The whole art of clay pigeon shooting lies in the time.
The trick is: when I say "pull" No!
Sorry, my fault. Should have warned you there.
- Weren't you ready? - No, it's alright.
Jolly quickly, weren't they?
- Do you want to try? - I'll see a shooting bit, first.
- Can you reload that, Pamela? - I don't know.
- They go in here, don't they? - Shall I, Miss?
I'm perfectly capable, thank you very much.
Well, leave the reloading for a minute.
- You see, when I say "pull"... - Hey-ho, Hastings. What a day.
- Good morning, General. - Good morning, my ladies.
- Good morning! - Good morning!
Well, now, Kitty, why don't you give a try?
If you don't practice, you won't be ready for the Championship.
It's all set for the fourteenth.
Good morning, Mr. Russell. Briskly, eh?
- Good morning, Mr. Poirot. - Bonjour, Captain Fowler.
Good morning, Monsieur Poirot.
Bonjour, Mademoiselle Morgan. You have a good voice, eh?
It was your friend, Captain Hastings, Monsieur Poirot.
He's got us all organized.
Captain Hastings is very good at that.
I thought the General was awfully good, last night, whith his recitation from Swinburne.
Yes! The General recites poetry with true military vigor.
Perhaps your niece could also be persuaded to entertain us one evening.
Perhaps, she will, Monsieur Poirot. Perhaps she will.
Excuse me.
John?
Of course, the actual wound I got was ludricously minor.
I felt a complete fraud.
I'm sure it wasn't minor.
I assure you it was.
Mind you, I was convinced I was goin' to die, but that's only because I'm a coward.
Oh, John!
- Good morning, General. - Good morning, Clapperton.
- Good morning, General Forbes. - Good morning, Miss Henderson.
It is a beautiful day. A little breezy.
John?
Good morning, Monsieur Poirot. Have you seen John?
I didn't see you at dinner, last night.
- Non, non, non. - It was just a shade shocking, of course.
Fortunately, I am an excellent sailor.
The one thing I must not do is overtire myself.
I live so intensely, if you know what I mean.
Oh, yes!
As a matter of fact, I nearly wore myself out as a girl, at the war.
My hospital, you've heard about my hospital.
Of course I had nurses, matrons and that sort of things...
... but I actually ran it.
Your vitality is formidable, my dear lady.
" You're so alive, Adeline ", they say to me.
But really, Monsieur Poirot, what would one be, if one wasn't alive?
Dead, Madame.
I must find my husband.
You won't find sharks in the Mediterranean.
There you are.
Hello, my dear. I did find you a chair.
You want what... Are you cold?
I am freezing.
I'd take a hatchet to that woman, if I was her husband.
Bonjour, Monsieur.
I knew a woman like that, once in Hyderabad.
Absolutely poisonous.
In the 1887th, that was.
- And did anyone take a hatchet to her? - No.
Last time I saw her, she was in the third husband.
Position is everything.
If you lose your balance, you can swing around and shoot over the mast or worse...
Colonel Clapperton?
- Colonel? - Such a "soldierly looking" man.
"Soldierly"?
He was in the Guards, wasn't he, General Forbes?
Guards?
Before the war, that fellow was in the music hall stage.
- No! - Fact. Music hall stage.
War comes along, and suddenly they let any one in.
And, troops astray a bomb, pure good luck,
and he comes home, with a fresh wound in the arm.
How did he meet Mrs. Clapperton?
- Mrs. Clapperton? Ladie Pardoe she was, then. - Really?
He got into her hospital, somehow.
Did it have anything to do with him being wounded, you think?
Oh, yes, he had to be wounded.
You should get a bit of exercice, Miss Henderson.
'Cause it does you no good sitting around thinking, you know.
No, I know.
Unfortunately, my religion forbids it, at this time of year.
Right, I mean... .. well!
Adeline!
Hello, Dermot.
I have been trying to talk to you ever since you came on board.
We don't seem to have a lot to say to each other, have we?
Oh, surely, after you...
What do you want?
I was just...
- Were you spying on us? - I want to take your trays, Ma'am.
Well, got and do it, then.
I am a happily married woman, General Forbes.
It's her family I feel sorry for.
No soldier songs, I said. No Indian love letters.
And what does she sing?
" The Army of today is alright " and " Cashmere love song ".
You can't expect no better from civilians, Sir.
We're all civilians now, Height.
The problem with a cruise like this
is you're forced to suffer amateur entertainment night after night.
Oh, we'd rather enjoyed it, didn't we, Molly?
What did you think, Colonel Clapperton?
John would be quite happy to sit listening to that dreadful woman for hours.
He has no taste at all as far as the artistic goes.
- It is true. - Mrs. Tolliver is artistic.
That must be a great solace to you.
We're really looking forward to see the museum in Alexandria tomorrow.
John and I won't be going ashore. We never bother with antiquities.
We must live in the present, don't you think?
My house has nothing in it older than three years.
I'll have to be selling my car next year, my darling.
"My" car, I think, John.
Certainly, my dear, your car.
Voilà ce qu'on appelle "pukka sahib". (This is what we call)
Twenty past ten.
Indeed.
Well, what about bridge? Bridge? Bridge?
Yes, bridge. Come on. We can use the dining table.
- May we join you? - What about you, Captain?
Oh, John won't play. Most tiresome of him.
Sorry.
So, you can join us, if you like.
- What was your name, again? - Tolliver. Mrs. Tolliver.
And I am her husband, Mr. Tolliver.
What a clever arrangement.
- A kidnapping! - A kidnapping!
You're coming with us, it's a kidnapping!
A Clapperton-kidnapping! For the deck!
Do not be foolish, John. You'll catch a chill.
Not with us, he won't. We're hot stuff.
Anyway, there's moon.
Bonsoir.
Do you ever go down on your knees and thank God you didn't have any children?
As a matter of fact, we did.
Two, a little boy and a little girl.
Oh, for heaven's sake, get on and deal.
I know it's the most awful romantic cliché, but the moon is beautiful, isn't it?
Certainement. It is like a gigantic oeuf en cocotte.
I want to ask your advice on the matter of the English language.
I'm sure yout don't need that.
Mademoiselle is too kind, eh?
But no. Just now, Mme. Clapperton said, " John won't play bridge ".
Is not " can't play " the usual term?
She takes it as a personal insult that he doesn't play, I suppose.
The man was a fool, ever to have married her.
Many odious woman have devoted husbands, uh?
It is an enigma of nature.
Which is perhaps why the estimable Captain Hastings
hasn't still taken the plundge into matrimony.
Matrimony? Whooah!
You're not in for the clay pigeon championship yet, are you, Miss Henderson?
Er-- No, I don't think I really mean to...
Hastings! Can't you talk of something else, for once?
No, no, I would love to talk about the clay pigeon championship,
but tomorrow perhaps?
I have some letters to finish that I want to post in Alexandria.
Good night, Mademoiselle Henderson.
- Good night. - Good night, Miss Henderson.
- Oh! Hastings, Hastings... - What?
What is the use of introducing you to nice young ladies,
if all you do is talk about the shooting of the clay pigeons?
They like it.
You heard what she said, she'd love to talk about it tomorrow?
Oh! Hastings, Hastings, Hastings...
Now, pick a card.
No, don't show me.
Remember what card is and put it back into the pack.
That's good.
Now, just shuffle a little...
- Your card! - It is! Isn't that clever?
I see that you enjoy playing cards, monsieur, even though you do not play bridge.
I have my reasons for not playing bridge.
I'll show you. Sit down. We'll play one hand.
You'll be shuffling the cards, Mr. Poirot.
Voilà!
See? Any man who can get his partner and adversaries any hand he pleases,
he better stand aloof from a friendly game of cards.
But how could you do that? I mean, they're completely ordinary.
Ah! The quickness of the hand deceives the eye.
You could go on stage, with that, Colonel Clapperton.
Yes, quite.
Well, I hope I haven't bored you with my little demonstration.
Good night, ladies, gentlemen.
Did I say something wrong?
I don't know, Hastings.
I really don't know.
- We ought to get off now. - You will come with us, won't you?
We are not allowed to show all by ourselves.
Please go away.
Genuine bits from the tombs of the Pharaohs.
I don't want any Pharaoh's bits.
You see? Anything awful might happen to us.
Well, I certainly don't think you should go alone.
But I'm not sure if my wife feels up to it.
Hurrah! I mean... Booh.
She can have a nice home rest.
Well, I'll go and have a word with Adeline.
- We'll come with you. - Yes, perhaps we can persuade her to come.
- Who's there? - Adeline, my dear. It's, John.
The door is locked. I don't wanna be disturbed by the stewards.
Bonjour, ladies.
We are trying to get him to ourselves, for the day.
- To lure him into the "soukh". - Cajole him into the casbah.
- What about coming ashore? - Certainly not. I've had a very bad night.
I'm going to stay in bed most of the day.
Well, I think I might go, Adeline.
Oh! Do as you like, John, for heaven's sake.
Do you mind if I just come in and get my tour map?
Yes, I do mind. I am not getting out of bed.
Do go away, John, and it let me have a little peace.
We can go now.
What about your passport?
- In my pocket. - Glory be!
No, no! Please, I really must go.
Want amber, miss. True agates? Jet black?
How much costs the amber necklace?
- 300 piastras. Cheap. - That's far too much.
Mine are 200, miss.
Oh, very well. I'll take the amber ones. But after that, I really must go.
Hey! Get off here!
You are not allowed down here.
Cheeky plunder!
- Ah, Hastings! Are you ready to go? - All set.
Going ashore, General Forbes?
Well, yes. Probably. I'll see you.
See you later.
I think we ought to avoid the usual tourist thing, as much as we can, Poirot.
Good, good. I am absolutely in your hands, Hastings,
Be looking fierce. Savage.
Non, non, Hastings.
Now, you look merely constipated.
It's all very well for you.
This camel is very uncomfortable for sitting on. It's sharp.
Good morning, Monsieur Poirot.
- Bonjour, Mademoiselle Henderson. - Good morning, Captain Hastings.
- Good morning. - Like that. Ready, I did it.
- Doesn't he look dashing? - Oh, yes, indeed.
You know, he looks as if he is summoning up the courage to order a second tea cake.
Monsieur Poirot, have you seen the Clappertons at all, this morning?
I believe that Mme Clapperton is going spend the day in her cabin.
And what about Colonel Clapperton?
Let me think, he came ashore.
Yes, no-- yes, he certainly came ashore.
It's just that there was some talk last night of us all coming ashore together.
- Monsieur Poirot? - Yes, Mademoiselle.
Was the Colonel alone when he came ashore?
Was he alone? Let me think.
Maybe someone was with him.
Miss Mooney and Miss Cregan, perhaps?
Ah, yes! Yes, the two little girls.
They are not children, Monsieur Poirot.
Oh, non.
- Nor am I. - Non.
Very good.
I say, Poirot! Look at these pomegranates.
Sorry?
I don't think they like you to touch the fruit, Captain Hastings.
Sorry.
Monsieur and Madame Tolliver, what a pleasant surprise.
- Are you alone? - Quite alone, yes.
That nice General Forbes joined us for a while, but he had to rush back.
He wasn't feeling at all the thing.
- Cheapy tummy, I dare say. - Oliver!
Now, we were just intending to have some lunch. Would you care to join us?
Lunch? In a native place, you mean?
I say! Why not, Molly? Lest's give it a go.
Count me back, Poirot. I think I'll better return to the ship.
Must you desert us, Hastings?
One or two things to catch up on, you know.
Very well.
Mr.et Madame Tolliver and I, we'll see you back on, at the ship this afternoon.
We'll let the two girls go first, because they're the least experienced.
Then, it'd better be General Forbes.
He is old hand in this sort of competition.
We can't do it in the middle of Alexandria harbor, sir.
I don't see why not, Bates.
We shoot in the direction of the open sea.
There's not very much parked, out there.
- Moored, sir. - Moored.
Well, I'm sure the harbor Master will have something to say about it, sir.
- It started in India, you know. - I beg your pardon?
Had its origins in India. The clay pigeons.
Oh, really?
In the thirteenth century.
Of course, it was bows and arrows, then.
And they didn't have that catapult thing.
Just had this fellows with tremendously strong arms.
Come along, Pamela!
Mlle Mooney and Colonel Clapperton, I presume you've had an enjoyable day ashore, I trust.
Absolutely.
Come on, Pammy!
- I'll see you at dinner, perhaps? - I hope so.
Adeline?
Adeline, my dear?
Adeline?
It's locked.
- You do not have your key? - No, I'll find the steward.
We seem to be having some trouble with the clay pidgeon championship.
Really?
It was originally planned, you see, to take place on the fourteenth,
but it seems that we dock in Haifa on the thirteenth,
and that's one of those places where we more or less have to go ashore
and look at the ruins, while they refuel the ship.
Now, that leaves the fifteenth, the sixteenth and the eighteenth.
The seventeenth is no good, because that's the night of the Captain's party.
Oh, my God!
She's dead!
Fetch the Captain, mon ami.
Look at this, Poirot.
One of the souvenir sellers must have dropped it. That devils!
Colonel Clapperton, what a tragedy.
Can you help us with this, Mr. Poirot?
I want to avoid involving the Egyptian police, if possible.
Yes, Captain. Perhaps I can.
Is anything missing, as far as you can tell, Colonel Clapperton?
My wife always keeps...
Kept. Always kept some cash on the second drawer of the dressing table.
It seems to have gone.
- How much was that? - Between twenty and thirty pounds.
Anything else?
Her jewels. They weren't very mending.
Most of them were in the Captain's safe.
Perhaps you could let us have a description of them.
I'll try. I don't know if I can remember them very exactly.
I know the headband thing she was wearing last night is gone.
What can you tell me about this?
- That's not my wife's. - You're quite sure?
Quite, she'd never wear a thing like that.
It was found on the floor between the two beds.
Then someone must have dropped it there.
Would you say that your wife had any enemies?
Certainly not.
Colonel Clapperton, you have been most helpful.
Thank you very much.
May I offer you my condolences?
If there's anything we can do, Colonel...
Thank you, Captain, but there's nothing--
Nothing can bring Adeline back again.
- Good God! - Murdered, General Forbes.
Good God above!
You were acquainted with Madame Clapperton before this voyage, I think.
I knew Adeline when she was Lady Pardoe.
I knew her before that, when she was Adeline French.
I was ADC (assistant) to her father back in '92 when she was seven years old.
God, I can hardly believe it!
I was in love with her for years.
She was not always the silly woman she became.
You must not incriminate yourself, Monsieur.
Incriminate myself? How could I?
Monsieur et Madame Tolliver tell me that you returned to the ship before lunch.
What of it?
Saying that you were ill?
No.
All right, no. I came back to talk to Adeline.
He hadn't seen her for seventeen years.
Not since the war, that was after Pardoe died.
I thought there might be a chance for me, then, but I didn't...
I mean, she was in mourning.
Of course, that didn't dissuade a man like Clapperton.
You came back to the ship to talk to Madame Clapperton.
Yes.
Tell to me what happened when you got back to the ship.
Well, nothing happened.
I went to her cabin and knocked, she didn't reply...
So, I went back to mine and had a nap.
Well, what do you say, Mr. Poirot?
One cannot hurry the little grey cells, Captain.
You ran it up the souvenir "wallahs" yet?
Yes. Actually one of them identified Miss Henderson
as having bought an amber necklace.
Really?
Come in!
Yes, Bates?
I've carried out my examination of the body, sir.
And?
The deceased died from a knife wound to the upper thorax, sir.
God, Bates! We could all see that for ourselves.
I'm sorry, Sir.
But I've only got me first aid book, haven't I?
At what time did she die, Monsieur Bates?
Oh, uh! It's difficult to say, sir.
- What with the weather being so warm, and... - Never mind about that, Bates.
What we want to know is - what time was Mrs. Clapperton killed.
About ten hours this morning, Sir.
Ten, eh?
Give or take one hour or two, Sir.
Oh, dear God!
It's alright, Kitty. You wouldn't to know all thing.
- Who is it? - It is I, Hercule Poirot.
It's alright, Kitty.
Monsieur Poirot.
Bonsoir, Mademoiselle Cregan. May I come in for a few minutes?
Well...
I only have one question to do.
It's just that Kitty is doing such a blessed racked.
She blames herself, you see.
Well... And me.
But how can she blame herself?
Well, we did say some pretty dreadful things about her.
My dear Mademoiselle Cregan,
if everyone on board who had said unpleasant things about Madame Clapperton
were to make as much noise as your friend,
this vessel would become a danger to ship in.
There! You hear that?
What was the one question?
It is quite simple, really.
You both left the ship this morning at 9h30m with colonel Clapperton, right?
You know we did, you saw us.
Précisément.
So, please tell me, was colonel Clapperton with you for the whole day
until you got back to the ship at four o'clock this afternoon?
Absolutely. Every minute of the day.
He doesn't think...
- Every minute of the day, you say? - Absolutely.
Well...
Yes?
Well, we went to a café for some tea about twelve and he, Colonel Clapperton,
that is, well he went to the... , you know...
For a couple of minutes.
Ah! I understand. But just for a couple of minutes, you say?
Well, one doesn't time it...
Oh! Not, you don't!
You've got a lot to answer about that, unless I'm very much mistaken.
- I didn't kill her. - But you had her jewelry.
Jewelry? She was rich.
What did it matter to her?
Come, Mr. Skinner! Mme. Clapperton is dead.
You were caught red-handed by my colleage, Captain Hastings,
trying to sell the jewels of Mme. Clapperton.
You admit that you let yourself in her cabin this morning...
She was dead already.
I shouldn't have taken it, not when I saw she was dead.
I knew it'd be trouble.
- Do you believe him? - Yes, I think I do.
Me too.
So, we're back to the souvenir hawkers.
Why do you not consider one of the passengers, Hastings?
The passengers?
Who? Colonel Clapperton?
He has a sure-fire alibi.
General Forbes?
What about Mademoiselle Henderson?
Really? No!
I think perhaps she has the motive, non?
She is a lady, Poirot.
And you think, mon ami that ladies do not commit murders?
Ladies they don't get found out.
Madame Clapperton had been dead for at least five hours when she was found.
A small amount and some jewelry had been talen.
A string of beads was on the floor near to her bed.
The door was locked and the key missing.
And the hatch which gives onto the deck was opened.
What are you driving at, Poirot?
Madame Clapperton had locked the door from the inside.
We actually heard her say so herself.
If Mrs. Clapperton had locked the door, she could unlock it too, I suppose.
Précisément! Precisely!
This leads to the inescapable conclusion
that Mme Clapperton unlocked the door and it let in the murderer.
Miss Henderson, I hope you don't mind me asking,
but you bought an amber necklace yesterday, didn't you?
Yes, I did. How did you know that?
The Captain mentioned it. He just hapened to mention it.
Would you mind if I had a look at it?
I'm afraid I've lost it. I must have dropped it somewhere.
Or put it down. I don't know.
Yes, right...
Of course.
I thought Mrs. Clapperton a very unpleasant woman.
In fact, I don't think anyone aboard the ship really liked her.
But surely... who would have reason to kill her?
Mlle., it is the opinion of everyone on board the ship that colonel Clapperton
would be quite justified " in taking a hatchet to her ".
Now, that was one expression that I actually heard use.
But... he had an alibi.
He was on shore all day with the two girls
and only returned to the ship at four o'clock that afternoon.
By which time Madame Clapperton had been dead for many hours.
It seems to me that we're back to General Forbes as our only suspect.
Bonsoir, Mademoiselle Morgan.
- I want, please, to ask a favor of your niece. - Our niece?
Very well. Ismene!
Good evening, Ismene.
I want to borrow somebody from you, if I may.
Ladies and gentlemen,
tonight I shall offer you a gem from our national poet,
Mr. Rudyard Kipling,
starting with " The Ladies ".
"I've taken my fun where I've found it;"
"I've rogued an' I've ranged in my time;"
"I've 'ad my pickin' o' sweet'earts,"
"An' four o' the lot was prime."
"One was an 'arf-caste widow,"
"One was a woman at Prome,"
"One was the wife of a jemadar-sais,"
"An' one is a girl at 'ome."
- Pardon me, Mr. Russell... - That's all right.
"Now I aren't no 'and with the ladies,"
I'm sorry, I have to make an announcement.
- If you'd be good enough sit down, sir. - You come and join us, Mr. Russell.
Ladies and gentlemen,
you all know what a tragedy occurred yesterday
and I'm sure you all want to cooperate
in bringing the perpretator of the foul crime to book.
As you know, we are fortunate enough to have on board with us, Mr. Hercule Poirot,
who is probably known to you all as a man with wide experience in...
... such matters.
I hope you'll listen carefully to what he has to say.
Thank you, Captain Fowler.
Mesdames, messieurs (Ladies, Gentlemen).
What I am about to do may surprise you a little.
It may occur to you that I am eccentric, perhaps mad.
Ah! You may say " the little Belgian detective is taking leave of his senses ", uh?
But I can assure you...
... behind my madness is,
as you English say...
... method.
Voilà!
A suitcase.
How uninteresting.
" Nothing is less interesting then a suitcase ", yes?
And you are right, except...
... suitcases have contents.
- It's a doll. - Yes, a doll.
Except this doll
is an important witness
to the truth of who killed
Madame Clapperton.
" But how it is that this doll can tell us what it knows? "
But this is a doll that can speak.
You have never heard of dolls that can speak? Yes, of course you have.
All we have to do is put this doll back in the suitcase,
where we cannot see her.
She does not like to be seen, this little lady.
Do you, ma petite?
No!
Now, can tell us anything about the death of Madame Clapperton?
What is it, John? The door is locked.
"The door is locked."
I don't want to be disturbed by the stewards.
"I don't want to be disturbed by the stewards."
You...
Stop him!
Yes.
Take him to my quarters.
Ladies and gentlemen, if you would clear the room - Thank you, so much.
Did I do it right, Mr. Poirot?
Oh, yes, ma petite.
It was you, General, who gave to me
a valuable hint with your mention of the music hall stage.
I am puzzled. I think.
And then, the evening before the crime,
Colonel Clapperton pretented to give himself away.
He wanted us to believe that he was a conjurer,
because then, it would never occur to us that he was in fact...
... a ventriloquist.
And that's what he did, when you heard him talk
to Mrs. Clapperton through a cabin door.
Précisément,
and, by then, she was already dead.
Excuse me.
What about the necklace on the floor?
Was it Miss Henderson's?
Non, It was put there to make us think that some native thief was the killer.
But that it caused suspicion on someone who actually cared for him was a cruel irony.
Pardon.
I am sorry, Mademoiselle.
He didn't do it for me.
It was those girls' youth.
It made him feel his slavery.
He wanted to be free before it was too late.
We all have such dreams.
When did you guess it was him?
His self-control was too perfect.
No matter how harsh was the behaviour of his wife,
never seemed to touch him.
That either meant that he was so used to it, that it no longuer stung,
or else he knew his bondage would soon be over.
It was a cruel dirty trick you played, Monsieur Poirot.
I do not approve of murder, Mam'selle.
Translated & resync by titta for Addic7ed.com