Your Vice Is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key (1972) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Fausta was murdered by Walter, the gray-haired man who was secretly Irina's lover. Irina and Walter had orchestrated the murders to frame Oliviero and drive him to madness. The police initially suspected Bartello, Fausta's boss, who had identified Oliviero as a suspect.

• fausta murder
• oliviero suspect
• frame job
• walter killer

Walter killed Brenda by attacking her with a billhook while she was wearing Esther's dress. This was part of Irina and Walter's plan to cast suspicion on Oliviero and make him doubt his own sanity, knowing his strange attachment to his mother's dress would make him look guilty.

• brenda murder
• billhook
• esther dress
• frame oliviero

The gray-haired man was Walter, Irina's secret lover and partner in her scheme against Oliviero. He delivered Esther's gown, watched the household, and carried out murders to frame Oliviero, all while maintaining his hidden relationship with Irina.

Foreshadowing: The mysterious watcher appears early at the train station when Floriana arrives, establishing the presence of an unseen threat.

• walter identity
• gray-haired man
• irina lover
• secret partner

After Oliviero's death, Walter entered the villa and typed 'vendetta' on Oliviero's typewriter to reveal himself as the mastermind behind the murders. This was his way of exposing the truth about the conspiracy and framing Oliviero, demonstrating that the crimes were motivated by revenge against the abusive husband.

• vendetta typewriter
• walter reveal
• message
• conspiracy

Irina killed Oliviero with scissors after discovering Brenda's corpse walled in the cellar. She had overheard Oliviero planning to kill her and hide her body there, confirming he was serious about murdering her. Fearing for her life, she struck first in self-defense after years of abuse.

Foreshadowing: Irina's fear escalates when she learns from Floriana that Oliviero plans to murder her and hide her body in the cellar.

• irina kills oliviero
• self defense
• abuse
• scissors

Walter caused the motorcycle accident that killed Dario and Floriana by creating an oil spill on the road. He did this to eliminate them and ensure they couldn't reveal anything about the crimes or his relationship with Irina. After their deaths, he retrieved Esther's jewelry and returned it to Irina.

• dario death
• floriana death
• oil spill
• walter kills couple

After Walter retrieved Esther's valuable jewelry and returned it to Irina, she pushed him off a cliff to kill him. She wanted to keep the jewelry for herself and eliminate her accomplice, who knew all about her crimes. This betrayal completed her transformation into someone as ruthless as the husband she killed.

Foreshadowing: Irina's growing willingness to kill is shown earlier when she stabs out Satan's eye and later murders Oliviero.

• irina kills walter
• betrayal
• jewelry
• cliff murder

Irina had previously killed Oliviero's mother Esther, though this is revealed indirectly through the endgame revelations. Esther's dress and cat Satan were her lasting legacies, and her murder was part of Irina's long-running vendetta against the abusive household.

• esther death
• oliviero mother
• past murder
• irina crimes

Irina stabbed out one of Satan's eyes after the cat killed several of her pet doves. This act represents her bottled-up rage against Oliviero transferring to his possessions. Mrs. Molinar witnessed this violence, which later becomes evidence leading police to the villa.

• satan cat
• irina violence
• dove killing
• mrs molinar witness

Floriana revealed her desire for Esther's valuable jewelry after helping Irina hide Oliviero's body. She had been manipulating situations throughout the villa stay, and the jewelry represented the financial gain she hoped to extract from the twisted family dynamic.

• esther jewelry
• floriana greed
• motivation
• financial gain

Bartello was Fausta's boss who identified Oliviero as a suspect. He was later revealed to have escaped from a psychiatric hospital and assumed a new identity. He was killed by Giovanna's madam after attacking Giovanna, making him another victim entangled in the web of violence surrounding the villa.

• bartello
• psychiatric hospital
• escaped
• identity

Inspector Farla and a police officer arrived at the villa after Mrs. Molinar reported that Irina had maimed Satan. They followed the cat's meowing to the cellar, where they discovered Oliviero's body walled up alongside Satan. This tragic discovery exposed the full extent of the crimes.

• inspector farla
• cellar discovery
• satan cat
• police investigation