This episode takes us back to St. Mary Mead as Mabel once again visits her Aunt Marple and hears a compelling story told by a lawyer. This is one of Christie’s best high-concept hooks for a story; the title is Motive vs. Opportunity and it’s a very simple story in which a wealthy man makes a will cutting his family out of the will in order to give most of his money to a couple of swindlers. Long story short, someone tampers with the will, replacing it in the lawyer’s envelope with a blank piece of paper. The wealthy man’s children had the necessary motive, but they were never alone with the lawyer’s coat, where the envelope was; the swindlers, on the other hand, both had opportunity to search the lawyer’s coat while he was out of his office, but, of course, they have no motive for removing the will. So, who’s to blame? The people who had a chance, but seemingly no reason? Or the people who had every reason, but seemingly no chance? This is a great hook for a story and this episode adapts it very well, really taking the time to follow the lawyer through his evening and let us see the important moments. That said, the ending is rather a cheat and I really wish Christie had come up with something a little more shocking and surprising. Still, I quite enjoyed this one. 3 stars.
tl;dr – one of Christie’s best high-concept hooks is given a good, detailed treatment here; the ending leaves something to be desired, but this one is still enjoyable and fun. 3 stars.
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