The Snorkel

Synopsis: Paul Decker murders his wife in her Italian villa by drugging her milk and asphyxiating her by gas. He cleverly locks the bedroom from the inside and hides inside a trapdoor in the floor until after the body is discovered by servants. He uses a scuba snorkel connected to tubes on the outside to breathe during the ordeal. Decker's stepdaughter Candy suspects him immediately, especially since no suicide note was found. She also is convinced that he murdered her father years before, but her accusations fall on deaf ears. The ruthless Decker even poisons the family spaniel when the pet takes too great an interest in the mask and realizes he will ultimately have to get rid of Candy too.
 
IMDB:
6.9
UNRATED
Year:
1958
74 min
16 Views


Signora? Signora Decker?

Guilio! Guilio!

Guilio! Guilio!

Guilio!

Ah, Mr. Wilson.

You have been very quick.

You know this lady,

of course?

Mrs. Decker.

Yes, I know her.

Suicide?

That is for

the inquest to say.

But you see, all the doors

and windows taped up,

the gas taps all turned on,

the doors locked

from the inside.

No one can go in or out.

Si, suicide, definitely.

Now this Mrs...

Decker.

Decker, si. She is English, is she not?

Yes, but she's

not a tourist.

She's been living here

for some time.

Si, si, I know.

We have her papers.

This is her villa, no?

Really, it belongs

to her husband.

He spent a great deal

of money on it.

It was in a bit of a mess

when Decker married her.

Expensive, hmm?

She could afford it.

Mr. Decker,

he is rich, too?

No, no,

I don't think so.

Oh.

The maid says he is away.

You know where?

No. He often goes away

for a few days on his own.

Do you know of

any reason why...

No, none at all.

They were a happy couple?

Yes, as far as I know.

Well, we'd better

find Mr. Decker.

Yes. Where is he?

He killed her!

Mummy!

I didn't know

there was a child.

Yes. I thought

she was in England.

Where's Paul?

You must find him.

I know he killed my mummy!

I'm Mr. Wilson, Candy,

from the British Consulate.

I knew your mother, and

there's nothing to worry about.

We'll soon find your father.

He's not my father.

My daddy's dead.

Now Paul has killed Mummy,

and you've let him get away.

It's not like that, Candy.

I imagine your mummy

was unhappy. She...

She wouldn't do

a thing like that,

not on the day

I was coming home.

It was Paul, he did it.

And he's got away.

No one has got away,

little girl.

It was necessary

to break down the door.

Since then, there is

someone here all the time.

If he was here at all,

he would be here still.

And you can see he is not.

But he must have been here.

Mummy couldn't

do a thing like that.

I know this has been

a terrible shock for you.

If you'll go downstairs

with this lady here,

I'll be down in a minute. We'll

talk about what we're going to do.

Candy!

Candy! Candy, my pet, why

did you have to come up here?

I'm Jean Edwards. I've come

from England with Candy.

What a terrible thing

to have happened.

Paul did it, Jean.

He killed Mummy.

Shh, my love! We'll talk

about it downstairs. Come on.

Come on, Toto!

Toto, come on.

You think I'm mad,

don't you?

They all thought I was mad

when I said he killed my daddy.

Poor kid.

She must think her stepfather

is an absolute monster.

Candy?

Is there anything you

would like me to get you?

No, thank you, Jean.

I must arrange somewhere

for us to stay.

Would you mind very much if

I leave you for a few minutes?

Then I'll just go and

telephone. I shan't be long.

Miss...

Edwards.

Miss Edwards, please.

One moment,

if you don't mind.

You know the

Decker family well?

Quite well, yes.

We understand, Mr. Decker,

he is away, writing.

You know of this perhaps?

Well, I know he went

away quite often.

Have you any idea

where he is now?

No, I haven't.

Oh.

Mrs. Decker, she was unhappy? Depressed?

I don't know.

I've only just arrived.

I know she didn't like it

when Mr. Decker was away.

She was very much

in love with him.

And the little girl,

she was perhaps jealous.

Well, it's been

a difficult situation.

She really must

hate her stepfather.

Yes, she thinks that

he killed her father.

Well, why she should

think this?

Well, she saw the

accident, didn't she?

Yes, it was when

she was eight.

They were all on

holiday together.

The two men took

a small boat fishing.

Candy went, too.

There was an accident,

and her father was drowned.

She saw it all.

Of course she must have

been crazy with grief,

but she was convinced

that Mr. Decker was to blame.

Poor child. Now she thinks

he killed her mother, too.

It was suicide?

There's no doubt?

No doubt at all.

Locked doors, all the gas taps

turned on, no doubt at all.

Well, there is nothing

more we can do here.

Thank you for your help,

Mr. Wilson.

That's all right,

Inspector.

I shall leave

a man on duty here

in case the husband

comes back.

If he contacts you, you will

tell me, please? Of course.

And you, too, please,

Signorina. Yes, I will.

I'll take you to a hotel.

You can't possibly stay here.

Thank you,

that would be very kind.

I'll just go and tell Candy.

All right, pet,

we're going soon.

Paul did it, Jean.

I know he did.

We'll talk about it later,

when we get to the hotel.

Come on.

Come on, Toto.

Bad luck, having this responsibility

thrust on you at the start of your holiday.

It isn't exactly a holiday.

I've known the Deckers

for some time.

We have an arrangement.

I take Candy off their hands for

a bit during the school holidays.

It's always

worked very well.

I see.

Hotel Europa.

Well, if there's anything else

I can do for you, just call me.

All right, thank you.

Anyway, I'll drop by

later this evening.

Fine.

Miss Edwards.

Telephone call for you.

You can take it

in the booth.

All right. Thank you.

Hello?

Jean Edwards speaking.

How did you get it?

It was delivered to

the house of Mrs. Decker

soon after we left,

addressed to the Signora.

We took the liberty of opening

it. I shall read it to you.

"Dear Madge," it starts, "I miss you

very much, but it is almost worth it.

"The book is coming along

marvelously.

"I hope to finish it by

tonight, but whether I do or not,

"I can't stand being away

from you any longer,

"so I'm going to start back

first thing in the morning.

"In fact, I may reach you

before this letter does.

"Longing to see you,

darling. Your own Paul. "

It's from a little place

across the French border.

If only it could have

arrived sooner.

It's no good wishing that,

I'm afraid.

Look, Inspector, I must get

to the villa before he does.

It'd be awful if he hears

about this from a stranger.

Yes, that would be very kind.

And please tell him I must

see him as soon as possible.

Yes, I'll tell him.

Goodbye.

Candy, will you be all right

if I leave you for a bit?

But you promised you were going

to talk to me about everything.

"As soon as we got

to the hotel," you said.

Well, not now, dear. Later. I must

go out just for a little while.

You just stay here quietly.

If Mummy was going to

do a thing like that,

she would have left me

a letter, wouldn't she?

There was no letter, pet.

That's what I mean.

It was Paul. You must

believe me. Please, Jean.

Paul was in France

when it happened.

How do you know?

Have they found him?

Look, darling, I can't

explain. Now I must go.

Now try and get some rest.

I won't be long.

I promise.

They don't believe me, Toto.

Just like

they didn't believe me

when I said I saw him holding Daddy

down when he fell from the boat.

The bubbles kept on

coming and coming,

till there weren't

any more bubbles.

We've got to find out, Toto.

We've got to find out!

Mr. Decker.

What can I say?

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Peter Myers

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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