Death On The Nile

Poirot appears confident that he can secure a confession from the murderer, and he declares that “Pennington didn’t do it, Race!” (364). Although Pennington had motive and attempted to kill Linnet, the actual murderer “needed audacity, swift and faultless execution, courage, indifference to danger, and a resourceful, calculating brain,” traits that the risk-averse Pennington does not have (364).

Poirot calls Tim in and asks him to listen. He tells Tim that he was drawn to Tim and Mrs. Allerton partly because of Tim’s mention of Joanna Southwood, whom Poirot’s Scotland Yard friend had long suspected of involvement in a rash of jewel robberies targeting members of high society. Each of the robberies involved the replacement of a valuable piece of jewelry with an imitation, and each targeted a friend or acquaintance of Joanna Southwood. Joanna had either handled or borrowed each of the stolen pieces, and she lived far more luxuriously than her income allowed.

Poirot’s friend suspected that Joanna had an accomplice, because she had been out of the country when some of the jewelry was replaced by fakes. Joanna must have made accurate drawings of the originals; the fakes must have been made by a skilled jeweler; and the actual theft and replacement of the originals had to have been carried out by an unknown third person. Poirot suspects that Tim is that person. He has noticed Tim’s unfriendliness toward him, knows that Tim and Joanna are close, and heard the story of Mrs. Leech’s ring disappearing while Tim was in Majorca, just before coming to Egypt. Additionally, Mrs. Allerton has told Poirot about Tim’s having been present when one of the substitutions was discovered. Then, of course, Linnet’s pearls disappeared. Miss Bowers thought she was returning them, but the pearls she returned were a mere imitation—one that Tim had placed in Linnet’s room when he stole the real pearls.

Poirot explains, drawing on the observations he made when searching Tim’s cabin, that the pearls must be hidden inside the ornate rosary in Tim’s room. He has deduced that the rosary is a perfect hiding place, since most police officers overlook religious items. The rosary’s beads are hollow and unscrew, and inside each bead, Tim has hidden one of the pearls (and secured it there with Seccotine). Joanna must have had the imitation pearls sent to Tim inside a book.

Tim confesses: he stole the pearls the night Linnet was killed, but he did not kill her and does not know whether she was alive or dead when he entered her room. He says that he does not remember hearing her breathing, nor does he remember the smell of gun smoke in the air. 

Tim asks who saw him leaving Linnet’s cabin, and Poirot replies that, although Rosalie herself has not told anyone, it was she who saw Tim. She most likely lied because she thought the person she had seen must be the murderer, and she did not want to reveal Tim’s identity. Tim replies with “a queer note in his voice” (371) that Rosalie is an extraordinary person.

Poirot calls Rosalie in and tells her that he has already ascertained that Tim is the person she saw leaving Linnet’s cabin the previous night. Tim explains to Rosalie that he stole Linnet’s pearls but did not kill her.

Poirot points out that he does not yet know what Tim was doing in Linnet’s cabin: he could have been stealing the pearls, or he could have been killing her. Poirot presents a theory: Tim could have stolen the pearls before the previous night, and Linnet might have noticed the substitution, and perhaps even known that Tim was responsible. If she had threatened to accuse Tim publicly, he would have had a motive for killing her. He had ample opportunity to slip into the saloon once it was empty, steal the pistol, and shoot Linnet. He would then have a motive for killing Louise (who knew the identity of Linnet’s killer) and Mrs. Otterbourne (who knew the identity of Louise’s killer).

Tim is shaken by Poirot’s theory, but Rosalie interrupts: “Of course it isn’t true! And Monsieur Poirot knows it isn’t! He’s saying it for some reason of his own” (375). Poirot agrees that she is right; he does not believe that this theory is correct, but is rather attempting to show Tim what a strong case there is against him. He gives Tim a chance to return the real pearls and avoid being held responsible for their theft.

Tim thanks Poirot for the second chance and throws the imitation pearls overboard. He and Rosalie leave together and have a conversation in which they clarify their feelings for one another. They go to Mrs. Allerton’s cabin together and announce to Mrs. Allerton that they are planning to marry. 

Race asks Poirot to reveal who committed the murders. Poirot promises that he is about to do so, and then the two are interrupted by Bessner and Cornelia.

Bessner mentions that Simon has told him about the telegram addressed to Richetti that Linnet read by accident: “It was a telegram all about vegetables—potatoes, artichokes, leeks” (383). Race exclaims that Richetti must be the dangerous killer for whom he is searching; the telegram is written in a code that Race knows from the South African rebellion. Richetti is a dangerous agitator posing as an archaeologist. Poirot indicates that he had noticed something amiss: Richetti seemed to be trying too hard to play the role of the archeologist.

Poirot agrees that Richetti is the man Race is seeking, but he is not Linnet’s killer. Poirot says that, although he knows who the murderer is, he does not have any proof and must secure a confession. The key, he says, was Jackie’s pistol: it seemed odd that the murderer did not leave it at the scene of the crime, since it could have been used to incriminate Jackie. Instead, the murderer took the pistol away “because he had no choice in the matter” (385).