Agatha Christie's Marple

Oi, Robbie, look at this!

Whoa-oh! Ooh!

Hey, Mike. What?

I'll race ya. Whoo!

Be careful, don't slip.

Come on, faster!

Pete!

Pete!

Help me!

(Muffled) I got ya! I got ya! Grab my hand!

Hold on to me, Pete!

Oh, God, no! No! PETE! No!

'In my end is my beginning.'

That's what they say, isn't it?

My end, my beginning.

I miss him so much.

On a chat with Robbie Hayman remembering Pete,

and talking about our plans for the future.

I can't tell you how grateful we are.

I didn't do anything.

You risked your life. Anyone would've done the same.

You're the best friend in the world, Mike.

More than a friend. Come on, mate.

One day I'll repay you. Something really special.

When I first saw Ellie, insubstantial as a dream.

Are you thinking of buying?

Oh, it's out of my league, I'm afraid, madam.

Just passing through, are you? Yes, madam.

Working, I imagine.

Driving an old couple around. Yes.

It is such a lovely corner of the world, don't you think, mister...?

Rogers. Marple. Jane Marple.

I-I'm not from these parts either.

I'm just staying with an old friend who's recently lost her husband.

One can find it all too easy to lose touch.

I'm sure one can, madam.

There's really no need to call me 'madam'.

Sorry, madam, that's...

There I go again.

Yes, this is an unhappy house, one hears. In what way?

I'm not the person to ask, Mr Rogers,

but they do say the gypsies have put a curse on it.

Now why would they go and do a thing like that?

It's all superstition, of course.

The locals take it very serious. Jane!

My old friend Marjorie.

She insists on a brisk walk before luncheon.

It's been so nice to meet you, Mr Rogers.

Miss Marple.

Oh, Marjorie, I just met the sweetest man...

A gypsy's curse. That was a new one.

So I thought I'd take a peek.

It wasn't a ruin I was looking at. It was my destiny.

Gipsy's Acre.

I'd knock it down, build the most fantastic house,

and there you'd have it - my future.

'Michael Rogers, country squire.' Sounded good to me.

What are you up to?

Just having a look. Thinking of buying?

Yes.

Chauffeur, are you? That's right.

Best foot forward, Jane.

The sooner we finish, the sooner we eat.

..Gipsy's Acre you don't.

What's there to know? Go on, tell me.

What happened there? The last owners died.

All of them. How?

You're out of your depth, sonny.

Go back to mummy. Tell me.

Read your palm for sixpence. Go on then.

Going to be rich, am I?

Every night and every morn, some to misery are born.

Every morn and every night, some are born to sweet delight.

Sixpence for that? You're having a laugh.

Some are born to sweet delight.

Some are born to endless night.

I had to put my dreams of Gipsy's Acre

on hold on return to London.

Turned my hand to lots of things, but never stuck at them.

But I'm lazy and just sort of restless.

All that war stuff, austerity. Know your place.

Time for a change, I reckon.

I wasn't sure how.

Then one day, with time to kill, I found myself on Bond Street,

so I thought I'd do a bit of window shopping.

And something caught my eye.

Now, he seemed a nice enough bloke, so I popped in and asked the price.

25 grand?!

I needed a stiff one after that.

Robbie?

An architect? Yes.

You always did have a bit of artistic bent.

What have you been up to? What haven't I been up to?

Stable boy, fruit picker, waiter...

..lifeguard. Lifeguard?

I was a chauffeur for a while,

driving these pompous old gits around here and on the continent.

Stinking rich they were.

Forever looking down their noses. But I was nice as pie.

I can imagine. Always ended up with a whacking great tip.

That's a nasty cough you got there.

I'm not too clever. You should get that seen to.

I haven't forgotten, you know. What?

Trying to save Pete. Oh. That was ages ago.

Get a load of that.

I-I could build you a house. I know exactly what you like.

And do you know exactly how much I got in my post office savings?

Born poor doesn't mean you have to stay poor.

Good old, Robbie. Ever the romantic. I'm serious.

It's a dream, mate. It's just a dream.

Sold to the gentleman at the back.

Now, ladies and gentlemen...

We can't keep you away, can we?

Oh, I'm afraid not, Miss Marple.

Day off, is it? I've moved on.

Oh, I was wondering where that smart uniform had gone.

I'm just a humble barman now.

Now, where were we? 2,250...

Gipsy's Acre is still casting its spell though.

Well, the trouble is, when I want something...

Oh, everyone has to be tenacious these days.

All a little cut and thrust for my liking.

The house didn't get sold. So I decided to take another look.

And that's how I came to meet Ellie.

Sorry, I wasn't expecting to...

That's quite alright. I wasn't expecting to meet anybody either.

Such a lonely spot.

Sort of... scary.

Old ruins can get you like that. It's up for auction today.

I've just come from there, as it happens.

Do you know if it was sold? Didn't meet its reserve.

Are you thinking of buying? No.

I can't think of anything better.

It's rather decrepit. Oh, yeah, but you pull it all down.

Build something really special.

And the view... whoa! If you cleared all this away and...

Voila.

A beautiful jewel. A house for lovers.

So I told her about Robbie and how we dreamt of the future,

how I tried to save his brother's life,

and how he'd offered to repay me.

But that's awful! Yeah.

I'd like a house like that, built out of love.

What's your name?

Mike. Mike Rogers.

Fenella Goodman. But my friends call me Ellie.

Well... well, it's nice to meet you, Ellie.

You're not welcome here. What are you playing at?

This is gypsies' land and they drove us off.

I thought it was up for sale. Bad luck'll come to whoever buys it.

There's a curse on this land.

Clear off if you know what's good for you.

This is Mrs Lee. She gets money out of people by telling their fortunes.

I know things, young lady, it'd be wise for you to know.

Alright then.

Amaze me.

What do I see?

What is it?

What's wrong? Forget this place.

Forget you ever saw it. Oh, for God sake.

Go where you're loved, where you're cared for.

This isn't the place for you.

Something happened up there, didn't it?

That's why it's going cheap. What was it, Mike?

Tell me.

Apparently, the people that lived there...

They all died. It was a murder.

A man and his wife and another man,

the husband shot the other two, and then shot himself.

Wasn't there some doubt about the verdict?

No doubt at all. It was all perfectly true.

Marjorie, you're frightening the poor girl.

No, I want to know.

That place is cursed. Jane Marple, by the way.

Oh, I'm so sorry, I'm forgetting my manners.

This is Fenella Goodman. Philpot. Marjorie. Widow.

We met a few days later in London.

Ellie had mentioned it was her 21st in a few weeks' time.

So I thought I'd show her I meant business.

Happy birthday.

Chalk and cheese, that's us. How do you mean?

Well, you're rich and I'm not.

I gradually got to know more about her.

Her parents were dead and she couldn't stand her stepmother.

She told me she could never do what she wanted,

and made out that money wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

Don't you have any friends? I've got one.

Greta. Uh-huh.

A sort of chaperone. She's a godsend.

What's she like? Oh, she's marvellous.

And she's beautiful too.

Was it Greta who suggested you go to Gipsy's Acre that day?

I'm allowed some secrets, aren't I?

Oh, I can't wait to be 21.

After that I'll be able to do what I like.

Don't you think I ought to meet your family?

Oh, but they'd make such a fuss. Can we go on as we are?

If that's what you want.

It's just... so nice

to have somebody one can... make believe with.