you're not writing this down. no, it's off the record. did you know that bone had £20,000 in cash stashed under the passenger seat of his land rover? you're kidding. he was flogging memorabilia. (laughing) that's actually cheered me up. what did he do that was so kind? he baked me a cake. can i go now? it's a sculpture? it's a macerator. my pride and joy. all the crap comes out of the house and the farm, down the soil pipes, and this sweet little baby

chops it all up, liquefies it. pushes it back into mother earth. i love this thing, man. i could watch it for hours. if i was still dropping acid i probably would. bone liked to drink, a lot but otherwise he was clean, man. he's been clean for years. i know. what got stuck in his arm may or may not be heroin. we'll find out. but it was designed to kill him. i think bone went to that bar because someone said he'd meet him there. he had a few shandies, went for a pee and while he was standing there-- a bit unsteady, maybe-- the guy jumped him stuck the needle in his arm. then bundled him into the cubicle

wrapped the band around his arm and left him there to die. did you kill bone? explain to me why i would do that. because he supervised the recording of your solo album and he cocked it up. wiped the tapes. i have my ideas about who was responsible. wasn't bone. but if it had been, i wouldn't have killed him for it. what sort of man do you think i am? i don't know, mr. maguire. it bothers me. (camera clicking) hey! you! you, you little bastard! still making people welcome down the farm?

i know you. yeah, darling, you do. you're not forgiven, richie. for what you did. what was it i did, mack? i can't remember. but you are not forgiven. hathaway: you managed the band throughout its entire career. yes. and now you... and now i what? what do you do now, sir, to make a living? we have just established that i managed the third best-selling group in the history of british rock. it'd be a pretty poor show if i was now obliged to "make a living." what do you want?

i want to know what went wrong between the brothers maguire. (scoffs) mack wrote a song called "counterculture blues." surprised? well, it's credited to richie. indeed it is. unfortunately for the luckless mack, at the time of composition he was out of his tiny mind on mandies-- mandrax the relaxant du jour-- popping them like smarties. curious situation. he didn't even know he'd written a song. richie did, copied it, put his name to it. royalties? forfeited "throughout the universe in perpetuity." millions, my dear. millions. the anthem of a generation. gone like smoke through the keyhole. midnight addiction night at the park. digitally remastered. sleeve notes by sam wheeler-- who's he? she... is the internationally acknowledged expert on 14th-century secular polyphony. but she has a dirty little secret. she's crazy about the band.

she knows every damn last detail about everything they ever did. sad for one of her standing, but jolly useful. (plucking note on guitar singing note) (tuning guitar) sharp. bloody hell, amigo it's the only thing about you that is sharp. i don't know what i'm doing here. where's kitten? kitten he remembers. she's at her university, man. student. music student, man. i think i'm in tune now. let's play, yeah? (guitar solo playing) okay. this is the bit where you tell me the truth. if you lie to me now you'll regret it. have i lied to you? you've been highly selective with what you say

and don't say. you give the impression you just materialized here. what should i have said? that you were delivered to the farm gates by vernon oxe. materializing was good showbiz. people were impressed. 35 years ago the band was in thrall to me. i was the enchantment that held us together. made us stars. think of that girl in the top hat, lewis... and look at what i am now. if i'm going to do any enchanting these days, i'll need all the magic i can get. now, vernon may be a sad fat old letch, but he's still got a bit of fairy dust up his sleeve. if it looked like the band was gonna get back on its feet that everybody was gonna be in the vibe, then i'd trundle vernon out of the wings. that was the plan.

i saw you play in newcastle city hall the night i met my wife. is that a trick question? did we play newcastle? you did. were we good? better than good. we could be again. not if one of you's a murderer. (knocking on door) dr. wheeler, the name's hathaway. i was wondering if... (bells chiming) (crying)

if you want to talk to me you're going to have to wait because i'm going to be sick. (cell phone beeping) woman: i'm constance frisch. you know that, it's written on the door. that poor girl. she was close to dr. wheeler? we're all of us close to our undergraduates here. music is an intimate discipline. quite. dr. wheeler's computer is as she left it. neither of us can touch it, yet. but could you tell just by looking at the screen what it is she might have been listening to? is it rock? no. this doesn't fit the sound of an amplified band. that would be all over the place. i'd say she was listening to a single instrument. guitar?

no. something altogether more constrained. somebody constraining themselves to within a particular range of an instrument's capability? say, sticking to within a couple of octaves. that would also fit the bill. dr. wheeler have any unusual visitors recently? apart from vernon oxe? dreadful. dreadful. forgive me, sir, can anybody confirm that you spent the whole of yesterday afternoon here in the hotel? two people. the barman and the beauteous bellhop. but i don't know either of their names, alas. and you came looking for dr. wheeler to offer her another job? yes. are you going to tell me what? can you keep a secret? possibly. maybe. couldn't promise. i wanted her to prepare some materials on esmé ford. for god's sake tell me you've heard of esmé ford.

i know the person you mean. then you may be astonished to learn that she isn't dead. my understanding was she committed suicide. piece of theater. i stage-managed the whole bloody thing. esmé didn't die in the caribbean. she wrote the famous letter, dictated by me on the balcony of her hotel room overlooking the bay at st. george. she got into a private airplane, and she flew to venezuela with me. now she's poised to spring again, pantherlike onto the world of rock and roll and devour it. and those who survived are set to make a great deal of money. some of them. those who remained faithful. may i also ask you, sir, if you've recently come into contact with a person widely known as the bone? god, is he still going? no, sir. he too has been murdered. innocent: who did this?

that's what we're trying to establish, ma'am. the deaths... i'm not talking about deaths. i'm talking about the press. the chief constable is endeavoring to present rural oxfordshire as a haven of respectability and safety and this, lewis, is not what is required. what was that? i didn't speak, ma'am. you didn't, and i heard you not doing it. who is that richie's got his arms round? "unknown family friend"? i think it's an unknown friend of the family, ma'am. out, both of you. i want frolicking bloody baa-lambs on the front page of my newspaper. see to it. ma'am. i made a considerable effort just now not to show how angry i am. yes, sir. it showed. three dead bodies, she gets her gusset in a bind about p.r. our rulers live in a different country. have you got a minute, peter? actually, no, i haven't. i gather you're reading classics. so you'll appreciate the concept of the rhetorical question.

here, let's go to your place. hathaway: do you play? or do you just collect this stuff? okay, i have a lecture to go to, actually, i... no. you've been to a lecture and you've just got back. let's not get off on the wrong foot with you telling me things that aren't true. you're blackmailing kitten maguire. tell me about that. who? she won't tell me what it is you've got on her. i think she's frightened of you. okay, i want a lawyer. i'm sure you do, but i forgot to bring one. all of this stuff is paid for by kitten. she's lying. is she? i haven't told you what she said yet. you're a policeman. you're not actually allowed on college premises without the permission of the master or his appointed representative. and you are dirty, woodrow. i want you to know that i know. and i want you to know that i'm going to have you. soco's found this in a wheelie bin down the road from the faculty. they're good boys.

very thorough. what's on it? frisch's skin, which is what one might expect. but there's also a very small quantity of leather. one doesn't play the lute wearing gloves. with garrottings one must expect gloves; the garrotter doesn't want to cut their hands on the murder weapon. i have three killings, doctor. they're all connected. yep, i think they are. and i'll tell you something else about your murderer. he or she is very fastidious. killed the first one with a car, second one with a needle and strangled the third whilst wearing dinky little gloves. doesn't like the contact. doesn't shy away from the brutal deed but doesn't like to touch. so, the killer silences lucas. but that's not enough. bone has to be got rid of, too. then the killer thinks: "blimey, is there someone else i have to keep quiet?" and there was. samantha wheeler. what's the secret here, laura? i mean, try and imagine three more utterly different people. what is it they all know that's so threatening?

and who else knows? there's a rat. yeah. someone's been in contact with the press, and we must assume they still are. (sighs) where's esmé? were you aware, sir, that at the time esmé ford joined the band that she was bone's lover? were you aware that the bone had two false teeth right at the front? that's because when i found out in 1969, i punched him in the mouth. we didn't discuss the matter further. not necessary. anything else, while we're gazing into each other's eyes? just before she disappeared, esmé ford wrote you a letter. you don't say. do you still have it? (jo screams) spider. spider, spider spider, spider! jo: don't, don't, don't touch it! it ran across my hand! it was ginormous! tarantula? (jo screams again)

precisely what is going on here? caroline. baby. how was new york? you've been to new york, haven't you, richie? it was like that. who's this? this is the police. police, this is my wife. it's all go since i've been away. when did you arrive back, ma'am? i don't know. does it matter? i'm afraid so. which flight? i might need to check. i never went to new york. i was staying at the randolph. where, as you discover when you check, i was obliged to keep an even lower profile than i had planned because that cretin oxe was there, holding court. go on. i wanted to give richie...

the necessary space. i can always tell when he's building up to an affair. i never know who, but i always know when, and i just prefer not to be around when it's actually happening. never lasts long. he's like a dog, really. needs exercising. now, oh dear. you've gone all po-faced. tolerance of infidelity isn't that shocking, is it? why tell him you'd gone all the way to new york? to make him feel safe. that way it might be over even quicker. and why did you decide that now was the right time to come back? the idea of reforming the band. richie flailing up and down the motorway in some stupid truck for the next five years. that i really don't want. no, the ford woman will have to go.

man (whispering): i can get you more, yes! ah, felipe. is there anybody through there? anybody? there? okay, fine. whereabouts is the spider? the... oh, yes. i want to know if this particular creature comes from venezuela. well, i'll get someone to interview it other than me. arachnophobe, hathaway? card-carrying, sir. so was jo race. but who knew that? yet another thing we need to find out. any news from the shop? a nice e-mail from reverend armstrong hoping that whatever's going on down here will put paid to all the banging on a sunday morning.

oh, and kitten is being blackmailed. what? fellow student peter woodrow. blackmailed about what? well, she's not saying, but she's obviously paying out with money from her godfather. bone-- selling the family silver to bail her out. what is that? sculpture? you know nothing about life in the country, do you? it's a macerator. it stinks. what does it do? you don't want to know. so, what about this student? peter woodrow. i felt his collar and he squealed for mummy. very distasteful piece of work. even the sound of his voice makes me want to give him a dry slap. idiot! give me your mobile a minute, felipe? i want to see who you were talking to just then. the news of the screws? filling them in about esmé? or was it somebody just checking that their parcel had arrived safely? chauffeur, electrician... the ultimate odd job man, aren't you? and always looking out for an angle but whatever else you've been up to, richie's going to take a pretty dim

view when i tell him it was you that was tipping off the press. i just turned the power back on, by the way. this is your one chance to be treated leniently. i know nothing about the spider. this is harassment. no, this is my superior officer, inspector lewis. hello, peter. let's talk about this kitten business. oh, for god's sake. she just wasn't coming over with the cash quickly enough, was she? so you decided to put the frighteners on her. this is outrageous. i'll tell you what's outrageous, son! the fact that kitten didn't send the bone round to you with a bloody great hammer. now listen-- it's in your best interest to tell me politely what you did. i can't hear you, peter. kitten took me to the farm. one night. she'd had some mushrooms.

okay? she had some mushrooms. i didn't. i wanted to stay straight, make sure she would be okay. she took me to the studio. richie had been recording these songs for her. he didn't think she knew. she knew. she was so stoned. she... wiped the master. the whole album. gone. straight away, she, um she wanted to wake richie up and tell him. i admired her for that. you're a hell of a guy. but i persuaded her not to. you saw a business opportunity. what i saw, okay, was richie go bloody postal the next morning. yeah? terrifying. hey, i've, you know, done what you asked. i told you what happened. this isn't school, peter. you can't put your hand up for nicking sweets and expect a pat on the back for owning up.

lewis: so, off goes lucas to slough in search of his gran. but unfortunately, she doesn't work for j.c.n.b. anymore. dead end. but there's a cleaner remembers gran's address. so lucas calls round. what does he see? declan? i don't know the answer to this bit. you're going to have to help me. he finds someone else. did lucas describe this other person at all? he opened the door a millimeter. tells lucas he's got the wrong place, no woman here. but he's lying. lucas isn't stupid. he thinks, "this man's hiding my grandmother." so what does he do? what would you do? say "sorry" and leave.

then i'd stake him out and the minute he left the house i'd be in. or follow him. thinking he's keeping granny somewhere else. is that what lucas was going to do? we're going to nail the guy who killed your friend. okay? i give you my word. lewis: you know what i'm doing? i'm trying to think like morse. does that mean we're going to the pub? lucas. bone. samantha. richie. could he have killed lucas? yes. lucas might have been richie's son. why would he have killed him? don't know. could he have killed bone? yes. why would he? every reason not to. i doubt very much whether he'd have killed samantha,

because he was still under quarantine with us up at the farm. i say he's still in the frame. me too. franco. could he have killed lucas? yes. why? don't know. bone? yes. why? he hates bone. franco hates everybody. felipe. mr. up-for-grabs. i suspect he was making too much money out of people to want them dead. jo. you think she might have sent the spider to herself? it occurred to me, yeah. let's come back to her. mack. now, this is a man carrying around the most appalling secret, but i don't know what it is. unfortunately, i don't think he does either. kitten. more secrets. who was that? that was vernon. vernon's gone. better not have done. i've yet to have the pleasure.

gentlemen, this is not an aid to my digestion. the quicker you answer our questions, sir the sooner we leave. what has mack got to hide? one really doesn't know. it was the halcyon days of rock and roll excess. we were all at it like scissors on heat. though some of us did our scissoring elsewhere to maintain our authority. always? always. generally. there was the once. franco? a bit pruney-looking nowadays, isn't he and so bitter. he was such a pretty boy. delicious. oh, come, come, come. you can exchange

silent looks of disapproval to your hearts' content. i couldn't care less. the addiction is mine. i put the band together, i named it i bought the clothes i bought the deals. the band was my creation and it remains mine. at my touch it shall live again and do my bidding. et bloody cetera. (chuckling) and if anyone doesn't like the idea, they'd be advised to stand well aside. because i am coming through. (chuckles) (rock music playing) you see, that, to me does not sound like face-meltingly awesome blues-based prog rock. sounds more like status quo whinging about the biscuits in the old people's home.

one... two... three... four. (mack playing out of synch) (feedback whining) that was good, mack. you're getting there. richie, for god's sake go and get franco back. (feedback stops) this is it. tonight. if this is as good as it gets well, we all go our separate ways. finish. solo career, here i come. caroline would have me halfway back to venezuela by now if your lot hadn't asked me to stay. if we told you you could leave now, where would you go? lancaster. that's a very definite and rather unexpected answer. i had the best time in lancaster.

university. i read sociology. it was in a bar on the campus that i was picked up by bone. what year was that? '65-- lifetime ago. mack: where's kitten? she's in her room. she's safe. (playing fluent jazz/rock passage) good. i want her to be safe. why, mack? why does kitten matter to you so much? because she's my daughter. i mean, to allow oneself to be impregnated by mack maguire could be written off as youthful indiscretion. but to keep the child... that speaks of a deep-rooted confidence

i now... cannot recognize in myself at all. the father's a junky? that's okay. swap him for his big brother. raise the child with him instead. it'll work out. does she know? all this truth in circulation, she'll probably find out. best if i let her know myself, i think. poor mack. he never cared about "counterculture blues." but richie relieving him of his baby. that was hard to take. that's what tipped him over the edge.

richie knows it. that's why he's so crippled with guilt. any idea who sent that spider to jo race? i did. i thought she was having an affair with richie. dr. frisch, she said yes. to what? the e-mail i sent her asking whether the pattern on samantha wheeler's computer could have been made by an unaccompanied female voice. now, that is interesting. lancaster university. ha! sir? look it up on that doodah of yours now. i'll bet you 50 qu... who's that? you should have come in. complexion for the connection. might never get out. we don't lock people up for being black.

it's an idea, mind. funny man, yeah. i have no sense of humor. everybody knows that. thank you, declan. lucas's. some of this he's had since he was a baby, yeah? came with him, as it were? he didn't know what it meant but he hung on to it just in case. he'd have made a good policeman. it's not your fault that he's dead, declan. it's really important that you understand that. this... you've helped me more than anybody else. anybody. (phone ringing) i've just seen esmé ford talking to the custody sergeant.

correct, ma'am. i asked uniform to bring her in for questioning. in my world, not hers. nobody told me she was not dead. lewis: no, ma'am. it's all been a bit confusing. the good news is we've apprehended the man that was in contact with the press. chauffeur, ma'am. esmé ford returning from the dead is quite a big story, hathaway. yes, ma'am, and so far we've been successful in keeping it from the media. new notes. what do you mean "new notes"? what am i looking at? show me. the isle of wight festival ma'am, 1968. backing singers. these girls. why am i looking at two esmé fords? exactly what i intend to ask her, ma'am. will it be sometime soon,

do you think that you condescend to interview your detainee? before the duty solicitor lodges a formal complaint? one moment, ma'am. all she's done since i got her in is make one phone call. to the randolph. who did she speak to? if it is esmé's voice on that disc, i want to hear it. sir. by whatever means. "the hotel switchboard cannot divulge that information." they'll find they bloody well can if i go round there. not necessary. i know who it was. oh, god. i get so worried when you do this inscrutable thing. and i know why she made the call. so what are you actually going to do, lewis? now? now, ma'am? i'm going to think. you're going to think. yeah, ma'am. as a means of solving crime it can prove useful.

(toilet flushes) sorry, i forgot my, uh... do carry on. gotcha. (sighs) vern just hand it over? well, he might have done had he been there. let's hear it. woman (on disc): ♪ i said baby ♪

♪ why'd you have to go and leave me that way? ♪ ♪ hard times, oh, baby ♪ ♪ these are hard times ♪ ♪ hard times... ♪ (clicks off) halleluia. that's not esmé ford. lewis: tell me about life on campus back in '65. i'm curious. for the tape, please. for the tape, i am not disposed to talk about "life on campus." i'm not surprised, because in 1965, there was no campus. they were still building it. until '66, the only hall of residence was the old waring and gillows furniture factory. for the tape, ms. ford is exchanging an anxious look with her solicitor. but you yourself never went to lancaster, did you? because you were a new note. let's stop there a minute.

no, let's not. the new notes were an all-girl backing group, led by esmé ford, then an undergraduate at lancaster but also in the outfit was her little sister maureen. i'm afraid i must insist that we stop. you can have a whole bonanza of insisting when i've finished. look. here you are... right there. i needed a magnifying glass to pick you out, maureen but take it from me. that is you, right next to esmé. i just listened to that demo that you made for vernon. and i heard the same thing that samantha wheeler heard when she listened to it: the voice of someone working very hard to sound like esmé ford. now, for the first time, i really am insulted. dr. wheeler told vernon. she said, "either you're being conned, mr. oxe, or you're trying to con me." say something. which was not at all what vernon wanted to hear

so he went round and he silenced her. just as he silenced the bone. because the bone had also sussed you, hadn't he? he kissed you, he touched you. you just didn't feel like your sister, eh, maureen? isn't that right? but the person who really worried you was franco. oh, dear. you had to phone vernon and tell him that you'd really blundered there. why hadn't he warned you? and that's before we've even started on the subject of lucas. who? now, just listen to me will you, lewis? i haven't the faintest bloody idea what you're talking about. the notion of vernon going round slaughtering people is just so unutterably stupid as beggars belief. yes, we had a business plan, and yes, it was a little bit deceitful but christ's sakes, what have i ever had in my life?

a daughter. she died. she was a junky. she left me, she lived on the streets and she died. she died in childbirth. what? she gave birth in a shop doorway. the child was taken into care. lucas was your grandson, maureen. he came looking for you to tell you, and vernon killed him, too. i'm sorry. interview terminated at 10:15. don't say it. i won't, ma'am. but he is a bloody genius.

get us to the farm now. you think the addiction was once a phenomenon. this time round we're going to take the entire planet and put it in our pocket. whose pocket, vernon? ours. for we shall all be wearing the same coat. won't it get a bit sweaty in there? who's we? the band and its deserving dependents. those whom we love. you are a funny bastard, vern. one strives to please. let's walk. walk? yeah. you remember walking, vernon. that's how ordinary people move around the surface of the earth. (laughing)

no, thank you. time was you'd have crawled over broken glass to exchange a few fluids with me. snows of yesteryear, darling. where have they gone? yeah, yeah, whatever. a lifetime in the closet for me, vern. that's required a bit of stamina. (switch clicks) (motor humming) truth is i've given up on sex. no, the truth is sex has given up on me. the hydraulics are shot. that's alcohol. cheers. my dear... (glass clinking as it breaks) what wretched news. which makes me a nonfunctioning queer. your girl, she got it seriously wrong, trying to shag me.

see, esmé tried it once. the circumstances were memorable. she would not have forgotten. i could have blown the whistle on you, and i didn't. i was, uh... oh, what was i, verny? what's the word? intrigued? (chuckling) what are we drinking to? impotence? (chuckling) (spits) i thought you were this big-time connoisseur. you were the one. you were the one. that's why i kept your secret all these years. and now this, such a waste.

such a waste. the rather off note in the armagnac is preludin. do you remember that? preludin-- it's what would-be priapics used to take before viagra. i thought it might be rather nostalgic for you. the downside of preludin is that it does tend to make one feel rather wobbly. vernon oxe. where is he? stay in the house! oh, thank god you're here! something awful! franco has fallen into the machine. he's incredibly drunk and he can't get out.

hathaway: you're going to prison for the rest of your life, oxe. but before you do, you're going to buy me a new bloody suit. is that necessary? you lost the right to have an opinion about anything the moment you drove your car over that boy. no. least i hit the bugger. whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. easy, baby.

gun on the deck. richie: hands in the air. sorry if you got some of that. but it had to be done. right. that's enough. (faint chatter on police radio) esmé's dead. yeah. she's been dead a long time, richie. yeah.

would you see this gets to richie maguire? he gave it to my sister. she... she sent it to me the night she killed herself. how's the food? the food? you live in the, uh... hmm. you live in the... in the college. yeah, i do.

so how's the food? it's okay. thanks. how's... how's things with you? mustn't grumble. do you know who i am? yes. oh, yes. you're my kitten. yes. i am. hobson: i'm a simple soul, chaps. try not to blind me with science. vernon oxe was grooming maureen little to become like her sister esmé-- to walk like her and talk like her.

sang very like her but not quite. before he could get the whole con rolling, he had to get the endorsement of one or two people he thought were essential. samantha wheeler.... but she smelled a rat. vernon couldn't have her walking around saying esmé was a fake. and bone wasn't buying it either. what about the first murder-- the boy, lucas? poor lucas didn't fit in with the plot at all. the whole scam was predicated on the fact that maureen's life was empty. to have vernon take control of it might have been a bad thing but at least it was something, giving her life some purpose, some reason. yeah, but not as much as finding out she had a real grandchild. well, whatever oxe was peddling by way of a fantasy couldn't start to compare with that. lucas had to go. still, at least hathaway got a glimpse of the rock and roll life. that's educational. now i know what it feels like to be britney spears. will it stop you dressing like her on your days off? hathaway: probably not. that's another thing i shall need counseling for.

i've just spent all afternoon in a lake of crap with knives in it, saving your presence doctor. and i haven't even begun on the matter of compensation. would you settle out of oh, pull yourself together, lewis. you're only young once and that was a long time ago. i'll buy you a drink. you can bang on about how perfect everything was in your day. when i say "buy you a drink" i should point out that i don't actually have any cash. cumming: next t funding for masterpiece is provided by: created to ensure the series' future. with support from donald and darlene shiley. explore new worlds and new ideas through programs like masterpiece, made available for everyone through contributions to your pbs station from:

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>> i'm not sure we should expect to see each other again. >> i couldn't bear that. i have to see you again. >> please. >> god, you're so beautiful. >> ahmed-- i'm married. >> no! no! no! >> all right, everybody, cut. cut. will someone please tell me what these actors are meant to be doing! i'm wrong. i must be wrong. i thought this was a love scene! my dear valerie, you are not discussing the weather with this man. you are about to commit adultery with him! make a big pause before you say,

"i'm married." ahmed, count to five, you turn, then say your line. okay. let's see it. >> ahmed-- i'm married. >> no, darling. can you count to five? >> i did. >> count to ten, then. this is no hide and seek counting, my dear. one! two! three! four! five! six! seven! eight! nine! ten! you got it! ♪ [motor engine] >> good morning. captain hastings and monsieur poirot.

guests of bunny saunders. >> ah yes. >> very young, of course to be directing his first picture. what a break getting valerie saintclair to star. >> yes. films are very boring, hastings. but the actors who are paid to deceive us, now they're interesting, huh? >> quiet on the set! >> red line bell. [bell] roll camera. >> still 18, take 11. [click] >> action. >> what was that ahmed doing here? >> he's come to see to the horses. >> that's his--excuse, is it? >> is that not ralph walton? he was a big star before the talkies. >> sshh. >> --with the horses. spends too much-- spends too much time

hanging around. hanging around here, if you ask me. >> oh bernard, he doesn't. >> i'm sorry, dear boy. i'm dry. the old frame-- >> cut. cut. all right everyone, let's-- [background talking] [bell] >> no, no! i don't want to hear any more. and now-- >> bunny. >> arthur, i'm glad you could make it. >> wonderful to see you. may i introduce my good friend monsieur hercule poirot. >> enchante, monsieur. >> miss deloy, i want to see miss saintclair in my office immediately. >> yes, mr. reedburn. >> poirot, i must apologize for reedburn. he's the head of the studio. >> no matter. he is obviously a busy man. >> yes. he's just instructed me to sack ralph walton. >> good god. >> the truth is old ralph is past his best. get him on a good day, and you won't find a

better actor anywhere. i suppose i've got to do it. reedburn really hates him. please forgive me for just one minute. >> what a terrible thing. >> ah, monsieur poirot. >> good morning, your highness. >> oh, paul, please. after all you did for my family. >> oh, not at all. >> and what brings you to parade studios? >> sheer good fortune, huh? my associate, captain hastings-- >> how do you do? >> --and your director are very old friends. >> oh excellent. well, welcome. >> thank you. >> [indistinct] >> you treat me like a child! i'm the biggest box office draw this studio has. >> true. but without the studio, you would be nothing. without me, you wouldn't even be in pictures. >> perhaps i would have been better off. >> perhaps. but i doubt it. you're too ambitious for that. you know, you are even more beautiful when you're angry.

have you thought any more about my little proposition, my dear? hmm? [door slam] >> you swine! >> mr. walton, please. this is highly irregular. >> what's the matter, my dear ralph? >> you're the matter, you skunk! >> what? >> you didn't even have the guts to sack me to my face! >> well, ralph. hmm. you seem to have lost your manners as well as your talent. a shame. you used to be such civilized company. >> to get level with a snake you have to crawl on the ground. >> see that mr. walton is escorted off the premises at once. >> you haven't heard the last of me, reedburn.

♪ >> [sigh] >> are you all right, henry? >> of course, i'm all right. and don't call me henry. go. >> paul. he's an animal. >> there, there. it's all right, my love. i tell you, i have a good mind to withdraw my backing from this picture. >> as long as you're with me, i can bear it. >> just promise me that you won't see reedburn on your own again. >> yes. yes, i promise.

♪ [movie dialog] >> you're lucky it's in your arm. >> and my people struggle. one life counts for nothing. >> i'll do my best. but you ought to see my husband. >> [sigh] >> i feel that i should be safe in your hands. >> cut. super. >> what is missing, bunny, is sex appeal! ah! the demure doctor's wife is drawn irresistibly towards this handsome young fellow. she knows she will be unfaithful. it's the way of women. they cannot help themselves. they are putty in the hands of the wild demon that lurks in all of them.

[thunder and rainfall] >> why can't i have another drink, heh? why can't i have another drink? that bloody reedburn own the studio or something? what has he done? he doesn't own me! and i can have a drink if i like. [glass breaking] i'll show him. ♪ >> mr. reedburn's house just coming up, miss. >> stop just here. >> 3 bob, love, please. thank you. [thunder]

[car engine] [car horn]

>> [sigh] [thunder] [footsteps]

>> no, inspector. something really terrible has happened. please send some men at once. thank you. [phone ring] >> hello. >> is that hercule poirot? >> yes. >> it's paul of maurainia. >> oh. your highness. >> please, poirot, paul. >> pardon. paul >> the most awful thing has happened, poirot. i desperately need your help. >> yes. >> valerie is in trouble. serious trouble. >> mon dieu. is she with you? >> she's just telephoned.

>> i'll do anything i can to help her. >> you see, poirot, valerie and i are engaged to be married. >> i had no idea. >> no, no, it's not generally known. my family would never approve if there was the slightest hint of scandal. >> where is mademoiselle saintclair now? >> she's at a house near reedburn's. it's called the willows. >> how did she come there? >> she just ran to the nearest house. >> is she implicated in a criminal matter? >> i fear so. >> whatever your family might think, my friend, you must call the police. >> that's already handled. >> they have been called? >> yes. >> excellent. be straightforward with them and they will be discrete. [background thunder] >> i was against it at first but the people at the willows, the oglanders, insisted. >> yes. >> but i'm worried about the publicity. >> i will do everything in my power to protect your reputation. but i must know exactly what happened. [background thunder] ♪

[car door slam] [door bell] >> yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. all right. >> police. chief inspector japp. we've had a report of disturbance here. >> disturbance? >> in the library. and you are? >> frampton. mr. reedburn's man servant, sir. >> where is he, then? >> the library. it's over here, sir. >> one moment, sir. ♪

>> holy mother of god! >> don't touch him, sir if you don't mind. >> well, it all happened so quickly, chief inspector. the four of us were playing bridge when suddenly, there was this commotion at the window. we were astonished to see a young lady beating at the panes. absolutely terrified, she looked. >> did you happen to notice what time this was, mrs. oglander? >> it must have been around ten. >> yes. i remember the clock in the hall chiming the hour a little before. >> please go on, madam. >> well--ronnie got up to let her in. she was very out of breath. it seems she had run across the gardens from mon desire. >> did she say anything? >> yes. murder. he's been murdered.

>> murder. he's been murdered. you're sure of it? >> i shall not forget those words for as long as i live, chief inspector. then she fainted. poor girl. and of course, we immediately telephoned the police. >> hmm. did any of you recognize her? >> i thought there was something vaguely familiar about her, but it was geraldine who guessed that it was valerie saintclair. she's a tremendous fan of hers. aren't you, darling? ♪ [background talking]

>> now remember, mon ami, it is important that we keep a discreet silence about our connection with prince paul and mademoiselle saintclair. >> oh yes. right. >> the police took away the body early this morning, sir. otherwise, the room is untouched. >> and the curtains were drawn last night? >> yes, sir. i draw all the curtains every evening. >> so who has drawn back this one? >> i couldn't say, sir. possibly, mr. reedburn did it. [birds chirping] >> what is this house? >> that's the willows, sir neighbors of mr. reedburn, name of oglander, i believe. >> ah, yes. the oglanders.

excuse me, please. thank you. and this window overlooks the drive, no? >> that's right, sir. >> tell me, was monsieur reedburn expecting any visitors late last night? >> he didn't say so, sir. but after mr. saunders had left-- >> bunny saunders? >> that's right, sir. he and mr. reedburn were reviewing rushes in the projection theater. mr. saunders left at about 9:30, i think it was. >> and later? >> well sir, mr. reedburn gave instructions he was not to be disturbed, in the library, that is. >> and you saw nobody arrive? >> no, sir. but of course, they may have come in by the side door, without my knowing. >> may i?

thank you. was monsieur reedburn in the habit of admitting visitors late at night by this door? >> i believe so, sir. >> and you heard nothing from the library after monsieur reedburn had retired then? >> well, i can't be sure, but i thought i heard a woman's voice. >> a woman's voice? >> yes, sir. i may have imagined it, of course, because that's what i would have expected to hear. if you see what i mean sir. hmm. >> quite so. hmm. >> we're looking for a blunt instrument, quite wide, not like a poker, but heavy. you start upstairs. dear, oh dear! here we go again. >> my dear, chief inspector japp. you have cracked this case already, perhaps, no? >> it won't be long, poirot. have you ever heard of a

valerie saintclair? >> saintclair. >> the film star. i've just been talking to her, as a matter of fact. very intelligent girl. it was her who discovered the body. >> film star. >> oh yes. she was frightened, of course, as she ran off to that house over there, the willows. >> hmm. but what was she doing here, inspector? i understand it was very late. >> business. mr. reedburn was a film producer. they don't keep office hours, you know, poirot. valerie, uh, miss saintclair that is, spotted an intruder which makes my life a lot easier. there's a lot of gypsies around here, apparently, and mr. reedburn wasn't exactly a favorite of theirs. he tried to have them moved on several times. >> what was the cause of death would you say? >> a blow to the back of the head. there was also bruising between the eyes. but the fatal injury was to the head. you can still see the blood.

>> so he was lying on his back? >> correct. >> perhaps he fell back against this. >> well, there would be blood traces on that arm. >> unless they were washed away. >> why would anyone want to make an accident look like murder? >> true enough. true enough. but one thing still puzzles me. why does mademoiselle saintclair run to the willows instead of the house at the front which is much nearer? >> well, that's simple. as the body was here and this curtain was drawn back, the lights from that house would be the first you'd see at night. >> [sigh] but of course. you are several steps ahead of me, my dear chief inspector. >> you mustn't get discouraged, poirot. when you've been around as long as i have, you develop a nose for this sort of thing. >> hmm. ♪

mon coeur. >> poor valerie saintclair had to come this way in the dark. do you reckon japp's on to something? this gypsy business, i mean. >> a man like reedburn had enemies, huh? too many. [background birds chirping] ♪ >> would you mind waiting in here for a minute, sirs? >> merci. ah. la familie, hastings.

no bond is so strong. >> yes. >> good morning, gentlemen. >> bonjour, mademoiselle. >> you're from the police. >> no, no, no, no, not at all. pardon. voila. we are here in a private capacity, a dear friend of mademoiselle saintclair. >> i see. how can i help you? you must excuse the room, by the way. the police have instructed us to leave things exactly as they were. >> of course. i understand. you were playing bridge last night. >> yes. >> and you, yourself, were sitting-- >> there, facing the window. i was partnering my mother and had just bid one no trump when it happened, when miss saintclair appeared at the window, i mean. >> you had been playing for long? >> perhaps an hour or so. we played several rubbers.

>> mademoiselle saintclair is still here, is she not? >> yes. ♪ >> thank you. [door knock] >> come in. monsieur poirot, captain hastings. thank you for coming. >> mademoiselle. >> please. >> merci. >> i saw you on the set, yesterday. >> ah. >> paul insisted on calling you last night. >> perhaps you could tell us what happened. >> it was dreadful. utterly dreadful.

you might as well know reedburn was blackmailing me. i can't tell you why, so please don't ask me, but for paul's sake, for both our sakes i tried to come to terms with him. dear god, i can't say i'm sorry he's dead. but believe me i didn't kill him. i swear it. >> just tell me what happened, my dear lady. >> i agreed to meet him, last night. i was desperate, you understand. well, last week, he forced me to sign another three-year contract with the studio. and he wanted still more. >> more? >> he said he was in love with me. i don't need to tell you what he was after. i could see no way out. he asked me to meet him last night in the library at a quarter to ten. >> courage, mademoiselle.

>> when i entered, it appeared to be empty. and i saw it. by the window. the body on the floor. to my horror, i realized it was reedburn. i could tell at once he was dead. i was about to call out, when something made me look around. a curtain twitched on the other side of the room, and my heart stopped. at the foot of the curtain, i could clearly see a pair of feet. someone was there. my god, all i could think of was getting away, monsieur poirot. i saw the lights of this house in the darkness, and i just kept on running, until i got here. >> it must have been a great shock, mademoiselle. but tell me, the window where you found the body, it was at the back of the library

overlooking the garden, yes? >> yes. >> how was the curtain on this window? shut? >> no. it was drawn back. >> and on the other windows? >> i think all the other curtains were closed. >> and this pair of feet. it was a man or a woman, would you say? >> oh, a man, i'm sure. >> hmm? >> well, they were boots rather than shoes. like hobnail boots and he, very worn and dirty. >> i see. >> begging your pardon, sir, mrs. oglander would like a word with you, if you wouldn't mind waiting for a while in the drawing room. >> no, no, by all means.

[background chimes] mademoiselle oglander should have bid three spades, not one no trump. dieu? [whispering in french] there are only 51 cards here. there is one card missing. ♪ [whispering in french] hastings, this explains everything. there is no king of clubs.

[birds chirping] >> thank you very much for waiting, gentlemen. >> madam. >> i wonder if i might ask a small favor of you, mr. poirot. >> i am at your service, madam. >> well, you see, my husband is not a well man, and i'm terrified that if the newspapers get hold of the fact that miss saintclair is staying here, we shall have no peace. can i therefore rely on your discretion, mr. poirot? >> i have not seen or heard of mademoiselle saintclair. you may rest assured, madam. >> thank you so much. i am so grateful. >> may i please ask you something, madam? which of you first noticed mademoiselle saintclair at the window.