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The Clocks

214 statements
40 feature instances
9 referencing feature instances

The Clocks	type	TVTItem
The Clocks	label	The Clocks
The Clocks	page	TheClocks
The Clocks	comment	The Clocks is detective fiction by Agatha Christie first published in 1963, and is a part of the Hercule Poirot series, even though the Belgian himself only plays a small role in the story.The novel is set some time during the Cold War, and features a spy fiction sub-plot, narrated in first person by Colin Lamb, a British Intelligence agent trying to track down a spy who has been passing information to the enemy. Colin's investigation brought him to the scene of a rather peculiar murder case, in which an unknown man was found stabbed in the house of Miss Pebmarsh, a blind woman. The man carries no identification with him, and no one seems to recognise him. His body was discovered by Sheila Webb, a typist who was apparently hired by Miss Pebmarsh, although the latter denies making such an appointment. Colin then brings the case to Poirot, who agrees to investigate the murder through Colin's accounts.In 2010, ITV adapted the story for the 12th season of Poirot.
The Clocks	fetched	2023-06-15T05:12:44Z
The Clocks	parsed	2023-06-15T05:12:44Z
The Clocks	processingComment	Dropped link to ArseneLupin: Not a Feature - ITEM
The Clocks	processingComment	Dropped link to DirtyCommies: Not a Feature - UNKNOWN
The Clocks	processingComment	Dropped link to RearWindow: Not a Feature - ITEM
The Clocks	processingComment	Dropped link to TheLaboursOfHercules: Not a Feature - ITEM
The Clocks	processingComment	Dropped link to TheMurderOfRogerAckroyd: Not a Feature - ITEM
The Clocks	processingUnknown	DirtyCommies
The Clocks	isPartOf	DBTropes
The Clocks / int_1616e13	type	Ripped from the Headlines
The Clocks / int_1616e13	comment	Ripped from the Headlines: Inverted in-universe. The killer used an unpublished mystery novel manuscript as the basis of their murder scheme since she was the novelist's secretary.
The Clocks / int_1616e13	featureApplicability	1.0
The Clocks / int_1616e13	featureConfidence	1.0
The Clocks	hasFeature	The Clocks / int_1616e13
The Clocks / int_18cb78a2	type	You Are Already Dead
The Clocks / int_18cb78a2	comment	You Are Already Dead: Detective Inspector Hardcastle describes the fatal stabbing of Mrs. Rival: "Don't suppose she even knew she'd been stabbed. People don't, you know. Remember that case of Barton in the Levitti Gang robbery? Walked the length of a street before he fell down dead. Just a sudden sharp pain—then you think you're all right again. But you're not. You're dead on your feet although you don't know it."
The Clocks / int_18cb78a2	featureApplicability	1.0
The Clocks / int_18cb78a2	featureConfidence	1.0
The Clocks	hasFeature	The Clocks / int_18cb78a2
The Clocks / int_191a3673	type	Graceful Loser
The Clocks / int_191a3673	comment	Graceful Loser: Having been revealed as the spymaster, Miss Pebmarsh waits to be arrested rather than take the two hours' head start offered by Colin.
The Clocks / int_191a3673	featureApplicability	1.0
The Clocks / int_191a3673	featureConfidence	1.0
The Clocks	hasFeature	The Clocks / int_191a3673
The Clocks / int_1d35ec39	type	6 Is 9
The Clocks / int_1d35ec39	comment	6 Is 9: Colin begins the story trying to find number 61 on a notoriously confusing street—based on a handwritten tip off—when he runs into a murder mystery at number 19. He doesn't connect the dots until the very end of the mystery, so maybe it's for the best that he decides to quit the intelligence services. If that's not bad enough, Agent Harbury's drawing doesn't just have the number 61, it has a 61 with an M underneath it, next to a crescent. The murder takes place at 19 Wilbraham Crescent, and Colin still can't figure it out.
The Clocks / int_1d35ec39	featureApplicability	1.0
The Clocks / int_1d35ec39	featureConfidence	1.0
The Clocks	hasFeature	The Clocks / int_1d35ec39
The Clocks / int_297ab1b9	type	Parental Abandonment
The Clocks / int_297ab1b9	comment	Parental Abandonment: Sheila lives with her aunt, who has told her that her parents are dead. In truth, she's an illegitimate child. Her mother, Mrs. Lawton's sister, gave her up because she was an ambitious woman who didn't want a child to hinder her career.
The Clocks / int_297ab1b9	featureApplicability	1.0
The Clocks / int_297ab1b9	featureConfidence	1.0
The Clocks	hasFeature	The Clocks / int_297ab1b9
The Clocks / int_32da91b8	type	Out of Focus
The Clocks / int_32da91b8	comment	Out of Focus: Hercule Poirot, who does no investigating on his own, but appears only in a few scenes when Colin comes to pick his brain about the murder case.
The Clocks / int_32da91b8	featureApplicability	1.0
The Clocks / int_32da91b8	featureConfidence	1.0
The Clocks	hasFeature	The Clocks / int_32da91b8
The Clocks / int_3d5377e5	type	First-Person Peripheral Narrator
The Clocks / int_3d5377e5	comment	First-Person Peripheral Narrator: Zigzagged. Colin is only tangentially involved in the murder investigation, and barely makes any contribution in the interrogation of suspects. However, he's an undisputed lead of his own subplot. On the other hand, the first-person accounts only make up less than half of the actual narrative, as the novel is mostly written in third person.
The Clocks / int_3d5377e5	featureApplicability	1.0
The Clocks / int_3d5377e5	featureConfidence	1.0
The Clocks	hasFeature	The Clocks / int_3d5377e5
The Clocks / int_4a3e547f	type	Leaning on the Fourth Wall
The Clocks / int_4a3e547f	comment	Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Miss Martindale explains that, aside from typing manuscripts, the agency also does fact-checking, saying that "in the old days" readers didn't care about stuff like that, but "nowadays readers take it upon themselves" to write authors about errors.
The Clocks / int_4a3e547f	featureApplicability	1.0
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The Clocks / int_581f6468	type	Hero of Another Story
The Clocks / int_581f6468	comment	Hero of Another Story: Despite being the (occasional) narrator of the novel, and the man whose accounts of the investigation lead Poirot to the solution of the mystery, Colin's main concern is to find The Mole who has been selling British secrets to the Soviets, a spy subplot that is somewhat glossed over in the actual events of the books.
The Clocks / int_581f6468	featureApplicability	1.0
The Clocks / int_581f6468	featureConfidence	1.0
The Clocks	hasFeature	The Clocks / int_581f6468
The Clocks / int_60194b82	type	Spanner in the Works
The Clocks / int_60194b82	comment	Spanner in the Works: Edna is killed because she was in the office when Mrs. Martindale supposedly received the phone call asking for Sheila.
The Clocks / int_60194b82	featureApplicability	1.0
The Clocks / int_60194b82	featureConfidence	1.0
The Clocks	hasFeature	The Clocks / int_60194b82
The Clocks / int_72e0023f	type	Invoked Trope
The Clocks / int_72e0023f	comment	The titular clocks are not as important to the plot as one would believe them to be, and were in fact placed there deliberately to confuse things.
The Clocks / int_72e0023f	featureApplicability	1.0
The Clocks / int_72e0023f	featureConfidence	1.0
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The Clocks / int_737a65f4	type	The Watson
The Clocks / int_737a65f4	comment	The Watson: Poirot praises Colin as a particularly good one, especially given his ability to recall conversations rather than the general gist of one.
The Clocks / int_737a65f4	featureApplicability	1.0
The Clocks / int_737a65f4	featureConfidence	1.0
The Clocks	hasFeature	The Clocks / int_737a65f4
The Clocks / int_79a60aec	type	For Want of a Nail
The Clocks / int_79a60aec	comment	For Want of a Nail: Poirot quotes the actual nursery rhyme regarding the fact that if Edna hadn't busted her shoe heel, she wouldn't have returned to the office at the right time to realize that there was no phone call asking for Sheila.
The Clocks / int_79a60aec	featureApplicability	1.0
The Clocks / int_79a60aec	featureConfidence	1.0
The Clocks	hasFeature	The Clocks / int_79a60aec
The Clocks / int_7eebe99c	type	The Alcoholic
The Clocks / int_7eebe99c	comment	The Alcoholic: Mrs. McNaughton comes home with bottles of whiskey hidden in her grocery bag. Colin figures out why she's "so bright and garrulous" and why she occasionally looks wobbly.
The Clocks / int_7eebe99c	featureApplicability	1.0
The Clocks / int_7eebe99c	featureConfidence	1.0
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The Clocks / int_82518cf7	type	Motor Mouth
The Clocks / int_82518cf7	comment	Motor Mouth: Edna Brent is unable to stop talking, to the amusement (and sometimes annoyance) of her co-workers.
The Clocks / int_82518cf7	featureApplicability	1.0
The Clocks / int_82518cf7	featureConfidence	1.0
The Clocks	hasFeature	The Clocks / int_82518cf7
The Clocks / int_9182ea54	type	Crazy Cat Lady
The Clocks / int_9182ea54	comment	Crazy Cat Lady: Mrs. Hemming, occupant of 20 Wilbraham Crescent, owns about 20 cats, and can't seem to talk about anything but cats.
The Clocks / int_9182ea54	featureApplicability	1.0
The Clocks / int_9182ea54	featureConfidence	1.0
The Clocks	hasFeature	The Clocks / int_9182ea54
The Clocks / int_938e9bc0	type	Absent-Minded Professor
The Clocks / int_938e9bc0	comment	Absent-Minded Professor: Sheila often takes dictation from an archeologist who tends to forget the time as he talks.
The Clocks / int_938e9bc0	featureApplicability	1.0
The Clocks / int_938e9bc0	featureConfidence	1.0
The Clocks	hasFeature	The Clocks / int_938e9bc0
The Clocks / int_959a9947	type	Phone-In Detective
The Clocks / int_959a9947	comment	Phone-In Detective: Poirot never sets foot at the crime scene, nor does he actively take part in the investigation. He makes all his deductions based on Colin's verbal reports.
The Clocks / int_959a9947	featureApplicability	1.0
The Clocks / int_959a9947	featureConfidence	1.0
The Clocks	hasFeature	The Clocks / int_959a9947
The Clocks / int_9dab0a6e	type	Continuity Nod
The Clocks / int_9dab0a6e	comment	Continuity Nod: A mention of gardening prompts Poirot to say that he once tried growing vegetable marrows. That's The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. Poirot remembers investigating the case of a kidnapped Pekingese dog. That was one of the cases in The Labours of Hercules.
The Clocks / int_9dab0a6e	featureApplicability	1.0
The Clocks / int_9dab0a6e	featureConfidence	1.0
The Clocks	hasFeature	The Clocks / int_9dab0a6e
The Clocks / int_9fda81a7	type	The Summation
The Clocks / int_9fda81a7	comment	The Summation: Poirot only appears in a few scenes in this book, but he still pops up to give Colin and Hardcastle a summation of how the murders went down.
The Clocks / int_9fda81a7	featureApplicability	1.0
The Clocks / int_9fda81a7	featureConfidence	1.0
The Clocks	hasFeature	The Clocks / int_9fda81a7
The Clocks / int_a8dcb1d7	type	Love at First Sight
The Clocks / int_a8dcb1d7	comment	Love at First Sight: Sheila Webb runs into Colin Lamb, and the latter immediately decides she is his girl.
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The Clocks / int_a8dcb1d7	featureConfidence	1.0
The Clocks	hasFeature	The Clocks / int_a8dcb1d7
The Clocks / int_ab0a548c	type	Couple Theme Naming
The Clocks / int_ab0a548c	comment	Couple Theme Naming: The name on the dead man's fake card is "R. H. Curry", and the woman who says she is his widow is called Merlina Rival. Poirot figures out she is the murderer's accomplice, because he immediately recalls the Somerset village of Curry Rival and realizes the murderer, while printing the card, subconsciously picked a name to match Mrs. Rival's.
The Clocks / int_ab0a548c	featureApplicability	1.0
The Clocks / int_ab0a548c	featureConfidence	1.0
The Clocks	hasFeature	The Clocks / int_ab0a548c
The Clocks / int_ab8e26e2	type	Slipping a Mickey
The Clocks / int_ab8e26e2	comment	Slipping a Mickey: The dead guy was drugged before he was killed, by being given a dose of chloral hydrate, which the coroner actually calls "Mickey Finn."
The Clocks / int_ab8e26e2	featureApplicability	1.0
The Clocks / int_ab8e26e2	featureConfidence	1.0
The Clocks	hasFeature	The Clocks / int_ab8e26e2
The Clocks / int_b41b9606	type	Never One Murder
The Clocks / int_b41b9606	comment	Never One Murder: Edna, Sheila's fellow secretary, is killed because she caught the killer in a lie, and Mrs. Rival is then killed because she hit the killer up for more money.
The Clocks / int_b41b9606	featureApplicability	1.0
The Clocks / int_b41b9606	featureConfidence	1.0
The Clocks	hasFeature	The Clocks / int_b41b9606
The Clocks / int_b71f62de	type	Cuckoo Clock Gag
The Clocks / int_b71f62de	comment	Cuckoo Clock Gag: A cuckoo shoots out of a cuckoo clock to chime the hour, just as Sheila is entering on what she assumes will be a stenography job. It makes her nervous, but she gets more nervous two paragraphs later when she sees the dead guy.
The Clocks / int_b71f62de	featureApplicability	1.0
The Clocks / int_b71f62de	featureConfidence	1.0
The Clocks	hasFeature	The Clocks / int_b71f62de
The Clocks / int_bcb4f1f1	type	You Just Told Me
The Clocks / int_bcb4f1f1	comment	You Just Told Me: Hardcastle asks when Colin had lunch with Sheila. When Colin wonders how he knew Colin had lunch with Sheila, Hardcastle says "A damned good guess."
The Clocks / int_bcb4f1f1	featureApplicability	1.0
The Clocks / int_bcb4f1f1	featureConfidence	1.0
The Clocks	hasFeature	The Clocks / int_bcb4f1f1
The Clocks / int_c75df49a	type	Shout-Out
The Clocks / int_c75df49a	comment	Shout-Out: Colin visits a girl who lives across the street from the murder scene who, confined to the apartment with a broken leg, passes the time watching her neighbors. Sound familiar? Colin visits Poirot and finds that Poirot has launched himself into a study of detective fiction. Poirot likes the Arsène Lupin books and praises The Mystery Of The Yellow Room by Gaston Leroux.
The Clocks / int_c75df49a	featureApplicability	1.0
The Clocks / int_c75df49a	featureConfidence	1.0
The Clocks	hasFeature	The Clocks / int_c75df49a
The Clocks / int_c83a589c	type	Luke, I Am Your Father
The Clocks / int_c83a589c	comment	Luke, I Am Your Father: Miss Pebmarsh is revealed to be Sheila's Missing Mom, although Sheila is never told of this fact.
The Clocks / int_c83a589c	featureApplicability	1.0
The Clocks / int_c83a589c	featureConfidence	1.0
The Clocks	hasFeature	The Clocks / int_c83a589c
The Clocks / int_c9597a03	type	Self-Deprecation
The Clocks / int_c9597a03	comment	Self-Deprecation: Colin says that the murder was overly dramatic, "like Ariadne Oliver in her worst moments." Later, when Colin is chatting with Poirot, Poirot disparages Oliver's early books. Poirot says they're improbable, they involve too much coincidence, and that Oliver made a mistake with making her detective a Finn when she knows nothing about Finland. Ariadne Oliver was an obvious Author Avatar for Agatha Christie and her Belgian detective.
The Clocks / int_c9597a03	featureApplicability	1.0
The Clocks / int_c9597a03	featureConfidence	1.0
The Clocks	hasFeature	The Clocks / int_c9597a03
The Clocks / int_c9fe8de2	type	Impersonation-Exclusive Character
The Clocks / int_c9fe8de2	comment	Impersonation-Exclusive Character: Mrs. Valerie Bland is revealed to be Mrs. Hilda Bland, her husband's second wife, posing as the first one to get her inheritance. The only things we therefore know about the real Valerie was that she came from a rich Canadian family and had really poor judgment of men, considering her choice of husband.
The Clocks / int_c9fe8de2	featureApplicability	1.0
The Clocks / int_c9fe8de2	featureConfidence	1.0
The Clocks	hasFeature	The Clocks / int_c9fe8de2
The Clocks / int_ca7ec334	type	Two Lines, No Waiting
The Clocks / int_ca7ec334	comment	Two Lines, No Waiting: Two separate investigations are taking place in Wilbraham Crescent. One is of the murder scene in Miss Pebmarsh's home, and one is an espionage plot where one of the occupants of the neighbourhood is believed to have been passing national information to the enemy. Aside from the fact that they take place in the same location and Colin is involved in both investigations, the two plots are not actually related to one another. Though it is worth noting the address Colin initially wants to investigate houses the murderer (well, some of them), and the house where the body was found is home to the spy Colin is searching for. Also, while it's never explicitly spelled out, Colin has his "Eureka!" Moment when he sees Hardcastle writing on some upside-down stationery — because he should have been investigating number 19, not 61, all along.
The Clocks / int_ca7ec334	featureApplicability	1.0
The Clocks / int_ca7ec334	featureConfidence	1.0
The Clocks	hasFeature	The Clocks / int_ca7ec334
The Clocks / int_ce9f550c	type	My Hovercraft Is Full of Eels
The Clocks / int_ce9f550c	comment	My Hovercraft Is Full of Eels: Colin gets some important info from Geraldine, a 10-year-old girl who just happened to spot something important as she was looking out her window. While she's revealing all that, Geraldine also reveals that she taught her Norwegian nanny to greet people at the door with "Get the hell out of here!"
The Clocks / int_ce9f550c	featureApplicability	1.0
The Clocks / int_ce9f550c	featureConfidence	1.0
The Clocks	hasFeature	The Clocks / int_ce9f550c
The Clocks / int_dbca2c99	type	Red Herring
The Clocks / int_dbca2c99	comment	Red Herring: The titular clocks are not as important to the plot as one would believe them to be, and were in fact placed there deliberately to confuse things. While it turns out, coincidentally, to be connected to the murder plot, number 61 is a red herring in Colin's espionage investigation. He read the clue upside down, and it was tipping him off to #19 all along.
The Clocks / int_dbca2c99	featureApplicability	1.0
The Clocks / int_dbca2c99	featureConfidence	1.0
The Clocks	hasFeature	The Clocks / int_dbca2c99
The Clocks / int_dbd2c15e	type	Everyone Can See It
The Clocks / int_dbd2c15e	comment	Everyone Can See It: Inspector Hardcastle, Poirot, and Colonel Beck (Colin's superior) all realise that Colin has fallen hard for Sheila due to his obstinate conviction that Sheila is innocent. Colin himself insists (truthfully) that he has a perfectly logical reason for believing her innocence, and does not admit that he has less-than-professional feelings towards her until halfway through the book.
The Clocks / int_dbd2c15e	featureApplicability	1.0
The Clocks / int_dbd2c15e	featureConfidence	1.0
The Clocks	hasFeature	The Clocks / int_dbd2c15e
The Clocks / int_dc579c91	type	Contrived Coincidence
The Clocks / int_dc579c91	comment	Contrived Coincidence: Mrs. Martindale received a bogus message requesting Sheila Webb in particular to a house where a dead body was planted... that just happened to be not just the headquarters of a Soviet spy ring but also her biological mother's home.
The Clocks / int_dc579c91	featureApplicability	1.0
The Clocks / int_dc579c91	featureConfidence	1.0
The Clocks	hasFeature	The Clocks / int_dc579c91
The Clocks / int_df410b77	type	Decoy Protagonist
The Clocks / int_df410b77	comment	Decoy Protagonist: Colin may initially seem like the protagonist, being the "outsider" who stumbles into the crime scene and was dragged into the subsequent investigation. However, his role in the case is secondary to Hardcastle. Even the suspects they interrogate see him as nothing more than Hardcastle's extra hand... though as Colin works in espionage, that's likely the impression he wanted them to get.
The Clocks / int_df410b77	featureApplicability	1.0
The Clocks / int_df410b77	featureConfidence	1.0
The Clocks	hasFeature	The Clocks / int_df410b77
The Clocks / int_e1d1a06	type	Colliding Criminal Conspiracies
The Clocks / int_e1d1a06	comment	Colliding Criminal Conspiracies: An Inheritance Murder (or rather, murdering a man who could have identified the woman who got the inheritance as the wrong one) that happens to take place in the HQ of a Soviet spy ring.
The Clocks / int_e1d1a06	featureApplicability	1.0
The Clocks / int_e1d1a06	featureConfidence	1.0
The Clocks	hasFeature	The Clocks / int_e1d1a06
The Clocks / int_ebb3c390	type	Crash-Into Hello
The Clocks / int_ebb3c390	comment	Crash-Into Hello: Colin is in the neighborhood investigating his case, a case of espionage, when he runs right into Sheila, who has come running out of a house screaming after finding a body.
The Clocks / int_ebb3c390	featureApplicability	1.0
The Clocks / int_ebb3c390	featureConfidence	1.0
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The Clocks / int_f6b698ac	type	Complexity Addiction
The Clocks / int_f6b698ac	comment	Complexity Addiction: The murderers kill a guy and then go through an elaborate scheme in which they dump him nearby and then arrange for the corpse to be identified as a different person, instead of, say, just killing him and burying him in the woods somewhere.
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The Clocks / int_name	type	ItemName
The Clocks / int_name	comment
The Clocks / int_name	featureApplicability	1.0
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The Clocks	hasFeature	The Clocks / int_name
The Clocks / int_name	itemName	The Clocks

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

The Clocks	hasFeature	Clock Tampering / int_7242289
The Clocks	hasFeature	Impersonation-Exclusive Character / int_7242289
The Clocks	hasFeature	Never One Murder / int_7242289
The Clocks	hasFeature	Phone-In Detective / int_7242289
The Clocks	hasFeature	Related in the Adaptation / int_7242289
The Clocks	hasFeature	Setting Update / int_7242289
The Clocks	hasFeature	6 Is 9 / int_7242289
The Clocks	hasFeature	Stopped Clock / int_7242289
The Clocks	hasFeature	You Are Already Dead / int_7242289

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