- A famous pie manufacturer tells Poirot that he has dreamt of his own suicide, then dies under the same circumstances he dreamt about the very next day.
- Hercule Poirot is puzzled when Benedict Farley summons him to a late night meeting. Farley is known as the king of pies as his company manufactures a well-known brand of meat pies. At their meeting, he tells Poirot of a recurring dream where he takes a gun from his desk drawer, walks to his office window and commits suicide. His only question for Poirot is whether someone could be manipulating him psychologically. When Farley is found dead the next day - in circumstances that appear to match those in his dream - Poirot and Captain Hastings find themselves assisting Inspector Japp in a case that involves false identities and an affair. It is Miss Lemon, however, who provides Poirot with the vital information that allows him to solve the case—garykmcd
- Hercule Poirot is invited by wealthy industrialist / pork pie king, Benedict Farley, to take on his case. When they meet at Mr Farley's factory, Mr Farley tells Poirot that he believes someone is trying to hypnotise him into committing suicide. Mr Poirot is quite dismissive of Mr Farley's suggestion and the meeting ends. The next day, Mr Farley is found dead in his office, shot through the head, apparently at his own hand. Chief Inspector Japp would normally write it up as suicide and close the case, but the fact that Poirot was previously contacted by Mr Farley makes him think it could be murder, and that Poirot's assistance is needed.—grantss
- Starts with millionaire Benedict Farley (Alan Howard) opening a new factory to expand his record production of British pies that are exported all over the world. Farley's daughter from his first marriage, Joanna (Joely Richardson) loves Farley's employee Herbert (Martin Wenner). Herbert has just been fired as Farley came to know of his affair with Joanna. Joanna claims she could kill Farley. Poirot is summoned by letter to the home of reclusive and eccentric millionaire Benedict Farley. He is asked to the bring the letter with him, which he finds most interesting.
He is shown into the office of Farley's personal secretary, Hugo Cornworthy, but finds the millionaire himself alone in the darkened room. Poirot is made to sit in the light of a bright desk lamp, and he is not impressed with the man, dressed in an old patchwork dressing gown and wearing thick glasses, feeling that he is stagy and a mountebank and doesn't possess the charisma he would expect from such a rich and powerful person. Farley tells him that he is troubled by a nightly dream in which he is seated at his desk in the next room (the one adjacent to the present office of Hugo) and at exactly 12.28pm, he takes out the revolver he keeps in his desk drawer and shoots himself. Various doctors have been unable to explain this to him and he has now turned to the famous detective.
Poirot wonders if he has enemies who would want to kill him, but Farley knows of no one. Poirot asks to see the room where the dream is set but Farley refuses and Poirot therefore takes his leave. Before he goes Farley asks him for the letter, he sent him to be returned and Poirot hands it over but then realizes he handed over the wrong one and Farley didn't notice. The correct letter is exchanged. A week later, inspector Japp, phones Poirot and tells him that Farley has shot himself. Poirot goes to the house and meets the doctor, a police inspector, the dead man's second wife (Mary Tamm), his daughter from his first marriage, Joanna and Hugo Cornworthy in whose office Poirot had had his meeting with Farley.
Poirot tells them all the reason for the previous visit. There is surprise on the part of some members of the party, but Mrs Farley was told by her husband of the dreams, and she confirms that he kept a revolver in his desk drawer. Her husband seems to have killed himself in precisely the way and at the time the dream foretold. Two visitors were outside his room waiting to see him. Farley spoke to them briefly to tell them he wouldn't be long and then went inside his room.
After a considerable period, Cornworthy went in and found the dead body. No one could enter the room in the interim. There is a window (the room itself is a few floors up) with no climbable ledge and opposite the window is a blank wall. Poirot feels that the wall is important. He examines the room and finds a pair of extendable tongs which take his interest. He asks various questions of the people gathered there, one of which is to ascertain if Farley had bad eyesight without his glasses and Joanna tells Poirot that Farley could see well with his glasses & that he had several pairs of them.
Poirot has the solution: on his previous visit, he did not see Farley but a disguised Cornworthy. It was the secretary who sent the letter to Poirot, and he gave the butler instructions to let him in and take him to his own office, not Farley's room. Wearing thick glasses, he was unable to see that Poirot had returned the wrong letter. The act put on by Cornworthy explains why Poirot wasn't as impressed by the man as he expected him to be. Cornworthy knew that Farley used to lean out of his window at 12:38 precisely each day to check whether the pie bake for the day had been started on time or not, and then he shot him by leaning out of his own window, overseen by no one because of the blank wall. He left the man dead for a short while and then went to "find" the body, planting the revolver there.
His co-conspirator was his lover, Mrs Farley, who was the only other person who claimed that the dreams were real, and that revolver was kept in the desk drawer. She gives the game away by attempting to attack Poirot but is held back by Japp. Hugo & Mrs Farley loved each other & Farley's death would have brought them together while giving Mrs Farley 0.25 million Pounds as inheritance.
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