The Mousetrap and Other Plays

by Agatha Christie

  (The INSPECTOR rises. He holds a file of papers which he refers to often during the scene. He hands a typewritten sheet to the CLERK and another to the STENOGRAPHER. He then enters the witness box. The CLERK hands the sheet to the JUDGE. The USHER rises, crosses and stands by the witness box. The INSPECTOR picks up the oath card and Bible from the ledge of the box.)

  INSPECTOR. I swear by Almighty God that the evidence that I shall give shall be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Robert Hearne, Detective Inspector, Criminal Investigation Department, New Scotland Yard. (He puts the Bible and oath card on the ledge of the box.)

  (The USHER crosses and sits on his stool.)

  MYERS. Now, Inspector Hearne, on the evening of the fourteenth October last were you on duty when you received an emergency call?

  INSPECTOR. Yes, sir.

  MYERS. What did you do?

  INSPECTOR. With Sergeant Randell I proceeded to twenty-three Ashburn Grove. I was admitted to the house and established that the occupant, whom I later ascertained was Miss Emily French, was dead. She was lying on her face, and had received severe injuries to the back of her head. An attempt had been made to force one of the windows with some implement that might have been a chisel. The window had been broken near the catch. There was glass strewn about the floor, and I also later found fragments of glass on the ground outside the window.

  MYERS. Is there any particular significance in finding glass both inside and outside the window?

  INSPECTOR. The glass outside was not consistent with the window having been forced from outside.

  MYERS. You mean that if it had been forced from the inside there had been an attempt to make it look as though it had been done from the outside?

  SIR WILFRID. (Rising) I object. My learned friend is putting words into the witness’s mouth. He really must observe the rules of evidence. (He resumes his seat.)

  MYERS. (To the INSPECTOR.) You have been engaged on several cases of burglary and housebreaking?

  INSPECTOR. Yes, sir.

  MYERS. And in your experience when a window is forced from the outside, where is the glass?

  INSPECTOR. On the inside.

  MYERS. In any other case where the windows have been forced from the outside, have you found glass on the outside of the window some distance below, on the ground?

  INSPECTOR. No.

  MYERS. No. Will you go on?

  INSPECTOR. A search was made, photographs were taken, the place was fingerprinted.

  MYERS. What fingerprints did you discover?

  INSPECTOR. Those of Miss Emily French herself, those of Janet MacKenzie and some which proved later to be those of the prisoner, Leonard Vole.

  MYERS. No others?

  INSPECTOR. No others.

  MYERS. Did you subsequently have an interview with Mr. Leonard Vole?

  INSPECTOR. Yes, sir. Janet MacKenzie was not able to give me his address, but as a result of a broadcast and a newspaper appeal, Mr. Leonard Vole came and saw me.

  MYERS. And on October the twentieth, when arrested, what did the prisoner say?

  INSPECTOR. He replied, “O.K. I’m ready.”

  MYERS. Now, Inspector, you say the room had the appearance of a robbery having been committed?

  SIR WILFRID. (Rising) That is just what the Inspector did not say. (To the JUDGE.) If your lordship remembers, that was a suggestion made by my friend—and quite improperly made—to which I objected.

  JUDGE. You are quite right, Sir Wilfrid.

  (MYERS sits.)

  At the same time, I’m not sure that the Inspector is not entitled to give evidence of any facts which might tend to prove that the disorder of the room was not the work of a person who broke in from outside for the purpose of robbery.

  SIR WILFRID. My lord, may I respectfully agree with what your lordship has said. Facts, yes. But not the mere expression of opinion without even the facts on which it is based. (He sits.)

  MYERS. (Rising) Perhaps, my lord, if I phrased my question in this way my friend would be satisfied. Inspector, could you say from what you saw whether there had or had not been a bona fide breaking in from outside the house?

  SIR WILFRID. (Rising) My lord, I really must continue my objection. My learned friend is again seeking to obtain an opinion from this witness. (He sits.)

  JUDGE. Yes. Mr. Myers, I think you will have to do a little better than that.

  MYERS. Inspector, did you find anything inconsistent with a breaking in from outside?

  INSPECTOR. Only the glass, sir.

  MYERS. Nothing else?

  INSPECTOR. No, sir, there was nothing else.

  JUDGE. We all seem to have drawn a blank there, Mr. Myers.

  MYERS. Was Miss French wearing jewellery of any value?

  INSPECTOR. She was wearing a diamond brooch, two diamond rings, value of about nine hundred pounds.

  MYERS. And these were left untouched?

  INSPECTOR. Yes, sir.

  MYERS. Was in fact anything taken?

  INSPECTOR. According to Janet MacKenzie, nothing was missing.

  MYERS. In your experience, when anyone breaks into a house do they leave without taking anything?

  INSPECTOR. Not unless they’re interrupted, sir.

  MYERS. But in this case it does not seem as if the burglar was interrupted.

  INSPECTOR. No, sir.

  MYERS. Do you produce a jacket, Inspector?

  INSPECTOR. Yes, sir.

  (The USHER rises, crosses to the table, picks up the jacket and hands it to the INSPECTOR.)

  MYERS. Is that it?

  INSPECTOR. Yes, sir. (He returns the jacket to the USHER.)

  (The USHER replaces the jacket on the table.)

  MYERS. From where did you get it?

  INSPECTOR. I found it at the prisoner’s flat some time after he was arrested, and later handed it to Mr. Clegg at the lab to test for possible bloodstains.

  MYERS. Lastly, Inspector, do you produce the will of Miss French?

  (The USHER picks up the will from the table and hands it to the INSPECTOR.)

  INSPECTOR. I do, sir.

  MYERS. Dated October the eighth?

  INSPECTOR. Yes, sir. (He returns the will to the USHER.)

  (The USHER replaces the will on the table, crosses and resumes his seat.)

  MYERS. After certain bequests, the residue is left to the prisoner?

  INSPECTOR. That’s right, sir.

  MYERS. And what is the net value of that estate?

  INSPECTOR. It will be, as far as can be ascertained at the moment, about eighty-five thousand pounds.

  (MYERS resumes his seat. SIR WILFRID rises.)

  SIR WILFRID. You say that the only fingerprints you found in the room were those of Miss French herself, the prisoner Leonard Vole and Janet MacKenzie. In your experience, when a burglar breaks in does he usually leave fingerprints or does he wear gloves?

  INSPECTOR. He wears gloves.

  SIR WILFRID. Invariably?

  INSPECTOR. Almost invariably.

  SIR WILFRID. So the absence of fingerprints in a case of robbery would hardly surprise you?

  INSPECTOR. No, sir.

  SIR WILFRID. Now, these chisel marks on the window. Were they on the inside or the outside of the casement?

  INSPECTOR. On the outside, sir.

  SIR WILFRID. Isn’t that consistent—and only consistent—with a breaking in from the outside?

  INSPECTOR. He could have gone out of the house afterwards to have done that, sir, or he could have made those marks from the inside.

  SIR WILFRID. From the inside, Inspector? Now how could he have possibly done that?

  INSPECTOR. There are two windows together there. Both are casements, and with their catches adjacent. It would have been easy for anyone in the room to open one window, lean out, and force the catch of the other.

  SIR WILFRID. Tell me, did you find any chisel near the premises, or at the prisoner’s flat?

  INSPECTOR. Yes, sir. At the prisone
r’s flat.

  SIR WILFRID. Oh?

  INSPECTOR. But it didn’t fit the marks on the window.

  SIR WILFRID. It was a windy night, was it not, on October fourteenth?

  INSPECTOR. I really can’t remember, sir. (He refers to his notes.)

  SIR WILFRID. According to my learned friend, Janet MacKenzie said that the curtains were blowing. Perhaps you noticed that fact yourself?

  INSPECTOR. Well, yes, sir, they did blow about.

  SIR WILFRID. Indicating that it was a windy night. I suggest that if a burglar had forced the window from the outside and then swung it back, some of the loose glass might easily have fallen down outside the window, the window having been blown back violently by the wind. That is possible, is it not?

  INSPECTOR. Yes, sir.

  SIR WILFRID. Crimes of violence, as we all have been unhappily aware, have been much on the increase lately. You would agree to that, would you not?

  INSPECTOR. It’s been a little above normal, sir.

  SIR WILFRID. Let us take the case that some young thugs had broken in, who meant to attack Miss French and steal; it is possible that if one of them coshed her and found that she was dead, they might give way to panic and leave without taking anything? Or they might even have been looking for money and would be afraid to touch anything in the nature of jewellery?

  MYERS. (Rising) I submit that it is impossible for Inspector Hearne to guess at what went on in the minds of some entirely hypothetical young criminals who may not even exist. (He sits.)

  SIR WILFRID. The prisoner came forward of his own accord and gave his statement quite willingly?

  INSPECTOR. That is so.

  SIR WILFRID. Is it the case that at all times the prisoner has protested his innocence?

  INSPECTOR. Yes, sir.

  SIR WILFRID. (Indicating the knife on the table) Inspector Hearne, will you kindly examine that knife?

  (The USHER rises, crosses, picks up the knife and hands it to the INSPECTOR.)

  You have seen that knife before?

  INSPECTOR. I may have.

  SIR WILFRID. This is the knife taken from the kitchen table in Leonard Vole’s flat and which was brought to your attention by the prisoner’s wife on the occasion of your first interview with her.

  MYERS. (Rising) My lord, to save the time of the Court, may I say that we accept this knife as being a knife in the possession of Leonard Vole and shown to the Inspector by Mrs. Vole. (He sits.)

  SIR WILFRID. That is correct, Inspector?

  INSPECTOR. Yes, sir.

  SIR WILFRID. It is what is known, I believe, as a French vegetable knife?

  INSPECTOR. I believe so, sir.

  SIR WILFRID. Just test the edge of the knife with your finger—carefully.

  (The INSPECTOR tests the knife edge.)

  You agree that the cutting edge and the point are razor sharp?

  INSPECTOR. Yes, sir.

  SIR WILFRID. And if you were cutting—say, ham—carving it, that is, and your hand slipped with this knife, it would be capable of inflicting a very nasty cut, and one which would bleed profusely?

  MYERS. (Rising) I object. That is a matter of opinion, and medical opinion at that. (He sits.)

  (The USHER takes the knife from the INSPECTOR, puts it on the table, crosses and resumes his seat.)

  SIR WILFRID. I withdraw the question. I will ask you instead, Inspector, if the prisoner, when questioned by you as to the stains on the sleeve of his jacket, drew your attention to a recently healed scar on his wrist, and stated that it had been caused by a household knife when he was slicing ham?

  INSPECTOR. That is what he said.

  SIR WILFRID. And you were told the same thing by the prisoner’s wife?

  INSPECTOR. The first time. Afterwards . . .

  SIR WILFRID. (Sharply) A simple yes or no, please. Did the prisoner’s wife show you this knife, and tell you that her husband had cut his wrist with it slicing ham?

  INSPECTOR. Yes, she did.

  (SIR WILFRID resumes his seat.)

  MYERS. (Rising) What first drew your attention to that jacket, Inspector?

  INSPECTOR. The sleeve appeared to have been recently washed.

  MYERS. And you’re told this story about an accident with a kitchen knife?

  INSPECTOR. Yes, sir.

  MYERS. And your attention was drawn to a scar on the prisoner’s wrist?

  INSPECTOR. Yes, sir.

  MYERS. Granted that the scar was made by this particular knife, there was nothing to show whether it was an accident or done deliberately?

  SIR WILFRID. (Rising) Really, my lord, if my learned friend is going to answer his own questions, the presence of the witness seems to be superfluous. (He sits.)

  MYERS. (Resignedly) I withdraw the question. Thank you, Inspector.

  (The INSPECTOR stands down, crosses and exits up L. The POLICEMAN closes the door behind him.)

  Dr. Wyatt.

  (DR. WYATT rises and enters the box. He carries some notes. The USHER rises, crosses, hands the Bible to him and holds up the oath card.)

  WYATT. I swear by Almighty God that the evidence that I shall give shall be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

  (The USHER puts the Bible and oath card on the ledge of the witness box, crosses and resumes his seat.)

  MYERS. You are Dr. Wyatt?

  WYATT. Yes.

  MYERS. You are a police surgeon attached to the Hampstead Division?

  WYATT. Yes.

  MYERS. Dr. Wyatt, will you kindly tell the Jury what you know regarding the death of Miss Emily French?

  WYATT. (Reading from his notes) At eleven p.m. on October fourteenth, I saw the dead body of the woman who subsequently proved to be Miss French. By examination of the body I was of the opinion that the death had resulted from a blow on the head, delivered from an object such as a cosh. Death would have been practically instantaneous. From the temperature of the body and other factors, I placed the time of death at not less than an hour previously and not more than, say, an hour and a half. That is to say between the hours of nine-thirty and ten p.m.

  MYERS. Had Miss French struggled with her adversary at all?

  WYATT. There was no evidence that she had done so. I should say, on the contrary, that she had been taken quite unprepared.

  (MYERS resumes his seat.)

  SIR WILFRID. (Rising) Doctor, where exactly on the head had this blow been struck? There was only one blow, was there not?

  WYATT. Only one. On the left side of the asterion.

  SIR WILFRID. I beg your pardon? Where?

  WYATT. The asterion. The junction of the parietal, occipital and temple bones.

  SIR WILFRID. Oh, yes. And in layman’s language, where is that?

  WYATT. Behind the left ear.

  SIR WILFRID. Would that indicate that the blow had been struck by a left-handed person?

  WYATT. It’s difficult to say. The blow appeared to have been struck directly from behind, because the bruising ran perpendicularly. I should say it is really impossible to say whether it was delivered by a right- or left-handed man.

  SIR WILFRID. We don’t know yet that it was a man, Doctor. But will you agree, from the position of the blow, that if anything it is more likely to have been delivered by a left-handed person?

  WYATT. That is possibly so. But I would prefer to say that it is uncertain.

  SIR WILFRID. At the moment the blow was struck, would blood have been likely to have got on to the hand or arm that struck the blow?

  WYATT. Yes, certainly.

  SIR WILFRID. And only on that hand or arm?

  WYATT. Probably only on that hand and arm, but it’s difficult to be dogmatic.

  SIR WILFRID. Quite so, Doctor Wyatt. Now, would great strength have been needed to strike such a blow?

  WYATT. No. From the position of the wound no great strength would have been needed.

  SIR WILFRID. It would not necessarily be a man who had struck the blow. A woman could have done so
equally well?

  WYATT. Certainly.

  SIR WILFRID. Thank you. (He sits.)

  MYERS. (Rising) Thank you, Doctor. (To the USHER.) Call Janet MacKenzie.

  (WYATT stands down, crosses and exits up L. The POLICEMAN opens the door. The USHER rises and crosses to C.)

  USHER. Janet MacKenzie.

  POLICEMAN. (Calling) Janet MacKenzie.

  (JANET MACKENZIE enters up L. She is a tall, dour-looking Scots-woman. Her face is set in a grim line. Whenever she looks at LEONARD, she does so with loathing. The POLICEMAN closes the door. JANET crosses and enters the witness box. The USHER moves and stands beside the witness box. JANET picks up the Bible in her left hand.)

  USHER. Other hand, please. (He holds out the oath card.)

  JANET. (Puts the Bible into her right hand.) I swear by Almighty God that the evidence that I shall give shall be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. (She hands the Bible to the USHER.)

  (The USHER puts the Bible and oath card on the ledge of the witness box, crosses and resumes his seat.)

  MYERS. Your name is Janet MacKenzie?

  JANET. Aye—that’s my name.

  MYERS. You were companion housekeeper to the late Miss Emily French?

  JANET. I was her housekeeper. I’ve no opinion of companions, poor feckless bodies, afraid to do a bit of honest domestic work.

  MYERS. Quite so, quite so, I meant only that you were held in esteem and affection by Miss French, and were on friendly terms together. Not quite those of mistress and servant.

  JANET. (To the JUDGE.) Twenty years I’ve been with her and looked after her. She knew me and she trusted me, and many’s the time I’ve prevented her doing a foolish action!

  JUDGE. Miss MacKenzie, would you please address your remarks to the Jury.

  MYERS. What sort of a person was Miss French?

  JANET. She was a warm-hearted body—too warmhearted at times, I’m thinking. A wee bit impulsive too. There were times when she’d have no sense at all. She was easily flattered, you see.