Editing Sleuth (1972 film) (section)

==Plot==
[[File:Actor Michael Caine 1967 (JOKAHBL3E H04-1).tif|thumb|upright=0.9|Michael Caine plays Milo Tindle, who seeks revenge on Andrew Wyke for a game of humiliation.]]

Andrew Wyke, a successful crime fiction author, lives in a country manor house filled with elaborate games and [[automata]]. He invites his wife's lover, Milo Tindle, the owner of two hair salons, to his home and says he would like Milo to take his wife, Marguerite, off his hands so he can be with his more desirable mistress, Téa. To provide Milo, whose salons are not yet fully profitable, the means to support the high-maintenance Marguerite, Andrew suggests that Milo steal valuable jewellery from the house, with Andrew recouping his losses through an insurance claim. Milo agrees, and Andrew leads him through an elaborate scheme to fake a robbery. At the conclusion, Andrew pulls a gun on Milo and reveals that the bogus theft was merely a ruse to frame Milo as a burglar so he can kill him. Berating Milo's profession as a hairdresser and background as the "un-English" son of an Italian immigrant (originally Tindelini) who went to a "second-rate public school," Andrew cannot accept that his wife left him for such an "unworthy" rival. He puts the gun to Milo's head; there is a gunshot, and the screen cuts to black.

A few days later, Inspector Doppler arrives to investigate Milo's disappearance. Andrew purports to know nothing, but as the inspector collates incriminating clues, Andrew breaks down and explains the burglary hoax. He insists that he only pretended to shoot Milo using a blank cartridge and that his rival left humiliated but unharmed. After finding evidence supporting a murder, Doppler arrests Andrew. As Andrew is about to be taken to the station, Doppler reveals himself as a heavily disguised Milo, seeking revenge on Andrew.

The score is seemingly evened, though Andrew is unable to admit being duped and pretends he saw through Milo's disguise while expressing admiration for Milo having been a worthy opponent and games player. A still dissatisfied Milo expresses that Andrew has not experienced the level of humiliation of his own imminent death. He announces they will play another game involving a real murder. Milo says he fatally strangled Andrew's mistress, Téa, and has planted incriminating evidence throughout Andrew's house. The police, who have been tipped off, will arrive soon. Andrew dismisses his claim, but phones Téa, only to learn from her flatmate, Joyce, that Téa is dead. Following Milo's cryptic clues, Andrew frantically searches the house for the planted evidence. Andrew finds the last item just as Milo says the police are arriving. The dishevelled Andrew pleads with Milo to stall them while he composes himself. Milo is heard ostensibly talking to the officers, but there are actually no police. Milo then reveals that he faked Téa's death, with Joyce and Téa's willing assistance as payback for the games of humiliation Andrew has inflicted on Téa, thus tricking Andrew a second time. Andrew is further humiliated when Milo reveals that Téa informed him that Andrew is practically impotent and has not had relations with her in over a year.

As Milo prepares to leave, fetching Marguerite's fur coat and belongings, he continues humiliating Andrew with information provided by Andrew's wife and mistress. Inspired again by the burglary scenario, Andrew threatens to shoot Milo to stop him from bragging about his humiliation to anyone else―especially Marguerite. However, Milo says he really did report Andrew's burglary setup and assault to the police, who were initially skeptical but assured him they would follow-up. The police now would not believe Andrew's concocted story of mistakenly killing a burglar. Pushed too far when Milo ridicules his literary detective,  Andrew disbelieves Milo, shooting and mortally wounding him. The police arrive outside, and a distraught and defeated Andrew locks himself inside the house. As Milo lies dying, he tells Andrew to tell the police that "it was just a bloody game"; he then presses the automata control box, leaving Andrew surrounded by a cacophony of his activated electronic toys as police pound on the door for entry.