Death On The Nile

Miss Bowers explains that she has returned the pearls preemptively in order to avoid a public scandal. She reveals that her employer, Miss Van Schuyler, is a kleptomaniac especially prone to stealing jewelry; Miss Bowers’ function is not to tend to her health, but rather to prevent her from stealing and return any stolen objects before they can be discovered as missing.

Miss Bowers reveals that Miss Van Schuyler stole the pearls the previous night; Miss Bowers found them in the usual hiding place, inside a pair of Miss Van Schuyler’s stockings, that morning. Miss Bowers immediately recognized the pearls and set off to return them before Linnet awakened, but on the way, she learned that Linnet had been murdered and her cabin sealed off.

During the interview, Miss Bowers assures Race and Poirot that Miss Van Schuyler is not dangerous. They also learn that she is hard of hearing, and that she is unlikely to have heard anyone moving about in Linnet Doyle’s room.

Race and Poirot agree that Miss Van Schuyler cannot yet be eliminated as a suspect. Poirot tells Race about Rosalie’s hesitation before telling Poirot that she saw and heard nobody while throwing out her mother’s secret stash of alcohol. The two men agree that the pause is “suggestive” (290).

Race tells Poirot that he understands now why nobody heard the shot that killed Linnet Doyle: the cabin on the forward side of hers was empty because Simon was in Dr. Bessner’s cabin; the one aft was occupied by the deaf Miss Van Schuyler. The only other cabin next to hers was Pennington’s, and Pennington has already behaved suspiciously, lying about his whereabouts during the first attempt on Linnet’s life. Race and Poirot agree to return to Pennington shortly; first, however, they must deal with the matter of the pearls.

Poirot examines the pearls and declares that they are fake. 

Race suggests that Linnet might have purposefully brought the imitation pearls with her instead of the real ones; Poirot, however, remembers having admired the “wonderful sheen and lustre” (293) of Linnet’s pearls on the first evening on the boat. He is certain that she was wearing the real pearls that night, and that someone must have replaced them with the imitation ones later.

This leaves two possibilities: either someone else stole the real pearls and replaced them with the imitation ones, which Miss Van Schuyler then stole, or Miss Bowers is a thief who made up the story about Miss Van Schuyler’s kleptomania in order to hide the fact that she herself had stolen the real pearls (alternately, Miss Van Schuyler, Miss Bowers, and Cornelia could be working together as jewel thieves).

Poirot adds that the imitation pearls are a high-quality fake, and whoever made them would have had to study the originals closely and take their time with the fabrication.

Race and Poirot search all the cabins on the lower deck, checking the guests’ handkerchiefs to see if any match the one found along with the gun. The contents of the rooms reveal details about each character’s inner life and provide clues to the various mysteries on board.

Richetti’s room contains archeological literature and silk handkerchiefs. Ferguson’s contains expensive handkerchiefs and underwear, along with tattered outer clothing; there are no personal papers whatsoever, but a signet ring attracts Poirot’s attention.

Fanthorp’s room is well-ordered and contains no letters at all, suggesting that he destroys his mail. Tim’s room contains a rosary, several recently-published books, and plenty of letters, though no letters from Joanna Southwood; Poirot also notices a tube of Seccotine, a brand of refined fish glue. Poirot thinks the pearls are likely to be hidden in Simon’s room, since Simon has been staying in Dr. Bessler’s cabin and the thief would surely try to avoid keeping stolen goods in his or her own cabin; however, he and Race do not find the pearls there.

Next, the two men search Linnet’s room, hoping to find clues to her murderer’s identity. Poirot notices two nail polish bottles, one nearly full and one, marked “Rose,” nearly empty “but for a drop or two of dark red fluid at the bottom” (298). When Poirot opens the bottles to smell them, “an odour of peardrops billow[s] into the room” (298).

Poirot and Race arrive at Bessner’s cabin and ask Simon whether Linnet kept an imitation set of pearls; he responds that she did not, and that she was careless about the pearls because they were insured.

The men pay careful attention to Pennington’s cabin. They find a case of documents in need of Linnet’s signature, but none of them appear compromising. There is also a revolver. After this search, Poirot asks Race to search Jackie’s and Cornelia’s cabins, along with two empty ones. Poirot himself sets off to question Simon.

Simon says that he thinks Linnet’s pearls had not yet been stolen on the previous day, since he remembers Linnet touching them and thinks she would have noticed if they were fake. Poirot asks whether Linnet ever loaned the necklace to friends, and Simon responds that he doesn’t know; however, Linnet was generous, and it seems likely that she might have done so.

Poirot asks whether Linnet ever loaned the pearls to Jackie, and the suggestion that Jackie could have stolen the pearls fills him with rage. Simon’s reaction reminds Poirot of Jackie’s statement that she and Simon love each other, and thinks to himself that she seems to have been right.

A steward and stewardess arrive after having searched the passengers in the saloon; they report that Richetti was carrying a gun and seemed angry about being searched. Simon tells Poirot about Richetti’s explosion of anger upon finding Linnet reading his telegram by mistake. The stewardess also reports that Rosalie Otterbourne had a small, pearl-handled pistol in her handbag, but that she did not seem to notice that the stewardess had discovered it. Meanwhile, Louise Bourget appears to be missing.

Poirot and Race go to search Louise’s cabin and find it in a state of disarray. They then discover Louise’s body under the bed.