The Mousetrap and Other Plays

by Agatha Christie

  KARL. (pushing the DOCTOR away; almost shouting) You can’t do this. You can’t.

  OGDEN. (to LISA) If you need a coat or a hat . . .

  LISA. I need nothing.

  LISA turns and looks at KARL for a moment, then turns and goes up C. The SERGEANT opens the door. LISA exits up C. OGDEN and the SERGEANT follow her off. KARL suddenly makes a decision and runs after them.

  KARL. Inspector Ogden! Come back. I must speak to you.

  (He moves RC)

  OGDEN. (off) Wait in the hall, Sergeant.

  SERGEANT. (off) Yes, sir.

  OGDEN enters up C. The DOCTOR crosses to LC.

  OGDEN. Yes, Professor Hendryk?

  KARL. (moving to L of the sofa) I have something to tell you. I know who killed my wife. It was not Miss Koletzky.

  OGDEN. (politely) Who was it, then?

  KARL. It was a girl called Helen Rollander. She is one of my pupils. (He crosses and sits in the armchair) She—she formed an unfortunate attachment to me.

  The DOCTOR moves to L of the armchair.

  She was alone with my wife on the day in question, and she gave her an overdose of the heart medicine.

  OGDEN. (moving down C) How do you know this, Professor Hendryk?

  KARL. She told me herself, this morning.

  OGDEN. Indeed? Were there any witnesses?

  KARL. No, but I am telling you the truth.

  OGDEN. (thoughtfully) Helen—Rollander. You mean the daughter of Sir William Rollander?

  KARL. Yes. Her father is William Rollander. He is an important man. Does that make any difference?

  OGDEN. (moving below the left end of the sofa) No, it wouldn’t make any difference—if your story were true.

  KARL. (rising) I swear to you that it’s true.

  OGDEN. You are very devoted to Miss Koletzky, aren’t you?

  KARL. Do you think I would make up a story just to protect her?

  OGDEN. (moving C) I think it is quite possible—you are on terms of intimacy with Miss Koletzky, aren’t you?

  KARL. (dumbfounded) What do you mean?

  OGDEN. Let me tell you, Professor Hendryk, that your daily woman, Mrs. Roper, came along to the police station this afternoon and made a statement.

  KARL. Then it was Mrs. Roper who . . .

  OGDEN. It is partly because of that statement that Miss Koletzky has been arrested.

  KARL. (turning to the DOCTOR for support) You believe that Lisa and I . . .

  OGDEN. Your wife was an invalid. Miss Koletzky is an attractive young woman. You were thrown together.

  KARL. You think we planned together to kill Anya.

  OGDEN. No, I don’t think you planned it. I may be wrong there, of course.

  KARL circles the armchair to C.

  I think all the planning was done by Miss Koletzky. There was a prospect of your wife’s regaining her health owing to a new treatment. I think Miss Koletzky was taking no chance of that happening.

  KARL. But I tell you that it was Helen Rollander.

  OGDEN. You tell me, yes. It seems to me a most unlikely story. (He moves up C)

  KARL crosses and stands down R.

  Is it plausible that a girl like Miss Rollander who’s got the world at her feet and who hardly knows you, would do a thing like that? Making up an accusation of that kind reflects little credit on you, Professor Hendryk—trumping it up on the spur of the moment because you think it cannot be contradicted.

  KARL. (moving to R of OGDEN) Listen. Go to Miss Rollander. Tell her that another woman has been arrested for the murder. Tell her, from me, that I know—know—that with all her faults, she is decent and honest. I swear that she will confirm what I have told you.

  OGDEN. You’ve thought it up very cleverly, haven’t you?

  KARL. What do you mean?

  OGDEN. What I say. But there’s no one who can confirm your story.

  KARL. Only Helen herself.

  OGDEN. Exactly.

  KARL. And Dr. Stoner knows. I told him.

  OGDEN. He knows because you told him.

  DOCTOR. I believe it to be the truth, Inspector Ogden. If you remember, I mentioned to you that when we left Mrs. Hendryk that day, Miss Rollander remained behind to keep her company.

  OGDEN. A kind offer on her part. (He crosses to R of the DOCTOR) We interviewed Miss Rollander at the time and I see no reason to doubt her story. She stayed for a short time and then Mrs. Hendryk asked her to leave since she felt tired. (He moves above the armchair)

  KARL. Go to Helen now. Tell her what has happened. Tell her what I have asked you to tell her.

  OGDEN. (to the DOCTOR) Just when did Professor Hendryk tell you that Miss Rollander had killed his wife? Within the last hour, I should imagine.

  DOCTOR. That is so.

  KARL. We met in the street. (He moves below the sofa)

  OGDEN. Didn’t it strike you that if this was true, he would have come to us as soon as she admitted to him what she had done?

  DOCTOR. He’s not that kind of man.

  OGDEN. (ruthlessly) I don’t think you’re really aware what kind of man he is. (He moves to KARL’s coat on the desk chair) He’s a quick and clever thinker, and he’s not over scrupulous.

  KARL starts towards the INSPECTOR, but the DOCTOR crosses quickly to L of KARL and restrains him.

  This is your coat and an evening paper, I see. (He draws the evening paper from the pocket)

  KARL moves down R of the sofa. The DOCTOR moves up L of the sofa.

  KARL. Yes, I bought it on the corner, just before I came in. I haven’t had time to read it, yet.

  OGDEN. (moving C) Are you sure?

  KARL. Yes—(He moves RC) I am quite sure.

  OGDEN. I think you did. (He reads from the paper) “Sir William Rollander’s only daughter, Helen Rollander, was the victim of a regrettable accident this morning. In crossing the road she was knocked down by a lorry. The lorry driver claims that Miss Rollander gave him no time to brake. She walked straight into the road without looking right or left, and was killed instantly.”

  KARL slumps on to the sofa.

  I think that when you saw that paragraph, Professor Hendryk, you saw a way out to save your mistress by accusing a girl who could never refute what you said—because she was dead.

  The lights BLACK-OUT as—

  The CURTAIN falls.

  Scene III

  SCENE: The same. Two months later. Late afternoon.

  When the CURTAIN rises, the lights come up. KARL is seated on the sofa. The DOCTOR is leaning against the table RC, reading the “Walter Savage Landor.” LESTER is pacing up and down LC. The telephone rings. They all start. LESTER, who is nearest to the telephone, lifts the receiver.

  LESTER. (into the telephone) Hello? . . . No. (He replaces the receiver) These reporters never stop. (He moves down L)

  The DOCTOR crosses and sits in the armchair. KARL rises and circles the sofa to C.

  KARL. I wish I had stayed in court. Why didn’t you let me stay?

  DOCTOR. Lisa specially asked that you shouldn’t remain in court to hear the verdict. We’ve got to respect her wish.

  KARL. You could have stayed.

  DOCTOR. She wanted me to be with you. The lawyers will let us know at once . . .

  KARL. They can’t find her guilty. They can’t. (He moves up R)

  LESTER. (moving down C) If you’d like me to go back there . . .

  DOCTOR. You stay here, Lester.

  LESTER. If I’m any use. If there’s anything I could do . . .

  DOCTOR. You can answer that damn telephone that keeps ringing.

  KARL. (moving below the sofa) Yes, my dear boy. Stay. Your presence here helps me.

  LESTER. Does it? Does it, really?

  KARL. She must be, she will be acquitted. I can’t believe that innocence can go unrecognized. (He sits on the sofa)

  LESTER moves up C.

  DOCTOR. Can’t you? I can. One’s seen it often enough. And you’ve seen it, Karl, time and time again. Min
d you, I think she made a good impression on the jury.

  LESTER. But the evidence was pretty damning. It’s that frightful Roper woman. The things she said. (He sits L of the table RC)

  DOCTOR. She believed what she was saying, of course. That’s what made her so unshakeable under cross-examination. It’s particularly unfortunate that she should have seen you and Lisa embracing each other on the day of the inquest. She did see it, I suppose.

  KARL. Yes, she must have seen it. It was true. It’s the first time I have ever kissed Lisa.

  DOCTOR. And a thoroughly bad time to choose. It’s really a thousand pities that snooping woman never saw or heard anything that passed between you and Helen. “A very nice young lady”—that’s all she had to say.

  KARL. It is so odd to tell the truth and not be believed.

  DOCTOR. All you’ve done is to bring down a lot of odium on yourself, for cooking up a scurrilous story about a girl who is dead.

  KARL. (rising and moving up C) If I’d only gone to the police right away, the moment she’d told me . . .

  DOCTOR. If only you had. It’s particularly unfortunate that you only came out with the story after you’d bought a paper containing the news that she’s dead. And your reasons for not going to the police didn’t sound credible in the least.

  KARL moves down L.

  Though they are to me, of course, because I know the incredible fool you are. The whole set of circumstances is thoroughly damnable. The Roper woman coming in to find Lisa standing by the body and holding the bottle in gloved fingers. The whole thing has built itself up in the most incredible fashion.

  KARL crosses and stands down R. The telephone rings.

  KARL. Is that . . . ? Can it . . . ?

  There is a moment’s agonizing pause, then the DOCTOR motions to LESTER who rises, goes to the telephone and lifts the receiver.

  LESTER. (into the telephone) Yes? . . . Hello? . . . Go to hell!

  DOCTOR. Ghouls, that’s what they are, ghouls.

  KARL. (moving up R) If they find her guilty, if they . . .

  DOCTOR. Well, we can appeal, you know.

  KARL. (moving down C and then below the sofa) Why should she have to go through all this? Why should she be the one to suffer? I wish I were in her place.

  DOCTOR. Yes, it’s always easier when it’s oneself.

  KARL. After all, I’m partly responsible for what happened . . .

  DOCTOR. (interrupting) I’ve told you that’s nonsense.

  KARL. But Lisa has done nothing. Nothing. (He moves down C, then goes up R)

  DOCTOR. (after a long pause; to LESTER) Go and make us some coffee, boy, if you know how.

  LESTER. (indignantly) Of course I know how. (He moves up C)

  The telephone rings. LESTER makes a move to answer it.

  KARL. (stopping LESTER) Don’t answer it.

  The telephone goes on ringing. LESTER hesitates then exits up C to L. The telephone goes on ringing solidly. KARL eventually rushes to it and picks up the receiver.

  (Into the telephone) Leave me alone, can’t you. Leave me alone. (He slams down the receiver and sinks into the desk chair) I can’t bear it. I can’t bear it.

  DOCTOR. (rising and moving to KARL) Patience, Karl. Courage.

  KARL. What good is it saying that to me?

  DOCTOR. Not much, but there’s nothing else to say, is there? There’s nothing that can help you now except courage.

  KARL. I keep thinking of Lisa. Of what she must be suffering.

  DOCTOR. I know. I know.

  KARL. She’s so brave. So wonderfully brave.

  DOCTOR. (moving C) Lisa is a very wonderful person. I have always known that.

  KARL. I love her. Did you know I loved her?

  DOCTOR. Yes, of course I knew. You’ve loved her for a long time.

  KARL. Yes. Neither of us ever acknowledged it, but we knew. It didn’t mean that I didn’t love Anya. I did love Anya. I shall always love her. I didn’t want her to die.

  DOCTOR. I know, I know. I’ve never doubted that.

  KARL. It’s strange, perhaps, but one can love two women at the same time.

  DOCTOR. Not at all strange. It often happens. (He moves behind KARL) And you know what Anya used to say to me? “When I’m gone, Karl must marry Lisa.” That’s what she used to say. “You must make him do it, Doctor,” she used to say. “Lisa will look after him and be good to him. If he doesn’t think of it you must put it into his head.” That’s what she used to say to me. I promised her that I would.

  KARL. (rising) Tell me, really, Doctor. Do you think they’ll acquit her? Do you?

  DOCTOR. (gently) I think—you ought to prepare yourself . . .

  KARL. (moving below the armchair) Even her counsel didn’t believe me, did he? He pretended to, of course, but he didn’t believe me. (He sits in the armchair)

  DOCTOR. No, I don’t think he did, but there are one or two sensible people on the jury—I think. (He moves down L) That fat woman in the funny hat listened to every word you were saying about Helen, and I noticed her nodding her head in complete agreement. She probably has a husband who went off the rails with a young girl. You never know what queer things influence people.

  The telephone rings.

  KARL. (rising) This time it must be.

  The DOCTOR moves to the telephone and lifts the receiver.

  DOCTOR. (into the telephone) Hello? . . .

  LESTER enters up C from L, carrying a tray with three cups of coffee on it. The coffee has slopped into the saucers.

  KARL. Well?

  LESTER. Is that . . . ? (He puts the tray on the table RC and pours the coffee into the cup from one of the saucers)

  DOCTOR. (into the telephone) No . . . No, I’m afraid he can’t. (He slams down the receiver) Another of the ghouls. (He crosses to the sofa and sits)

  KARL. What can they hope to get out of it?

  DOCTOR. Increased circulation, I suppose.

  LESTER. (handing a cup of coffee to KARL) I hope it’s all right. It took me some time to find everything.

  KARL. Thank you. (He crosses to the desk chair and sits)

  LESTER hands a cup of coffee to the DOCTOR, then takes his own and stands RC. They sip their coffee. There is quite a pause.

  DOCTOR. Have you ever seen herons flying low over a river bank?

  LESTER. No, I don’t think I have. Why?

  DOCTOR. No reason.

  LESTER. What put it into your head?

  DOCTOR. I’ve no idea. Just wishing, I suppose, that all this wasn’t true and that I was somewhere else.

  LESTER. Yes, I can see that. (He moves up C) It’s so awful, not being able to do anything.

  DOCTOR. Nothing’s so bad as waiting.

  LESTER. (after a pause) I don’t believe, you know, that I’ve ever seen a heron.

  DOCTOR. Very graceful birds.

  KARL. Doctor, I want you to do something for me.

  DOCTOR. (rising) Yes? What is it?

  KARL. I want you to go back to the court.

  DOCTOR. (crossing to KARL and putting his cup on the work-table as he passes) No, Karl.

  KARL. Yes, I know that you promised. But I want you to go back.

  DOCTOR. Karl—Lisa . . .

  KARL. If the worst happens, I would like Lisa to be able to see you there. And if it isn’t the worst—well, then she’ll need someone to look after her, to get her away, to bring her here.

  The DOCTOR stares at KARL for a moment or two.

  I know I’m right.

  DOCTOR. (deciding) Very well.

  LESTER. (to the DOCTOR) I can stay and . . .

  KARL looks at the DOCTOR and shakes his head very slightly. The DOCTOR is quick to take the hint.

  DOCTOR. No, you come with me, Lester. (He moves up C) There are times when a man has got to be alone. That’s right, isn’t it, Karl?

  KARL. Don’t worry about me. I want to stay here quietly with Anya.

  DOCTOR. (pulling round sharply as he is on his way to the door)
What did you say? With Anya?

  KARL. Did I say that? That’s what it seems like. Leave me here. I shan’t answer the telephone if it rings. I shall wait now until you come.

  LESTER exits up C. The DOCTOR follows him off and closes the door. KARL leans back in his chair. The clock chimes six.

  “While the light lasts I shall remember,

  And in the darkness I shall not forget.”

  There is a pause then the telephone rings. KARL rises, ignores the telephone, takes his coffee cup to the tray, at the same time collecting the DOCTOR’s cup as he passes the work-table. He then exits with the tray up C to L. While he is off, the telephone stops ringing. KARL re-enters and moves down L, leaving the door open. He pauses for a moment, staring at the work-table, then goes to the record cabinet and takes the Rachmaninoff record from it. He goes to the desk and sits, putting the record on the desk in front of him. LISA suddenly enters up C from R, shuts the door behind her and leans against it. KARL rises and turns.

  KARL. Lisa! Lisa! (He goes towards her as though he can hardly believe his eyes) Is it true? Is it?

  LISA. They found me not guilty.

  KARL. (attempting to take her in his arms) Oh, my darling, I’m so thankful. No one shall ever hurt you again, Lisa.

  LISA. (pushing him away) No.

  KARL. (realizing her coldness and aloofness) What do you mean?

  LISA. I’ve come here to get my things.

  KARL. (backing above the armchair) What do you mean—your things?

  LISA. Just a few things that I need. Then I am going away.

  KARL. What do you mean—going away?

  LISA. I’m leaving here.

  KARL. But surely—that’s ridiculous! D’you mean because of what people would say? Does that matter now?

  LISA. You don’t understand. I am going away for good.

  KARL. Going away—where?

  LISA. (moving slowly down C) What does it matter? Somewhere. I can get a job. There’ll be no difficulty about that. I may go abroad. I may stay in England. Wherever I go I’m starting a new life.

  KARL. A new life? You mean—without me?

  LISA. Yes. Yes, Karl. That’s just what I do mean. Without you.

  KARL. (backing down L) But why? Why?

  LISA. (up R of the armchair) Because I’ve had enough.

  KARL. I don’t understand you.

  LISA. (moving to the sofa) We’re not made to understand each other. We don’t see things the same way, and I’m afraid of you.