The Mousetrap Act 1 Flashcards
Learn the lines of Trotter
Oh, that’s all right. No-one can get through in this. Why, the drifts must be five feet deep. The roads are all banked up. Nobody will get here today. Excuse me, Mr. Paravicini. may I put these down.
Are you Mr. Ralston?
Yes.- Mr. Ralston
Thank you, sir. Detective Sergeant Trotter. Berkshire Police. Can I get these skis off and stow them somewhere?
Go round that way to the front door. I’ll meet you.
Thank you, sir.
Er - this is Detective Sergeant Trotter.
Good Afternoon.
You can’t be a sergeant. You’re too young.
I’m not quite as young as I look, madam.
Ah, it’s a private joke of my own. Hist, the sleuth is returning.
Now we can get to business, Mr. Ralston. Mrs. Ralston?
Do you want to see us alone? If so, we can go into the library.
It’s not necessary, sir. It’ll save time if everybody’s present. If I might sit at this table?
I beg your pardon. - Paravicini
Thank you.
Oh, do hurry up and tell us. What have we done?
Done? Oh, it’s nothing of that kind Mrs. Ralston. It’s something quite different. It’s more a matter of police protection, if you understand me.
Police protection?
It relates to the death of Mrs. Lyon - Mrs. Maureen Lyon of twenty-four Culver Street, London, West two, who was murdered yesterday, the fifteenth instant. You may have heard or read about the case?
Yes, I heard it on the wireless. The women who was strangled?
That’s right, madam. The first thing I want to know is if you were aquainted with this Mrs. Lyon.
Never heard of her.
You mayn’t have known of her under the name of Lyon. Lyon wasn’t her real name. She had a police record and her fingerprints were on file so we were able to identify her without difficulty. Her real name was Maureen Stanning. Her husband was a farmer, John Stanning, who resided at Longridge Farm not very far from here.
Longridge Farm! Wasn’t that where those children…?
Yes, the Longridge Farm case.
Three children…
That’s right, miss. The Corigans. Two boys and a girl. Brought before the court as in need of care and protection. A home was found for them with Mr. and Mrs. Stanning at Longridge Farm. One of the children subsequently died as the result of criminal neglect and persistent ill-treatment. Case made a bit of a sensation at the time.
It was horrible.
The Stannings were sentenced to terms of imprisonment. Stanning died in prison. Mrs. Stanning served her sentence and was duly released. Yesterday, as I say, she was found strangled at twenty-four Culver Street.
Who did it?
I’m coming to that, madam. A notebook was picked up near the scene of the crime. In that notebook was written two addresses. One was Twenty-four Culver Street. The other… was Monkswell Manor.
What?
Yes, sir.
That’s why Superintendent Hogben, on receiving this information from Scottland Yard, thought it imperative for me to come out here and find out if you knew of connection between this house, or anyone in this house, and the Longridge Farm case.
There’s nothing - absolutely nothing. It must be a coincidence.
Superintendent Hogben doesn’t think it is a coincidence, sir.
He’d have come himself if it had been in any way possible. Under the weather conditions, and as I can ski, he sent me with instructions to get full particulars of everyone in the house, to report back to him by phone, and to take what measures I thought fit to ensure the safety of the household.
Safety? What danger does he think we’re in? God Lord, he’s not suggesting that somebody is going to be killed here.
I don’t want to frighten any of the ladies - but frankly, yes that is the idea.
But - why?
That’s what I’m here to find out.
But the whole thing’s crazy!
Yes, sir. It’s because it’s crazy that’s it’s dangerous.
Is there something that you haven’t told us, Sergeant?
Yes, Mrs. Ralston. Below the two addresses was written “Three Blind Mice.” And on the dead women’s body was a paper with “This is the First” written on it, and below the words, a drawing of three little mice and a bar of music. The music was the tune of the nursery rhyme, Three Blind Mice. You know how it goes. Three Blind Mice..
