Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel

Diana Glass joins Miss Marple and Mrs. Bantry for a discussion in the hotel’s spa. Miss Marple recaps the interviews and they review the potential suspects. They consider Catherine Narracott, but deem her involvement unlikely. They agree Sylvia has a motive, and Miss Marple reveals she noticed old bruising on her neck. They also discuss Anthony’s son who may have been blackmailing his father. Diana posits that he could be faking his identity entirely. Miss Marple believes Charlie is Anthony’s son but agrees that, in the isolated hotel, anyone’s identity could be a fabrication. They turn to Bruno Crane, noting his coldness toward his deceased friend and his apparent fear. Miss Marple concludes that there is a hidden element they are missing, comparing it to a dangerous glacier concealed beneath the snow.

Alone in his room, Bruno has a sudden realization about who has the gold. Believing this is his opportunity to claim a share of the fortune, he writes a blackmail note reading, “I know you have it […] I know what you did” (185), and demands one-third of the gold in exchange for his silence. He plans to slip the note under the culprit’s door late that night.

Late at night, Diana is in her room when Inspector Moreau knocks on her door. He asks to speak with her privately, away from Miss Marple and Mrs. Bantry. Inside her room, he questions her about her connection to Anthony, revealing he overheard her mention at check-in that she worked at the War Office. Diana downplays their connection, claiming she was a low-level secretary whom Anthony would not have known. After a tense conversation in which they both seem to acknowledge a mutual attraction, Moreau leaves without drinking the drink Diana prepares for him.

In the early hours of the morning, a reply to Bruno’s blackmail note is pushed under his door. The message instructs him to await further instructions for a meeting and reminds him that “SILENCE IS INDEED GOLDEN” (190). Bruno is pleased, convinced his risky plan has succeeded.

At breakfast, Mrs. Bantry reports that she has misplaced her room key. Diana notes that the roll of film from her camera is also missing but says nothing. To lift the guests’ spirits, the hotel manager announces a toboggan competition on the dangerous Verglas run. Despite Mrs. Bantry’s concerns, Diana decides to compete. As she prepares for her run, she feels a mix of intense fear and exhilaration, viewing the near-vertical ice chute.

Catherine watches the toboggan race with Miss Marple and Mrs. Bantry. She confides her anxieties about being trapped and gossiped about, adding that her husband would have loved the dangerous sport. When Miss Marple asks how Anthony won his Victoria Cross, Catherine claims the details are secret but that it involved an act of great bravery in the mountains. The first racer finishes with a bloody face and missing teeth, increasing Mrs. Bantry’s worry for Diana. Miss Marple remarks that Diana is not easily dissuaded once she has made up her mind.

Diana completes a thrilling and terrifying descent of the Verglas run. Feeling invigorated, she decides to go a second time and gets back on the button lift. She sees Bruno on the lift ahead of her. He seems unsteady and, at the top, he walks toward a remote copse of trees instead of toward the toboggan run. When he notices Diana watching, he makes a crude gesture and tells her he is going to relieve himself, an excuse Diana finds repulsive.

Bruno heads to the designated meeting spot in a copse of trees, believing Diana is fooled by his excuse. He has received instructions to meet there during the toboggan competition to collect his share of the gold, and he carries a pistol for protection. As he approaches, he sees a grotesque face in the trees, which turns out to be a troll mask from the hotel dining room hanging from a branch. As he processes the strange setup, he hears a noise behind him. He turns and recognizes his attacker, saying “You?” in confusion, before being struck twice on the head. Lying fatally wounded in the snow, his final thoughts are of a young man he and Anthony murdered eight years earlier.

During a late lunch, Diana, Miss Marple, and Mrs. Bantry discuss the toboggan competition. Inspector Moreau joins them and reveals the event was his idea to quell rising panic among the guests. He announces that Bruno Crane has been found murdered up on the mountain.

Miss Marple says she is not physically able to inspect the crime scene and asks Diana to go with Inspector Moreau in her place. Diana and Moreau take the button lift and hike to the trees where they find Bruno’s body. He has been killed by a heavy blow to the head. Moreau shows Diana the note found on the body instructing Bruno to meet his killer there. He speculates the weapon was a ski or sled. Diana notices a faint ski track leading away from the scene into a steep, hidden couloir, suggesting a possible escape route for an expert skier. Later, Diana recounts the details to Miss Marple, who declares that “real wickedness” is at work.

Catherine sits in the hotel lounge, where Miss Marple joins her. Catherine expresses her fear that she will be the next victim. Miss Marple asks if her husband had any other business on this trip, which might explain Bruno’s presence. Catherine admits she is now wondering the same thing. Later, in her room, she searches Anthony’s washbag and discovers a hidden photograph of another guest currently staying at the hotel, leaving her shocked and confused.

Late that night, Diana and Moreau share drinks in the bar, where the romantic tension between them grows. They go to his room and have sex. As Diana is dressing, she drops a ring from her necklace, which rolls under the bed. When she reaches for it, her fingers brush against a packet of photographs. She pulls them out and discovers they are prints from her missing roll of film.

Moreau confesses to taking the film from her room and developing it himself, fearing she would destroy the evidence. He questions why she was photographing Anthony and Bruno on the mountain at night. He points out a detail Diana had missed: A third, blurry figure is visible in one of the photos, watching the men from a distance. Diana suggests this person could be the murderer, but Moreau’s suspicious gaze makes it clear he considers her a prime suspect. They hear someone at the door, but the person is gone before Moreau can see who it was.

Unable to sleep at in the early hours of the morning, Sylvia takes her dog for a walk in the snow near the woods. The silence outside feels oppressive, and she becomes unnerved when she hears the sound of footsteps nearby. Trying to appear calm, she calls out into the darkness to see if anyone is there.

At breakfast, a stressed Mrs. Bantry announces she has arranged a sleigh ride to escape the oppressive atmosphere of the hotel. She mentions there was some “confusion” with the booking that left her flustered, but she dismisses it as a symptom of her own forgetfulness. When she invites Diana to join, Diana declines, claiming she is tired after a sleepless night.

At breakfast, Catherine observes Diana. She notices a significant change in Diana’s demeanor, seeing the once-meek companion is now “steely” and “strong.” When Diana’s polite smile vanishes as she turns away, it reminds Catherine of Anthony’s calculated “politician’s mask.” As Diana leaves the room, the phrase “wolf in sheep’s clothing” comes to Catherine’s mind (228).