Murder on the Orient Express Notes
The Evidence of Mr. Hardman
Mr. Hardman is the last of the first-class passengers to be interviewed.
He shared a table with the Italian and the valet.
Description:
Big, flamboyant American.
Loud check suit, pink shirt, flashy tie-pin.
Rolling something round his tongue (chewing gum).
Big, fleshy, coarse-featured face with a good-humoured expression.
Hardman confirms his identity and travel details from his passport.
Name: Cyrus Bethman Hardman.
Subject: United States Citizen.
Age: 41.
Occupation: Traveling salesman for typewriting ribbons.
Traveling from: Stamboul to Paris.
Reason: Business.
Hardman states he knows nothing about the murder.
Poirot reveals his identity: Hercule Poirot, engaged by the company to investigate the murder.
Hardman admits he should know something and decides to "come clean".
Hardman provides the real story:
Passport is a bluff.
He is actually a private detective from the McNeil Detective Agency in New York.
He was in Europe trailing crooks.
The chase ended in Stamboul.
He received a letter at The Tokatllan Hotel to report to S.E. Ratchett.
Ratchett hired Hardman to protect him on the train to Parrus (Paris).
Ratchett showed Hardman a couple of letters he had received, indicating he was alarmed and felt threatened.
Hardman accepted the job but failed to protect Ratchett.
Hardman details his instructions from Ratchett:
Originally, Hardman was supposed to travel in the compartment next to Ratchett.
He ended up in berth No. 16, which he considers strategically advantageous.
The compartment was near the dining-car and the barred platform door, so anyone approaching Ratchett would have to pass his compartment.
Description of the potential assailant according to Ratchett:
Small man.
Dark complexion.
Womanish voice.
Ratchett believed the attack was more likely on the second or third night of the journey.
Poirot reveals Ratchett's true identity: Cassetti, the Armstrong murderer.
Hardman claims he did not recognize Ratchett, as he was out West during the Armstrong case.
Hardman reflects on the Armstrong case:
Most people connected to it are dead.
He remembers the girl who threw herself out of the window.
There may be foreign relations involved, since she was a foreigner.
Cassetti was involved in other kidnapping cases.
Hardman recounts his watch during the nights:
He slept during the day.
He watched at night with the door ajar.
Nothing suspicious occurred the first night.
Last night was the same; no stranger passed his compartment.
He is sure no one got on the train from outside or came from the rear carriages.
Hardman's observations of the conductor (Pierre Michel):
Conductor sits on a seat near his door.
After the train stopped at Vincovci, the conductor answered a couple of bells.
He went into the rear coach for about 15 minutes after a bell rang.
The bell was from the American dame (Mrs. Hubbard), who was complaining.
He got mineral water for someone.
He made up someone's bed at the far end of the coach.
He didn't stir much after that until about 5 AM.
Hardman couldn't confirm if the conductor dozed off.
There is no one on the train who can confirm Hardman's identity, except possibly young MacQueen, who he knows from MacQueen's father's office, but may not remember him.
Poirot offers Hardman a cigarette.
Discussions after Hardman's interview:
Dr. Constantine and M. Bouc believe Hardman is genuine.
Hardman’s description of the potential assailant: a small man, dark, with a high-pitched voice.
Poirot notes this description doesn't match anyone on the train.
The Evidence of the Italian
Antonio Foscarelli is the next passenger interviewed.
He has a sunny, swarthy, typical Italian face.
He speaks French well with a slight accent.
Foscarelli states he is a naturalized American subject for business reasons.
He works as an agent for Ford motor cars and gives a voluble exposition about his business methods, journeys, income, and opinions of the United States and Europe.
Foscarelli claims he has been in the United States for the last ten years on and off.
He does not recognize the deceased (Ratchett) but describes him as a type that is respectable and well-dressed but "all wrong" underneath, characterizing him as a "big crook."
Poirot reveals that Ratchett was Cassetti, the kidnapper.
Foscarelli claims to have learned to read faces in America, which is necessary for sales.
He remembers the Armstrong case as involving a little girl, a baby.
Foscarelli does not recall encountering any members of the Armstrong family.
Poirot urges him to confine himself to the point.
Foscarelli describes his movements the previous night:
He stayed in the dining car as long as possible, talking to the American gentleman (Hardman).
He returned to his compartment, which he shared with a miserable Englishman (the valet).
The Englishman was not talkative or sympathetic.
The conductor made their beds (Nos. 4 and 5, the end compartment). Foscarelli had the upper berth.
Foscarelli smoked and read. He heard the Englishman groaning, possibly from a toothache, and using a strong-smelling remedy.
Foscarelli does not believe his compartment mate left the carriage during the night, as he would have heard him.
The Englishman did not speak of his master or express any animus against him.
Foscarelli smokes cigarettes only.
M. Bouc asks if Foscarelli has been to Chicago.
Foscarelli provides his permanent address and signature.
Discussion after Foscarelli's interview:
M. Bouc notes that Foscarelli is Italian and they use knives and are great liars and he does not like Italians.
Poirot points out that there's no evidence against Foscarelli.
M. Bouc brings up the psychology of Italians, particularly the act of stabbing.
Poirot counters that this crime seems carefully planned and staged, indicating an Anglo-Saxon brain rather than a Latin crime.
Poirot says they will now see Miss Mary Debenham.
The Evidence of Miss Debenham
Mary Debenham is described as:
Neatly dressed in a little black suit with a French grey shirt.
Smooth waves of her dark hair were neat and unruffled.
Her manner was as calm and unruffled as her hair.
She confirms her name, Mary Hermione Debenham, age 26, and nationality, English.
Debenham states she has nothing to say about the crime as she went to bed and slept.
Poirot asks if the crime distresses her.
She responds that she hasn't thought about it from that point of view and can't say she is at all distressed.
Poirot remarks on her Anglo-Saxon nature and lack of emotion (