Favourite Agatha Christie’s Poirot episodes [9/10]: Peril at End House
Poirot and Hastings take a holiday at an exclusive Cornish resort, looking for peace and quiet. They meet Miss Nick Buckley, a beautiful heiress who lives near their hotel at End House, and she tells Poirot she has had three near-fatal accidents in a few weeks. Poirot suspects someone in Nick’s inner circle is out to kill her. Nick hosts a party, inviting friends and relatives. When Nick’s cousin Maggie is found dead at the party, Poirot realizes Maggie was killed by mistake because she was wearing Nick’s red shawl.
But surely, nobody could think of murder in such a beautiful place?
Non, non, non. Non, Hastings.
It is romantic, yes. It is peaceful. The sun shines, the sea, it is blue.
But you forget, mon ami, there is evil everywhere under the sun.
Look at them lying in rows, like corpses in the morgue! They are not men and women. Nothing personal about them. They’re just bodies, butcher’s meat, steaks grilling in the sun.
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?
Emily Arundel confides to Poirot that she fears one of her relatives is trying to kill her for her money. When she trips on her fox terrier’s ball and falls down the stairs, the accident is blamed on little Bob. Poirot persuades Emily to disinherit the heirs, but she is murdered anyway. Poirot knows the key to solving the mystery lies in Bob who witnessed the murderer at work.
Agatha Christie’s Poirot: Series Six - Dumb Witness (1996)
Sit, Bob. Good dog. You are the only one who knows the truth, mon petit. You know how your mistress died. You also know, I think, who killed her. He or she passed you by as they laid the trip wire, saying to themselves, ‘Oh, this is only Bob, a fox terrier. He can not speak. I am safe.’ Such foolishness, n’est-ce pas?