vain, prompting Olivia to remark that murderers characteristically possess “incredible vanity.” She is now sure that Dan has murdered Mrs. Chalfont and, with Hubert, Dora, and Mrs. Terence, searches Dan’s luggage looking for evidence. Apart from a photograph of Mrs. Chalfont, they find nothing incriminating. They are about to examine an extraordinary hatbox when Dan returns unexpectedly. He toys with them until he notices the hatbox, and they begin to grill him about Mrs. Chalfont; he manages to deflect their questions. Left alone with Dan, Olivia tells him she thinks that he is acting all the time, that he is living in “a world of [his] own imagination.” The scene finishes dramatically with news that a hand is sticking out of the garbage pile and with Olivia staring at Dan in horror.

By act 2, scene 2, the area is attracting sightseers, especially since Mrs. Chalfont was decapitated. Hubert presses Olivia to marry him; Dan is even more Mrs. Bramson’s favorite, calling her mother. Another duologue between Olivia and Dan reveals they both resent their dull lives, though Dan becomes wildly excited when he talks about his life and fears. Inspector Belsize returns and extracts a confession from Dan that he was having an affair with Mrs. Chalfont. He also wants to examine the hatbox, but Olivia claims it is hers. The curtain falls as Dan faints.

Dan has recovered at the beginning of act 3, scene 1, while Olivia is now too frightened to stay in the bungalow overnight. She fails to alert Mrs. Bramson to her suspicions, and the latter is left alone as the other employees also leave for the night. Mrs. Bramson reveals momentarily that she is not confined to her wheelchair. Dan returns, reads the Bible to her, and then prepares to smother her with a cushion.

Act 3, scene 2 opens with Dan taking Mrs. Bramson’s cash box and preparing to burn the evidence of his latest crime after dousing everything in paraffin. Olivia returns and is surprised to discover how “ordinary” murder is. Dan enjoys another outburst of vain self-confidence and threatens to make Olivia another victim. Inspector Belsize arrives and, despite an effort by Olivia to protect Dan, arrests him, alluring him with all the attention and notoriety a murder trial will bring.

It is clear from the prologue to Night Must Fall that Dan is the culprit and that he has already been arrested, tried, and convicted for murder. Thus there is no true element of suspense; the emphasis falls rather on character development and motivation. As in all good dramas, however, the audience suspends its disbelief and remains interested in the way events unfold.

Dan’s entry into the action is delayed until act 1 is well under way and until the audience has already learned much about him. This device has the effect of making the audience just as curious about him as are the characters in the play. Williams employs other theatrical tricks from the school of the “well-made” play. Various pieces of information are carefully placed here and there to be used later at a crucial moment. Hence the bungalow is made of wood and paraffin is delivered—both essential elements for Dan’s planned conflagration. The suspected murderer of Mrs. Chalfont sang a particular song, which Dan also sings later, and each act ends with a “sensational” curtain which reminds the audience of the judge’s words in the prologue: “I cannot help thinking that the deplorable atmosphere of sentimental melodrama which has pervaded this trial has made the theatre a more fitting background for it than a court of law.” Nor should the famous hatbox in which Mrs. Chalfont’s head is hidden be forgotten.

A subtler theatrical device is the way in which each act is set later in the day: The play begins on a fine morning and ends at night. Subliminally, this device conveys a sense of inevitability and eventuality, that night must indeed fall. Rather like fine acting, this progression is not noticed until the play is over and the theatrical people have succeeded with their tricks. The bad actor’s devices are eventually penetrated, and he is caught out.