Evil Under the Sun Page #8

pulled her off it...

Very interesting, madame. The only snag

is that Madame Marshall was not drowned.

Far less was she gnawed to death...

And perhaps even more damaging

to your theory is the fact

that it has been established that

Monsieur Brewster was here in Gull Cove

with Mademoiselle Linda at 12 o'clock.

He could not possible have pedalled

all the way from Gull Cove

to Ladder Bay in half an hour.

That's very inconvenient of him.

I mean, if he didn't do it, who did?

I just don't see who could have.

Everyone has an alibi.

Oh, no, they do not, madame.

Monsieur Gardener does not have an

alibi, seems rather proud of the fact.

Oh, but he does, dear, most definitely.

What are you telling me, madame?

At half past 11

I was having my staff meeting,

giving the hired help

a pleasing stream of the old rancid,

and in particular

pointing out to Andreas

that there was absolutely no point

in making your curry de poulet vindaloo

so hot that it raised welts

on the surface of your tongue,

when I looked out of the window

and there was Odell reading a book.

He stayed there throughout

the entire meeting. I'm positive of it.

What's the matter?

Have I said something?

You've said a great deal, madame.

Oh, I...

I see what you mean.

You...

You mean nobody did it.

And yet we still have a body, madame.

- Ah, Rigoletto

- Correct. Ah, Verdi. Quelle Igance!

It's funny to think, if Giuseppe Verdi

had been an Englishman,

his name would have

been Joe Green.

Yes, I suppose it would,

yes.

It used to make the boys laugh

when I was trying to din some Latin

into them when I was a teacher.

Little boys laugh easily

if it keeps them away,

even for a moment,

from their study of Latin.

Messieurs-Dames, please forgive me

for interrupting the cocktail hour,

but there are two questions

which I must put to you.

First of all, did anybody here throw

a bottle into the sea this morning?

No?

Secondly, did any of you take a bath

at 12:
15 today?

An odd time for ablutions.

How remarkable!

A bath which nobody admits having taken

and a bottle which flies by itself.

Joe Green...

It's rather more amusing

than at first I thought.

- Morning, Sir Horace!

- Hello, enjoy your swim?

Yes. Sorry I'm puffed, the water was

freezing and I'm running to get warm.

.. crying his eyes out?

Tell him to pull himself together.

Hello, Daph!

That reminds me of a lady policeman.

She's all out of breath.

She's telling her friends

how she caught a burglar.

"I chased him past the grocer's,

and the butcher's, and the baker's. "

And then she said,

"I finally caught him by the cobbler's"

Sorry, I don't find that

remotely funny, Sir Horace.

Oh, I stand corrected, Daph.

I'll tell you what I don't find funny,

hanging around

waiting for the great detective!

Oh, good morning, Monsieur Poirot!

Listen here, Poirot. Not only

have you not find Allena's killer,

but you haven't found my diamond.

So I'm off.

The Gardeners and the Redferns

want to go, too.

I can't say I blame them.

The place is like a morgue.

Oh, I am so sorry.

Madame, there is nothing like

a good night's rest

to clear the little grey cells.

Kindly ask all our friends

to forgather in the lounge

after they have finished

their petit djeuner.

- When all will be revealed,

- What?

- You mean you know?

- Oh, yes.

Give us a few clues!

Alright, I wish you to consider

very carefully, a bathing cap, a bath,

a bottle, a wrist watch, the diamond,

the noonday gun, the breath of the sea

and the height of the cliff.

From that you should be able to

solve it yourselves.

We meet again in one hour. Now I am

going to have my oeuf a la coque.

There goes the most insufferable man

in the world.

"OEuf a la coque. " That's about

his mark, it's what he talks mostly.

Mesdames, mademoiselle, messieurs...

The reason I asked you to meet me here

this morning... please, monsieur...

...is that I, Hercule Poirot,

have discovered the identity of

the murderer of Madame Marshall.

This need surprise no one.

Are you all comfortable?

Even the murderer?

This has been a most unusual crime,

in that apparently nobody had

the opportunity of committing it.

Madame Marshall was killed

between 11:
30 and 12 noon yesterday

and yet every single one of you

had a perfect alibi,

including you, Monsieur Gardener,

without knowing it.

I'm very sorry

if I have disappointed you.

We had undeniably a body,

which meant that somebody was lying.

Who?

After exercising

considerable reflection,

I came to the conclusion

that it was you...

...Madame Redfern.

Me?

But I didn't lie to you,

I swear it.

Oh, yes, you did,

madame.

When I asked you at what time

you left Gull Cove yesterday,

you said it was 12 o'clock.

You knew this, you said,

because you heard

that awful gun go off

when you were standing

on top of the cliffs waving at Linda

who was swimming in the water below.

But Monsieur Brewster was in the bay

at the same time.

It is very curious

that you did not mention him.

And it's even more curious

that when I confronted M Brewster

with the fact that his story about

entering the bay on his pedalo

at the very moment that the midday gun

went off was denied by Linda

he lost his temper.

He attacked the poor girl.

It would've been so much easier to have

called his second witness. You, madame.

He must have seen you

standing on top of the cliff

and yet he made no mention of it.

Why not?

The answer is obvious,

you were not there.

But I was there.

And I did wave and Linda waved back.

- Tell him, Linda!

- It's true. She did wave, honestly.

Yes, she probably waved

but there was no noonday gun, was there?

I don't remember it.

No.

No, there was no noonday gun for a

very good reason. It was not 12 o'clock.

But she asked me the time, I looked

at my watch and it was five to 12!

The watch,

now that is very important.

Let us go back to yesterday morning,

shall we?

I was having breakfast

on the terrace, an egg,

and in the course of performing

some act of Iger de main for you,

Mademoiselle, I happened to notice

that you were not wearing a watch.

Not particularly surprising

as you had been swimming,

a fact that could be noted by anyone

looking out of a hotel window.

You, Madame Redfern, actually told me

you went to her room early

to ask her to come with you

to Gull Cove to do some sketching.

But that she was not there.

What a perfect opportunity

to put Mademoiselle Linda's watch

forward... 20 minutes?

A few moments later, as you told me,

Linda appeared in the corridor,

as you knew she would.

And you invited her to accompany you.

- Would you like to come?

- Yes, I'd love to.

Alright, see you

in the hall in ten minutes.

Hello, Mr Poirot.

Your plan to make Linda

your false alibi was now in motion.

This is pure supposition, Poirot.

I've never heard such twaddle.

Twaddle or not, it is the only

explanation which fits all the facts.

Now if you will be a little patient,

Rate this script:4.5 / 2 votes