HE SIGHS CROW CAWING VEHICLE APPROACHES Mayfield.

- Sir George.

- Show me.

It'd better be good.

A damn sight too good for His Majesty's Government, if you ask me.

You expect too much of the Defence Committee, Mayfield!

SIR GEORGE: So this is it at last, is it?

A Mayfield Kestrel!

Until we can think of a better name.

ENGINE ROARS POIROT: Petroleum jelly, Hastings.

That is the secret!

You rub it well in, and it will prevent the cracking, yes?

How do you work out cubic what-do-you-call-'ems?

Comment?

Cubic thingummies, how do you work them out?

I mean, this ceiling's, what?

Ten feet up, yes?

So do you multiply ten?

Hastings.

I am trying to instruct you in the care of patent leather, something that will be of use to you in later life.

Well, so will cubic whatsits.

Suppose I had to survey something or something.

You do not deceive me, Hastings.

You are having these eccentric thoughts because of this girl of yours, huh?

This student of architecture.

Well, we never seem to have anything to talk about.

I tried reading a book about Bernini.

She's very keen on Bernini.

I couldn't make head or tail of it.

No, no, no, no, no!

Hastings, women do not wish to talk about Bernini and cubic thingummies!

I don't know that she wants to talk about anything.

She's never in when I call round to see her.

I end up having tea with her mother every day.

How does it compare with a Messerschmitt 109?

It's more manoeuvrable.

It's got a turning circle of 800ft, and visibility is better, too.

SIR GEORGE: Fuel injection?

No.

Pity.

PM's very keen on fuel injection.

Yes, he's right, but we just haven't got a reliable system yet.

MAYFIELD CHUCKING There's a lady keeps telephoning, Mr Poirot.

Sacre!

What a terrible circumstance!

There's no need to be sarcastic, Mr Poirot.

I was going on to say that I didn't put her through to you because she wouldn't give her name.

Huh.

I told her you don't take anonymous phone calls.

But I do, Miss Lemon.

Sometimes I think anonymous telephone calls are the only ones worth taking.

But how will I know where to file her if I haven't got a name?

Life first, Miss Lemon.

Filing second.

Very well, then.

Next time she calls, I'll let her talk to you.

And on your own head be it!

DOOR SLAMS SHUT You shouldn't tease her, Poirot.

She makes it irresistible.

MACHINE GUN FIRING It's like a solid wall of lead, two feet square, coming straight at you!

TYRE BURSTS The main spar must be tremendously strong to withstand the G-force of the turning circle.

And the recoil from the guns.

It's built up in layers, so the whole thing acts like a giant leaf spring.

And we're still improving on it, too.

But I can't go on pouring my own money into the Kestrel forever.

You seem not to understand the position that the Defence Committee is in, Mayfield.

They like you, most of them are 100% behind you.

But that Japanese business nearly brought the Government down.

One more scandal like that...

There are no more scandals like that.

You're saying they don't trust me.

- It's not a question of trust.

- Yes, it is!

Very well, then.

If they want me to prove to them that they can trust me, that's what I'll do.

How do you mean?

How will you do that?

I've invited Mrs Vanderlyn down for the weekend.

Mrs Vanderlyn?

Are you mad?

PLANE LANDS You've invited her down here?

And before the weekend is out, I promise you I'll have hooked Mrs Vanderlyn, reeled her in, and gaffed her!

How?

By using the plans of the Kestrel as a bait!

You idiot!

You can't go using top secret papers like that!

This is madness!

TELEPHONE RINGS Hercule Poirot's residence.

Yes.

What name is it, please?

Hold on one moment, please.

It's your anonymous telephone caller again.

She's calling herself Miss Smith this time, but it's her.

- Put her through, Miss Lemon.

- Yes, Mr Poirot.

Are you there?

Mr Poirot will speak to you now.

TELEPHONE RINGS Allo.

WOMAN: 'Monsieur Poirot?'

- Yes, Miss Smith.

I need to meet you, Monsieur Poirot.

This is a national emergency.

No, no, no, I can't come there.

Somewhere where nobody will know us.

I'm sure that can be arranged, mademoiselle.

Where do you suggest?

WOMAN CLEARS THROAT Monsieur Poirot?

You are not Miss Smith.

Yes, I am.

Where is your green carnation?

I wanted time to study you.

Besides, green doesn't suit me.

I was carrying my Times!

These arrangements, once made, should be adhered to, Miss Smith.

BIRD CAWING Oh, this is so difficult!

My husband... - Yes?

My husband has invited a woman to stay this weekend at our house.

No, Miss Smith, go no further.

Poirot does not handle this type of work.

No, no, you don't understand.

This is a dangerous woman.

I know that a man as distinguished in his field as you are wouldn't handle sordid domestic cases.

There is more at stake here.

I see.

My name is not really Miss Smith.

I am astounded (!)

My name is Mayfield, Lady Margaret Mayfield.

- And who is Lord Mayfield?

- There isn't one.

I'm only Mrs Mayfield really, but my father was an Earl.

And who is this dangerous woman you talk about?

Mrs Joanna Vanderlyn.

Mrs Vanderlyn is rumoured to have pro-German sympathies.

There was a scandal two years ago with the young Marquis of Lowestoft.

He shot himself.

Yes, I remember.

Mrs Vanderlyn was involved?

- Yes.

It was thought that he'd passed on to her certain secret information.

I did not know that.

It was kept hushed up as much as possible.

His regiment had been involved in testing the Galahad tank.

And you think... My husband is engaged in a lot of projects that are crucial to the future of this country.

If an enemy should gain access...

Surely, you do not suspect your husband of treachery?

No, of course not.

But the Government has treated him very badly ever since that Japanese business.

You must have read about it.

Even though his name was cleared, they still don't give him the backing he needs.

Bitterness may make him less careful than he should be.

Please help me, Monsieur Poirot.

There is so much at stake for England.

Good evening, Lady Carrington.

Hello, Dawson.

Where is everybody?

On the lower terrace, Lady Carrington.

MAYFIELD: We can only put our trust in the League of Nations and pray for peace.

Isn't that a rather peculiar thing for an arms manufacturer to do, sir?

What is it Beverley Nichols calls you?

Merchants of Death?

Mr Mayfield is an armaments manufacturer, Reggie, because this particular game can only be played from strength.

Quite right, Sir George!

Oh, sorry, Dad.

I didn't realise it was all a game.

Where has the fabled Mrs Vanderlyn got to, I wonder?

Haven't the foggiest.

She arrived hours ago.

- You have met her before?

- Not since I was a child.

Please.

Yeah.

She's the daughter of HK Griffin.

The man used to be the American Ambassador over here.

Apparently, we all have to be very nice to the Americans these days, ready for when the war starts.

- Hmm.

Ha!

Mother's finally arrived.

All these exciting people!

I wasn't warned it was going to be a rout.

Isabelle, I'm so glad you could come.

I'm just sorry I'm so unforgivably late.

Will I be completely de trop if I don't change?

You will be the talk of Steeple Bumpstead.

- Oh, God, I wouldn't want that!

- Good journey, darling?

Lovely.

The A11 is particularly enthralling this time of year.

Hello, Tommy.

May I introduce Monsieur Hercule Poirot?

How nice to meet you.

Foreign, yes?

- Er... You'll soon pick up our little ways.

Uh... Talking of which...

IN AMERICAN ACCENT: Oh!

How English!

How very, very English!

We've got some very American dry Martinis mixed, if you'd like one.

Oh, that would be wonderful.

The trouble with the Foreign Office is, it's very long on protocol, on whether the Prime Minister of Timbuktu should take precedence over the King of Ongo Bongo.

ALL LAUGHING And very short on what Winnie describes as "intestinal fortitude".

I'm sure that's not true of your Foreign Secretary.

Well, I must bow to your superior knowledge, Mrs Vanderlyn.

I'm sure you know Mr Eden a great deal better than us humble souls, huh?

I wouldn't say that.

But when I had lunch with him yesterday, he was saying more or less the same as you about the Foreign Office's passion for protocol.

No, thank you.

ALL LAUGHING I refuse to let men waste their time drinking port when there's bridge to be played.

Sir George?

You see what sort of a woman she is.

The sort of woman Mrs Vanderlyn is does not make a matter of national importance.

I do hope you're right.

Monsieur Poirot.

Actually, the whole European situation's rather like a bridge game at the moment.

On the one hand we have the diminutive Fuhrer, and on the other, Signor Mussolini, the bullfrog of the Pontine Marshes.

In the end, they'll both need taking down a peg or two.

And what about the Emperor Hirohito, sir?

Will he need taking down a peg?

MRS VANDERLYN: What did he say?

Has he said something nasty again?

He's such a little snot, aren't you, darling?

MAYFIELD LAUGHING LOUDLY They tell me he's working too hard.

He believes we're on the brink of war.

And that he can stop it single-handed?

Something like that.

Hmm.

The truth is, of course, he can do more than most people.

A little slam, I think.

Congratulations, partner.

Aren't you gonna give us our revenge?

George and I have work to do, I'm afraid.

The plans are ready for you, sir.

We'll join you in a minute.

Come along, George.

If you'll excuse us.

I will take a promenade in the garden before turning in.

It will clear my brain.

You might have done that before we played cards.

Madame is too agreeable.

Good night.

OWL HOOTING There you are, my friend!

Why can't I stay at the house?

That's what I want to know.

Number one, Hastings, you are not invited.

A pure oversight.

Number two, I need you at this stage incognito and very nearby.

Well, my incognito's gone, for a start.

Why?

Why is this?

Well, the pub's so crowded, I'm having to share a room.

And you'll never guess who with.

No, Hastings, I will not.

Japp.

With the Chief Inspector Japp?

And the room has only got one bed.

I wonder why the Chief Inspector Japp is here.

You're not very sympathetic.

We all have our troubles, Hastings.

I would rather share a bed with the Chief Inspector Japp and three of his sergeants than to be partner at bridge with Lady Carrington.

I've been hearing about her from the chauffeur.

Apparently Sir George is trying to get her to give up cards altogether.

Yes, well, I'm very pleased to hear it, mon ami.

She plays abominably.

No, but she loses a lot of money at it.

She's heavily in hock to moneylenders.

Really?

Hastings, try to find out for me, if you please, who asked the Chief Inspector to be here.

That is most interesting.

- Good night, Mumsie!

- Good night, darling.

What do you think of this idea of detecting aircraft by radio echoes?

RDF?

Feasible.

We've put a certain amount of money into research.

SHARPLY: How much money?

SIR GEORGE CHUCKLES I'm not gonna tell you that!

Oh, hello!

I just came in to fetch my bag.

MAYFIELD: Don't mind us.

Good night again.

MAYFIELD: Good night.

Having that woman here is a mistake, Mayfield, no matter what your intentions are.

It'll do you no good.

It'll do me a great deal of good when I get her put into Holloway prison.

It's all nonsense, this talk of trapping her.

BIRD CALL What was that?

What?

Someone ran across the terrace there.

I didn't see anything.

Anyway, how do you intend to trap her?

I'm sure I saw something.

Why do politicians treat everyone else like idiots?

Hmph.

Probably because they voted for us in the first place!

BOTH CHUCKLING I've laid everything out on the desk, sir.

Will you want me any more tonight?

Er, no, we'll probably be late.

You might as well turn in.

I'll lock these away myself.

- Right.

Good night, Mr Mayfield, Sir George.

Just a minute.

You've forgotten the most important paper.

I don't think so, sir.

Sheet number three, the mathematics for the aluminium stressing.

I put it on the top.

HE SCOFFS Well, it isn't here.

I don't understand.

I put it here.

I know I did.

No, you must have made a mistake.

It must still be in the safe.

No, I put it there.

I looked for it particularly and put it on the top.

Do you mean to tell me it's gone?

Who's been in this room?

No-one at all.

Well, it can't just have vanished into thin air.

Someone must have taken it!

Can Poirot be of assistance?

Finding the lost property is something of a profession of mine.

What is missing?

This is a matter of national security.

I think we should alert Inspector Japp.

Telephone him at the Three Crowns, would you, Mr Carlile?

Where does that door lead?

Well done!

This wasn't meant to happen.

But it was.

You said... Not like this!

She's turned the tables on us.

Oh, my God!

I knew it.

I knew it!

SIR GEORGE: I told you not to play with fire.

What am I gonna tell the PM?

MAYFIELD: Nothing for the moment.

He mustn't panic.

I'm damned if that woman's gonna get away with it!

POIROT: Monsieur Mayfield, forgive me.

I do not wish to delve into the secrets, but please can you give me some idea of what is on the paper?

I don't know how closely you follow international events, Mr Poirot, but... Germany has just announced that she has parity with this country in the air.

- And so I understand.

- Yeah, well, what that means... is that, that piece of paper is perhaps our only chance of keeping our civilian population safe from aerial attack.

Am I exaggerating?

Not a jot.

POIROT: So the technical breakthrough, eh?

And worth a considerable amount of money?

Oh, money doesn't enter into it.

But it might with some people, and in certain quarters.

- Traitors, you mean?

- Indeed.

But anyone, me included, could knock on the door of the German Embassy and when I come out, I could be a rich man, if I had these papers?

Certainly.

Monsieur Carlile, before I went for my promenade in the garden, you volunteered to get the papers ready in here?

Yes.

And shortly after that, everyone else went upstairs to prepare for the bed?

I presume so.

I don't know.

Yes, they did.

SIR GEORGE CLEARS THROAT Mrs Vanderlyn came down again.

Indeed?

That's right.

She'd forgotten her bag.

Ha, the old gasp, huh?

No, pardon, the old wheeze, to return for something you SAY you have forgotten.

Quite.

Monsieur Carlile, after you had opened the safe and got out the papers... ..did you leave the study again, even for a moment?

No, not for a second.

So... everyone else was upstairs preparing for the bed, except Mrs Vanderlyn, who came down for her bag.

And yet the plans are stolen.

Monsieur Carlile, do you still want to say you did not leave the study?

I don't know what all this is about, Poirot.

Carlile has been my confidential secretary for nine years.

He has access to all my private papers.

He could have made a copy of that sheet any time he liked, with no-one being any the wiser.

Why would he need to stage a rather clumsy robbery?

Thank you, Mr Mayfield.

If Monsieur Poirot has any suspicions, I should like all my belongings searched.

No, no, no, no, no.

Monsieur Carlile, I cast not the aspersions.

It is a small problem merely, but a problem that will agitate the little grey cells most adequately.

MAYFIELD: With Carlile on guard all the time, I don't see how anyone could get into that room.

Yes, well, it is no use running to conclusions, Monsieur Mayfield.

It was from there that you saw Mrs Vanderlyn in here?

A little further back, I think.

POIROT: From where I was in the garden, I could see that the dining room was in darkness.

But it would have been quite possible for someone to use those doors to get out onto the terrace, and from there, into the study.

I told you I thought I saw something!

- By George, you did!

- There!

Across the lawn to a waiting car!

He'll be miles away by now.

No, no, no, no, no, no.

The one way through the garden would have taken him directly past me.

Er, what's going on?

Go back to bed, Reggie.

Hmm.

So an interesting situation.

The only person who could possibly have stolen those most important papers is one of us.

Or Mrs Vanderlyn.

CAR APPROACHING Mr Mayfield, Sir George.

Poirot.

What's all this, then, about a theft?

A very important secret paper has been stolen from my study, Chief Inspector.

Right, lads, fan out.

Whittaker, take the north end of the house.

Dobson, the upstairs landing.

Beales, the servants' quarters.

Er, it is not, perhaps, as simple as that, mon ami.

Whoever stole this paper will not leave it lying around where we will find it.

Leave this to the professionals, Poirot.

Missing documents are an everyday occurrence to my lads.

REGGIE SCOFFS I'll bet!

And who might you be?

His son.

I thought I told you to go to bed!

Sorry, Chief Inspector.

It's all perfectly simple really.

You see, we know who stole those papers.

Indeed?

MAYFIELD: George, I don't think we should... A guest in this house, a Mrs Vanderlyn.

- Really?

- Well...

I suggest we get straight up there and...

Pardon me for asking, Sir, but how precisely do we know this Mrs, erm... Vanderlyn.

Can't go into details now, matter of national security.

All you've got to do... George, I don't know that this is the right idea.

Sorry, Mayfield.

I know it's your house and all that sort of thing, but it's my pigeon now.

Come on, Japp!

KNOCKING ON DOOR Mrs Vanderlyn?

VANDERLYN: What is it?

This is Sir George Carrington.

I have the police with me.

What do you want?

I'd like you to get dressed, Mrs Vanderlyn, and accompany me to the local police station.

What are you talking about?

JAPP: If you'd just get dressed, Madam.

Damned if I will!

What for?

Some papers have been stolen from Mr Mayfield's study, Mrs Vanderlyn.

And?

If you could just get dressed, Mrs Vanderlyn.

Did you plan this, Mr Mayfield?

I'll get dressed.

If you'll join us at the station, Mr Mayfield.

SIR GEORGE: It must be here!

It must be!

Where's she hidden it, Poirot?

You're used to this sort of thing.

HE SIGHS She's got it with her, that's what it is.

They'll find it when they search her.

Let's imagine you're a woman, Poirot.

By all means, Sir George, if it will help.

Right.

You're a woman.

You're in a strange household, you steal some papers.

Where do you hide them?

Sir George, there is one thing in all this that I do not understand.

- What's that?

I demonstrated, quite cogently, I think, that of all the people in the house, only you, Monsieur Mayfield, Monsieur Carlile and myself could possibly have stolen those papers.

Yes?

Aye.

And yet you go on talking as if Mrs Vanderlyn was without doubt the miscreant.

- Hmm.

What?

Oh, yes.

SIR GEORGE CHUCKLES Well, that sort of thing's all very well, I'm sure, but... it's only theory, isn't it?

We're a practical folk here, Poirot.

Yes.

Nothing, Sir.

It's not in her room.

She hasn't got it on her, either.

This is a disaster, Mayfield.

She must have hidden it somewhere to collect it later.

Froggy thinks she didn't do it.

Froggy KNOWS she didn't do it.

Anywhere you see the dust's been disturbed, let me know.

It's just one sheet of paper we're looking for, remember.

It could be anywhere.

OBJECTS CLATTERING That's got rid of that.

Poirot, my dear fellow, I promise you, you've never heard anything like it.

You know those boots he wears?

Bang!

Then the other one, crash!

When he finally gets into bed, it's worse.

Worse?

He talks in his sleep.

"Now I've got you, young fella-me-lad.

"Japp of the Yard strikes again!"

I thought I'd go mad.

Every time I manage to drop off, he starts shouting.

"Stand back, lads, he's got a blancmange!"

Some of the things he was saying were enough to make a cat laugh.

I can't take much more, Poirot.

I've been through three days of a jerry barrage!

Where is he now?

Gone back up to the house.

Ah.

By the way, I found out who asked him down.

It was Sir George.

Not Monsieur Mayfield.

Apparently not.

Bon!

Just as I thought.

What happened about Mrs Vanderlyn?

Oh, she's leaving this morning, in a great, erm, huff, yes?

In fact, the whole house is quite deserted.

Lady Carrington and Reggie left after breakfast.

Hastings, I want to ask you something.

Ask away.

Last night at dinner, one of the guests said something to Monsieur Mayfield about Japan.

What is it about Japan, Hastings?

Well...

This is a few years back, when the Japs took it into their head to invade Manchuria.

The press got hold of something about Mayfield's company supplying them with the howitzers they were bombarding Shanghai with.

Turned out eventually that the press had got hold of the wrong end of the stick, as per usual.

But by that time, there'd been questions in Parliament and God knows what.

And a lot of the mud stuck.

Hastings, I must go back to the house.

Give me half a sec, I'll drive you.

I've got to change the plugs this morning, anyway.

I thought do it up there.

No, no, no.

I need to walk.

And to think.

CARLILE: Mrs Vanderlyn!

You left this behind.

- Thank you.

Gibson!

Post this for her, will you?

She'll only forget.

Yeah, she's definitely running rich.

Yeah, let's have a look at the carb.

POIROT: Hastings!

Hastings!

Hastings, no more of the tinkering.

We have to follow Mrs Vanderlyn.

But, I've got the plugs out.

It'll take me an hour to get them back.

- Oh, no, mon Dieu!

Viens, Hastings!

Allons-y!

Hey!

ENGINE TURNS OVER CAR DOORS CLOSE ENGINE ROARS, GRAVELS CRUNCH I'm assuming they're heading for the London Road.

TYRES SCREECH CAR HORN BEEPING TYRES SQUEAL There!

Look!

You must not let them see us, Hastings.

- Can we get a move on, John?

- Yes, ma'am.

Damn!

What is it?

They should've turned left on the A11.

Why is that, Hastings?

Because that's the road to London.

Where are they going, then?

Get a map out of the pocket there.

Hold tight.

TYRES SQUEALING HASTINGS: We're on that road there.

Wicken Bonhunt, Clavering, Brent Pelham?

No.

Mean anything to you?

POIROT: No.

Perhaps where they're going is not the main road.

Look at the villages on either side of the road.

POIROT: Hare Street, Buntingford... ..Rickling, Stocking Pelham... ..Throcking.

No.

Fellow I knew at the Front had a place at Throcking.

- Oh.

- Right next door to the German Ambassador's country house.

Ha!

- Hastings!

- Oh, my God!

- Can we get there before them?

- We can have a damn good try!

Where is it?

I don't know.

It was on the salver in the hall!

Dawson put it there!

It seems just to have disappeared.

Oh, God!

Can nothing go right?

DOORBELL RINGING DISTANT BARKING HASTINGS: Good God, Poirot!

Yes, Hastings, we have seen enough.

Come, my friend.

I wouldn't have thought she'd have hidden them there, Sir.

Got any better suggestions, Constable?

No, Sir.

Poirot!

You have to trust me, Margaret.

I do trust you, Tommy.

Everything you've worked for is at stake, though.

It'll be all right.

KNOCKING AT DOOR Who is it?

Bonjour.

What do you want, Mr Poirot?

I have come back to tell you the plans have been safely delivered.

Delivered?

To the German Ambassador.

I am sure Herr von Eckendorf was very pleased.

Tommy, what are we going to do?

Also, Lady Margaret, I found this from one of your guests.

It needed to be posted.

- Give me that!

- I don't want to read it.

The address is probably a little cigarette shop or a newsagent, Monsieur Mayfield, huh?

From which you can collect it at your leisure?

No need to go into that, Mr Poirot.

Let sleeping dogs lie.

No, no, no, Monsieur Mayfield.

Between husband and wife, there should be not the sleepy dogs!

I have no wish to read a letter belonging to one of my guests.

Oh, really?

Suppose I tell you that this was written by Mrs Vanderlyn... ..and that I could guaranty that you would not understand one word of it?

They're in Chinese.

Japanese.

But Tom's signature's at the bottom.

This is the one piece of evidence that links your husband to the sales of arms to the Japanese.

Somehow, they had fallen into the hands of the Germans.

It was these two pieces of paper that Mrs Vanderlyn used to blackmail him.

She said, however, she would exchange them for the plans of the Kestrel.

Oh, Tom!

If he was seen to hand over those plans to Mrs Vanderlyn, he would be ruined anyway.

So it had to look as if somebody had stolen them.

And although he tried to persuade us he saw this mysterious figure on the terrace, it was Monsieur Mayfield himself who stole those plans.

It was the safest way.

And they were securely in his pocket throughout the whole farce of Mrs Vanderlyn's arrest.

And you keep saying everything's going to be all right!

- It will, darling, it... SIR GEORGE: Let me past!

I've had enough of this, Mayfield!

What's going on?

I've been kept totally in the dark.

No, no, no.

No, no, Sir George... the Germans have got the missing papers.

What?

And you, Monsieur Carlile, I imagine you know this as well as anyone.

The German High Command now has plans on our new fighter... ..on which they'll have to waste six months of concentrated effort before they realise they've been sold a pup.

A pup?

Pup?

What's a pup?

A little dog, Sir George.

Little dog?

Oh, pup!

HE SIGHS IN RELIEF Sold a pup?

The plans were doctored.

The maths doesn't make any sense.

But it'll take them a lot of work to find that out.

SIR GEORGE CHUCKLING Good God!

You cunning old devil!

Tommy!

Tommy, darling!

Goes against the grain, letting that Vanderlyn woman go scot-free.

Ah.

She will pay eventually, mon ami.

For the moment, let her enjoy what she thinks is her triumph.

If you ask me, it just shows the dangers of meeting anonymous women at the zoo.

In you get, Japp.

Lady Margaret got what she wanted, anyway.

Her and Mayfield are all lovey-dovey again.

Must be depressing for you when that sort of thing happens, eh, Poirot?

What sort of thing?

Everything working out for the best.

Some married couple ready for a second honeymoon, orphan children reunited with their parents.

Yes, it is hard.

But we must put on it a brave face, huh?

And not allow cheerfulness to keep breaking through!

Drive on, Hastings.

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