What about...
Margot's scarf? Yes Tony burned it, but are you telling me nobody, especially Margot, realized that the scarf had magically disappeared into thin air?
shareMargot was in shock, and she was assuming that Tony was going to help her and take care of things for her. After the police found no scarf but a stocking, she could easily be convinced that her memory was wrong and that Swann had used her stocking and not a scarf.
Who else but Margot and the culprits (Tony, Swann) would have realized that "the scarf had magically disappeared into thin air"? As far as other people knew, there was no scarf.
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Keiko Matsui & Carl Anderson - "A Drop of Water"
http://youtu.be/kPUENUUuqSk
But why didn't the police search around the fireplace? Surely some parts of the burnt up scarf were still there.
shareEither
- they didn't search (or search well) around the fireplace because they didn't have a specific reason to; or
- they did search around the fireplace but they didn't find any parts of the scarf because it had completely burnt up; or
- they did find minuscule remains of the scarf but it didn't make a difference anyway.
Anyway, the police inspector's investigation focused on something(s) else, and eventually it paid off.
______
Keiko Matsui & Carl Anderson - "A Drop of Water"
http://youtu.be/kPUENUUuqSk
"It eventually paid off". Eventually is the key word here. Good thing he figured it all out just a few hours before Margot was executed. And how come the police didn't have absolutely nothing else to incriminate Tony with?
shareAnd how come the police didn't have absolutely nothing else to incriminate Tony with?Because he planned the "(near-)perfect" crime?
What else could have incriminated Tony? The police could have wasted days and resources on finding the "disappeared" scarf, it would have been all for nothing. (The police had no evidence that the scarf existed; and if it existed, it could have "disappeared" anywhere; and even if it was found, what would it really prove?)
______
Keiko Matsui & Carl Anderson - "A Drop of Water"
http://youtu.be/kPUENUUuqSk share
Tony is also extremely lucky to have such a dumb wife. "Go in your room and take a nap so I can explain it better to the police what happened to you (and also burn your scarf and rearrange the murder scene)." Margot was like: "Sure."
shareFor a start it wasn't Margot's scarf, it was a scarf that Swann brought with him for the sole purpose of strangling Margot.
The reason that Tony burnt the scarf was to discredit Margot's story and to make it appear that Margot invited Swann to the apartment for the purpose of killing HIM because he was blackmailing him.
With the scarf completely burnt into blackened ashes and Margot's stocking found hidden under the blotting paper on the desk it makes it look like Margot has stabbed Swann as he left and then strangled herself with one of her stockings to make it look like she had been acting in self defense.
Even if the scarf had been found it would have made no difference, there was only Margot's word that Swann had tried to strangle her with it, she could just as easily have taken Swann's scarf and used it to strangle herself.
@hernanmachopaul
Um, that's called "trust." Margot trusted Tony---quite mistakenly, obviously, but he *was* her spouse.
Also, she was still in shock from the murder attempt.