S11E03 - After the Funeral

After the funeral of the wealthy Richard Abernethie, his remaining family assembles for the reading of the will. The death, though sudden, was not unexpected and natural causes have been given as the cause on his death certificate. Nevertheless, after the tactless Cora says, "It was hushed up very nicely ... but he was murdered, wasn't he?" the family lawyer, Mr. Entwhistle, begins to investigate. Before long there is no question that a murderer is at large.

After returning home from her brother's funeral, Cora Lansquenet is murdered in her sleep by repeated blows with a hatchet. The motive for the murder does not appear to be theft, and the estate that she leaves to her relative, Susan Banks, is comparatively meagre, since the Abernethie bequest is folded back into the estate of her brother, Richard. The suspected motive is therefore to suppress anything that Richard might have told Cora about his suspicions that he was being poisoned. These had been overheard by her companion, Miss Gilchrist.

Entwhistle calls in Poirot, who employs an old friend, Mr. Goby, to investigate the family. Mr. Goby turns up a number of reasons within the family for members of it to be desperate for the money in Richard Abernethie’s estate. Poirot warns Entwhistle that Miss Gilchrist may herself be a target for the murderer.

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