The Internecine Project (1974) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Elliot orchestrates the mutual killings to eliminate anyone who could expose his secret life as a spy ringleader. With a new government advisory position in Washington at stake, he cannot afford any leaks. By having his operatives murder each other on the same night, he ensures no one remains alive to implicate him, while keeping his own hands theoretically clean.

• elliot
• operatives
• murder scheme
• cover-up
• spy ring

Elliot monitors each operative's location by listening for a sequence of telephone rings. Each ring corresponds to a specific person's phone at their current location, acting as a covert countdown. This eerie system lets him know who is where as the planned murders unfold throughout London.

Foreshadowing: The phone ring system is introduced early as Elliot explains his monitoring setup to his contacts.

• phone rings
• monitoring
• tracking
• london
• night

David had previously demonstrated a sonic weapon to Elliot, and Christina had learned of its existence. She planted the device on a timer in David's home while he was out carrying out his assigned murder. When David returned, the device activated and killed him with his own technology, eliminating the assassin before he could complete his mission.

• david
• sonic weapon
• christina
• timer
• killed by own weapon

Alex calls Elliot from outside the massage parlor, confessing his doubts about going through with the murder. Fear and moral hesitation grip him, and he considers backing out. Elliot responds with threats, reminding Alex of the consequences if the plan fails, forcing Alex to proceed with killing Bert.

• alex
• bert
• hesitation
• threat
• massage parlor

Alex returns home after murdering Bert, but before signaling Elliot that the job is done. Elliot travels to Alex's residence to confirm the killing. During this confrontation, Alex collapses and dies from the lethal insulin dose that David had earlier substituted into his diabetic medication.

Foreshadowing: David's substitution of Alex's insulin occurs earlier in the night, setting up this fatal consequence.

• alex
• insulin
• diabetes
• death
• bert killed

After Bert kills Christina in the shower, Elliot arranges for a fragment of skin from a corpse to be planted beneath her nails. This macabre setup is designed to mislead forensic investigators, suggesting Christina fought back and scratched her killer, thereby complicating the investigation and pointing to an outside perpetrator.

• forensic evidence
• skin fragment
• deception
• christina
• bert

David never fully trusted Elliot and anticipated being eliminated. He prepared a notebook containing a confession that would incircle Elliot. The pages are soaked in poison that absorbs through the skin, creating a deadly trap: if Elliot ever suspected the truth and tried to read the confession, the poison would kill him. Elliot falls for this trap the following day.

• notebook
• poison
• david
• confession
• betrayal
• skin absorption

Elliot receives the package containing David's notebook the following day, just before departing for Washington. Despite the obvious risk, he opens it, likely driven by curiosity and the need to know what evidence David might have left behind. The poison takes effect within minutes, killing him at the airport before he can begin his new position.

• airport
• package
• notebook
• poison
• ellion death

Elliot assigns Bert as Alex's target because Bert works at a massage parlor, making him accessible. Alex retrieves a hammer from a locker at Marylebone station and waits in a back passage near Bert's workplace to carry out the killing, completing the chain of murders Elliot designed.

• bert
• alex
• hammer
• massage parlor
• marylebone station

E.J. Farnsworth is a businessman who helped secure Elliot's government appointment. Crucially, Farnsworth carries out the actual murders that Elliot orchestrates, the killing of the operatives by each other. This arrangement allows Elliot to remain technically detached from the actual killings, maintaining plausible deniability.

• ej farnsworth
• businessman
• murders
• appointment
• ellion