Joyce Questions Leslie About the Body, Explained

What happens

On the night before Leslie Crosbie's trial, she and her husband Robert reassure each other at home while guests chat about the dead man, Hammond. Later the lawyer Howard Joyce takes Leslie aside and asks about the body: some shots, he says, appear to have been fired after Hammond was already on the ground. Leslie says she was terrified and confused.

What's really going on

The night before the trial is built as a quiet social occasion, and that is exactly what makes it tense. Everyone is careful with Leslie: Robert promises "Nobody's going to do anything to you," and the guests praise how she told her story, saying "You could see that she was just holding on to herself like grim death." But the scene is also an investigation in disguise. Joyce's question — "some of the shots must have been fired after he was lying on the ground" — is the first hard piece of physical evidence that does not match a simple story of one terrified woman firing at an attacker. Leslie does not deny it; she explains it away with fear — "I was so terrified" and "I didn't know what I was doing" — and the room lets her. Joyce even apologises for raising it, then tells her to put it out of her mind. The politeness is the problem: everyone already knows which answer they want.

Key lines & what they mean

“We have been happy, haven't we?”

Leslie asks Robert to confirm their past happiness, reaching for reassurance as the trial approaches and her story is about to be tested.

“You could see that she was just holding on to herself like grim death.”

A guest's admiring description of Leslie's composure: she seemed to be holding herself together with desperate effort.

“You know the sort... very breezy, devil-may-care, generous with his money.”

A guest's description of Hammond: easy-going, reckless and free with money — the charming type people liked.

“Well, how can you tell what a man will do when he's drunk?”

The guests' way of excusing Hammond's behaviour: they suggest drink explains anything, so his conduct need not trouble them.

“I'm sorry, my dear, but this is a question that's bound to come up.”

Joyce's apology for asking about the shooting; he frames the question as unavoidable rather than personal.

“I shouldn't have brought it up tonight.”

Joyce regrets raising the question so late at night, retreating after Leslie explains the extra shots as panic.

Theme

• Deception — Leslie's account of the shooting is repeated and defended, while Joyce's question about shots fired after Hammond fell quietly undercuts it.
• Marriage — Robert's tenderness and 'Nobody's going to do anything to you' show a husband protecting his wife from a truth he does not want to see.