Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel

Catherine Narracott skis with her husband. Though she is the more skilled skier, she allows him to correct her technique to satisfy his ego. After she speeds past him, he angrily scolds her for being reckless. They stop at a refreshment kiosk, where Catherine sees Diana, some nuns, and the young man who had previously bothered them.

Anthony asks if Catherine has taken one of her prescribed “pills,” and she takes a stimulant. She reflects on the variety of medications provided by her discreet London doctor. Anthony is dismissive of her attempts at conversation and is instead distracted by Sylvia Sinclair, who is struggling to ski nearby. When Sylvia falls, Catherine moves to help her, but Anthony furiously objects, calling Sylvia irresponsible. Catherine helps Sylvia anyway and recognizes her distinctive perfume.

While skiing through a wooded area, Catherine sees the young man from the kiosk skiing quickly toward them. Anthony appears unnerved and immediately skis away at high speed, ordering Catherine to follow. They enter a thick cloud that severely limits visibility, and she loses sight of her husband.

The snow beneath Catherine’s skis begins to move. With a desperate effort, she turns away and extricates herself just as the snow spills over the cliff into the abyss below. She finds Anthony waiting for her further down the slope. He claims that he shouted a warning, but Catherine heard nothing. Anthony notes with satisfaction that they have lost their pursuer and speculates that the young man may have gone over the cliff. Catherine is deeply shaken and suspects Anthony never shouted at all, wondering if he intended for her to die.

Feeling depressed, Sylvia Sinclair decides to adopt a character for the evening. After covering bruises on her neck caused by Anthony, she struggles into a tight white satin dress. Anthony arrives at her room and apologizes for his behavior the previous night. He tells her that he has been financially dependent on his wife but is about to receive an “inheritance” that will free him to be with Sylvia. He asks her to be patient, and she agrees. After he leaves, Sylvia feels a renewed sense of hope. For a final dramatic touch, she deliberately damages the shoulder strap of her dress so that it is likely to break later in the evening.

Before dinner, Diana has drinks with Mrs. Bantry and Miss Marple in the hotel’s great hall. Mrs. Bantry is disturbed by several grotesque troll masks decorating the wall, which a waiter explains are a local tradition. Miss Marple observes the Narracotts walk by in silence and comments that Catherine seems like a repressed child, adding that the couple’s lack of communication suggests “true loneliness.” When Mrs. Bantry asks about her life, Diana mentions a past engagement that ended. As the sun sets dramatically, Miss Marple remarks that “the actions of human beings are usually far more predictive of coming danger than any natural phenomenon” (92).

At dinner, Catherine smells Sylvia’s perfume on Anthony. She recalls answering the phone in his London apartment and speaking with a woman who called herself “Sylvia Baby.” No longer willing to ignore the affair, Catherine confronts Anthony publicly. She produces a diamond earring matching Sylvia’s, which she claims to have found in their bed. The ensuing argument captures the attention of the entire dining room. Anthony denies everything, but Catherine loudly accuses him of having the “American…whore” in their room. From a nearby table, Sylvia tells Catherine that she is making a spectacle of herself. Enraged, Catherine walks over and throws her martini in Sylvia’s face. The scene ends when Anthony violently seizes Catherine’s wrists and orders her back to their room.

In the hotel bathroom, Sylvia cleans herself up, feeling the sting of public humiliation. She finds Catherine there, crying and mockingly congratulates Catherine on her performance in the dining room. As another woman exits a toilet stall, Catherine insults Sylvia and says that Sylvia will never have Anthony. Sylvia replies that Anthony is already hers and Catherine storms out of the bathroom.

Late at night, Bruno Crane and Anthony Narracott cross the glacier toward a remote mountain hut. Anthony, who is armed with a pistol, dismisses the earlier scene at dinner, revealing that he put Catherine to bed and made sure she took a sedative. He tells Bruno their plan has changed: A “banker” at the hotel will handle the sale of their gold. He then unilaterally changes their profit-sharing agreement: 50% for himself, 35% for Bruno, and 15% for the banker’s commission. Bruno conceals his anger and secretly considers taking everything for himself.

Inside the hut, they uncover a metal chest filled with gold bars. The hut was purchased jointly by Anthony and Bruno in 1943 from a local climbing guide in exchange for watches, cigarettes, and Bruno’s pistol. Anthony brings up a wartime murder, accusing Bruno of the crime. Bruno is horrified, believing Anthony was the killer, but his memory of the event is unclear. Anthony insists that they leave the gold for now and finalize the transaction in the morning. Bruno realizes that, with the deal imminent, he has become a liability to Anthony.

The next morning, Catherine watches Anthony from bed as he prepares for the day, noting that his famous wartime limp disappears in private and that he practices his charming smiles in the mirror. When he opens the curtains, he freezes in terror. A black flag bearing the symbol of a howling wolf and the words Les loups des montagnes—the mountain wolves—has been raised on the hotel flagpole. Catherine says the phrase aloud, and Anthony visibly flinches. He dismisses it as a “practical joke”—the same words he used when a jar of rat poison appeared in their room—but quickly closes the curtains, confirming to Catherine that he is deeply afraid.

Anthony bursts into Bruno’s room. He concedes that Bruno was right and that one of their past enemies is at the hotel. While Bruno panics, Anthony regains his composure and insists that they stick to their routines to avoid arousing suspicion. He tells Bruno that he is going skiing, as he does every morning at nine o’clock, and that his “banker” is ready to complete their transaction quickly. He orders Bruno to stay on guard and wait for his instructions.

At nine o’clock Diana arrives in the hotel lobby as a heavy snow begins to fall. She sees Anthony Narracott angrily leaving an elevator, followed by the mystery young man. Anthony briefly speaks to Diana before being called to the phone. He hands his coffee flask to the receptionist for a refill.

Diana joins Miss Marple and Mrs. Bantry for breakfast. Miss Marple points out tracks in the snow leading toward the glacier, noting they were made during the night by “someone, or two someones or perhaps even three” (116). A member of staff clearing plates sees the Les loups des montagnes flag outside and explains that it was the symbol of a local French Resistance group who lost their lives in the war. Miss Marple finds it curious that the flag has appeared if everyone in the group is dead. As they talk, Diana watches the first gondola of the day ascending the mountain.

At 9:30 am, the gondola reaches the top of the mountain. An attendant boards and finds the body of a man with red-gold hair curled on the floor. The man is cold and has no pulse, and his eyes are open. The only other item in the car is an empty coffee flask matching the one Anthony Narracott had refilled at the hotel reception desk. The air smells of coffee and a sweet, nutty smell. Following protocol, the attendant radios the hotel and is instructed to send the gondola, with the body still inside, back down the mountain.