Murder+on+the+Orient+Express

[|Orient Express today]

[|red herring]

[|Anglo-Saxon]

The illustrious Belgian detective Hercule Poirot is on his way to Istanbul to spend a few days as a tourist. His leisurely travel plans change abruptly when he is called to London on important business. With the help of his friend M. Bouc, a representative of the Campagnie Internationale des Wagons Lits, Poirot secures passage on the Simplon Orient Express. It is wintertime and the train is unusually full. Poirot's traveling companions include M. Boc himself as well as an interesting group of people from a wide variety of backgrounds and social classes. One passenger who immediately catches Poirot's eye is an American man named Ratchett. To the observant Poirot, Ratchett's outwardly benevolent personality masks a truly evil nature. When Ratchett attempts to hire Poirot to protect him from an "enemy" who has been threatening his life, Poirot refuses. On the second night of the journey, events on the Orient Express take a sensational turn. That night Poirot is awakened by a loud groan from Ratchett's compartment. The train is at a standstill and Poirot looks into the corridor to see the conductor knocking at the Ratchett's door. A voice responds from within. Following that incident, Poirot hears an unusual amoujnt of commotion going on in the coach. The conductor informs him that the train is stopped because of a snowdrift and that an American woman is now insisting that a man had entered her compartment. Eventually, Poirot falls asleep again, but upon awakening in the morning he learns that Ratchett was murdered during the night. As representative of the train company, M. Bouc asks Poirot to investigate the crime before local authorities reach the snowbound train.