Cat Among the Pigeons recap

During a revolution in Ramat, Prince Ali Yusuf gives pilot Bob Rawlinson a fortune in jewels, which Bob hides in his niece Jennifer Sutcliffe's tennis racket before both men die. At Meadowbank girls' school, someone repeatedly searches the sports pavilion; games mistress Miss Springer is shot there, Princess Shaista is abducted, and teacher Miss Vansittart is killed. Jennifer's friend Julia Upjohn finds the jewels after noticing that the racket has been exchanged and takes them to Poirot. He exposes two separate killers. Secretary Ann Shapland is an international agent who saw the jewels being hidden; she killed Springer and tries to shoot Miss Bulstrode when Mrs Upjohn can identify her. Miss Chadwick dies shielding Bulstrode. Chadwick herself killed Vansittart out of jealous fear that Vansittart would inherit leadership of the school. The supposed Shaista was an impostor; the real princess was never there. The jewels are recovered, Shapland is stopped, and Miss Bulstrode selects Eileen Rich rather than Vansittart as the successor capable of renewing Meadowbank.

A revolution threatens Prince Ali Yusuf of Ramat. Before attempting to escape, he entrusts a fortune in hereditary jewels to his friend, the British pilot Bob Rawlinson. Bob hides the packet in the handle of a tennis racket belonging to his niece Jennifer Sutcliffe, who is about to return to school in England. A woman in the neighbouring room may have seen what he did. The prince and Bob are killed during their attempted flight, while the jewels leave Ramat unnoticed among ordinary family luggage. Competing governments and private agents begin searching for a treasure whose exact hiding place is known to very few people.

The new term begins at Meadowbank, Miss Bulstrode's prestigious school for girls. She is considering retirement and weighing possible successors, including the competent Miss Vansittart, while her old colleague Miss Chadwick remains devoted to the institution. New games mistress Miss Springer quickly makes herself unpopular. Among the pupils are Jennifer Sutcliffe, her perceptive friend Julia Upjohn, and Princess Shaista of Ramat. Ann Shapland joins the staff as secretary, and Adam Goodman arrives under cover as a gardener to investigate the international activity around the school. Late at night, Miss Springer finds an intruder in the sports pavilion and is shot dead.

Police attention centres on the pavilion, where sporting equipment provides many possible reasons for entry but no obvious motive for murder. Adam continues his covert inquiry for Colonel Pikeaway and watches staff, visitors, and people connected with Ramat. Jennifer complains that her tennis racket no longer feels like her own, though she is willing to accept a simple exchange or repair. Julia takes the discrepancy more seriously. The supposed Princess Shaista is then removed from the school in what appears to be an abduction, intensifying fears that foreign agents have penetrated Meadowbank. Miss Bulstrode tries to protect the pupils and the school's reputation while recognising that the danger is not over.

A second death follows when Miss Vansittart is found killed, apparently after entering the sports pavilion. The loss strikes directly at Miss Bulstrode's plans for the future and makes it harder to see whether the school itself, a particular pupil, or some hidden object is the target. Parents begin removing their daughters. Julia investigates the changed racket and discovers the concealed jewels, finally understanding why someone has been searching sports equipment and why Jennifer may be in danger. Rather than entrust the packet to the frightened school community, she leaves Meadowbank and goes directly to the famous detective Hercule Poirot for help.

Poirot takes possession of the jewels and joins the investigation, working with Miss Bulstrode, the police, and the intelligence service. Julia's account establishes the route by which the treasure travelled from Ramat to Meadowbank. The altered racket shows that someone came close to finding it but searched the wrong object after an exchange. Poirot also questions whether all the crimes share one motive: the shooting connected with a nocturnal search, the death of a likely future headmistress, and the disappearance of a royal pupil do not fit perfectly together. Mrs Upjohn's travel memories may identify someone present during the revolution, creating a new and immediate danger around Miss Bulstrode.

Poirot reveals that Ann Shapland is the agent who saw Bob Rawlinson hide the jewels in Ramat. She took the secretary's post to search Meadowbank, killed Miss Springer when Springer caught her in the pavilion, and attempts to shoot Miss Bulstrode after Mrs Upjohn's recognition threatens to expose her. Miss Chadwick throws herself in front of the shot and dies saving Bulstrode. Poirot then distinguishes Miss Vansittart's death from Shapland's crimes: Miss Chadwick killed Vansittart out of jealousy and fear that the younger woman would succeed Miss Bulstrode, displacing Chadwick from the school to which she had devoted her life. Julia's initiative has already secured the jewels. The girl presented as Princess Shaista was an impostor used in another scheme to locate them, while the real Shaista never came to Meadowbank. With the crimes solved and the treasure recovered, Miss Bulstrode decides that Eileen Rich, whose judgement is more flexible and humane, should eventually lead the school.

Poirot separates two motives hidden within the violence at Meadowbank. Ann Shapland is an international agent who saw Bob Rawlinson conceal Prince Ali Yusuf's jewels in Jennifer Sutcliffe's tennis racket. She came to the school to recover them, killed Miss Springer when the games mistress caught her searching the pavilion, and later tries to shoot Miss Bulstrode after Mrs Upjohn can identify her from Ramat. Miss Chadwick throws herself in front of the shot and dies protecting her old friend. The earlier death of Miss Vansittart had a different cause: Miss Chadwick killed the likely successor in a jealous attempt to preserve her own place beside Miss Bulstrode and the school they founded. Julia Upjohn has already found the jewels in the racket and taken them to Poirot, putting them beyond Shapland's reach. The abducted Princess Shaista proves to have been an impostor planted as part of another effort to obtain the jewels; the real princess never attended Meadowbank. Miss Bulstrode chooses the more humane and adaptable Eileen Rich as her eventual successor, and the school survives the scandal.