A.B.C. Murders

To James Watts

One of my most sympathetic readers

Contents

About Agatha Christie

The Agatha Christie Collection

E-book Extras

Foreword

1 The Letter

2 Not from Captain Hastings’ Personal Narrative

3 Andover

4 Mrs Ascher

5 Mary Drower

6 The Scene of the Crime

7 Mr Partridge and Mr Riddell

8 The Second Letter

9 The Bexhill-on-Sea Murder

10 The Barnards

11 Megan Barnard

12 Donald Fraser

13 A Conference

14 The Third Letter

15 Sir Carmichael Clarke

16 Not from Captain Hastings’ Personal Narrative

17 Marking Time

18 Poirot Makes a Speech

19 By Way of Sweden

20 Lady Clarke

21 Description of a Murderer

22 Not from Captain Hastings’ Personal Narrative

23 September 11th. Doncaster

24 Not from Captain Hastings’ Personal Narrative

25 Not from Captain Hastings’ Personal Narrative

26 Not from Captain Hastings’ Personal Narrative

27 The Doncaster Murder

28 Not from Captain Hastings’ Personal Narrative

29 At Scotland Yard

30 Not from Captain Hastings’ Personal Narrative

31 Hercule Poirot Asks Questions

32 And Catch a Fox

33 Alexander Bonaparte Cust

34 Poirot Explains

35 Finale

Copyright

www.agathachristie.com

About the Publisher

Foreword

By Captain Arthur Hastings, O.B.E.

In this narrative of mine I have departed from my usual practice of relating only those incidents and scenes at which I myself was present. Certain chapters, therefore, are written in the third person.

I wish to assure my readers that I can vouch for the occurrences related in these chapters. If I have taken a certain poetic licence in describing the thoughts and feelings of various persons, it is because I believe I have set them down with a reasonable amount of accuracy. I may add that they have been ‘vetted’ by my friend Hercule Poirot himself.

In conclusion, I will say that if I have described at too great length some of the secondary personal relationships which arose as a consequence of this strange series of crimes, it is because the human and personal elements can never be ignored. Hercule Poirot once taught me in a very dramatic manner that romance can be a by-product of crime.

As to the solving of the ABC mystery, I can only say that in my opinion Poirot showed real genius in the way he tackled a problem entirely unlike any which had previously come his way.

Chapter 1

The Letter

It was in June of 1935 that I came home from my ranch in South America for a stay of about six months. It had been a difficult time for us out there. Like everyone else, we had suffered from world depression. I had various affairs to see to in England that I felt could only be successful if a personal touch was introduced. My wife remained to manage the ranch.

I need hardly say that one of my first actions on reaching England was to look up my old friend, Hercule Poirot.