Death On The Nile

Race suggests to Poirot that the splash Fanthorp heard could have been the pistol—the murderer might have disposed of it. Poirot finds this “incredible” (220) and thinks it more likely that the murderer will soon plant the pistol in Jackie’s cabin.

Race and Poirot discuss the missing pearls. The thief would have had no opportunity to take them ashore, since there is a watchman who would have seen him or her. Thus, the pearls must still be on board. Poirot speculates that Louise could have been involved in the theft; she has only been with Linnet a short time, and gangs of jewel thieves often work with maids. Poirot hints that he has a theory about the pearls, but that it seems impossible for his theory to be correct.

Race and Poirot agree to question Fleetwood, since he has motive and the “J” scrawled on the wall seems in keeping with his “simple, rather crude nature” (222); however, Poirot doubts that Fleetwood is the culprit because that solution is too simple to be the correct one.

Race asks Poirot who else might be a suspect. Poirot names Pennington, the trustee who might have speculated with Linnet’s money while she was underage. Now, Pennington must hide his actions from Linnet, whose recent marriage puts her in charge of her own finances for the first time and whose keen business mind is likely to notice any discrepancies. Simon’s remark that he never reads anything, but only signs where he is told, might have given Pennington the perfect motive for murder: if Linnet’s fortune passes into the inattentive Simon’s hands, Pennington’s speculation stands a far slimmer chance of being discovered.

Race responds that Poirot has no proof and suggests Ferguson as a suspect. Ferguson is clearly bitter toward the upper classes, and could be the person whose father’s fortune was ruined by Linnet’s father. Race also acknowledges that the known killer on board the Karnak could theoretically be responsible, but adds that it seems unlikely since “their orbits don’t touch” (224).

Fleetwood arrives for questioning and confirms that the story about Linnet’s interference in his intended marriage to Marie is true. He admits to holding a grudge against Linnet but denies having killed her, and states that he was in his bed sleeping at the time of the murder. Poirot and Race decide to ask Fleetwood’s mate to confirm this alibi.

Next, Poirot and Race decide to find out whether anyone on board heard the shot that killed Linnet. Poirot remarks: “I heard nothing—but nothing at all. I might have been drugged, I slept so soundly” (227).

Poirot asks Mrs. Allerton whether she heard anything and whether anyone in her family has suffered a financial loss at Linnet’s father’s hand. Mrs. Allerton reports having heard a splash and someone running, though she is unsure of the precise time she heard them, and says her family’s fortune has only dwindled for mundane reasons. Next, he questions Tim, who responds that he heard “a kind of hullabaloo” (230) and Cornelia calling Fanthorp, then somebody running on the deck and a splash. When asked whether what he heard was a splash or a shot, Tim responds that he did hear something he thought was a cork popping, but that the sound could have been a shot. 

Race observes that, because of the location of her cabin, Miss Van Schuyler is likely to have heard something. She is extremely upset about being asked questions. Miss Van Schuyler says that she went to bed a bit later than 10 p.m. As she lay in bed around 1:10 a.m., she heard someone next door in Linnet’s cabin, then someone on the deck, then a splash, which she asserts was made by Rosalie Otterbourne throwing something into the water. According to Miss Van Schuyler, who was out on the deck and saw Rosalie throwing something overboard, Rosalie’s facial expression showed that she was in a heightened emotional state.

At that moment, the boat’s manager enters with a bundle that has been retrieved from the water: something velvet wrapped around a cheap, pink-stained handkerchief and Jackie’s .22 pistol (which Poirot recognizes from the initials engraved into it). Two bullets have been fired from the gun.

Miss Van Schuyler identifies the velvet object as her missing stole, which was used to muffle the sound of the gunshot that killed Linnet. Miss Van Schuyler asserts that she has never met Linnet and their families have had no interactions.

Poirot and Race express puzzlement: the murderer seems to have gone to considerable trouble to implicate Jackie in Linnet’s murder, and yet instead of leaving the pistol—an especially damning piece of evidence—for others to find, they threw it overboard. At the very end of the chapter, Poirot adds (without explanation) that the sequence of events he and Race have pieced together is “impossible. Something is wrong” (239).