me down,
but in this case...
And so in despair, I come to you.
- Why me?
- Because, Monsieur Clancy, I'm a great admirer
of your detective Monsieur Wilbraham Rice.
Such logic, such a mind!
Indeed, Monsieur Clancy,
I have read everything that you have written.
Now, Mademoiselle Grey here has agreed to assist me.
I know that you will have some theory of your own
about who committed the murder.
If you would be so good to tell it,
then Mademoiselle Grey will take it down
so that I may absorb it later.
- I'm sorry. No, it's impossible.
- Oh, come, come, come, monsieur.
You are too modest.
- I'm useless at this sort of thing.
Wilbraham does it, you see.
He works it all out for me.
He's quite brilliant.
He was helping me only just now when I was out.
We were retracing the steps of a murder.
Terrible stabbing.
- Monsieur Clancy, I am talking about a real murder,
and one of the chief suspects is yourself.
Oh, yes.
You had the opportunity,
and you were observed to pass by Madame Giselle
during the flight.
- I deny it.
- But I saw you, Mr. Clancy.
You were carrying a book.
- Oh, yes, of course.
My Bradshaw.
It gives the railway times.
Wilbraham told me to go and get it
to check the villain's alibi.
He was absolutely right.
Really cracked it.
I'd never have noticed it myself.
- Perhaps Monsieur Rice could solve another puzzle.
You told to me that you knew of the South American Indians
and their poison darts
because of research for one of your books.
Unfortunately, Monsieur Clancy,
there is no mention of this subject
in any of your books.
But to my surprise,
what do I see on your shelf?
But this.
- With the powers invested in me by the registrar of Paris,
I now declare you man and wife.
- Je dois aller à la police. C'est très important.
Très vite.
- Entrez!
- Bonjour.
- Do you speak English?
- I do. Why?
- You're in charge of the Giselle case?
- Yes.
- My name is Anne.
I'm Madame Giselle's daughter.
And I've come to claim my inheritance.
- Ah.
Looking forward to the flight, Poirot?
Gonna be a bit bumpy they tell me.
Gale-force winds forecast over the Channel.
- I have checked already, Chief Inspector.
The air, it will be beautifully calm all of the day.
Otherwise, I cancel my flight, and you go on your own.
- Just a joke.
Anyway, I've been talking to Lord and Lady Horbury again.
- I admire your industry, Chief Inspector.
- And Venetia Kerr.
It's quite clear that Lady Horbury
went off gambling every night in Paris
and used to come back in a terrible state.
But the morning before they left,
she was particularly desperate.
- Which you assume is connected with Madame Giselle.
And so we return to Paris to see what else we can find
to finally incriminate the Lady Horbury.
- Well, yes, that's what we're going for, isn't it?
Or have you got a completely different theory
you're not telling me about?
- I am reaching
certain conclusions, Chief Inspector.
But conclusions which do not yet fit together, unfortunately.
First, I conclude that the wasp is of vital importance.
- Yes, but she wasn't killed by the wasp.
Forensic have already confirmed that.
- And secondly, the sudden appearance
of the daughter of Madame Giselle,
who we assume will inherit the money of her mother.
- Unless they find a will that says differently.
- Of course it is possible
that the daughter might be an imposter.
Or perhaps Madame Giselle did not even have a daughter.
- Sir? - Ah.
- Would you care to order?
- Full English, please.
- If you please, madame,
may I have the use of your seat just for one moment?
Thank you.
Monsieur. - Monsieur.
- Thank you.
- What are you doing?
- Pardon?
- Where'd you get that?
- This?
From Monsieur Daniel Clancy.
It was in his house.
- That's evidence, Poirot.
- Alors, Chief Inspector, may I present it to you?
For myself, I have no further use of it.
- I hope you're not going to make
an exhibition of yourself here like you did on that plane.
- But my experiments were very useful, Chief Inspector.
They showed how dangerous a woman is Lady Horbury.
- Well, exactly.
- Et bien...
to be able to blow the poison dart
from one end of the cabin to the other?
First, she must have a lot of puff.
Secondly...
her aim must be as good as that of Fred Perry himself.
And finally,
she must have been able to become invisible
so that no one on the plane saw her do it.
I apologize, mon ami.
Poirot has gone too far?
- I'm surprised at you, Poirot,
you of all people.
I mean, what we're talking about here
is the psychological moment, surely.
Whoever murdered Giselle,
whether it was Lady Horbury or even Daniel Clancy,
clearly, they chose just the psychological moment
when no one was looking,
so they could shoot the dart from wherever they wanted.
- Psychology.
You are right, Chief Inspector.
There must have been the reason psychological
why no one on the plane saw the murderer.
That is what we must discover.
But first, we must talk to the daughter.
If the daughter is what she really is.
- What do you mean she's gone?
- She arranged to return here today
where I agreed we would take further particulars.
She was in such a hurry before, but she did not return.
- Well, let's go and find her, Fournier.
How about that for a plan?
- That is the problem, you see.
I do not know where.
- You mean you didn't take her address?
- No.
After all, she came to claim her inheritance,
a very large amount of money probably.
Why should she not return?
- Chief Inspector, I would like it
that you stay and work with Inspector Fournier,
if you please.
- Ha!
- Look, please do not be difficult, Chief Inspector.
We are in great need of the help of the Sûreté.
- We just had their help. Look where it's got us.
- Please, Chief Inspector, look.
You remember that I remove from the wooden tube
a tiny piece of paper.
I have been studying it. Observe it, if you please.
It has on it the letter F,
which I believe stands for "francs."
It is, I think, the remains of a price ticket
which has been torn off.
Therefore, the wooden tube, it was purchased from a shop,
in Paris probably.
- I thought it came from the South American Indians.
- No.
But now we have the need to discover
where then is this shop?
And Inspector Fournier and his men
will help you to find it.
- And what are you going to do?
- First, I must rest the little gray cells.
And then I pursue the matter of the disappearing daughter.
- On demande Madame de la Roche.
Paging Madame de la Roche.
On demande Madame de la Roche.
Paging Madame de la Roche.
- Bonjour. - Bonjour.
Un homme a réservé une chambre pour moi.
Il s'appelle Poirot.
- Ah, yes, of course.
Monsieur Hercule Poirot.
And you are Miss Grey.
- Yes. Thank you.
- How do you do, Miss Grey?
- How do you do? Mr. Dupont.
What a surprise.
Where are we going?
- I want to show you some of the remarkable things
that archaeologists have in the past unearthed, Miss Grey.
- Well, wait a minute. This is ridiculous.
How did you know where to find me, Mr. Dupont?
- It was easy. I telephoned the airline.
I said that I was your brother,
that I urgently needed to contact you.
- But why?
- Because I need your help.
- Have you ever dug up anything like this?
- Not personally, no.
Not yet.
My father, he was the expert.
He devoted his life to the study of equatorial Africa.
Last year, he died.
So this year, I plan an expedition there
to continue his work.
- What a good idea.
- Unfortunately, I have no money.
I need money to fund the expedition.
I look for private donations,
but the average person, it is terrible.
They care nothing about primitive culture.
- Well, I hope you don't think I've got any money.
I wish I had.
- No, no, it is not you, Mademoiselle Grey.
It is the gentleman with the mustaches,
Monsieur Poirot.
He is a man of style and culture.
He has money, I think.
You know him well?
- Not well, no.
No, hardly at all.
- Ah.
How unfortunate.
I wish to ask if you would consider a small donation.
- Poirot?
Give money to the digging up of Africa?
Mon Dieu.
Mm, perhaps that is not such a bad idea.
Voilà. We are here.
I will need your advice, mademoiselle.
- Why? How can I help?
- You are a daughter, are you not?
We hear that Madame Giselle had a daughter,
but perhaps this is wrong.
- This is an eerie place.
So cold and unfriendly.
Not what I would consider a home.
I mean, there's nothing personal in it.
Nothing at all.
- Mm, you are right.
S'il vous plaît?
There are no souvenirs, no photographs,
no memories.
Est-ce que Madame Giselle avait de la famille, Elise?
- Non, monsieur.
Ses parents sont morts.
- Morts?
What's she saying? That someone's dead?
- Her mistress had no family.
Both her parents are dead.
Avaît-elle des enfants?
- Non, aucun.
- And there are no children?
- No.
Comme c'est curieux, Elise.
Une femme dont le nom est Anne Giselle
vient de refaire surface.
- Anne?
Anne Giselle a refait surface?
- She knows the name.
So Anne Giselle does exist.
- Est-ce que Anne est la fille de madame Giselle?
Oui.
C'était sa fille. Illégitime.
J' ai dû prendre soin d'elle pour madame,
jusqu'à ce qu'elle se sépare.
- Oh.
- Il y a vingt-trois ans. Je ne l'ai jamais revue depuis.
- The baby of Madame Giselle was illegitimate
so that Elise had to take care of her.
- What did she say, something about 23 years ago?
- It is 23 years that her mistress
took the baby away from Elise,
and she has not seen her since.
- Attendez.
Voilà.
- Ah. Merci.
- Ah, Poirot.
- Excusez-moi.
- Went and tracked down the shop that sold the dart.
81 Porte de Clignancourt.
Greek called Zeropoulos runs it.
- Merveilleux.
The efficiency of the French police, no?
Regarde, mon ami.
- What is it?
- It is a photograph
of the daughter of Madame Giselle.
Ah, marvelous.
Be a great help in tracing her, that will.
Hold on. I've got some photos here.
Excusez-moi.
Have any of these people ever been here?
- Uh...
Reconnaisez vous quelqu'un, Elise?
- Non.
- Encore une question, s'il vous plaît?
Est-ce que vous avez reservé
la place de Madame Giselle sur le vol?
- What are you asking?
- Oui.
- Alors, pourquoi n'a-t-elle pas pris
le vol de 9:00 du matin?
- Il était plein. Il n'y avait plus de place.
- I ask her why Madame Giselle
did not take the morning flight as was usual for her.
- And why didn't she?
- Because the 9:00 flight, it was full, évidemment.
There was no room on it.
- Well, you can't say fairer than that, can you?
- Qu'est-ce qui se passé, huh?
- Ah, excusez-moi, madame.
- Qu'est-ce qu'il y a ici? Qu'est-ce qui se passe, huh?
- Do you speak English?
- Quoi?
Qu'est-ce que vous dites, ah?
- English?
- Where's Cecily?
- Oh, don't worry.
She's in bed, fast asleep.
- It's been nice being out in the fresh air like this.
- Just the two of us you mean?
- Yes.
Yes, I suppose I do.
- Well, who knows?
One day, well, maybe things will be simpler.
- If Cecily did the decent thing you mean?
- And what would the decent thing be
in your opinion, Venetia?
- Well, if she confessed, I suppose.
Isn't that what we both want, really, Stephen?
- Japp here.
Yes, I know it's crackly. I'm talking from France.
I want you to find Lady Cecily Horbury at once.
H-O-R, B for Bertie,
U-R-Y.
Belgravia.
Oh, yes, another place, big house in Suffolk.
Well, look it up in the file.
And don't lose sight of her.
What?
Yes!
And ring me back as soon as you've traced her.
Morning, Fournier.
Sit down.
So what have you found out for me?
- I've been to see
Madame Giselle's lawyer, Inspector.
- Chief Inspector.
- Uh, Chief Inspector.
I've seen the will, and it is true.
Madame Giselle left her daughter, Anne Giselle,
all her money,
except for a small amount for the maid,
Elise Grandier.
- I see.
Thank you, Fournier.
- That is correct.
The 9:00 flight was full,
so I booked Madame Giselle on the midday flight.
- How strange.
- Why? What's strange about it?
Flights are often booked up well in advance.
- But not this one, monsieur.
- What do you mean?
- I'm an air stewardess.
A colleague of mine was on the 9:00 flight.
She told me it was virtually empty.
- So perhaps you can now tell me the truth, monsieur.
- Well, it--
Very well.
A man came in.
He gave me 4,000 francs
to tell her the early plane was full.
There didn't seem to be any harm in it.
I didn't know she was going to be murdered.
- Describe this man, s'il vous plaît.
He was an American,
tall, young,
with a goatee beard and glasses.
- Thank you.
- Ah, yes.
With glasses and a hat.
And he chewed gum like all Americans.
And his French accent,
it was terrible.
- Of course. Bon.
- Look.
I will show you the tray where I keep the wooden pipes.
The junk tray I call it.
I keep it for all the Americans.
No, no, no, no.
I bring it to you.
Enjoy the sun.
- Merci.
- But there wasn't an American on board.
So where'd he come from?
- Mademoiselle,
you have helped me very, very much.
I thank you.
- Well, I haven't done much.
- Oh, yes, already you are like a true professional.
With the young man at airline office,
you played your role but to perfection.
Ah! The wooden tube.
May I?
- Oui, oui.
- C'est jolie, n'est-ce pas?
Mais qu'est-ce que c'est?
Ah.
The little pieces of silk, such workmanship.
What else do you observe, mademoiselle?
- Well, the silk is red.
I thought the dart that killed Madame Giselle
had black and yellow on it.
- But you see, the murderer,
he replaced the red silk with the black and yellow.
You seem to be in a hurry, mademoiselle.
- Oh, not really.
Well, Norman--Mr. Gale-- said he might call.
He thought he might come over for a couple of days.
- I see.
Um, Mademoiselle Grey, I've been thinking.
I have been thinking very hard.
I wish that you say to Monsieur Dupont
that Poirot is very happy to give to him
for his expedition the sum of £500.
- £500?
- Oui.
- That's extremely kind.
- But of course.
- À la préfecture de police, s'il vous plaît.
- What if that woman Fournier let slip
is not the real daughter, Poirot?
- Who else do we know
who is of an age that would be correct
for the daughter of Madame Giselle?
I tell you.
We know three women:
the honorable Venetia Kerr, Mademoiselle Jane Grey,
and the Lady Horbury.
All three were on the airplane.
- Well, I'd still plug for Lady Horbury.
- But why, Chief Inspector?
- Well, for one thing,
because that concierge at Giselle's
finally admitted that she recognized her.
- She told you this?
- Said she'd been there several times.
The last time, she stormed out, slamming the door behind her.
- You discovered all this while knowing virtually no French?
Chief Inspector, you're a miracle.
- Well, a bit of ingenuity,
expressive hand gestures, that sort of thing.
- Thank you.
We make progress, Fournier.
Chief Inspector Japp believes
that Lady Horbury committed the murder.
Whereas I, I have discovered
that the purchaser of the poison dart was a man.
- It can't have been.
- Mais oui. An American.
Or he seems to be.
He chews gum.
He wears American spectacles
and speaks with a most terrible French accent.
But it is easy to be an American in Paris,
n'est-ce pas, Fournier?
- Mais oui, certainement.
- So I suggest that he is a stage American.
- You mean it was a disguise?
- Mm.
- So it cannot be Lady Horbury.
- Unless she has an accomplice.
Now, that is possible.
- Wasn't there some gossip about her in the newspapers?
About her having an actor friend.
- Not in the newspapers that I read, Chief Inspector.
But you may be right.
- Japp here.
What?
What do you mean?
Well, where is she?
Wonderful.
I put a couple of men onto Lady Horbury.
But it seems they were too late.
They've missed her.
No one knows where she is.
She's vanished.
- Oh, dear.
So you have now a lost suspect too, Chief Inspector?
- So...now I leave you, mademoiselle.
- But aren't you going to say hello to Norman?
- Uh...
In such a situation, three is a considerable crowd, I think.
Excuse me.
Monsieur Mitchell, is it not?
- Oh, of course. Mr. Poirot.
- Oui. May I, please?
- Please do.
- Thank you.
No more murders I hope, Monsieur Mitchell.
- No.
- Bon.
Bon.
You know it is truly fortunate
to meet you here, Monsieur Mitchell.
I have a question to ask you.
When you cleared the table of Madame Giselle after she died,
did you notice anything unusual?
- No. No, I don't think so.
What sort of thing?
- Anything, anything at all.
Think hard, please. It is very important.
- Well, yes, there was something.
It's silly, I'm sure, but, um...
there were two coffee spoons in her saucer.
It can sometimes happen when you're in a rush,
and it's better to lay too much than too little.
People can get terribly irritable
if everything isn't exactly right.
Still, that's not what you're after.
Au contraire, Monsieur Mitchell.
Thank you very much.
It is a clue of the most vital importance.
- It's so nice to be able to spend time together in Paris.
- Yes, it is.
And I'll be fascinated to see where the old woman lived.
Anyway, why do you think Poirot
suddenly agreed to give Dupont the money?
- I don't know.
Why? Do you think it's odd?
Do you think he's worked out some theory?
- What, that Jean Dupont murdered Giselle?
Do you believe he could have done it?
- I don't know.
He's a bit funny.
But he seemed quite nice to me.
- How nice?
- Not that nice.
This is her house.
We're being watched.
- Hello?
- Oh.
I...was looking for Inspector Fournier.
- How can we help you, mademoiselle?
- Madame.
- Madame. Pardon.
- Well, I've come to apologize.
You see, I came to see Inspector Fournier...
a little while ago...
about a rather important matter.
- You're Madame Giselle's daughter?
- Yes.
- Please. Sit down, madame.
- It's unforgivable, I know.
But I was in such a frantic state.
You see, I only read about her death
the day I was going to get married.
The minute the ceremony was finished,
I hurried over here.
And then I wished I hadn't.
I felt awful about my poor husband
just waiting for me.
And we couldn't possibly cancel the honeymoon.
So I just didn't come back.
- Until now when the honeymoon has finished?
- Yes.
- Do you have any idea
of the trouble you've caused, Mrs...
- Richards.
- I think we need a few facts.
For a start, how do we know you're who you say you are?
- I thought of that.
I brought you my birth certificate.
- Do I not know you, madame?
There is something about you that I seem to recognize.
- I don't see how.
I was brought up in Toronto
after my mother abandoned me.
Do you know Canada?
- Alas, no.
- Were you ever in contact with your mother, Mrs. Richards?
- Not at all.
She never came to Canada to see me.
She never wrote to me.
She obviously didn't care at all about me.
- And naturally, you hated her for this.
- I didn't care.
That's all.
Why should I?
I just hope she's left me a lot of money.
- Trente-six rouge.
Faites vos jeux, mesdames et messieurs.
Faites vos jeux.
- What's the matter?
- Nothing.
What's money, after all?
Get me another drink, Raymond.
- Ah, is this the newspaper
that you tell me about, Chief Inspector?
The one that reveres the gossip
of the English upper classes and their friends?
- Yes, and it's very difficult to get over here.
- So I see. The date is yesterday.
Here, mon ami, the newspaper of today.
- Well, thanks.
It's in French, Poirot.
Struth, there's Lady Horbury.
- She disappears from her home in England
only to reappear here in Paris under our very noses.
"With...
Let me translate for you, Chief Inspector.
"With her traveling companion,
the well-known British actor Mr. Raymond Barraclough..."
No, no, no, no, no, please.
Poirot has a plan.
- Is that all right?
- No.
It is terrible.
Regardez.
- Well, she won't be able to recognize me.
That's what you wanted, wasn't it?
- Yes, but I did not intend
that you should look like Santa Claus.
Come, Monsieur Gale, into the next room
and sit in that chair, if you please.
Mademoiselle Grey, if you would be so kind
as to hold the mirror.
And, Monsieur, if you will hold the towel.
Et bien, do not worry.
Hercule Poirot will make you look like a human being again.
- Lady Horbury.
Daily Record, Paris correspondent.
I'm sorry to bother you,
but we'd really like to do a piece on you
for our series, The English in Paris.
- No, certainly not.
- No, really, Lady Horbury.
The photographer will be here in just a second.
Just a photo of yourself and Mr. Barraclough here.
- How dare you.
Get away from us!
- Now, I really don't think you should be taking that attitude.
But we'll be here again tomorrow morning, Lady Horbury.
I can see we've got an excellent story here already.
- Now look what you've done.
- I'm sorry.
- Just leave me alone. You're pathetic.
- Ah, Lady Horbury, bonjour.
You care to join me?
May I get you something, a coffee perhaps?
- No.
Thank you. I'm all right.
- A cigarette perhaps?
- Thank you.
- There is something perhaps you would like to tell Poirot?
And then he can help?
- No, it's nothing, really.
- But I think that is not so.
On the day before the murder,
your good friend, Monsieur Barraclough,
he was in Paris?
- Yes.
- And you saw him while you were in Paris?
And you also saw Madame Giselle, did you not?
And she refused to release you from your gambling debts.
- I didn't know what to do.
Stephen wouldn't pay them.
I knew he wouldn't, not anymore.
They were enormous.
Much more than he imagined.
She threatened me.
She said she'd tell people about them...
people in London.
I'd never have been able to hold my head up again.
- So the truth is
that you and Monsieur Barraclough
were delighted when she died?
- Yes.
It was wonderful...
Almost too wonderful to believe.
- Ah, Poirot.
- Chief Inspector. Mademoiselle.
- Well, did you find out what you wanted?
- Yes.
Thank you, Chief Inspector.
- Anyway, I must go.
Ah, my nail.
I must file it.
- What did you say, mademoiselle?
- What?
Oh, my nail.
It's nothing. It needs filing.
- Nom de nom de nom.
Now I understand.
Chief Inspector,
get a taxi at once.
Unless I am very much mistaken,
Madame Richards, she is in great danger.
- She left about an hour ago with an American.
She seemed surprised to see him.
- And where did they go, madame? Can you tell us that?
- Oh, yes.
He ordered a taxi for the Gare du Nord.
They were going to England.
I heard him tell her.
- May I use your phone, ma'am?
- Madame?
- Suicide?
- That is what the police suspect, Monsieur Gale.
- That's terrible. - Oui.
- What about her husband? Has he been told?
- I believe the police have been unable
to trace the whereabouts of Monsieur Richards...so far.
- Is there anything we can do to help?
- I regret that it is too late for anyone to help the daughter
of Madame Giselle.
However, if you both would be so kind,
there is something you could do to help.
Please join me in my suite,
as I have called together
all those I consider relevant to this case.
- Why? Surely, you don't think--
- Mademoiselle,
I think only of apprehending the murderer of Madame Giselle.
I hope you only think of that also.
Mesdames et messieurs,
first, I have the task
to restore the reputation of Hercule Poirot,
the celebrated detective
who had the misfortune not to observe
the cunning murder of Madame Marie Giselle
even though it took place not ten meters away from him.
And so...
when I had the dubious pleasure
to attend the final of the tennis match,
I observed an incident between you, Lady Horbury,
and Madame Giselle.
It seemed to me quite clear that she had some hold of you...
- No more money, comprenez?
- A hold that you might go to any lengths to be rid of.
- Oh, now, that is outrageous.
Cicely would never be involved--
- Monsieur Raymond Barraclough,
you are, I understand, an actor?
A profession that I think would equip you very well
for the impersonation of the mysterious American
who seems to have been the accomplice of the murderer.
- And how are we supposed to have carried out this murder?
- Well, as for opportunity,
the wooden tube was hidden
in the gap next to your seat on the plane.
But as my experiments proved most conclusively,
it would have been impossible
for anyone to have blown the dart on the plane
without the greatest risk of being seen.
And so we ask ourselves this question.
why was the wooden tube hidden in such a place
where it would undoubtedly have been found?
- To mislead us.
- Vraiment, Chief Inspector.
So next, we come to the wasp.
What was the purpose of the wasp?
- The same thing.
To mislead us as well.
- Thank you, Mademoiselle Grey.
You know, Mademoiselle Grey
has been such a help to me throughout.
Une parfaite assistante.
And she is right.
But by the time the body of Madame Giselle was discovered,
the wasp, it was dead also,
because it had been killed...
by Monsieur Dupont.
- It was buzzing around my coffee.
- But did you have to kill it, sir?
Was that really necessary?
What?
Are you saying that because I killed a wasp,
I also killed Madame Giselle?
That is ridiculous.
- If the wasp was put there to mislead us,
was there not also a danger of it failing to do so?
Unless, of course, our attention was drawn to it
by the murderer himself.
- It's a wasp sting.
I killed a wasp with my cup.
All I did was kill a wasp with my cup.
- However, mesdames et messieurs,
we know that the murder,
it was not committed by the wasp.
And we know that it was not committed
by the use of the wooden tube.
No.
It was committed by the poison dart being pushed
into the neck of Madame Giselle by the hand.
Now, we know of only three people
who passed by Madame Giselle during the flight:
the two air stewards,
Monsieur Mitchell and Mademoiselle Jane Grey;
and Monsieur Daniel Clancy.
- Oh, I really-- I didn't come all this way to--
- So why did you come all this way, Mr. Clancy?
Because it would have been too suspicious to have refused?
- How dare you!
- Monsieur Clancy displayed an expert knowledge
of the murder weapon.
- Goodness, it's a dart.
Native dart.
- And in his house,
I found a wooden tube very similar
to the one we discovered on the plane.
- I told you,
it was for research for a book.
- For a book that you never wrote, Monsieur Clancy.
- Because Wilbraham wouldn't let me.
He thought the whole idea preposterous.
How can I write a detective story
when my detective refuses to take any part in it?
- What's he talking about?
- I feel that Monsieur Clancy suffers from a malady
common to many writers of fiction.
His characters, they take control.
At times, they appear to him more real
than the world around him.
- You mean he's a madman.
A murdering madman.
Keep him away from me.
- Please, Lady Horbury,
rest calm.
Now, as for the two air stewards,
I have already discounted Monsieur Mitchell.
- Well, that only seems to leave you, Miss Grey.
Wouldn't you say?
- Now, look, I'm sorry.
I protest.
This is past a joke.
- No.
It's all right, Norman.
- I was indeed suspicious of Mademoiselle Grey.
I was suspicious of her new friendship
with Monsieur Gale.
Was this friendship really new?
Or was she the true daughter of Madame Giselle?
But then, of course, at last, we met the real daughter
of Madame Giselle.
As soon as she entered the room...
- I...was looking for Inspector Fournier.
- I was convinced
I had seen this lady somewhere before.
It was not until Mademoiselle Grey
caught her nail that I remembered.
- Oh, my nail.
I must file it.
- In the lobby of the hotel,
when I first saw Lady Horbury,
she was accompanied by her maid.
- Fetch my cigarettes, will you?
- Yes, Lady Horbury.
- On the plane when she called out for the nail file,
it was brought to her by this same maid,
a lady that we later came to know
as Anne Giselle.
- I've come to claim my inheritance.
- This is all very ingenious,
but I'm afraid Monsieur Poirot doesn't really mean it.
He keeps deliberately changing his story.
First, poor Jane killed Giselle.
And now her daughter did.
- No, no, no, Monsieur Gale,
the daughter did not kill the mother.
The maid of Lady Horbury,
she left the first-class cabin at the start of the flight,
and we know that Madame Giselle
did not die until shortly before we landed.
- Then how...did she die?
- Hmm.
You will recall, Monsieur Gale,
that I asked you to disguise yourself
as a reporter to go to see Lady Horbury.
- We'd really like to do a piece on you for our series...
- What, he was--
- I apologize for the deceit, madame.
But you know, at first, the disguise of Monsieur Gale,
it was hopelessly unconvincing, huh?
But why?
Why was the disguise of Monsieur Gale
so unconvincing?
There are two reasons for this.
First, to make me believe that it would be impossible
for him to impersonate the mysterious American;
and secondly,
and most important of all,
to ensure that I would never learn the truth
about how this murder was committed.
You see,
in the list of the personal belongings
of Monsieur Gale,
I had already noticed
that he was traveling with his dentist's coat.
During the flight, when coffee had been served
and the air stewards were in another part of the plane,
Monsieur Gale makes the visit to the toilettes.
He changes into his dentist's coat
and alters his appearance
with the help of some cotton wool
which he had brought for the purpose.
He picks up a spoon,
which gives him the task of a steward to carry out,
and hurries down the corridor of the plane.
He then pushes the poison thorn
into the neck of Madame Marie Giselle.
On his way back, while I was asleep,
he put the wooden tube into the seat in front of mine.
He then returned to the toilettes
and removed his disguise.
- Very good.
Very good, Monsieur Poirot.
You have thrown the real murderer
completely off his guard.
Now...
could we have the real solution, please?
- I think you will find, Monsieur Gale,
that the truth of how this crime began
is even more intriguing.
Anne Giselle hated her mother
for abandoning her when she was a baby.
She was brought up in Canada
and came to England to work as a maid.
By coincidence,
she came into the employment of Lady Horbury
and began to move into the high society.
Despite your humble profession, Monsieur Gale,
you aspired yourself to this society.
And no doubt, it was on one such occasion
that you met the maid of Lady Horbury.
Your...relationship?
It developed,
until one day, this same maid told to you her secret.
She pointed out to you her mother
and told you of the power she had over Lady Horbury.
Of course, after 23 years,
Madame Giselle did not recognize her daughter.
And luckily for you,
her daughter hated her mother so much
that she willingly agreed to your plan...
to murder her in such a way
that Lady Horbury would be blamed.
- He planned all that?
I could've--
I mean, the police very nearly--
- With Madame Giselle dead, it was essential
that Monsieur Gale should now be married to the daughter.
Anne would claim her inheritance,
but in the event of her death,
her husband would receive the wealth of Madame Giselle.
But then Monsieur Gale learned that I had met Anne
in the office of Inspector Fournier.
- He ordered a taxi for the Gare du Nord.
- He was terrified that I might discover
that also she was the maid.
- Madame?
- The poor woman's death was suicide.
You told me.
- No, no, no, no, no, Monsieur Gale.
You see, you left your fingerprints
on the poison bottle.
- Now, that's absolutely ridiculous because I wore--
- You wore the gloves when you committed the murder?
Indeed.
Thank you.
- You better come along with me, sir.
- Why?
Why did you do it, Norman?
- For the money, Jane.
For a very great deal of money.
Why else?
- I thought...
I don't know.
- You liked Monsieur Gale?
- Yes.
- And you thought that he liked you?
But you are wrong, mademoiselle.
- Obviously.
- No, no, no, no, no, no, no.
He did not like you.
He loved you.
It is true.
I see it in the eyes.
- I was getting a bit worried there, Poirot,
in case you'd done it after all,
in your sleep perhaps.
- Very droll, Chief Inspector.
- One thing I don't understand, though.
What put you on to Norman Gale in the first place?
- In the first place? Et bien.
In the first place, I looked for the home of the wasp.
And in the belongings of Monsieur Gale,
there was a matchbox,
an empty matchbox.
Parfait.
- So where are you taking me, Poirot?
A little farewell lunch I hope.
Nice little restaurant you've just discovered?
I'm getting quite keen on this French food, you know.
- Not exactly, Chief Inspector.
Food for the soul, mon ami.