Moonflower Murders

Frank Parris.

He was murdered!

Killed in a hotel.

Stefan Leonida,

he wasn't the killer.

I want you to read the book.

If you can see what she saw,

maybe you can help us find her.

I investigated the murder of Frank Parris,

and the evidence against Stefan Leonida was overwhelming.

We've found the body of Cecily Treherne

in woodland not far from here.

No!

She'd been strangled,

just like the actress in that book of yours.

Some time between- 28 and- 38 in the evening,

she called her physician, Dr. Leonard Collins.

He drove straight round, but by the time he arrived,

she was dead.

You murdered her.

Yes, I strangled her in the bedroom.

I do not believe John Spencer took his own life.

If he didn't kill Melissa James, then who did?

Dr. Collins, of course.

Who in the blazes killed John Spencer?

PÜThe person who killed John Spencer

was me.

So, what did you think?

I told you in my email, I loved it.

But what did you think?

I assume you have notes.

Of course I have notes.

Tell me, Susan,

do you ever read a book for pleasure?

I read lots of books

for pleasure, Alan, including yours.

Especially yours.

But that's not why I'm here.

Well, if you're going to start laying into me,

I'd better have a drink.

We'll have a bottle

of the cabernet Saint-Julien.

Of course, sir.

I hope that's all right.

Yeah, it's fine-- I won't be joining you.

I have to work this afternoon.

I wasn't planning to share it.

You know, Alan, we're both on the same side.

I just want the book to be as good as it can be.

And I don't?

You're a brilliant writer.

You're the best mystery writer in the business.

Yes, that's what the "Mail" said.

Yes, and we put it on the cover.

Look, I, I know that you find edits boring,

but it really is worth going the extra mile.

So, tell me what's wrong.

Did you guess the ending?

No, I never do.

Well, that's something.

I have four headline notes,

and I'm sure you can deal with them very easily,

so, can I go ahead? Be my guest.

Well, first of all...

I found some of the characters

a little unsympathetic.

In what way?

Well, let's start with Eric Chandler,

who works for Melissa James.

The way you've written him,

he's very unattractive.

He can't look after himself,

he's a Peeping Tom.

He still reads comics.

I'm not sure I see the problem.

And since you mention it, the comic is a clue.

Really?

I don't think you ever explain that.

Some clues aren't meant to be explained.

I just worry there's a possibility

some modern readers might find him distasteful.

Well, modern readers can read something else.

Right, okay, well,

we don't need to argue about that now.

Let's move on.

Uh... Yeah.

I'm not sure it's a good idea to mix real people

with the characters in your book.

Such as?

Bert Lahr, for example,

the actor in "The Wizard of Oz."

You make a point of describing...

...a signed poster of the film that's hanging in her house,

and I just worry that it confuses two worlds--

reality and fiction.

That's another clue, Susan.

Well, you don't explain that one, either.

That's right.

Sir? Yes, yes, just pour it.

And soon as you can.

I'm beginning to need it.

I only have two more notes,

and they both relate to the last scene.

The solution?

Yeah.

Um, I just wonder if you need

to assemble so many of the characters

when Dr. Collins is revealed to be the killer.

I mean, Oscar Berlin doesn't really have anything to do.

But I thought you loved that sort of thing.

Classic Agatha Christie?

Well, in that case,

why leave out the hotel owners?

Lance and Maureen Gardner?

Surely, it should be all or nothing.

I'll think about it.

But here's my, my biggest note.

The way you've constructed it,

Dr. Collins is unmasked,

which is great,

and then Atticus Pünd says that he was the person

who killed John Spencer, which I loved.

So, what's the problem?

You make us wait a whole chapter

before you explain what he means,

and I just think it'll be so much better

if it all happened at the same time.

I disagree.

I like the suspense.

So...

What do we do now?

Um, could you just give us some room?

Hm. Thanking you.

Come on, Mr. Pünd.

What were you talking about back there?

You didn't kill John Spencer-- we all know that.

So, what did you mean?

I should not have taken this case, Detective Inspector.

I was asked to, by a man who called himself Edgar Schultz

and claimed to be an agent from New York.

Claimed to be?

Oh, yes, Miss Cain.

But whatever else he was, he was not an American.

I told you that his timing was of interest to me.

Yes, I did wonder about that.

Hm, well, it's very simple.

He claimed to have called you from the Savoy Hotel

in London the morning before.

This would've been the same day

that he learned of the death of his client.

He was very upset.

Perhaps,

but the flight from Idlewild Airport

would have taken at least ten hours.

He could not possibly

have traveled in that time.

This may have been all my fault, Mr. Pünd.

But I did not.

And there was something about the way he spoke.

She was injured during the shooting

of a movie with Hitchcock five years ago,

and then moved to somewhere called Tawleigh

in "Devonshyer"-- is that right?

It would seem to me that a New Yorker

would be much more likely to say "someplace"

rather than "somewhere,"

but then the accent,

it already sounded forced to me.

It was the accent of someone pretending to be an American.

So, he was a fake?

But why?

Because somebody very much wanted me to investigate

the death of Melissa James.

And that somebody

was you.

I'm sorry, Mr. Pünd.

I, I have no idea what you're getting at.

I thought it would be very good for your profile.

Well, yes, that's what you said, but... Yes.

The true reason is that you were infatuated with her.

You're a great fan of her films, no?

Yes, I liked them. Oh, it was more than that.

More than once, you revealed an intimate knowledge

of her work.

A lot of the furniture came from "The Mary Celeste."

PÜ The ship that disappeared.

And the title of Melissa James's second film.

Oh, look at this.

Oh, that's a prop from one of her films.

A Turkish dagger.

It's a wicked-looking thing.

You knew what it was

because you'd seen the film,

and you could not contain your excitement

at visiting the home of its star.

Oh, what a gorgeous house!

But it was a nice house.

You persuaded me to take the case, Miss Cain.

You hired the actor who played Edgar Schultz

because you wanted