Jeff+S

** Independent Reading Assessment ** Plot Overview: The main character, Hercule Poirot, is an inspector who is on a train headed for Istanbul. Once the train arrives, Hercule receives a phone call that forces him to go back to London for a case. While waiting for the train to go back to London, Poirot runs into an old friend named Buoc. Poirot is forced to ride in second class because the Orient Express is full. While on the train, Poirot notices strange things about some of the people on board. He is a detective so he can read people fairly well. On its way back to London, the train stops because of large amounts of snow. When night time came, Poirot hears some noises taking place in the room next to him. That room belongs to a man named Ratchett. The next day Poirot hears that a murder took place on the Orient Express. Since he is an inspector, he has to try to solve the murder. He first inspects Ratchett’s room and finds some key clues like a handkerchief with the initial H on it, the window open but no footprints in the snow and a piece of paper with the name Armstrong written on it. He interviews all of the passengers on the Orient Express to try to receive clues as to who committed the murder. In the process, he finds out key clues and true identities to the passengers on board and ultimately solves the crime. He concludes that all of the passengers on board the Orient Express were involved with the murder.
 * Jeff Stuart **

Character List: __Hercule Poirot__- a well respected Belgian detective. He is the main character in the story and he has to try and solve the murder case. He is a very smart and intelligent detective who is very good at solving crimes. He figures out the true identity of Ratchett and the other passengers on the Orient Express and he is then able to connect all of the clues to solve the mystery. __Dr. Constantine__- He is the doctor on board the Orient Express. He is the one who looked at the victim and determined certain clues that helped Poirot solve the mystery. He discovers that Ratchett was stabbed 12 times. He also draws the conclusion that some of the wounds were weak and the murderer seemed to have “missed.” Judging by the stab wounds, he discovers that the wounds were caused by a left hand and they were too deep to be caused by a woman. __Ratchett__- He is the victim that was stabbed 12 times by the murderer. Before he is murdered he tells Poirot that people want to kill him and that he is in danger. Poirot refuses to investigate. His true identity is discovered and he is known as Cassetti.

Important Quotations: “You see the two wounds-here and here-“ He pointed. “They are deep. Each cut must have severed blood vessels-and yet the edges do not gape. They have not bled as one would have expected.” “Which suggests?” “That the man was already dead-some little time dead-when they were delivered. But that is surely absurd.” This quote is said between the doctor, who is examining the body, and Poirot. This is an important clue because it suggests to Poirot that there were two murderers. The second murderer came in to kill Ratchett when it was dark in the room and didn’t realize that Ratchett was already dead.

“You see this wound here-under the right arm- near the right shoulder. Take this pencil of mine. Could you ever deliver such a blow?” “With the right hand it is exceedingly difficult, almost impossible. One would have to strike backhanded, as it were. But if the blow were struck with the left hand-“ This Quote was also exchanged from the doctor to Poirot when they were investigating the body. This draws the conclusion that the murderer was most likely left handed.

“Great strength was needed for those blows. They penetrated the muscle.” This quote was told by the doctor when he was examining the body. This suggested to Poirot that these blows came from a wound. So they received several key clues just by examining the dead body.

Study Questions  1. What was the motive for all of the passengers on board the Orient Express to murder Ratchett? The motive for them draws back to the case that happened in America. Ratchett’s true identity was Cassetti. This was the name of the person who kidnapped a young girl named Daisy and killed her. All of the people on the Orient Express were related to, or knew Daisy and they wanted revenge on Cassetti. This is why they all were involved with the murder.

 2. How would you describe Poirot as a person?

He is a very smart person and great detective. He is able to tie up all the clues to the murder case. As a person, he is very curious of people. He looks around at the people on board the Orient Express and draws conclusions about them based on their behaviors. He is very experienced and good at reading people.

 3. What connections can be made to this book?

Any crime solving TV show can be made to this book. This book reminds me of any of the CSI shows because there is a crime that is committed and a very smart detective that can figure out almost anything based on the smallest clues. There is always a motive and each clue ties together in a way that most ordinary people would not be able to figure out. It is fun for the reader to try and figure out the clues but they may not be as good at it as Poirot is.