Murder on the Orient Express Summary: Plot, Characters and Ending
In Murder on the Orient Express, detective Hercule Poirot is traveling from Istanbul when the train is stopped by a snowdrift and an American passenger is found stabbed twelve times in his compartment. Every other passenger seems to have an alibi, and every clue points somewhere different.
It is one of the most famous Poirot novels, known for one of crime fiction's boldest solutions.
| Character | Who they are |
|---|---|
| Hercule Poirot | Belgian detective |
| Samuel Ratchett | Rich American passenger |
| Monsieur Bouc | Poirot's friend, a director of the railway |
| Dr. Constantine | Greek doctor on board |
| Mrs. Hubbard | Talkative American lady |
| Mary Debenham | English governess |
| Colonel Arbuthnot | British officer |
| Princess Dragomiroff | Elderly Russian aristocrat |
| Countess Andrenyi | Young Hungarian countess |
| Hector MacQueen | Ratchett's secretary |
What happens on the train?
The Orient Express is unusually full for winter. Ratchett, a wealthy American, asks Poirot to protect him from threats, and Poirot refuses because he dislikes his face. That night the train stops in a snowdrift in Yugoslavia, and in the morning Ratchett is found dead with twelve stab wounds of different strengths. Some came from a right hand, some from a left.
↑ Back to the topWho was Ratchett?
A burnt scrap of paper reveals Ratchett's true identity: he was Cassetti, who kidnapped and killed three-year-old Daisy Armstrong in America years before and escaped justice on a technicality. The tragedy destroyed the family: Daisy's mother died in grief, her father took his own life, and a nursemaid wrongly suspected of helping ended hers.
↑ Back to the topWhat clues does Poirot find?
There are too many clues: a handkerchief with the initial H, a pipe cleaner, a conductor's button, a woman in a scarlet kimono seen in the corridor, and a watch stopped at a quarter past one. Interviewing each passenger, Poirot notices small lies and links to the Armstrong household. The Countess has altered her name on her passport, and Mrs. Hubbard's manner seems like a performance.
↑ Back to the topWho killed Ratchett?
Poirot gathers everyone in the dining car and offers two solutions. In the first, a stranger boarded at a stop, killed Ratchett and escaped into the snow. In the second, the true one, all twelve passengers in the coach were connected to the Armstrongs, and each struck one blow, like a jury delivering a verdict. Mrs. Hubbard is the actress Linda Arden, Daisy's grandmother, who planned it all. The Countess, Daisy's aunt, took no part, and her husband stabbed in her place.
↑ Back to the topHow does it end?
Mrs. Hubbard confirms the truth and offers to take all the blame herself. Monsieur Bouc and Dr. Constantine decide that the first solution, the stranger who escaped, is the one they will give to the police. Poirot agrees and withdraws from the case.
↑ Back to the topMore about Murder on the Orient Express
This summary reveals the whole plot, including the ending.