Agatha Christie's What Did the Dead Man Have Up His Sleeve?

One-Acts 20

By: Heather Lynn
Cast: 3 M, 2 F, 2 flexible, extras
Performance Time: Approximately 20-30 minutes, 23 pgs

MURDER-MYSTERY. Adapted from the short story by Agatha Christie. Inspector Japp of Scotland Yard persuades Hercule Poirot and Arthur Hastings to join him on a weekend getaway to the country town of Market Basing to take a break from crime-solving. But even in the country, Poirot reminds them, “Crime is everywhere.” While enjoying a relaxing Sunday breakfast, the three are interrupted by a local police constable who requests Inspector Japp’s assistance after a reclusive resident, Walter Protheroe, is found dead in a locked room. Protheroe has a gunshot wound near his left ear, but the gun is found in his right hand, ruling out suicide. But with the door and the window to the room locked from the inside, how did the murderer enter the room? Clues include a missing key, a men’s handkerchief, an ashtray, and cufflinks. An ingenious locked-room mystery. Easy to stage.

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