The Snorkel

Ciao, Giulio.

Signora? Signora Decker?

Lei sta dentro?

Giulio! Giulio!

Giulio! Giulio! Giulio!

Giulio! Viene presto!

La signora! Aiuto! Sento il gas!

Il gas?

Si, gas, si! Aiuto! Viene presto!

Viene presto!

Accidenti! C'è il gas!

Si, corre il gas! La signora sta dentro!

Vai qualche cosa!

- Cosa dobbiamo fare? - Apri la porta!

Spinge! Spinge!

Maria! Chiama la polizia! La polizia!

Bene, questo sembra che basta.

- Va da giù. Chiami di ambulanza. - Si, signore.

Ah, Mr Wilson. You have been very quick.

You know this lady, of course?

Mrs Decker. Yes, I know her.

Suicide?

That is for the inquest to say.

But you see, all the doors and windows taped up,

the gas taps all turned on,

the doors locked from the inside.

No one can go in or out. Si, suicide, definitely.

- Now this Mrs... - Decker.

Decker, si. She is English, is she not?

Yes, but she's not a tourist.

She's been living here for some time.

Si, si, I know. We have her papers.

This is her villa, no?

Really, it belongs to her husband.

He spent a great deal of money on it.

It was in a bit of a mess when Decker married her.

Expensive, hmm?

She could afford it.

Mr Decker, he is rich, too?

No, no, I don't think so.

Oh.

The maid says he is away. You know where?

No. He often goes away for a few days on his own.

Do you know of any reason why...

No, none at all.

They were a happy couple?

Yes, as far as I know.

Well, we'd better find Mr Decker.

Yes. Where is he? He killed her!

Mummy!

Povera, povera bambina. Non guarda, cara.

Tutt'andrà bene, tutt'andrà bene.

Porte la bambina giù. Questo non è il posto per lei.

Si, la povera piccina.

I didn't know there was a child.

Yes. I thought she was in England.

Where's Paul?

You must find him. I know he killed my mummy!

I'm Mr Wilson, Candy, from the British Consulate.

I knew your mother,

and there's nothing to worry about.

We'll soon find your father.

He's not my father. My Daddy's dead.

Now Paul has killed Mummy, and you've let him get away.

It's not like that, Candy.

I imagine your mummy was unhappy. She...

She wouldn't do a thing like that,

not on the day I was coming home.

It was Paul, he did it. And he's got away.

No one has got away, little girl.

It was necessary to break down the door.

Since then, there is someone here all the time.

If he was here at all, he would be here still.

And you can see he is not.

But he must have been here.

Mummy couldn't do a thing like that.

I know this has been a terrible shock for you.

If you'll go downstairs with this lady here,

I'll be down in a minute. We'll talk about what we're going to do.

Candy!

Candy! Candy, my pet, why did you have to come up here?

Signorina?

I'm Jean Edwards. I've come from England with Candy.

What a terrible thing to have happened.

Paul did it, Jean. He killed Mummy.

Shh, my love! We'll talk about it downstairs. Come on.

Come on, Toto!

Toto, come on.

You think I'm mad, don't you?

They all thought I was mad when I said he killed my Daddy.

Poor kid.

She must think her stepfather is an absolute monster.

Candy?

Is there anything you would like me to get you?

No, thank you, Jean.

I must arrange somewhere for us to stay.

Would you mind very much if I leave you for a few minutes?

Then I'll just go and telephone. I shan't be long.

- Per ora, questo è tutto. - Si, signor.

- Più tardi, avrebbo bisogno di lei. - Si, signor.

- Miss... - Edwards.

Miss Edwards, please.

One moment, if you don't mind.

You know the Decker family well?

Quite well, yes.

We understand, Mr Decker, he is away, writing.

You know of this, perhaps?

Well, I know he went away quite often.

Have you any idea where he is now?

No, I haven't.

Oh.

Mrs Decker, she was unhappy? Depressed?

I don't know. I've only just arrived.

I know she didn't like it when Mr Decker was away.

She was very much in love with him.

And the little girl, she was perhaps jealous.

Well, it's been a difficult situation.

She really must hate her stepfather.

Yes, she thinks that he killed her father.

Well, why should she think this?

Well, she saw the accident, didn't she?

Yes, it was when she was eight.

They were all on holiday together.

The two men took a small boat fishing.

Candy went, too.

There was an accident, and her father was drowned.

She saw it all.

Of course she must have been crazy with grief,

but she was convinced that Mr Decker was to blame.

Poor child. Now she thinks he killed her mother, too.

It was suicide? There's no doubt?

No doubt at all.

Locked doors, all the gas taps turned on, no doubt at all.

- Finito? - Finito. Possiamo andare?

Well, there is nothing more we can do here.

Thank you for your help, Mr Wilson.

That's all right, Inspector.

I shall leave a man on duty here

in case the husband comes back.

If he contacts you, you will tell me, please?

- Of course. - And you too, please, Signorina.

Yes, I will.

I'll take you to a hotel. You can't possibly stay here.

Thank you, that would be very kind.

I'll just go and tell Candy.

All right, pet, we're going soon.

Paul did it, Jean. I know he did.

We'll talk about it later, when we get to the hotel.

Come on.

Come on, Toto.

- Allora, sa genti, ci vediamo domani. - Si, si, va bene.

Ah, ma povera signora!

- Arrivederci. Saluti la sua signora. - Ciao, arrivederci.

Bad luck, having this responsibility thrust on you at the start of your holiday.

It isn't exactly a holiday.

I've known the Deckers for some time.

We have an arrangement.

I take Candy off their hands for a bit during the school holidays.

It's always worked very well.

- I see. - Hotel Europa.

Well, if there's anything else I can do for you, just call me.

All right, thank you.

Anyway, I'll drop by later this evening.

Fine.

Miss Edwards. Telephone call for you.

You can take it in the booth.

All right. Thank you.

Hello? Jean Edwards speaking.

How did you get it?

It was delivered to the house of Mrs Decker

soon after we left, addressed to the signora.

We took the liberty of opening it. I shall read it to you.

"Dear Madge," it starts, "I miss you very much, but it is almost worth it.

"The book is coming along marvellously.

"I hope to finish it by tonight, but whether I do or not,

"I can't stand being away from you any longer,

"so I'm going to start back first thing in the morning.

"In fact, I may reach you before this letter does.

"Longing to see you, darling. Your own Paul."

It's from a little place across the French border.

If only it could have arrived sooner.

It's no good wishing that, I'm afraid.

Look, Inspector, I must get to the villa before he does.

It'd be awful if he hears about this from a stranger.

Yes, that would be very kind.

And please tell him I must see him as soon as possible.

Yes, I'll tell him. Goodbye.

Candy, will you be all right if I leave you for a bit?

But you promised you were going to talk to me about everything.

"As soon as we got to the hotel," you said.

Well, not now, dear. Later. I must go out just for a little while.

You just stay here quietly.

If Mummy was going to do a thing like that,

she would have left me a letter, wouldn't she?

There was no letter, pet.

That's what I mean.

It was Paul. You must believe me. Please, Jean.

Paul was in France when it happened.

How do you know? Have they found him?

Look, darling, I can't explain. Now, I must go.