Poirot said: "But a human being..."
"Oh well, we"re all human beings..."
"Yes, we are all human beings. That is what you have not remembered. You have said that Mabelle Sainsbury Seale was a foolish human being and Amberiotis an evil one, and Frank Carter a wastrel-and Morley-Morley was only a dentist and there are other dentists. That is where you and I, M. Blunt, do not see alike. For to me the lives of those four people are just as important as your life."
"You"re wrong."
"No, I am not wrong. You are a man of great natural honesty and rect.i.tude. You took one step aside-and outwardly it has not affected you. Publicly you have continued the same, upright, trustworthy, honest. But within you the love of power grew to overwhelming heights. So you sacrificed four human lives and thought them of no account."
"Don"t you realize, Poirot, that the safety and happiness of the whole nation depends on me?"
"I am not concerned with nations, Monsieur. I am concerned with the lives of private individuals who have the right not to have their lives taken from them."
He got up.
"So that"s your answer," said Alistair Blunt.
Hercule Poirot said in a tired voice: "Yes-that is my answer..."
He went to the door and opened it. Two men came in.
II.
Hercule Poirot went down to where a girl was waiting.
Jane Olivera, her face white and strained, stood against the mantelpiece. Beside her was Howard Raikes.
She said: "Well?"
Poirot said gently: "It is all over."
Raikes said harshly: "What do you mean?"
Poirot said: "Mr Alistair Blunt has been arrested for murder."
Raikes said: "I thought he"d buy you off..."
Jane said: "No.I never thought that."
Poirot sighed. He said: "The world is yours. The New Heaven and the New Earth. In your new world, my children, let there be freedom and let there be pity...That is all I ask."
Nineteen, Twenty, My Plate"s Empty Hercule Poirot walked home along the deserted streets.
An un.o.btrusive figure joined him.
"Well?" said Mr Barnes.
Hercule Poirot shrugged his shoulders and spread out his hands.
Barnes said: "What line did he take?"
"He admitted everything and pleaded justification. He said that this country needed him."
"So it does," said Mr Barnes.
He added after a minute or two: "Don"t you think so?"
"Yes, I do."
"Well, then-"
"We may be wrong," said Hercule Poirot.
"I never thought of that," said Mr Barnes. "So we may."
They walked on for a little way, then Barnes asked curiously: "What are you thinking about?"
Hercule Poirot quoted: "Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king."
"Hm-I see-" said Mr Barnes. "Saul-after the Amalekites. Yes, you could think of it that way."
They walked on a little farther, then Barnes said: "I take the tube here. Good-night, Poirot." He paused, then said awkwardly: "You know-there"s something I"d like to tell you."
"Yes,mon ami ?"
"Feel I owe it to you. Led you astray unintentionally. Fact of the matter is, Albert Chapman, Q.X.912."
"Yes?"
"I"m Albert Chapman. That"s partly why I was interested. I knew, you see, that I"d never had a wife."
He hurried away, chuckling.
Poirot stood stock still. Then his eyes opened, his eyebrows rose. He said to himself: "Nineteen, twenty, my plate"s empty-"
And went home.
E-Book Extras The Poirots Essay by Charles...o...b..rne The Poirots The Mysterious Affair at Styles;The Murder on the Links ;Poirot Investigates ;The Murder of Roger Ackroyd ;The Big Four ;The Mystery of the Blue Train ;Black Coffee ;Peril at End House ;Lord Edgware Dies ;Murder on the Orient Express ;Three-Act Tragedy ;Death in the Clouds ;The ABC Murders ;Murder in Mesopotamia ;Cards on the Table ;Murder in the Mews ;Dumb Witness ;Death on the Nile ;Appointment with Death ;Hercule Poirot"s Christmas ;Sad Cypress ;One, Two, Buckle My Shoe ;Evil Under the Sun ;Five Little Pigs ;The Hollow ;The Labours of Hercules ;Taken at the Flood ; Mrs McGinty"s Dead ;After the Funeral ;Hickory d.i.c.kory Dock ;Dead Man"s Folly ;Cat Among the Pigeons ;The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding ;The Clocks ;Third Girl ;Hallowe"en Party ;Elephants Can Remember ;Poirot"s Early Cases ;Curtain: Poirot"s Last Case 1. The Mysterious Affair at Styles The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1920) (1920) Captain Arthur Hastings, invalided in the Great War, is recuperating as a guest of John Cavendish at Styles Court, the "country-place" of John"s autocratic old aunt, Emily Inglethorpe-she of a sizeable fortune, and so recently remarried to a man twenty years her junior. When Emily"s sudden heart attack is found to be attributable to strychnine, Hastings recruits an old friend, now retired, to aid in the local investigation. With impeccable timing, Hercule Poirot, the renowned Belgian detective, makes his dramatic entrance into the pages of crime literature.
Of note: Written in 1916,The Mysterious Affair at Styles was Agatha Christie"s first published work. Six houses rejected the novel before it was finally published-after puzzling over it for eighteen months before deciding to go ahead-by The Bodley Head.
Times Literary Supplement: "Almost too ingenious...very clearly and brightly told."
2. The Murder on the Links The Murder on the Links (1923) (1923) "For G.o.d"s sake, come!" But by the time Hercule Poirot can respond to Monsieur Renauld"s plea, the millionaire is already dead-stabbed in the back, and lying in a freshly dug grave on the golf course adjoining his estate. There is no lack of suspects: his wife, whose dagger did the deed; his embittered son; Renauld"s mistress-and each feels deserving of the dead man"s fortune. The police think they"ve found the culprit. Poirot has his doubts. And the discovery of a second, identically murdered corpse complicates matters considerably. (However, on a bright note, Captain Arthur Hastingsdoes meet his future wife.)
The New York Times: "A remarkably good detective story...warmly recommended."
Literary Review: "Really clever."
Sketch: "Agatha Christie never lets you down."
3. Poirot Investigates Poirot Investigates (1924) (1924) A movie star, a diamond; a murderous "suicide"; a pharaoh"s curse upon his tomb; a prime minister abducted...What links these fascinating cases? The brilliant deductive powers of Hercule Poirot in..."The Adventure of the Western Star"; "The Tragedy at Marsdon Manor"; "The Adventure of the Cheap Flat"; "The Mystery of the Hunter"s Lodge"; "The Million Dollar Bond Robbery"; "The Adventure of the Egyptian Tomb"; "The Jewel Robbery at the Grand Metropolitan"; "The Kidnapped Prime Minister"; "The Disappearance of Mr. Davenheim"; "The Adventure of the Italian n.o.bleman"; "The Case of the Missing Will."
Of note: The stories collected here were first published inSketch , beginning on March 7, 1923.Sketch also featured the first ill.u.s.tration of the foppish, egg-headed, elaborately moustachioed Belgian detective.
Literary Review: "A capital collection...ingeniously constructed and told with an engaging lightness of style."
Irish Times: "In straight detective fiction there is still no one to touch [Christie]."
4. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926) (1926) In the quiet village of King"s Abbot a widow"s suicide has stirred suspicion-and dreadful gossip. There are rumours that she murdered her first husband, that she was being blackmailed, and that her secret lover was Roger Ackroyd. Then, on the verge of discovering the blackmailer"s ident.i.ty, Ackroyd himself is murdered. Hercule Poirot, who has settled in King"s Abbot for some peace and quiet and a little gardening, finds himself at the centre of the case-and up against a diabolically clever and devious killer. Of note:The Murder of Roger Ackroyd broke all the rules of detective fiction and made Agatha Christie a household name. Widely regarded as her masterpiece (though perhaps it may be called her "Poirot masterpiece" since other t.i.tles in her canon-notablyAnd Then There Were None -are similarly acclaimed),The Murder of Roger Ackroyd was the source of some controversy when it was published. TheTimes Literary Supplement "s praise of the first Poirot,The Mysterious Affair at Styles , "almost too ingenious," was applied by scores of readers toAckroyd , who were nonetheless enraptured by the novel, and have remained so over the decades.
Fair warning:There are two things you must do if you know nothing of the book: discuss it with no one, and read it with all speed.
H.R.F. Keating: "One of the landmarks of detective literature" (in hisCrime & Mystery: The 100 Best Books ).
Julian Symons: "The most brilliant of deceptions" (in hisb.l.o.o.d.y Murder: From the Detective Story to the Crime Novel ).
Irish Independent: "A cla.s.sic-the book has worthily earned its fame."
5. The Big Four The Big Four (1927) (1927) Hercule Poirot is preparing for a voyage to South America. Looming in the doorway of his bedroom is an uninvited guest, coated from head to foot in dust and mud. The man"s gaunt face registers Poirot for a moment, and then he collapses. The stranger recovers long enough to identify Poirot by name and madly and repeatedly scribble the figure "4" on a piece of paper. Poirot cancels his trip. An investigation is in order. Fortunately, Poirot has the faithful Captain Hastings at his side as he plunges into a conspiracy of international scope-one that would consolidate power in the deadly cabal known as "The Big Four."
6. The Mystery of the Blue Train The Mystery of the Blue Train (1928) (1928) Le Train Bleu is an elegant, leisurely means of travel, and one certainly free of intrigue. Hercule Poirot is aboard, bound for the Riviera. And so is Ruth Kettering, the American heiress. Bailing out of a doomed marriage, she is en route to reconcile with her former lover. But her private affairs are made quite public when she is found murdered in her luxury compartment-bludgeoned almost beyond recognition. Fans of the later novelMurder on the Orient Express will not want to missthis journey by rail-and Poirot"s eerie reenactment of the crime...
7. Black Coffee Black Coffee (1930; 1998) (1930; 1998) Sir Claud Amory"s formula for a powerful new explosive has been stolen, presumably by a member of his large household. Sir Claud a.s.sembles his suspects in the library and locks the door, instructing them that the when the lights go out, the formula must be replaced on the table-and no questions will be asked. But when the lights come on, Sir Claud is dead. Now Hercule Poirot, a.s.sisted by Captain Hastings and Inspector j.a.pp, must unravel a tangle of family feuds, old flames, and suspicious foreigners to find the killer and prevent a global catastrophe.
Of note:Black Coffee was Agatha Christie"s first playscript, written in 1929. It premiered in 1930 at the Emba.s.sy Theatre in Swiss Cottage, London, before transferring the following year to St Martin"s in the West End-a theatre made famous by virtue of its becoming the permanent home of the longest-running play in history, Agatha Christie"sThe Mousetrap . Agatha Christie"s biographer, Charles...o...b..rne, who, as a young actor in 1956 had played Dr Carelli in a Tunbridge Wells production ofBlack Coffee , adapted the play as this novel in 1998.
Antonia Fraser,Sunday Telegraph : "A lively and light-hearted read which will give pleasure to all those who have long wished that there was just one more Christie to devour."
Mathew Prichard, from his Foreword toBlack Coffee : "This Hercule Poirot murder mystery...reads like authentic, vintage Christie. I feel sure Agatha would be proud to have written it."
8. Peril at End House Peril at End House (1932) (1932) Nick is an unusual name for a pretty young woman. And Nick Buckley has been leading an unusual life of late. First, on a treacherous Cornish hillside, the brakes on her car fail. Then, on a coastal path, a falling boulder misses her by inches. Safe in bed, she is almost crushed by a painting. Upon discovering a bullet hole in Nick"s sun hat, Hercule Poirot (who had come to Cornwall for a simple holiday with his friend Captain Hastings) decides that the girl needs his protection. At the same time, he begins to unravel the mystery of a murder that hasn"t been committed. Yet.
Times Literary Supplement: "Ingenious."
9. Lord Edgware Dies Lord Edgware Dies (1933) (1933) Poirot was present when the beautiful actress Jane Wilkinson bragged of her plan to "get rid of" her estranged husband. Now the monstrous man is dead. But how could Jane have stabbed Lord Edgware in his library at exactly the time she was dining with friends? And what could have been her motive, since Edgware had finally granted her a divorce? The great Belgian detective, aided by Captain Hastings, can"t help feeling that some kind of heinous stagecraft is in play. And does more murder wait in the wings?
The New York Times: "A most ingenious crime puzzle."
Times Literary Supplement: "The whole case is a triumph of Poirot"s special qualities."
Noted crime fiction critic Julian Symons selectedLord Edgware Dies as one of Agatha Christie"s best.
10. Murder on the Orient Express Murder on the Orient Express (1934) (1934) Just after midnight, a snowstorm stops the Orient Express dead in its tracks in the middle of Yugoslavia. The luxurious train is surprisingly full for this time of year. But by morning there is one pa.s.senger less. A "respectable American gentleman" lies dead in his compartment, stabbed a dozen times, his door locked from the inside...Hercule Poirot is also aboard, having arrived in the nick of time to claim a second-cla.s.s compartment-and the most astounding case of his ill.u.s.trious career. Regarding chronology: Agatha Christie seems not much concerned in the course of her books with their relationship to each other. It is why the Marples and the Poirots may be ready in any order, really, with pleasure. However, the dedicated Poirotist may wish to note that the great detective is returning from "A little affair in Syria" at the start ofMurder on the Orient Express . It is a piece of business after this "little affair"-the investigation into the death of an archaeologist"s wife-that is the subject ofMurder in Mesopotamia (1936). If one wishes to delay a tad longer the pleasures ofOrient Express ,Murder in Mesopotamia offers no better opportunity.
Fair warning:Along these lines, it is advisable that onenot readCards on the Table (1936) prior toOrient Express , since Poirothimself casually gives away the ending to the latter novel. Of note:Murder on the Orient Express is one of Agatha Christie"s most famous novels, owing no doubt to a combination of its romantic setting and the ingeniousness of its plot; its non-exploitative reference to the sensational kidnapping and murder of the infant son of Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh only two years prior; and a popular 1974 film adaptation, starring Albert Finney as Poirot-one of the few cinematic versions of a Christie work that met with the approval, however mild, of the author herself.
Dorothy L. Sayers,Sunday Times : "A murder mystery conceived and carried out on the finest cla.s.sical lines."
Sat.u.r.day Review of Literature: "Hard to surpa.s.s."
Times Literary Supplement: "Need it be said-the little grey cells solve once more the seemingly insoluble. Mrs Christie makes an improbable tale very real, and keeps her readers enthralled and guessing to the end."
11. Three-Act Tragedy Three-Act Tragedy (1935) (1935) The novel opens as a theatre programme, with this telling credit: "Illumination byHERCULE POIROT."
Light must be shed, indeed, on the fateful dinner party staged by the famous actor Sir Charles Cartwright for thirteen guests. It will be a particularly unlucky evening for the mild-mannered Reverend Stephen Babbington, whose martini gla.s.s, sent for chemical a.n.a.lysis after he chokes on its contents and dies, reveals no trace of poison. Just as there is no apparent motive for his murder. The first scene in a succession of carefully staged killings, but who is the director?
The New York Times: "Makes for uncommonly good reading."
12. Death in the Clouds Death in the Clouds (1935) (1935) From seat No. 9, Hercule Poirot is almost ideally placed to observe his fellow air travelers on this short flight from Paris to London. Over to his right sits a pretty young woman, clearly infatuated with the man opposite. Ahead, in seat No. 13, is the Countess of Horbury, horribly addicted to cocaine and not doing too good a job of concealing it. Across the gangway in seat No. 8, a writer of detective fiction is being troubled by an aggressive wasp. Yes, Poirot isalmost ideally placed to take it all in-except that the pa.s.senger in the seat directly behind him has slumped over in the course of the flight...dead. Murdered. By someone in Poirot"s immediate proximity. And Poirot himself must number among the suspects.