"Murder on the Orient Express" takes place in a murder case on the luxury train "Orient Express", where detective Poirot breaks through the fog on the murderous train and finally identifies the real culprit among the twelve suspects. The novel explores the contradictions between vigilante seeking revenge, human justice and legal controversy when the social rule of law is not perfect. The editor will expand on the character relationships, the story summary and the final ending.
I. [Murder on the Orient Express] Plot Character Relationship:
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1 Reichett's secretary, McQueen, was a friend of the dead officer's family, and McQueen's father, who handled the kidnapping, admired the officer's wife.
2. Reichett's British maid Bedos is kidnapped by the girl's maid, the maid's lover who jumped off a building and committed suicide.
3. The fussy Mrs. Habbard: The mother-in-law of the dead officer, the officer's wife and the countess's mother.
4. Colonel Abbasnott: Comrade-in-arms of Officer Armstrong.
5. Governess Mary De Beheim: The female secretary of the dead officer's wife.
6. Duchess of Dragomirov: Godmother of the dead officer's wife.
7. The duchess's maid, the cook of officer Hildegard's family.
8. Count Dreini: The brother-in-law of a dead officer, mainly in coordination with his wife.
9. Countess Andreni: Biological sister of the dead officer's wife.
10. Italian driver Foscarelli: The driver of the dead officer's house.
11. Swedish nurse Greta Olsson: The nanny of the murdered child, blaming herself
12. Pierre, flight attendant: Father of the suicidal maid.
2. Outline of the affair
In the twilight, detective Hechuri Poirot boards the Orient Express and prepares to travel to London, England. On the night when the Orient Express arrived at Vinkovzi, at about 12:40 p.m., Poirot was awakened by the howl of a man. The sound seemed to come from the next compartment, a room called Sammulet. As Poirot peeked out through the crack in the door, he saw through the crack that the car caretaker was knocking on Mr. Richter's door, and when Ratchett asked what was going on, Poirot quieted down when he heard someone reply in French, "I'm mistaken." Poirot then went back to sleep, when he had a bad premonition about the train going forward.
When he decided to ring the bell, he heard Mrs. Hubbard take the lead and heard the carriage keeper arguing with her. Then when Poirot asked the carriage keeper to give him a bottle of water, he also learned that Mrs. Hubbard had claimed that someone had sneaked in her carriage. He also learned that the train had stopped moving due to a snowstorm. He woke up the next morning to find Mr. Ratchett dead and stabbed to death in his sleep. Mr. Booker, the director, suggested that Hechuri Poirot take up the murder.
During his investigation, Poirot discovered that Mr. Ratchett's knife wounds were strange, the wounds were shallow, and only three of them could be fatal. In addition, some of them appear to be caused by right-handed people, while some appear to be caused by left-handed people.
Poirot found more clues in the guest rooms, including handkerchiefs embroidered with "hs" and pipes. These clues indicate that the killer deliberately left clues. However, each clue seems to point to a different suspect, which is confusing.
Third, the final ending When the relationship between the characters is sorted out, all the causes and effects in the story are all clear at a glance. It turned out that everything began with the kidnapping case five years ago. Among them, the victim, Reichett, is Casarte, who kidnapped the officer's daughter five years ago. Five years ago, the kidnapping involved the death of the officer's youngest daughter, and the colonel's wife, Sonia, who was pregnant again at the time, went into shock and was born prematurely when she heard of her daughter's death, resulting in the death of the mother and son on the spot. Colonel Armstrong, grief-stricken, also shot himself. Daisy's nanny, Susan, was considered an accomplice by the police and fell from a window to her death, after which she was proven innocent. Five lives in all! That's why there will be 12 people gathering five years later, and there will be such a retaliatory crime. All in all, the kidnapping case five years ago was the first reason, and revenge and punishment of the murderer were the purpose of the crime.
What's even more interesting later is that the American jury was made up of 12 people, all of whom spontaneously formed a coalition to punish Retchett, who had taken advantage of the legal loophole and escaped. However, it reflects more of a sadness, when the judiciary can not redress and allow the criminals to escape, the families of the victims can only be forced to resist helplessly.
When the film is finally about to expose the truth, Poirot's helpless sadness reflects his entanglement, is it legal justice or moral justice? The choice of intellect and emotion is also very exciting. In the end, Poirot's choice to let go of these 12 people is not surprising, after all, the victim is a criminal, and Poirot is not a policeman, but a private detective.
The Murder of the Orient Express is not only a case of speculative murder, but also a question worth pondering about, which shows the entanglement of moral justice and how to choose legal justice
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