Crime of the Gold Ingots (Agatha Christie's Great Detectives Poirot and Marple)

Crime of the Gold Ingots (金塊事件 - Kinkai Jiken) is a Japanese anime television show produced by Oriental Light and Magic for NHK television. The show was Episode 14 of NHK's anime series Agatha Christie's Great Detectives Poirot and Marple. The adaptation was written by Sukehiro Tomita, directed by Katsutoshi Sasaki and Naohito Takahashi and first broadcast on 10 October 2004. It was an adaptation of the Agatha Christie short story Ingots of Gold.

Synopsis
While watching Mabel participate in a treasure hunt, Miss Marple tells her about a mystery her father was involved in many years ago.

Comparison with Original Story
(may contain spoilers - click on expand to read) The preamble to the story is different as, of course, there is no Tuesday Night Club.

During harvest time, the villagers of St. Mary Mead set up a treasure hunt for the children where they must search for goodies inside a huge haystack. Miss Marple watches and remarks that when Mabel is engrossed in something, she looks very much like her father, Raymond West. And she reminds Mabel that when one is busy looking into the details, one can often miss the obvious. She then narrates the experience of her father in the the case of the ingots of gold.

The rest of the story proceeds faithfully according to Raymond West's original narrative. So on the train to Polperran, he meets Inspector Badgeworth and they tell each other why they are going to Cornwall. Newman collects Raymond from the station in his truck. On the way to the house, there is an added embellishment where Kelvin, driving his truck very fast to overtake, pushes Newman and Raymond off the road onto a field.

Over at Kelvin's pub, Newman introduces Raymond to Higgins. There are a couple of embeliishments. A waitress says she recognises Raymond and that the local shop was lined with his books. The gossip about Badgworth coming to investigate the gold of the Otranto is not told by Higgins to Kelvin. It is told by two other patrons. Kelvin's hostility to "outsiders" is clear to Raymond.

As in the original, during the rainy night, Raymond declines Newman's invitation to take a midnight walk and goes to sleep. Raymond has a "sense of foreboding". In the anime, this is conveyed by Raymond actually having a dream of Newman falling into a ditch.

The next morning, Raymond meets the gardener and then the maid as in the original. Then the three of them look for Newman and later call the police to help. They find Newman in the ditch and listen to his account of the events of the night.

Everything else proceeds much as in the original. The inspector suspects Kelvin as the one who Newman saw moving crates by night out of the seaside cave. Badgeworth is sure this must be the missing gold from the Otranto. They check the tyres of his truck and they match what they found in the sand. But they fail to find any gold. The invalid artist and her night nurse who give an alibi for Kevin are also depicted.

There the case hangs and Raymond leaves Polperran at the end of his stay. A few days later, he is in St. Mary Mead telling Miss Marple about the mystery. Miss Marple solves it for him and reproves him for his choice of friends and how quick he is to believe someone he hardly knows. In this adaptation, Raymond quickly makes a call to Inspector Badgeworth which leads to Newman and the gardener being arrested and the gold being found buried in the garden. Miss Marple tells Raymond the same thing as in the original: the crucial clue was that gardeners do not work on Whit Monday.

After listening to the story, the episode rounds off with Mabel going back to her treasure hunt. Oliver helps her find a sack of potatoes.

Characters/Voice talents
Not every character has a credited voice talent
 * Masako Jô as Oliver
 * Masaya Katô as Raymond West
 * Fumiko Orikasa as Mabel
 * Isao Sasaki as Newman
 * Kaoru Yachigusa as Miss Marple
 * Inspector Badgworth
 * Kelvin
 * Maid
 * Gardener
 * Higgins
 * Polperran constable