The Mousetrap

PHILIP. Nothing—what do you mean—nothing? (He goes to the door up C) Why the woman practically admitted . . . I’m not so sure you’re right about that.

(PHILIP exits up C)

ANGELA. (moving to the door upC) It’s ridiculous, but true.

(ANGELA exits up C)

MISSWILLIAMS. (moving to the door upC) It’s incredible, it’s incredible! I can’t believe it.

(MISS WILLIAMS exits up C. PHILIP re-enters up C)

PHILIP. (to Justin) I’m not so sure you’re right about that. I’ll get my fellow on to it in the morning.

(PHILIP exits up C)

MEREDITH. (moving to the door upC) Elsa of all people, it seems absolutely impossible. Caroline’s dead, Amyas is dead, there’s no one to bear witness—(he turns in the doorway) is there?

(MEREDITH shakes his head and exits up C. The babel dies down. CARLA sits on the upstage end of the bench. JUSTIN looks out of the french windows for a moment at Carla, then goes on to the terrace.)

JUSTIN. What do you want done, Carla?

CARLA. (quietly) Nothing. She’s been sentenced already, hasn’t she?

JUSTIN. (puzzled) Sentenced?

CARLA. To life imprisonment—inside herself. (She looks at him) Thank you.

JUSTIN. (crossing above the bench toL; embarrassed) You’ll go back to Canada, now, and get married. There’s no legal proof, of course, but we can satisfy your Jeff. (He crosses below Carla to C and looks at his notes)

CARLA. We don’t need to satisfy him. I’m not going to marry him. I’ve already told him so.

JUSTIN. (looking up) But—why?

CARLA. (thoughtfully) I think I’ve—well—grown out of him. And I’m not going back to Canada. After all, I do belong here.

JUSTIN. You may be—lonely.

CARLA. (with a mischievous smile) Not if I marry an English husband. (Gravely) Now, if I could induce you to fall in love with me . . .

JUSTIN. (turning to her) Induce me? Why the devil do you think I’ve done all this?

CARLA. (rising) You’ve been mixing me up with my mother. But I’m Amyas’ daughter, too. I’ve got a lot of the devil in me. I want you to be in love with me.

JUSTIN. Don’t worry. (He smiles, moves to her and takes her in his arms)

CARLA. (laughing) I don’t.

(They kiss. MEREDITH enters up C)

MEREDITH. (as he enters) May I suggest a drink at my house before . . . (He realizes the room is empty, goes to the french windows and looks out) Oh! (He smiles) My word!

MEREDITHexits upCand theLIGHTSdim toBLACK-OUTas—

theCURTAINfalls

About the Author

Agatha Christie is the most widely published author of all time and in any language, outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare. Her books have sold more than a billion copies in English and another billion in a hundred foreign languages. She is the author of eighty crime novels and short-story collections, nineteen plays, two memoirs, and six novels written under the name Mary Westmacott.

She first tried her hand at detective fiction while working in a hospital dispensary during World War I, creating the now legendary Hercule Poirot with her debut novel The Mysterious Affair at Styles. With The Murder in the Vicarage, published in 1930, she introduced another beloved sleuth, Miss Jane Marple. Additional series characters include the ­husband-and-wife crime-fighting team of Tommy and Tuppence Beresford, private investigator Parker Pyne, and Scotland Yard detectives Superintendent Battle and Inspector Japp.

Many of Christie’s novels and short stories were adapted into plays, films, and television series. The Mousetrap, her most famous play of all, opened in 1952 and is the longest-running play in history. Among her best-known film adaptations are Murder on the Orient Express (1974) and Death on the Nile (1978), with Albert Finney and Peter Ustinov playing Hercule Poirot, respectively. On the small screen Poirot has been most memorably portrayed by David Suchet, and Miss Marple by Joan Hickson and subsequently Geraldine McEwan and Julia McKenzie.