Death and the Dancing Footman Trivia Quiz

Answer: Because all of the guests hate each other

Royal is excited because he has a treat for the playwright Aubrey Mandrake. He has, for the fun of it, invited several people for a weekend party who all hate each other. These guests are Nicholas and William Compline, brothers who are not on speaking terms. Nicholas is his mother's favorite but William is more devoted to their mother. William is also now engaged to Chloris Wynne, another guest. Chloris seemingly dumped Nicholas for William. Their mother Sandra Compline is another guest. Sandra was badly disfigured by a botched plastic surgery many years prior. Royal has invited an Austrian plastic surgeon named Dr. Hart to see what kind of reaction that brings about. Little does he know that Dr. Hart is the same surgeon who botched Sandra's surgery.

The other guests include Madame Lisse, another of Nicholas's former paramours, who is in an unknown type of relationship with Dr. Hart. Lady Hersey Amblington is a cousin of Sandra's who doesn't like Nicholas, nor does she get on with Madame Lisse since the two are rivals in the beauty business.

Answer: Aubrey Mandrake

Nicholas and William have a bet that Nicholas, who cannot swim, won't jump into the frozen swimming pond on Jonathan's grounds. Nicholas accepts the bet despite everyone warning him against it. While he changes into his swimsuit in the shed, an unknown assailant pushes Mandrake, who also cannot swim, into the pond. Nicholas pulls him out and everyone is left with the question of who would do such a thing. Mandrake was wearing a similar overcoat to the one Nicholas had.

But Royal and Hart also have similar ones.

Moreover, Mandrake has a clubfoot and wears a boot so it seems strange that someone would mistake him for anyone else.

Answer: Gold Buddha statue

Nicholas believed the attack on Mandrake was really an attack on him. Everyone is confused until another attempt on Nicholas's life is made. A gold Buddha statue was rigged on top of his bedroom door so when he opens it, it falls on him. However, the statue landed on his arm and not his head, sparing his life.

Answer: False

Chlrois Wynne did break off her engagement to William but not for Nicholas. As she came to realize, she only went with William to spite his brother and she never really liked him. The final straw was the arrogant way William insisted Nicholas pay him the ten pounds for failing to complete his bet with the swimming pool.

She said it showed an ugly side of William she had not seen before. She also began to have feelings for Aubrey Mandrake.

Answer: Dr. Hart

Dr. Hart is the obvious culprit in the attacks on Nicholas. He does not have a good alibi for the attack on Mandrake in the swimming pond or for the time the Buddha statue must have been rigged. Dr. Hart is clearly jealous of the relationship between Madame Lisse (whom he is secretly married to) and Nicholas.

He is also the only person who could have given Nicholas a threatening note during a game played the previous evening. He also does not hide his hatred for Nicholas or make any serious attempt at clearing his name.

Answer: Dr. Hart

William is killed when a New Zealand mere (a weapon) falls on him. It is not possible for anyone to have mistaken William for Nicholas, but Dr. Hart is still the main suspect. William was furious when he found out Dr. Hart was the one responsible for his mother's disfigurement and threatened to expose him.

However, Thomas the footman can provide an alibi for Dr. Hart. Thomas stopped to dance to the wireless outside the study where William was killed and saw Dr. Hart going up the stairs at the time. Although several people insist there must be some explanation for this and Hart did kill William, Thomas can also provide an alibi for Hart at the time Mandrake was pushed into the pool.

Answer: She commits suicide.

The morning after William is murdered, Sandra Compline commits suicide by overdosing on aspirin and other pills. This came as a bit of a surprise since Sandra clearly didn't care for William too much. However, she had been upset about all the talk over her facial disfigurement and couldn't bear to face anyone, especially Dr. Hart. Mrs. Compline did not die right away.

She held on for several hours, but Dr. Hart and Lady Amblington could not save her life. Because of the snowstorm, they could not get medical attention in quickly enough.

Answer: Fireplace mantle

When Alleyn finally arrives on the scene, he is very skeptical of everyone's claim that Dr. Hart is the culprit. He believes the story of Thomas the footman and looks for another suspect. The housekeeper lamented to Alleyn that the maids simply don't dust as well as they should, yet Alleyn finds several items free of dust in the room William was killed.

A dial on the wireless radio is noticeably dust free despite the other dials being quite dusty. The mere and the fishing rod which hung on the way are also dust free in certain areas while the other wall objects had not been cleaned in sometime. To Alleyn, this suggests that these items must all be factors in the murder.

Answer: In Mrs. Compline's hat

There was a fishing lure attached to the fishing rod that hung in the study. However, it has since disappeared and no one knows why. One of the maids tells Alleyn that she noticed Mrs. Compline's hat that once had one fake flower now has two. When Alleyn looks, he finds that the second flower is actually the missing lure.

Answer: Nicholas Compline

Nicholas Compline never recovered from losing Chloris to William. Nicholas feigned attacks on himself to divert suspicion. He was the one who handed Mandrake the matching cloak to create the impression that Mandrake was shoved into the pool mistakenly for Nicholas. In reality, Nicholas pushed Mandrake himself. He then later hooked up the Buddha statue to his door in another attempt at obfuscation.

For his final act, he left his brother alone in the study. Unbeknownst to everyone else, this is when Nicholas murdered William. Nicholas then joined the others in the adjacent room. Moments later, Nicholas opened the connecting door and asked William to turn on the wireless. When the wireless went on, it gave the appearance that William was still alive. In reality, Nicholas used the fishing pole, wire and lure to rig up the wireless with a contraption that allowed him to turn it on without leaving the others' eyesight. He later hid the lure in his mother's hat. Sandra committed suicide in an attempt to clear her son. While her suicide note stopped just short of a confession, Alleyn was able to read in between the lines.