They hastily switch off the light and retraced their steps to the lift.


Climax:
Donovan heaved on the rope again and this time they finally got in Pat’s flat. He opened the door and admitted the girls who were waiting outside. Girls listened with lively interest to Donovan’s account of his adventures. Pat was just mentioning that Mrs. Grant had sent her a note about seeing her later when she suddenly caught sight of Donovan’s hand covered all over by blood. At first they thought that he had hurt himself but after washing his hand the rest was staring at him in surprise. He had no mark of hurting on it at all. The only explanation was that the blood on his hand must be from the flat on the third floor. Donovan and Jimmy decided to go to the flat below again and make sure that everything is all right there. But when they got down they found a dead woman behind the curtains. Jimmy stayed on guard while Donovan run upstairs into the flat above and rang up the police. At that moment Hercule Poirot stepped in. He introduced himself and explained that he lived in the same house, had heard what happened and he offered his help. Little detective went to Mrs. Grant’s flat to have a look. He stood upright and looked slowly round the room. He did not move, he handled nothing and it still looked like every object in that place gave up its secret to his observant eye. Then three policemen came. Poirot had a word with inspector and recounted him what they had discovered. What they detected was that Mrs. Grant had been sitting at the table when somebody sitting opposite her had shot her with pistol fitted with a silencer so nobody else could hear the shot. Then the murderer had concealed the body behind the curtains.


Falling action (anticlimax):
Poirot decided to make an investigation of his own again and asked Donovan and Jimmy to accompany him. Getting into the flat he did not enter the living room but he went straight to the kitchen to a big iron bin. After a while of searching he took out a small stoppered bottle. Donovan took it from him took out the stopper and sniffed before Poirot’s warning could stop him. Immediately he fell down. After a while he looked better but still a bit shaking so he decided to go home. Dénouement (resolution)
Jimmy stayed with Poirot and he finally told him what really happened. The murderer hid the body of Mrs. Grant because he didn’t want anybody to find her before he would have a chance to come back for a letter delivered later that day by an evening post. The letter said that her marriage contracted in a foreign country was still valid.