By Matt Davis
Murder on the Orient Express, as compared to our previous books, was a fun and easy book to read. In my opinion, it lacks any life-altering applications, but was a fun escape from the everyday. Inspector Poirot was an intriguing character who is a student of individuals. He seems to naturally study and enjoy making inferences about people and their personalities. It was neat to see how he saw the events and people on the Orient Express as characters in a play, and caste them according to their roles—the gardener, the nanny, the cook, etc. Admittedly, I had trouble following the who’s who and in what compartment, but it more or less all came together in the end. The end was almost a “choose your own adventure” finale. “Justice” was served, and everyone walked away clean, or were they?
Hercule Poirot:
Hercule Poirot is the detective in this novel. Upon receiving a telegram that tells him “Development you predicted in Kassner Case has come unexpectedly please return immediately.” So, M. Poirot hurries to catch the Orient Express on it’s way to England. It is on this train that the murder occurs, and Hercule Poirot must solve the mystery. Hercule Poirot is a short, small man with a large, curled mustache. He has green eyes like a cat’s which he uses to find clues! He is Belgian.
Lieutenant Dubosc:
Lieutenant Dubosc is the French man that M. Poirot is talking to in the beginning of the book. He takes his job very seriously and is very good at it. He has apparently saved M. Poirot’s life before. He is not one of the passengers on the Orient Express.
Mary Hermione Debenham:
Mary Debenham is an English governess who is aboard the Orient Express with M. Poirot. She is twenty-eight years old and has grey eyes. She is very efficient and hardworking. She, Colonel Arbuthnot, and M. Poirot were all on another train called the Taurus Express before boarding the Orient Express.
Colonel Arbuthnot:
Colonel Arbuthnot is on both the Taurus and Orient Express with M. Poirot and Mary Debenham. He is a colonel for India but is English. He is honourable, slightly stupid, and upright.
M. Bouc:
M. Bouc is a friend of M. Poirot and is aboard the Orient Express with him. He also owns the Wagon Lit train service.
Hector MacQueen:
Hector is a thirty year old American who travels with Mr. Ratchett. He is Mr. Rachett’s secretary.
Samuel Edward Ratchett:
Mr. Ratchett is the man who is murdered. He is stabbed a dozen times. When M. Poirot first saw Mr. Ratchett, he described him as a savage animal. M. Poirot thought that Mr. Ratchett looked like a kind man, but he had small, cruel eyes.
M. Harris:
M. Harris is an Englishman who was supposed to board the Orient Express. However, the train was full and Hercule Poirot needed a room, so, as M. Harris was late, M. Poirot took his room. Later, M. Poirot finds out that this was a fake person. See the Suspects and/or Summary page for more details.
Princess Natalia Dragomiroff:
Princess Dragomiroff is very ugly. M. Poirot says that she looks like a yellow toad. She has a small, toad-like face. She also has eyes like jewels, dark and imperious. Her hands are yellow and claw-like with rings on her fingers. The Princess has a deep voice that is very distinct, with a slight grating quality. She is Russian and is extremely rich. Her Christian name is Natalia. She is fragile, so is not suspected to have stabbed Ratchett. M. Poirot says “I think, Madame, that your strength is in your will, not in your arm.”
Doctor Constantine:
Doctor Constantine is a small dark man who investigates and examines the body of Mr. Ratchett with Hercule Poirot. He also assists M. Bouc and M. Poirot as they try to find out the murderer(s) is/are.
Mrs. Caroline Martha Hubbard:
Mrs. Hubbard is a very talkative elderly woman. She is always talking about her daughter. She is stout and pleasant faced and speaks in a low monotone voice. She tells Hercule Poirot that she is scared of Mr. Ratchett and that she wouldn’t be surprised if he turned out to be a murderer.
Greta Ohlsson:
Great Ohlsson wears glasses, is tall, is 49 years old, and has fading yellow hair. When she is first introduced in the story, she is wearing a tweed skirt and a plaid blouse. She is described as “sheep faced” because of her long, mild, amiable face. She is Swedish. She also does not speak very good English, but she speaks and understands French. Greta works as a matron in a missionary school near Stamboul. She also was a trained nurse. Mary Debenham says “She’s like a sheep, you know. She gets anxious and bleats.”
Pierre Michel:
Pierre Michel is the Wagon Lit conductor. Monsieur Bouc knows an trusts him. The conductor has worked for the company for over fifteen years and is very honest. He is a Frenchman and lives near Calais. He is respectable, but not remarkable for brains.
Edward Masterman:
Edward Henry Masterman is Mr. Ratchett’s valet. He always travels second class and is 39 years old. His home address is 21 Friar Street, Clerkenwall. He is an Englishman with a pale face.
Antonio Foscarelli:
Antonio Foscarelli is an American citizen, but is Italian. Antonio moves with a swift, cat-like tread. He has a typical Italian face; sunny looking and swarthy. He is a car sales person. He suspected that Ratchett was and, however, he didn’t know that Ratchett was actually Cassetti.
Fräulein Hildegarde Schmidt:
Hildegarde Schmidt is Princess Dragomiroff’s maid. She has been the Princess’s maid for 15 years and is very trustworthy. She is German. Her people come from an estate belonging to Dragomiroff’s late husband.
Countess Helena/”Elena” Andrenyi:
Countess Andrenyi is a beautiful lady who is 20 years old. The Countess has dark, almond shaped eyes and scarlet lips. She has dark, long eyelashes and looks very exotic. She speaks a little English and has a charming accent. She is married to Count Rudolph Andrenyi. The two have only been married a year. Whenever riding on a train, the Countess takes a sleeping draught. She pretends that her name is Elena, when it is really Helena.
Count Rudolph Andrenyi:
Fine looking man who is at least six feet tall. He has broad shoulders and slender hips. He was in Washington for a year. He is married to Countess Helena Andrenyi. The two have only been married a year.
Cyrus Bethman Hardman:
Mr. Hardman is a big, flamboyant American. When he is interviewed by M. Poirot and his friends, the man was wearing a loud check suit, a pink shirt, and a flashy tiepin. He has a big, fleshy, coarse-featured face and a good humored expression. Mr. Hardman is forty one and sells typewriting ribbons. However, this is not Mr. Hardman’s real identity. He tells Hercule, Dr. Constantine, and M. Bouc that he is a detective for New York’s McNeil’s Detective Agency. He also says that he was employed by Mr. Ratchett to protect him from the people/person who wanted to kill him. Obviously, Mr. Hardman didn’t do his job very well…
Ink & Stone 