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Who stabbed D.I. Poole’s prisoner?
‘Death in Paradise’: S1.E5. “Spot the Difference”…
‘Spot the Difference’, revolving around a problematic case for Detective Inspector Richard Poole, provides series fans with another puzzling case. The episode, directed by Alfred Lot from a teleplay written by Harry Holmes, sees the detective inspector dispatched to collect a prisoner from a nearby island.
Curiously, something that leads to immense embarrassment, the prisoner is stabbed in the back whilst handcuffed to Poole. Commissioner Selwyn Patterson is naturally not pleased. Poole’s career, if he doesn’t solve the case, is on the line.
Death in Paradise stars Ben Miller, Sara Martins, Danny John-Jules, Gary Carr, Élizabeth Bourgine, and Don Warrington. The episode, further to the main cast, guest stars Colin Salmon, Jeff Alexander, Sarah Smart, Lee Boardman, Alistair Petrie, Sophie Winkleman, Jeany Spark.
Salmon, best known for television series such as Doctor Who, Merlin, Arrow, and The Musketeers, does a good job with the material he’s given. Vincent Carter, Salmon’s initial character, is reminiscent of Charles Robinson. Charles Robinson is the character Salmon played in three James Bond films. There is nothing to suggest Salmon’s Vincent Carter is anything other than a prison guard escorting a prisoner. Leon Hamilton, played by Jeff Alexander, is the prisoner.
Episode Synopsis…
Escorting a convicted fraudster on the ferry back to Saint Marie goes disastrously wrong when the man is stabbed to death while handcuffed to Richard Poole, much to his embarrassment, the wrath of the commissioner and the amusement of his team and with a myriad of suspects an impossible case to solve despite unwanted help from an amateur sleuth.
Music Used in Alfred Lot’s “Spot the Difference”…
The music heard throughout the episode, if one listens closely, provides significant clues. Are there any clues in the following tracks?
- The Law performed by Andy Capp
- Totally Tropical performed by Dave James
- Terror Talk performed by Zion Train
- Double Barrel performed by Dave and Ansel Collins
- Money In My Pocket performed by Dennis Brown
- Tikki Tikki Tembo performed by Anweledig
- Ou lé performed by Kassav’
- The Moon and the Sky performed by Sade
- Fire performed by Alpha and Horrace Andy
The clues weren’t as much in the music as they were in a certain classic Agatha Christie novel. Suzie Park, a fellow ferry passenger, engages Poole in casual conversation. It is the smallest of details people frequently overlook.
Park, referencing Agatha Christie’s 1934 novel Murder on the Orient Express, reveals she has a fondness for Christie and her books. Curiously, mirroring Christie’s novel, Carter wasn’t Carter just as Edward Ratchett in Murder on the Orient Express wasn’t Edward Ratchett. Ratchett was the infamous gangster John Cassetti. Cassetti kidnapped and murdered Daisy Armstrong.
Hamilton, when we first encounter him, is masquerading as prison guard Vincent Carter. We aren’t aware of this point until much later. Salmon does a good job making us believe his character is the real prison guard. Only people paying attention to the Murder on the Orient Express reference would have picked up on the character’s duplicity. Hamilton was in jail for a con which victimised half the population of Saint Marie.
Another aspect of the novel reflected in the episode is the way Hamilton is murdered. Hamilton or rather not-Hamilton is stabbed in the back. Cassetti, in the novel, is stabbed multiple times. The not-Hamilton, really prison guard Vincent Carter, is murdered by Hamilton. It’s a kill and replace scenario that isn’t revealed until late in the episode.
Poole, pondering the situation, ultimately realises very few people on Saint Marie have actually met Leon Hamilton face to face. Hamilton, playing his prison guard persona, tries to remain above suspicion as Poole continues his investigation.
The police inspector looks into the prisoner’s criminal history and learns Hamilton was a fraudster. Poole, with many suspects wanting the prisoner dead, turns his attentions to the widow. The police inspector correctly observes the widow knows more than she claims she does. Did you, speaking of Hamilton’s widow, spot the royal cameo?
Hamilton’s wife, Ann Hamilton, is played by Sophie Winkleman. Winkleman, in real life, is married to Lord Frederick. Lord Frederick is Prince Michael of Kent’s son. Winkleman, further to Death in Paradise, has appeared in Peep Show and Sanditon.
A breakthrough clue in the case, after the widow’s death, comes when the same day as Hamilton’s funeral. Seasickness. Why would Hamilton experience seasickness when he is such an experienced sailor?
The real prison guard, pretending he’s Hamilton, doesn’t have the real Hamilton’s sea legs. Hamilton’s wife, in a brief conversation with Poole, mentions how her husband spent a lot of time sailing around the island. Hamilton would be sailing anywhere if he suffered from seasickness.
Hamilton, after Ann Hamilton had helped him fake his own death, murdered his wife. It’s implied that her murder was part of the reason he made the plan. Why couldn’t he have simply waited out the last six months of his sentence?