House party guests at Chimneys debate how to counter Gerry Wade's habitual lateness, finding it increasingly irritating.

The group stays up late and secretly plants eight alarm clocks in Gerry's bedroom to wake him in the morning.

Gerry Wade is found dead in his bed, with an empty bottle of chloral on the nightstand.

Dr. Cartwright examines Gerry's body and suggests the death was a suicide, with an inquest to follow.

Jimmy notices that the alarm clocks in Gerry's room have been rearranged into a neat line with one now missing.

Bundle finds a crumpled letter Gerry wrote to Loraine, warning her to forget about the Seven Dials.

Bundle nearly runs over a man who staggers from a roadside hedge, collapses, and whispers 'Seven Dials' and Jimmy's name.

The collapsed man is identified as Ronny Devereux, a former Chimneys guest who died from a gunshot wound.

Bundle, Jimmy, and Loraine agree that Gerry was likely murdered and commit to investigating the Seven Dials together.

Bundle visits Superintendent Battle at Scotland Yard, who confirms the Seven Dials is also the name of a nightclub.

Bundle hides inside a secret cupboard at the Seven Dials Club and secretly observes a masked meeting of the organization.

At Wyvern Abbey, Jimmy and Bill plan an overnight watch to protect Eberhard's formula from a potential theft.

Gunshots ring out in the library, and Jimmy is found wounded on the threshold, claiming to have fought off a thief.

Eberhard's stolen formula is unexpectedly recovered when Loraine produces a brown package she caught outside the library window.

The masked figure No. 7 removes his mask and reveals himself to be Superintendent Battle, the professional detective.

A house party prank with alarm clocks turns deadly when Gerry Wade is found dead at Chimneys, with an official verdict of suicide that hides a darker truth. Bundle Brent's discovery of Gerry's cryptic letter about the Seven Dials, combined with Ronny Devereux's dying words on a roadside, convinces her to investigate alongside Jimmy Thesiger and Loraine. Bundle's trip to Scotland Yard and her infiltration of a secret masked meeting at the Seven Dials Club reveal a clandestine organization linked to a stolen invention formula. The investigation reaches its peak at Wyvern Abbey, where Jimmy is found wounded after shots ring out and the formula is dramatically recovered from Loraine's hands. In the final revelation, the mysterious No. 7 removes his mask and exposes himself as Superintendent Battle, who has been orchestrating the investigation all along. With Jimmy and Loraine arrested, Bundle joins the Seven Dials and returns home to announce her engagement to Bill.

The core investigation from Gerry's death to Battle's unmasking.

Lady Coote fails to convince the gardener MacDonald to set up a lawn bowling court at Chimneys.

Bateman suggests using alarm clocks to wake Gerry, and the group goes into town and buys eight.

Jimmy and Ronny drive to inform Loraine of Gerry's death, and Ronny hints he knows something but refuses to share it.

Lord Caterham returns to Chimneys and dismisses Gerry's death as most likely a suicide, preferring to avoid an inquiry.

The missing eighth alarm clock is found on the lawn, thrown out through Gerry's bedroom window.

Lord Caterham recalls that Cabinet Minister George Lomax mentioned receiving warnings connected to the name Seven Dials.

Bundle visits Jimmy's home and unexpectedly finds Loraine already waiting there to speak with him.

Bundle dines with Bill Eversleigh and persuades him to take her to the Seven Dials nightclub.

At the Seven Dials Club, Bundle recognizes Alfred as a former Chimneys footman who recently left his position there.

Bundle meets Countess Radzky at Wyvern Abbey and grows suspicious of the woman's incessant talk about Bulgaria.

Bundle sneaks outside at Wyvern Abbey during the night watch but is stopped by Superintendent Battle and sent back to bed.

Countess Radzky is discovered unconscious on the library floor after the gunshots are fired at Wyvern Abbey.

Bundle notices a distinctive mole on the Countess's shoulder that matches the masked woman she saw at the Seven Dials meeting.

Battle reconstructs the attempted theft, produces a charred left-handed glove from the fireplace, and reports that John Bauer has disappeared.

Jimmy is confronted by a suspicious Bateman in the Letherbury corridor after secretly searching Sir Coote's study at night.

Behind the headline events of Gerry's death and the Seven Dials investigation lie a series of quieter but equally important moments that shape the story's outcome. From Lady Coote's comic argument with the gardener to the discovery of the missing clock thrown onto the lawn, these scenes establish the social world of Chimneys and the early clues that something sinister is afoot. Bundle's visits to Bill and the nightclub, along with her growing suspicion of Countess Radzky, move the investigation forward step by step as new leads emerge and old ones deepen. The night at Wyvern Abbey is seen through a secondary lens — Bundle's interception by Battle, the Countess's convenient unconsciousness, and the telltale glove in the fireplace all contribute to the mystery's unraveling. Jimmy's nocturnal search at Letherbury and his tense corridor confrontation with Bateman reveal the risks the amateur investigators take in pursuit of the truth. Together these scenes fill in the spaces between the novel's major turning points and show how deception operates through ordinary social channels.

The supporting scenes that build the mystery's web.

Ronny asks Dr. Cartwright about 'foul play' during Gerry's examination, immediately raising Jimmy's suspicion of Ronny's hidden knowledge.

Loraine reveals that Gerry showed her a document listing Seven Dials names and dates before his death.

The group realizes for the first time that the seven remaining alarm clocks each have a 'dial,' directly matching the secret society's name.

Loraine agrees to stay out of the investigation at Jimmy's insistence, but Bundle privately suspects she will act independently anyway.

Alfred reveals that Mosgorovsky attended a party at Chimneys, paid Alfred to quit immediately, and then suggested his own replacement.

Bundle returns to the Seven Dials Club dressed as a maid and convinces Alfred to show her a hidden room with a secret cupboard.

George Lomax announces at his Wyvern Abbey gathering that Mrs. Macatta has cancelled her expected appearance due to illness.

Bundle enters what she believes is Bill's room but instead finds Countess Radzky's room completely empty during the night watch.

Loraine secretly arrives at Wyvern Abbey armed with a pistol and catches a brown package thrown down from a window.

Jimmy proposes marriage to Loraine in the Wyvern Abbey gardens, and she laughs and says they must solve the mystery first.

Bundle and the group discover a vial of white powder at Letherbury that could have been used to drug Gerry and O'Rourke.

Bill receives a letter from Ronny's estate, per Ronny's strict instructions that it be delivered two weeks after his death.

George Lomax visits Chimneys and attempts to propose marriage to Bundle, mistakenly believing she has developed genuine political ambitions.

Bundle goes upstairs at the Seven Dials Club to retrieve Loraine's bag and is struck from behind and knocked unconscious.

Battle reveals that Ronny rearranged the alarm clocks after Gerry's murder as a deliberate psychological gambit to unsettle the killer.

The Seven Dials mystery turns on a series of pivotal revelations and choices that gradually expose the truth hidden beneath a web of performance and deception. Ronny's pointed question about foul play, Loraine's disclosure of Gerry's secret document, and the group's sudden realization that seven clocks with dials name the very society they seek are the early sparks of understanding. Bundle's undercover return to the Seven Dials Club uncovers the secret room and draws out Alfred's full confession about Mosgorovsky's role in planting a spy at Chimneys. At Wyvern Abbey, Loraine's covert arrival and her suspicious recovery of the stolen package — alongside Bundle's discovery of the Countess's empty room — quietly plant the seeds of the novel's greatest twist. The final confrontation at the Seven Dials Club, including Bundle's assault and Battle's climactic explanation of Ronny's clock gambit, reveals that Jimmy and Loraine were the true criminals all along. These turning points show how Christie layers deception so carefully that the truth only emerges when the masks are voluntarily removed.