Belgium, 1914
During World War I
Allied forces are devising a plan of attack at the Yser Bridge
and Captain Rens plans to wait for their attack but Hercule Poirot suggests an alternative
they attack within seven minutes, while obscured by a wave of gas to prevent the enemies from
seeing them
The soldiers go along with Poirot’s plan and launch a successful attack against the
Central Powers
Just as Rens congratulates Poirot for his plan he accidentally trips a bomb that blows
up the bridge and kills Rens, plus wounds several soldiers and Poirot himself
Poirot wakes up in the hospital by his nurse Katherine who is also his lover
He tells her she shouldn’t have come but she insists that she loves him
He turns around to reveal his disfigurement from the explosion
to which Katherine simply suggests that he grow a mustache
in 1937, London
Poirot attends a nightclub where jazz singer Salome Otterbourne is performing
Her niece Rosalie, handles the snooty maitre‘d and gets her payment
On the dance floor are a young couple Simon and Jackie and They dance as Salome sings
The club is then visited by Jackie’s friend wealthy heiress Linnet Ridgeway
She catches up with Jackie asking her if she can offer Simon a job before they get married
After Jackie introduces the two of them Simon and Linnet share a dance
one with equal if not greater passion than the one Simon shared with Jackie and she looks
on with discomfort
Six weeks later Poirot is in Egypt
He sits by the Sphinx to enjoy tea and a cake when he notices a man flying a kite on the
pyramid
He goes to admonish the man until he sees it is his old friend Bouc
He is elated to see Poirot, and brings him to meet his mother Euphemia
She is unimpressed with meeting Poirot and focuses more on her painting of the pyramid
Bouc brings Poirot to the First Cataract Hotel, where they attend a party in honor of the
newlyweds Simon and Linnet
Among the guests are Euphemia, Salome and Rosalie, Linnet’s maid Louise Bourget, Linnet’s
godmother Marie Van Schulyer and her nurse Mrs. Bowers
and Linnet’s Cousin Andrew Katchadourian who oversees her will, and Dr. Linus Windlesham,
Linnet’s former lover Bouc tells Poirot how Marie leans toward communism
and hates how wealthy Linnet is
but Mrs. Bowers covets her wealth as does Louise
while Andrew is a slippery fish that nobody but Linnet trusts
The celebration is brought down by Jackie’s surprise appearance
which is an occurrence that has been going on since Simon left her for Linnet
While touring the area, Linnet and Simon approach Poirot
and ask him to investigate Jackie since her constant stalking of them, has made Linnet
worried and uncomfortable
Poirot finds Jackie and speaks to her learning that Linnet has always cast a shadow over
her
Jackie had been cast in the school play, Antony and Cleopatra but their teacher replaced her
with Linnet
Jackie believes Simon still loves her
and she is also carrying a 22 caliber gun in her bag
Poirot brings this information to Linnet and Simon suggesting they go home and start their
lives, but Simon opts for a different solution
The next day, Simon invites the guests onto his yacht the SS Karnak to continue enjoying
the festivities
Linnet later finds Poirot in his room
and tells him that she does not trust any of the guests
Poirot sees as Andrew approaches Linnet to sign for the acquisition of property, which
makes Mrs. Bowers unhappy
Rosalie chimes in which makes Andrew back off
Later that night, while the guests are partying
Poirot and Bouc chat with Bouc telling Poirot that he is in a relationship with Rosalie
and is very much in love with her but he is hoping for his mother’s blessing
He also notes Poirot’s attraction to Salome and encourages him to find love
The party later stops at Abu Simbel
While there Bouc tries to tell Euphemia about his relationship with Rosalie though she expresses
her disapproval
Regardless, he is glad, that he no longer feels the need to hide their romance
Poirot also talks to Salome who tells him he wears a mask
Not long after Simon and Linnet are together when they are nearly crushed by a falling
boulder
Moments later a sandstorm forces the guests to take cover
After everything settles they board the boat again
to find that Jackie has made it onboard
Simon says they cannot do anything since she has a paid ticket to board
The guests have dinner with Simon and Linnet planning on leaving the following morning
Poirot has some champagne and feels nauseous
He goes outside and finds Jackie with the two of them talking about their failed loves
Poirot mentions that Katherine was killed in an explosion, and the loss broke him into
what he is now
After Poirot goes to bed Jackie finds Simon and Linnet
the two taunting her over how many times they made love that day
After Linnet goes to bed, Simon and Jackie argue leading her to pull out her gun and
shoot Simon in the leg
She becomes mortified at what she has done and throws the gun to the side
Mrs. Bowers tends to Jackie as she gets hysterical while Windlesham tends to Simon’s leg
The following morning, Louise enters the couple’s room and screams in horror
Linnet is dead with a bullet hole in her head
and It is said that she was murdered in her sleep
Additionally a valuable jewel necklace that Linnet was wearing has been stolen
Although Jackie is the prime suspect Mrs. Bowers insists that she never left the bed
overnight
Simon sees his wife’s body and wails in agony
After Linnet’s body is removed Poirot has help from Simon and Bouc to interrogate the
guests
They start with Louise who tells the men that she was previously engaged and set to leave
Linnet’s employment after her marriage
but Linnet caused Louise’s fiance to break it off after she offered to pay off his debts
in a test of his affection for her
Poirot and Bouc speak to Windlesham who admits that he still carried a torch for Linnet and
contemplated suicide after learning of her engagement
He was original Lord Windlesham but wished to pursue a career in helping others
The men then talk to Andrew
who reveals that the contracts he intended for would have cost Linnet her money and estate
Andrew is also revealed to be carrying a 45 caliber gun
Bouc then gets Marie and Mrs. Bowers in for interrogation
It is revealed that Mrs. Bowers came from a wealthy family but Linnet’s family forced
them off their land, during the Great Depression
Shortly after Jackie’s gun is fished out of the water
wrapped in Marie’s missing scarf and shown to have a bullet hole in it
The gun is missing two bullets not counting the one Jackie shot Simon with
Poirot speaks to Salome who reveals that she did not previously get along with Linnet
due to her having once complained about being in a pool with Salome a woman of color
as a result of an upbringing by Linnet’s terrible father
but later on Rosalie and Linnet got along quite well
Salome also happens to be carrying a gun like the one Jackie had
Euphemia interrupts by announcing that she found Linnet’s necklace in her room
After investigating Euphemia’s room a confrontation occurs where Poirot reveals
that Euphemia hired him to spy on Rosalie to see if she was really good for Bouc
Poirot says Rosalie is a good person for Bouc but Rosalie is angered by Poirot’s revelation
and berates him
He follows her but the two soon discover Louise’s body in the water wheel
Her throat had been cut by a scalpel missing from Windlesham’s collection of knives and
Money is also found in her person
Poirot notices blood splatter on the wall slightly covered by a potential witness to
Louise’s murder
and The guests lock themselves in their rooms for safety
Poirot conducts one more interview with Simon and he begins to interrogate Bouc, who is
stunned, that his friend is accusing him
He figures that Bouc had found Linnet dead
and that he was the one who stole her necklace
and planted it in Euphemia’s room to have her framed, so that he and Rosalie can be
free from her
Bouc had also witnessed Louise trying to bribe the killer before she was murdered
and Bouc threw his coat into the river since it was covered in her blood
Before he can reveal who he saw a gunshot rings out and hits Bouc in the throat killing
him
Poirot chases after the killer, but fails to catch him
he then has the guests locked in the bar with the help of the crew as he is ready to put
the killer in their place
Poirot knows that Andrew was the one who pushed the boulder that almost killed Simon and Linnet
which he admits was an act of desperation but he says he did not kill anybody
It is revealed that Linnet’s killer was Simon and that he was working with Jackie
who is the mastermind behind everything
They planned for Simon to marry Linnet and take her fortune after her death
Jackie shot Simon with a blank and after he shot Linnet he shot himself for real and used
Marie’s scarf to silence the gunshot
He also stole red paint from Euphemia to fake the injury before actually shooting himself
Simon got rid of the gun but because Louise was a witness
Jackie killed her and then killed Bouc
because Simon gave her a signal just before he could reveal Jackie’s identity
The two lovers realize they are caught and aim a gun at the guests Seeing no other options
Jackie kisses Simon one last time before she shoots him in the back the bullet hitting
her too
and They die in each other’s arms
The guests leave the boat and Windlesham says he will continue his work in Africa
Euphemia and Rosalie still dislike Poirot, but are thankful for finding Bouc’s killer
Salome also admits to Poirot that she had an interest in him
Six months later in London, Salome is performing at the same nightclub from earlier
Poirot attends, showing that he shaved his mustache to reveal his scars and He watches
Salome perform