- An enchanting beauty is fatally poisoned while Poirot holidays on the Greek island of Rhodes.
- Just as his holiday on the island of Rhodes is coming to an end, Hercule Poirot finds himself investigating a murder when one of the hotel guests, Valentine Chantry, is poisoned in the bar. The drink she had was apparently meant for her husband and had been bought by Douglas Gold, with whom she had been carrying on since her arrival. Gold is arrested and everyone assumes he is the perpetrator but Poirot thinks otherwise however and looks to the other guests in the hotel as more likely suspects. When a local pathologist confirms that the poison used was local in origin, Poirot realizes that only when he learns who purchased the poison will he learn the killer's identity.—garykmcd
- Hercule Poirot is on holiday on the island of Rhodes, at that time an Italian territory. Among the other holidaymakers are two English couples and their friends. There is a degree of acrimony between the two couples, as the one husband, Commander Chantry, believes the other, Douglas Gold, has eyes for his wife, Valentine. On Poirot's last night, Valentine Gold is murdered, poisoned by a drink meant for her husband. Suspicion immediately falls on Douglas Gold and he is arrested. Luckily for him, due to an issue with Customs, Poirot has extended his stay, and investigates the murder.—grantss
- Wishing for a quiet holiday free from crime, Poirot goes to Rhodes during the low season in October where there are but a few guests. Rhodes Island is an Italian outpost during this period. Aside from the young Pamela Lyall (Frances Low) and Sarah Blake there is Valentine Chantry (Annie Lambert), a consciously beautiful woman who seems to swoon under the attentions of Douglas Gold (Peter Settelen). This is done at the expense of his own wife, Marjorie (Angela Down), a mildly attractive woman, and Valentine's husband Commander Tony Chantry (Jon Cartwright).
Poirot had noticed earlier that Douglas was reluctant to come to vacation at Rhodes & only came as Marjorie insisted that she needed time off. It was Douglas who chose the destination for their vacation. Valentine treats her husband like her person attendant, asking him to do all sorts of little errands for him. Marjorie meets Poirot casually & speaks to him about the ills of divorce pervading the society & her happy wedding to Douglas. She also expresses her dislike of Valentine saying that her husband would soon get bored of her.
This is the "triangle" that everyone observes, and it gets rather absurd with the two men vying for Valentine's favor. She seems to delight in the attention. Marjorie Gold soon wins the sympathy of many of the guests of the hotel as her husband is frequently in the company of Valentine, she confesses her own doubts about Valentine to Poirot. Poirot, however, warns her to flee the island if she values her life. The event comes to a head one evening, beginning when Gold and Chantry have a loud argument. Valentine and Marjorie return from a drive, and the former is poisoned by the cocktail her husband gives her. Tony claims that it was his drink & he had not touched it, & he accuses Douglas of tampering with it with the intention to kill him. Gold is immediately suspected, as the poison that kills Valentine is found in the pocket of his dinner jacket.
Poirot was already checked out and was at the port. But, he was detained at immigration, who suspected him of being a spy. As Poirot argued with the officials, Pamela arrives and tells Poirot about Valentine's death.
Poirot investigates & finds that the poison was viper poison, easily available from on the island of Rhodes (as there are many vipers there). Further investigation (Poirot & Pamela roams the streets of Rhodes with Pamela to find a vendor who sells viper poison. Pamela is helped by a teenage girl, who had earlier rescued her from a persistent English gentleman) reveals that a local hawker had sold a vial of viper poison not to a man, but to an English lady. Poirot concludes that Marjorie bought the poison, gave it to Tony who put it in his drink & when Valentine dies, Chantry puts it in Gold's pocket just as everyone's attention is on his dying wife. Poirot gives this information to the police and points out to Pamela Lyall that she was focusing on the wrong triangle.
The real triangle was between Douglas, Marjorie, and Chantry. Chantry and Marjorie were in love, but they could not get married as Douglas, a Catholic, would not consent to divorce. For this reason, Chantry and Marjorie decided to kill Valentine and ensure that Douglas was blamed for the murder. Also, Poirot's warning to Marjorie Gold was not because he feared she was a victim at risk of being murdered, but the opposite. He was warning her she would be caught, tried, and convicted as one of the culprits.
The police had asked the hotel to confiscate all passports. But Poirot learns that passports have been stolen and Marjorie and Chantry are missing. Poirot and Pamela rush to the ports to prevent them from escaping. Chantry and Marjorie had commandeered a private boat to escape the Island, but Poirot follows. Chantry prepares to throw sticks of dynamite at Poirot's boat, but is stopped by the Italian police, who had followed Poirot in a separate boat (Poirot was still not allowed to leave the Island). Due to his role in helping solve the murder, Poirot is absolved of spying charges and allowed to leave the Island.
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