Peril at End House recap

While holidaying at St Loo, Poirot sees a bullet narrowly miss Nick Buckley, the young owner of End House. Nick describes other recent accidents, and Poirot tries to protect her by bringing her cousin Maggie into the house. During a fireworks party Maggie is shot while wearing Nick's shawl, apparently killed by someone who mistook her for Nick. The inquiry circles Nick's friends, her cousin and solicitor Charles Vyse, the Crofts at the lodge, and the news that aviator Michael Seton has died. Poirot ultimately proves that Nick staged the attempts and killed Maggie herself. Maggie, also legally named Magdala Buckley, was Seton's secret fiancee and beneficiary; Nick intercepted their letters and expected to claim the fortune through the shared name. She also sent herself poisoned chocolates and tried to frame Frederica Rice. Poirot traps Nick by falsely suggesting Seton is alive, then reveals the letters. Nick is arrested, the other suspects are cleared, and Frederica is released from the web of suspicion around her.

Poirot and Hastings are holidaying at the Majestic Hotel in St Loo when they meet Magdala 'Nick' Buckley, the young owner of nearby End House. Nick casually lists three recent accidents that might have killed her. As she leaves, Poirot finds a bullet and discovers a fresh hole in her hat, proving that at least one danger was deliberate. Retirement abandoned, he examines End House and Nick's circle: her troubled friend Frederica Rice, the art dealer Jim Lazarus, her reserved solicitor cousin Charles Vyse, naval officer George Challenger, and the Australian Crofts, who rent the lodge. Several have motives that could be connected to Nick's property or personal life, but none explains why the attacks have suddenly become urgent.

Poirot insists that Nick bring a trusted relative to stay, and her Yorkshire cousin Maggie arrives for the fireworks celebrations. Maggie is quieter and more conventional than Nick and knows little of the St Loo set. During the party, while the grounds are noisy and crowded, Maggie is found shot dead wearing Nick's distinctive shawl. The immediate conclusion is that the killer mistook Maggie for Nick. Poirot is shaken because his protective plan appears to have supplied the opportunity. Nick is removed from End House to a nursing home, and access to her is restricted. The case now depends on finding what expected benefit could make someone persist through several failed attempts and one fatal mistake.

News arrives that the aviator Michael Seton has been lost during his attempted flight around the world. Poirot learns that Nick had spoken of a secret attachment and looks for letters that might identify the man, while the inheritance of End House and the Buckley family papers are examined. Charles Vyse appears cold and has a legal interest in the estate, but his conduct does not fit every incident. Bert and Mildred Croft have taken an active interest in Nick's documents. Frederica's unhappiness, drug use, and ties to Lazarus also invite suspicion, especially when her estranged husband appears and applies pressure. Poirot remains troubled by the difference between a plan that repeatedly fails and the efficient shooting at the fireworks party.

A box of chocolates reaches Nick at the nursing home under Poirot's name, and cocaine is discovered among the sweets. Because Frederica is known to use the drug, the incident seems to connect her directly to another attempt on Nick's life. Poirot refuses to accept an accusation that arrives so neatly. He reviews who knew his name would secure delivery, who could exploit Frederica's vulnerability, and why Maggie rather than Nick died. The handwriting and paperwork around End House reveal a separate deception involving the Crofts, but fraud over documents is not enough to explain the entire murder plot. Nick's missing personal letters and the exact form of Michael Seton's will become more important than the visible quarrels among her friends.

Poirot assembles the surviving circle and begins resolving the misleading threads. Charles Vyse's manner concealed no murderous scheme. The Crofts have been manipulating documents for their own benefit, but their fraud is a separate offence. Frederica was selected as an easy target for suspicion because her cocaine use and painful marriage could be made to explain almost anything. Poirot focuses instead on the shared family name Magdala, the secrecy surrounding Seton's engagement, and the fact that Maggie was wearing Nick's shawl when she died. He announces unexpected news about Seton's fate as part of a trap and watches for the person whose private knowledge makes that news impossible to receive innocently.

Poirot names Nick Buckley as Maggie's murderer. Nick manufactured the earlier attempts, including the bullet through her hat, so that Maggie's death in Nick's shawl would look like a mistake by someone hunting Nick. Maggie's full name was Magdala Buckley, and she, not Nick, had been secretly engaged to Michael Seton. Nick intercepted their letters and knew that Seton's will left his fortune to Magdala Buckley. Once he was reported dead, she killed Maggie and meant the shared name to let her claim the inheritance. She later sent herself poisoned chocolates using Poirot's name and planted a path toward Frederica Rice. Poirot's false suggestion that Seton survived draws out Nick's guilty knowledge, and the recovered correspondence completes the case. Nick is arrested. The Crofts' document fraud is exposed separately, Vyse is cleared, and Frederica is freed from suspicion and from the husband who had been exploiting her, with Jim Lazarus still beside her.

Poirot reveals that Nick Buckley arranged the supposed attempts on her own life and murdered her cousin Maggie. Maggie, whose full name was also Magdala Buckley, had been secretly engaged to the aviator Michael Seton. Nick learned of the engagement through letters and, after Seton was reported dead, realised that his will left his fortune to Magdala Buckley. By killing Maggie while Maggie wore Nick's shawl, Nick encouraged everyone to think the murderer had intended to shoot Nick and made herself appear to be the surviving beneficiary. The bullet through the hat and the earlier accidents were staged to establish that fiction. Nick later sent herself poisoned chocolates under Poirot's name and manoeuvred suspicion toward Frederica Rice, whose cocaine use made the planted evidence plausible. Poirot lets Nick believe Seton survived, prompting her to expose her knowledge and motive, then produces the hidden correspondence. Nick is arrested. The Crofts' separate document fraud is also uncovered, and the supposedly sinister Charles Vyse is cleared. Frederica is freed from both suspicion and an abusive husband who reappears during the case, leaving her able to build a life with Jim Lazarus.