Synopsis
While visiting her American school friend Ruth Van Rydock in London, Miss Jane Marple learns that Ruth is seriously concerned for her sister Carrie Louise Serrocold, whose home is Stonygates in England. At Stonygates, besides the impressive but aging Victorian Mansion Carrie Louise lives in, there is a separate building which is an institute for rehabilitating delinquent boys, founded by Carrie Louise's third husband Lewis Serrocold. Miss Marple agrees to visit Stonygates; when she arrives, she finds that several members of the Serrocold family are also visiting the mansion, including Carrie Louise's widowed younger daughter (Mildred Strete), her stepson from her second marriage (Stephen Restarick), and her grandchild by her deceased elder daughter (Gina Hudd), who has brought her American husband (Walter Hudd) to meet the family. Miss Marple also encounters Edgar Lawson, a young man acting as a secretary to Lewis Serrocold; Lawson shows clear signs of paranoid schizophrenia, but this is largely ignored. Miss Marple learns that Carrie Louise has experienced health problems incidental to old age, but is still the sweet, idealistic, and loving person Miss Marple had known when they were at school together.
Christian Gulbrandson, Carrie Louise's stepson from her first marriage and the executor of the vast Gulbrandson Trust, arrives unexpectedly. Lewis Serrocold walks from the train station and meets Christian on the terrace. Miss Marple watches them through her bird-watcher's binoculars, and overhears a few phrases concerning the importance of keeping a problem from Carrie Louise, and that the two men have agreed to seek outside advice. Both men enter for dinner, and afterwards, Christian retires to his room to write letters.
When the rest of the family is gathered in the sitting room after dinner, listening to Stephen playing the piano, Edgar Lawson unexpectedly enters the room with Walter Hudd's revolver, claiming that Lewis is his father and has treated him badly. Lewis guides Edgar into his office; from the other side of the locked door, the family hear Lawson ranting to Lewis, who responds quietly. The lights are also fused at this time, so Walter leaves the sitting room to fix the issue. Shots are heard from inside Lewis' office, and the family tries to break down the door. Another shot, fired some distance away, is heard by a few members of the family as well. When the door to Lewis' office is finally opened, Lewis, who is out of breath, insists Lawson meant no real harm, as the shots Lawson fired merely hit the wall. Lawson collapses in tears and apologies.
Juliet "Jolly" Bellever, housekeeper and companion to Carrie Louise, who had gone out to find the key to Lewis' office, returns and announces that she has discovered Christian Gulbrandson shot dead at his writing desk. She has also already called the police. Lewis proceeds to Christian's room, followed by Carrie Louise and Miss Marple. Stephen's brother Alexis Restarick, who knows nothing of the previous events and is coming to visit Carrie Louise, arrives at the house just before the Police arrive.
Inspector Curry quickly establishes that none of the people from the facility for delinquent boys is involved, nor are any of the servants. Learning from Jolly that there had been paper in Christian's typewriter, Curry interrogates Lewis, who admits he removed the paper for fear his wife should see it. The paper indicates Christian was afraid to tell Carrie Louise something, with the last sentence suggesting she may be being systematically poisoned. Lewis suggests the police analyze his wife's medicine, which is later proved to contain small amounts of arsenic.
Miss Marple comments that most of the family would be pleased if Walter were found to be the killer, but Edgar had Walter's gun at the relevant time period. The Police later find the murder weapon under some music inside the piano bench. Alexis explains that his drive to the house was slowed by the fog, and that what he saw and heard in the fog, such as a shot and the sound of someone running, reminded him of a stage set. Alexis envisions the house as a stage, which causes Miss Marple to begin thinking differently about the murder as well. The next evening, Alexis and one of the delinquents, Ernie Gregg, are killed by a falling stage curtain counterweight.
Miss Marple explains to the police how one person could run from Lewis's study to Christian's room along the terrace in under two minutes (e.g., Lewis Serrocold). Lawson, who really is Lewis' illegitimate son and was only playing the part of a mental patient, spoke as both himself and Lewis, while Lewis killed Christian and returned, out of breath. Lewis had later planted the arsenic and altered Christian's letter himself, to disguise the fact that the real reason for Christian Gulbrandsen's visit was that he had learned that Lewis was embezzling from the Gulbrandsen Trust. Lewis had later killed Alexis and Ernie because he believed they might have witnessed something the night of the murder.
When confronted by the police, Lawson flees the house, jumping into an old boat to cross a lake on the property. The boat begins to sink, so Lewis Serrocold jumps into the lake to rescue his son. Both are caught in the weeds lining the lake and drown before the police can reach them. Carrie Louise, assisted by her daughter Mildred, returns to the house; the two of them had been somewhat estranged, but the incident has caused them to realize how they need each other. In the aftermath, Gina and Walter Hudd have the case explained to them by Miss Marple, then return to the United States together.
Film, TV or theatrical adaptations
Several adaptations were made of the book for TV and Film.
Some elements of the story were incorporated into the 1964 film Murder Ahoy! , which starred Margaret Rutherford as Miss Marple, along with a token tribute to The Mousetrap . Instead of a sprawling Victorian estate, the delinquent boys are housed on board a retired ship called the Battledore, and they go ashore periodically to commit mischief under the direction of their criminal mastermind. However, the film's plot and characters are otherwise original, so much so that They Do It With Mirrors is not credited as the film's inspiration.
The novel's first proper adaptation was the 1985 television film Murder with Mirrors with Sir John Mills as Lewis Serrocold, Bette Davis as Carrie Louise, Tim Roth as Edgar Lawson and Helen Hayes as Miss Marple.
A second adaptation was aired on 29 December 1991 in the BBC series Miss Marple starring Joan Hickson as Miss Marple, Jean Simmons as Carrie-Louise Serrocold, Joss Ackland as Lewis Serrocold and Faith Brook as Ruth van Rydock. Jay and Christopher Villiers (brothers) portray the Restarick brothers. The film was basically faithful to the novel, with the exception that Alexis survives the attack on his life. Also, Ruth van Rydock is present at the house when the first murder takes place and Lawson attempts to swim across the lake, and does not use a rotted boat.
A third adaptation was aired on 1 January 2010 for the fourth season of the ITV series Agatha Christie's Marple , starring Julia McKenzie as Miss Marple, Penelope Wilton as Carrie Louise, Brian Cox as Lewis Serrocold, and Joan Collins as Ruth Van Rydock. This adaptation has several notable changes and additions:
- Alexis Restarick is replaced by Johnny Restarick, Steven's father and Carrie Louise's ex-husband. Rather than arriving after the murder, Johnny arrives near the end of the confrontation between Lawson and Lewis and disarms Lawson, just before Mr Gulbrandsen's murder is revealed.
- While Edgar Lawson's character and role in the murders remains unchanged, his death was changed slightly in two ways - firstly, he is exposed for his involvement in the murders by Miss Marple, rather than confronted by the police, and secondly, he does not use a rotted boat to escape, but swims over the lake on the property. Lewis' efforts to rescue him remain unchanged.
- Pippa is deleted and Gina becomes Carrie Louise's adopted daughter in this version, rather than her adopted granddaughter.
- Gina's real mother was changed to Katherine Ellsworth, and her death was explained to have been from a hanging, after she was found guilty of committing arsenic poisoning on three counts. Gina discovers this fact and exposes her connection to it, moments before Johnny's death, and how she found it out is revealed, by Miss Marple's investigations, to be the fault of Mildred, who had resented her being given more attention than her.
- While the confrontation scene between Lawson and Lewis still was basis for the first murder and retained certain elements from the original plot, it was modified considerably for the adaptation:
- Everyone, bar Mr Gulbrandsen, goes to the study to witness a dress rehearsal, not to the Great Hall, and so witness in person the confrontation between the two men.
- Lawson's reason for confronting Lewis is changed; he accuses Lewis of spying on him, rather than being his real father.
- Wally is made the initial suspect in the murder, owing to his absence to fix the fuses and the murder weapon being his. The police only begin to look elsewhere, and later to Johnny, when Gina reveals the study has a secret passage that links it to the hallway; Miss Marple explains in her denouement that the passage was merely a red herring, before explaining Lewis' crimes.
- Mr Gulbrandsen is stabbed in the back instead of shot.
- A new character was introduced - Whitstable Ernest, a young man serving time for fraud and embezzlement. Ernest helped Lewis with his financial corruption in exchange for rewards such as oysters and alcohol. When Lewis knew that Mr Gulbrandsen was going to expose him, Ernest torched all the records of his actions, which Miss Marple suspected when she smelt petroleum in the secret passage. When Johnny began to question Ernest, Lewis realised the danger he could create and so gave him oysters laced with arsenic; this did not kill him, but merely kept him out of the way. This adaptation had two murders, not three.
There is a French television production aired in 2013, as part of the television series Les Petits Meurtres d'Agatha Christie (season two, episode one). The episode is titled "Jeux de glaces", which can mean "Game of Mirrors".
