Murder on the Orient Express

Agatha Christie ? MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS

MURDER ON THE

ORIENT EXPRESS

Agatha Christie is the world¡¯s best known mystery writer. Her books have sold over a billion

copies in the English language and another billion in 44 foreign languages. She is the most

widely published author of all time in any language, outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare.

Her writing career spanned more than half a century, during which she wrote 79 novels and

short story collections, as well as 14 plays, one of which, The Mousetrap, is the longest-running

play in history. Two of the characters she created, the brilliant little Belgian Hercule Poirot and

the irrepressible and relentless Miss Marple, went on to become world-famous detectives. Both

have been widely dramatized in feature films and made-for-TV movies.

Agatha Christie also wrote six romantic novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. As

well, she wrote four nonfiction books including an autobiography and an entertaining account of

the many expeditions she shared with her archaeologist husband Sir Max Mallowan.

Agatha Christie died in 1976.

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Agatha Christie ? MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS

HarperPaperbacks

by Agatha Christie

MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS

THE SEVEN DIALS MYSTERY

POSTERN OF FATE

CROOKED HOUSE

ORDEAL BY INNOCENCE

THE CLOCKS

Coming Soon

THE MURDER OF ROGER ACKROYD

CAT AMONG THE PIGEONS

POIROT INVESTIGATES

THE MIRROR CRACK¡¯D

ENDLESS NIGHT

BY THE PRICKING OF MY THUMBS

MURDER WITH MIRRORS

FUNERALS ARE FATAL

NEMESIS DEAD MAN¡¯S FOLLY

DEATH COMES AS THE END

DESTINATION UNKNOWN

MRS. McGINTY¡¯S DEAD

A CARIBBEAN MYSTERY

DEATH ON THE NILE

PASSENGER TO FRANKFURT

THE MOUSETRAP AND OTHER PLAYS

MURDER IS EASY

4:50 FROM PADDINGTON

AT BERTRAMS HOTEL

SPARKLING CYANIDE

THE PALE HORSE

HICKORY DICKORY DOCK

SLEEPING MURDER

THE BODY IN THE LIBRARY

THIRD GIRL

HERCULE POIROT¡¯S CHRISTMAS

CURTAIN

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Agatha Christie ? MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS

AGATHA

CHRISTIE

Murder on

the Orient

Express

HarperPaperbacks

A Division of HarperCollinsPublishers

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Agatha Christie ? MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS

If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as ¡°unsold and destroyed¡¯ to the

publisher and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this ¡°stripped book.¡¯

This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogues are products of the author¡¯s imagination and are not to be construed as real.

Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

HarperPaperbacks

A Division of HarperCollinsPublishers

10 East 53rd Street, New York, N.Y. 10022

Copyright ? 1933, 1934 by Agatha Christie

Copyright ? renewed 1960,1961 by Agatha Christie Mallowan

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the publisher,

except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information address G. P. Putnam¡¯s Sons, a division of The

Putnam Berkley Group, Inc., 200 Madison Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10016.

This book is published by arrangement with G. P. Putnam¡¯s Sons, a division of The Putnam Berkley Group, Inc.

This book was previously published under the title ¡°Murder in the Calais Coach.¡¯

Cover illustration by Jenny Tylden-Wright

First HarperPaperbacks printing: November 1991

Printed in the United States of America

HarperPaperbacks and colophon are trademarks of HarperCollinsPublishers

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Agatha Christie ? MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS

CONTENTS

CONTENTS.................................................................................................................................... 5

PART I ............................................................................................................................................ 7

THE FACTS ............................................................................................................................... 7

1............................................................................................................................................... 7

AN IMPORTANT PASSENGER ON THE TAURUS EXPRESS.................................... 7

2............................................................................................................................................. 12

THE TOKATLIAN HOTEL............................................................................................. 12

3............................................................................................................................................. 17

POIROT REFUSES A CASE........................................................................................... 17

4............................................................................................................................................. 21

A CRY IN THE NIGHT ................................................................................................... 21

5............................................................................................................................................. 23

THE CRIME ..................................................................................................................... 23

6............................................................................................................................................. 29

A WOMAN....................................................................................................................... 29

7............................................................................................................................................. 33

THE BODY ...................................................................................................................... 33

8............................................................................................................................................. 39

THE ARMSTRONG KIDNAPPING CASE .................................................................... 39

PART II......................................................................................................................................... 41

THE EVIDENCE...................................................................................................................... 41

1............................................................................................................................................. 41

THE EVIDENCE OF THE WAGON LIT CONDUCTOR ............................................. 41

2............................................................................................................................................. 46

THE EVIDENCE OF THE SECRETARY....................................................................... 46

3............................................................................................................................................. 49

THE EVIDENCE OF THE VALET................................................................................. 49

4............................................................................................................................................. 53

THE EVIDENCE OF THE AMERICAN LADY ............................................................ 53

5............................................................................................................................................. 58

THE EVIDENCE OF THE SWEDISH LADY ................................................................ 58

6............................................................................................................................................. 61

THE EVIDENCE OF THE RUSSIAN PRINCESS ......................................................... 61

7............................................................................................................................................. 65

THE EVIDENCE OF COUNT AND COUNTESS ANDRENYI.................................... 65

8............................................................................................................................................. 68

THE EVIDENCE OF COLONEL ARBUTHNOT .......................................................... 68

9............................................................................................................................................. 73

THE EVIDENCE OF MR. HARDMAN.......................................................................... 73

10........................................................................................................................................... 77

THE EVIDENCE OF THE ITALIAN.............................................................................. 77

11........................................................................................................................................... 79

THE EVIDENCE OF MISS DEBENHAM...................................................................... 79

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