Banquo's Chair story
Blackheath, 1903. Former Inspector Brent conspires with his friends to stage a fake haunting in the hopes of scaring John Bedford into confessing to the murder of his aunt, Ms. Ferguson. Brent arranges for an actress, Mae Thorpe, to sneak into the house dressed as Ms. Ferguson and walk past their dinner room. The plan is successful and Bedford confesses when he sees the menacing figure of his aunt. After Bedford is arrested, Brent is shocked when he learns that Mae Thorpe was late and missed the dinner entirely. Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock. Story by: Rupert Croft-Cooke, Francis Cockrell.
14 total · 3 major · 11 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| ghost | major | The story culminated with John Bedford seeing the ghost of his aunt, Mrs. Ferguson, whom he'd murdered two years prior to the day. |
| law enforcement | major | Former Inspector Brent set up an elaborate ruse that was calculated to get John Bedford to confess to having murdered his own aunt. Sergeant Balton arrested John Bedford for murder at the conclusion of the story. |
| parricide | major | The plot revolved around Inspector Brent tricking John Bedford into confessing to having murdered his own aunt. |
| acting | minor | The dinner conversation circled mostly around the professional experiences of a Shakespearean actor. |
| astrology | minor | Robert Stone spoke of how the leading lady in a play he was acting in had refused to begin rehearsals on a Thursday because that the particular day clashed with her astrological sign. |
| aunt and nephew | minor | One gathers that the ghost of the aunt John had murdered had come back to haunt him in the end. |
| burglary | minor | Silver had been stolen from the late aunt's house, prompting speculation that she might have been slain by an unknown burglar. |
| celebrity worship | minor | In his sketch, Alfred Hitchcock spoke of autograph hounds while on a "safari" in Hollywood. |
| hunting | minor | In his sketch, Alfred Hitchcock said he was on a safari for big game hunting. |
| ironic twist of fate | minor | At the end it is revealed that the actress hired to scare Bedford had been absent but that, through an ironic twist of fate, Bedford had hallucinated or seen a ghost all on his own. |