Murder on the Orient Express

I have just been to the cinema to see this movie (2017 edition). This story had been filmed twice once in 1974 and now in 2017. It had also been in three “made-for-TV” series - one presented by CBS in 2001, one co-produced by ITV Studios and WGBH-TV in 2010 and one produced in Japan (Japanese version) by Fuji Television in 2015.

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The train ‘Orient Express’ travelling from Istanbul to Calais (Paris) was stopped by a snowdrift near Vinkovci, in Slovania, way back in the 1930’s. During the stoppage of the train, one of the passengers in the first class compartments, a Mr. Samuel Ratchett, was murdered. Samuel Ratchett real name was Lanfranco Cassetti who had kidnapped a three-year old girl called Daisy Armstrong, severval years back. Cassetti collected the hugh ransom from the wealthy Armstrong family but still killed the poor child. Cassetti was caught but fled the country after he was acquitted. As a direct consequence of this, Daisy’s mother suffered deep depression and was found dead one night from an overdose of sleeping pill. Daisy’s father also died soon after.

On board the train was Hercule Poirot, a private detective who had retired from the Belgian Police Force and was on his way to London. He helped his friends M Bouc, the head of the Wagon, and Dr. Constantine, the Medical Doctor on board the train, to solve this case BEFORE the time when the snow was shoved off and the train proceeding on to the next station.

Poirot went on the investigation as thoroughly as he could. He found that there were some parts of the evidence that did not fit well into any logical sense. He concluded that these non-conforming portions of the evidence were purposely set up to misled him.

Poirot went through the details of the murder over and aover and came to the conclusion that Samuel Ratchett was collectively murdered by all thirteen suspects on the train.

The following quote from wikipedia can perhaps summarise his findings better than any other writings to date:

“Poirot reveals that the 13 other passengers on the train, and the train conductor, were all connected to the Armstrong family in some way:

• Hector Willard MacQueen, Cassetti’s secretary was devoted to Sonia Armstrong. MacQueen’s father was the district attorney for the kidnapping case. He knew from his father the details of Cassetti’s escape from justice and intended to kill Cassetti.
• Edward Henry Masterman, Cassetti’s valet, was Colonel Armstrong’s assistant during the war, and later his valet, who also served as butler to the Armstrong household.
• Colonel John Arbuthnot was Colonel Armstrong’s comrade and best friend.
• Mrs. Caroline Martha Hubbard is, in actuality, Linda Arden (maiden name Goldenberg), the most famous tragic actress of the New York stage, and was Sonia Armstrong’s mother and Daisy’s grandmother.
• Countess Helena Andrenyi (née Goldenberg) was Sonia Armstrong’s sister and Daisy’s aunt.
• Count Ruldoph Andrenyi is the husband of Helena Andrenyi.
• Princess Natalia Dragomiroff was Sonia Armstrong’s godmother, and a friend of her mother.
• Miss Mary Debenham was Sonia Armstrong’s secretary and Armstrong family’s governess.
• Fräulein Hildegarde Schmidt was the Armstrong family’s cook.
• Antonio Foscarelli, an Italy-born car salesman based in Chicago, was the Armstrong family’s chauffeur.
• Miss Greta Ohlsson, a Swedish missionary, was Daisy Armstrong’s nurse.
• Pierre Michel, the train conductor, was the father of Susanne, the Armstrongs’ nursemaid who committed suicide.
• Cyrus Hardman, a private detective ostensibly retained as a bodyguard by Cassetti, was a policeman in love with Susanne.

“All these friends and relations had been gravely affected by Daisy’s murder, and outraged by Cassetti’s subsequent escape. They took it into their own hands to serve as Cassetti’s executioners, to avenge a crime the law was unable to punish. Each of the suspects stabbed Cassetti once, so that no one could know who delivered the fatal blow. Twelve of the conspirators participated to allow for a “12-person jury”: Countess Andrenyi took no part in the crime as she would have been suspected the most, so her husband took her place. One extra berth was booked under a fictitious name – Harris – so that no one but the conspirators and the victim would be on board the coach, and this fictitious person would subsequently disappear and become the primary suspect in Cassetti’s murder, a man who was ‘dark’ and had a ‘womanish’ voice. (The only people not involved in the plot would be Bouc, for whom the cabin next to Cassetti had already been reserved, and Dr. Constantine). The main inconvenience for the executioners was the snowstorm and the last minute, unwelcome presence of Poirot, which caused complications resulting in several crucial clues being left behind.

“Poirot summarises that there was no other way the murder could have taken place, given the evidence. Several of the suspects have broken down in tears as he has revealed their connection to the Armstrong family, and Mrs. Hubbard/Linda Arden confesses that the second theory is correct, but begs Poirot to tell the authorities that she acted alone as Cassetti’s murderess. The evidence could be skewed to implicate her and she declares she would gladly go to prison if it meant the other passengers were spared. She points out that everyone present has suffered because of Cassetti’s misdeeds, that there would likely have been other victims like Daisy if Cassetti had gone unpunished, and that Colonel Arbuthnot and Mary Debenham are in love. Fully in sympathy with the Armstrong family, and feeling nothing but disgust for the victim, Bouc pronounces the first explanation as correct: Dr. Constantine concurs, saying he will edit his original report of the murder as he now “recognizes” some mistakes he has made, which clearly indicate that Poirot’s first explanation was correct after all, while Poirot simply announces that he has “the honour to retire from the case”.

 

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http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=11941266