Murder on the Orient Express

The opening cutscene shows a squad of policemen arresting a couple who were hiding in a house in New Paltz, NY. You may be left wondering just what is going on and what it has to do with the Orient Express. It will gradually become clear throughout the storytelling that this couple was suspected of kidnapping a little girl named Daisy Armstrong; and that the kidnapping is somehow connected with the events that take place on the train ten years later.

Jump forward in time to Istanbul, Turkey, 1934. You, Antoinette Marceau, have been assigned to see to the comfort and safety of M Hercule Poirot, famed detective. Your job hangs in the balance. Try to follow Poirot, and you are detained briefly by a pair of men, one of whom is arguing over which cleaver is better. Select a cleaver to get by them. (The left one is better, but you can select either one.) Follow Poirot, who seems to want to be on his way without having any conversation. Your way is blocked again, by a pair of men arguing over which tiles are more beautiful - Kutahya or Iznik. Now they want you to bring them a sample to settle the question.

You can find Kutahya porcelains by retracing your route two steps back, and looking close-up at the vendor's wares. He is distracted, and won't notice if you "borrow" one of his vases. If you'd rather get a piece of Iznik tile, you will find it back where you began, behind and to the right of the two men with the cleavers. You don't need both samples; one will do. Show it to the men. (If you happened to collect both styles, you will have to return one of them. If you collected only one, you can forget about returning it.) The men step out of your way.

Before you go anywhere, see the cart of grain sacks at the left? One of the sacks is leaking and you can take some loose grain.

Continue on your way, and try to speak to Poirot. He hurries away, and your way is blocked by Frau Schmidt and Princess Dragomiroff. She has lost her parasol. Retrace your steps twice, to the intersection where the two goats are grazing in the street. What's that behind the upper goat? Looks like a parasol. Give the goat some grain to get her to move. (Right-click to open inventory, select the grain, left-click on the "return" arrow at the lower left to close inventory, and left-click when you see the Gears Icon to use the grain on the goat. You can take the parasol and return it to the Princess.

Continue, but your progress is impeded once more by a frumpy Swedish lady who wants directions to the train. Try to refuse if you wish, but eventually you will have to agree that she can come with you. She follows, as you are held up once more by Mr. Ratchett and another gentleman. Threaten him with the police and you will be allowed to proceed. Enter the door to the station.

Make your way through the station. You will overhear Mary say "No, not now - when it's behind us - Then."

Talk to the Ticket Master. Oops - Greta can't find hers. Go on without her. Finally meet Hercule Poirot, who is having trouble getting on the train because it is full.

Talk to Pierre Michel, the Conductor. Settle the matter by offering M. Poirot your own room. You will share Greta Ohlsson's compartment.

By the way, any time you are in the room you share with Greta, you can look at the clock on the nightstand and see what time it is.

Part One: The Facts

Sit back and absorb the story line as it unfolds in the cutscenes. As you dine with Poirot, you will observe the occupants of the car, drawing conclusions from their behavior and appearance.

Following that, you will see the Chef ranting about a shortage of bacon. It will be your job to find some bacon as the train is stopped in Belgrade. Step forward. Very briefly, you see a man in an attendant's uniform running and boarding the Restaurant Car. Step forward twice more and you can speak with Colonel Arbuthnot and Hector MacQueen.

Continue along the platform. You see a woman leave. She was probably seeing the attendant off. Continue, and speak to Tayyip the engineer, and Pierre. Heavy snow is forecast.

Look at the containers on the wagon. All the labels are in Serbian. Ask Tayyip to translate. He's a Turk, no help. Ask Pierre. He can help. Golf balls, toilet paper, carrot juice and - aha! Bacon at last. Let's be on our way.

Poirot's advice was to eavesdrop, was it not? The doors are thick, and you cannot hear through them with just your ears. You need something to amplify the sound. Exit the Calais Coach into the Salon Car. There is no one around; they are all in their rooms. Find the bar, and go behind it. Take five of the thin glasses. One will be your tool for eavesdropping; the others will come in handy later. Take the ice tongs (on the shelf above the glasses) then open the drawer and take the Sellotape and paper napkins.

Return to the Calais Coach and start listening in on people. I suggest doing the rooms in order, so as to not miss anything important.

You should listen at every door, even when you know its occupant is elsewhere. Otherwise, you will not be fulfilling your assignment. Here's what you find:

Cabin 1-2 (Masterman & Foscarelli) - Hear Antonio Foscarelli, the Italian and Cyrus Hardman, the American playing cards and talking about Masterman.
Cabin 3-4 (MacQueen) - Hear Hector MacQueen, the young American and Colonel Francis Arbuthnot talk about politics.
Cabin 5-6 (Schmidt - Debenham) - Nothing. Mary Debenham must be sleeping and Frau Schmidt is with the Princess.
Cabin 9 - (Poirot) - Nothing. Poirot is sleeping.
Cabin 10 (Ratchett) - Hear Ratchett and Masterman talk about what Ratchett is reading.
Cabin 11 (Hubbard) - No sound. Mrs. Caroline Hubbard, the American is sleeping.
Cabin 12 (Countess Andrenyi) - Listen to Count Rudolf and Countess talk about nightmare.
Cabin 13 (Count Andrenyi) - No sound. The Count is next door with the Countess.
Cabin 14 (Princess Dragomiroff) - Listen to Schmidt reading to the Princess.
Cabin 15 (Arbuthnot) - Nothing. Arbuthnot is with MacQueen.
Cabin 16 (Hardman) - Hardman is with Foscarelli.

Check your own room. Greta had given some headache powder to the American woman.

You may feel stuck at this point. Go through the Salon Car and into the Restaurant Car. Find Pierre Michel at the far end, and click the shadow icon on him. You will follow into the Baggage Car, where he will send you back to your own car, and lock the baggage car. What was he really doing in there?

Oh! The avalanche occurs, and everyone is shaken up. Poirot is flung out of bed, and suffers a sprained ankle. Shortly after, a cry and a call bell are heard.

(The time is 12:37) Exit your room, and a brief cutscene shows the attendant answering Mr. Ratchett's bell "It is nothing . . ."

In your room again, and this time an insistent call bell is ringing. The time is 1:17. Look in the corridor, and see Mrs. Hubbard complaining about a man in her room.

In your room again, five minutes later, hear a thud. Look in the corridor. Michel is in his chair, and a woman in a red kimono walks into the Salon Car. You can try to use the shadow icon, to follow her, but the door is locked. Talk to Michel. He hasn't seen her face, but she came from one of the rooms in the middle of the car. Return to your room, and watch the cutscene of passengers having breakfast and griping about the delay.

Michel will finally interrupt and call you to Poirot's room. Ach! There has been a murder. Talk to the men. You will be given the choice of carrying out the investigation on your own, or do it with Poirot's help. (Either choice is okay; doing it on your own means you get points for solving something with no help, and lose points when you need assistance. It doesn't really matter. I've played the game both ways and prefer not to bother with the points scheme.)

Make your choice, and the game will proceed into the dead man's room. See the multiple stab wounds, and take the smashed pocket watch from his pajamas. Lift the pillow and find the gun. Talk to Constantine to learn what you can. It's mysterious. So many wounds, some deep some barely scratches, some deep ones didn't bleed much, and some were delivered by the left hand.

Following the conversation, look around the room. Lots of clues here! Take the handkerchief from the floor, and the teeth, glass, statue and contents of the ashtray from the nightstand. The ashtray held a cigar butt, a flat match, a round match, and a piece of burnt paper. Turn around and pick up the pipe cleaner from the floor near the door. Take the hat from the hook to the right of the door. Look in the coat and find a box of round matches. Look in his suitcase, and find the sleeping potion.

You've found everything there is to find in this room, and some of it is pretty important stuff. Open your inventory and examine things by placing them on the magnifying glass. Be sure to look at both sides of each object.

The handkerchief is very fine lace, and embroidered with the letter 'H'
The glass shows powder and a smudge
The watch is broken, and stopped at 1:15
The sleeping draught is half empty. Or is that half full?
The statue is lightweight. It must be conducive. Or should she say conductive?
The round match and the flat match are both used, as is the pipe cleaner.
There is a paper in the hatband that says "Rev. 13:18: Sounds like a reference to a Bible verse.
Look out the window and see the footprints. Look at the windowsill and hear "Very Interesting."
(Keep track of the "Interesting" places - you will come back to them to get fingerprints.)

If you have found all the clues in Ratchett's room and talked about them with Poirot, he will suggest further examination of the burnt scrap of paper. You need several items:

Jump to the restaurant car and go to the far end. Take the Spirit Lamp from the serving table. You could talk to all the people, but let's not, just yet. While they are all assembled in the restaurant would be a good time to search their rooms. Return to the Calais Coach, and have a look around. I suggest doing the rooms in order as before, to make it easier keeping track.

Cabin 1-2 - Door locked.
Cabin 3-4 - Door locked.
Cabin 5-6 - Check the hatbox on the overhead rack and see the hat frame is not the right kind.
Open and take the small latched box from Schmidt's suitcase. Check the box in inventory using the magnifying glass and see recipe cards. Maybe she's a cook?
Open and take the dainty handkerchief from Debenham's suitcase. Check the handkerchief in inventory and see CMH embroidery.
Cabin 7-8 (Your room) - Check the hatbox below the overhead rack. It's hard to see - down at the same level as the nightstand, on the left wall. Take the wire hat frame.
Cabin 11 - Check the hat box and suitcases on overhead rack. Take the chatty letter from the suitcase and read it in the scrapbook under documents. It is a letter from Maureen to her Mummy dear. Take the button from floor by the connecting door.
Skip Poirot's room and Ratchett's room.
Cabin 12 and 13 (Count and Countess Andrenyi) - Doors locked.
Cabin 14 - Check the hatbox on the bench. Take the wire frame. Check the suitcase at overhead rack. Take the puzzle box.

Cabin 15 - Door locked. Go back to cabin 14 and go through the bathroom. Click on door on the left.

Cabin 16 (Hardman's room) - Check the suitcase and take the leather sap. Open the small case on the bench and take typewriter ribbon.

Time to deal with that burnt paper. Return to Poirot's room. Take the Curling Tongs from the nightstand. Open inventory, and pick up the tongs, and click them on the gears icon. You will see them in the screen where items can be combined. From inventory, take the burnt scrap of paper and click it on the gears. Now, click on the central gears icon and the paper and tongs are united.

Caution! There is a long scene coming, and it reveals the heart of the story. If there is any chance you will be interrupted in the next ten minutes, save your game and resume when you are certain of some time to yourself. No phone, no kids, no spouses should break your concentration. I suggest saving your game here, so you can replay the scene if you want.

Tell Poirot you have everything required to read the paper. He opens a table for you. Place a hat frame on the table. Then place the tongs/paper on the frame. Place the other hat frame. Place the unlit spirit lamp on the table. (Be sure you are ready for the long scene now.) Light it with a match from the matchbox. The paper reads "(re)member little Daisy Armstrong."

Part two: The Evidence

You notice the interior of the train is becoming cold. Michel informs you that one of the steam pipes was damaged during the avalanche. Enter Ratchett's room. Look out the window and observe Hardman inspecting the footprints. Click the shadow icon on him to follow him. You will end up in the Athens-Paris coach.

Look in Room 16. See a broken ham radio. It needs electric power.
Look in Matteo's room (15) Take the Morse Code book from the bed and the Passport from the nightstand.
Look in Room 14. Look under the bed and take the broken snowshoes.
Look in Dr. Constantine's room (13) Take the Passport from the nightstand, look in his suitcase and take the announcement of his upcoming lecture. Look at it; both sides, in inventory. Look at his coat. The size says "Petite." That certainly is not his coat.
Look in Room 12. Find the torn letter on the floor. You can assemble the pieces thus:

Michel's room (11) is locked.
Look in the Engineer's room (10) Take his passport.
Look in Klaus's room (9) His passport is in his suitcase.
Look in Room 7-8. Inspect the flower vase and the handle to the bathroom door. "Quite Interesting."
Enter the bathroom and look in the closet under the sink. Take the pliers.
Look in the Fireman's room (3-4) Take his insulated gloves and the passport.
You can ignore rooms 1-2 and 5-6; there is nothing of interest there.

Walk back to Matteo's end of the car and exit. You are at the very rear of the train. You need to talk with the engineer, who naturally, is in the engine. Walk forward, past the Calais coach, past the Salon Car, past the Restaurant Car and Baggage Car, and up to the Engine. Find the Engineer. He doesn't look too happy. Talk to him.

His dentures don't fit. Antoinette gives him Ratchett's choppers, which fit nicely, thank you very much. Bleaghh!

Take a lump of coal. Ask to borrow the hammer. He needs a replacement. Give him the leather sap you took from Hardman. Now take the hammer. Exit the engine. Look under the Coal Car and see where the steam is escaping. Walk to the Calais coach and enter it through Ratchett's open window.

Go to Michel, the Conductor, and ask him for the keys to the Baggage Car and the Athens-Paris coach.

You need to inspect the Baggage Car. Easiest way to get there is to jump to the Restaurant Car and walk to the front end. Go beyond the kitchen, and into the Baggage Car. Use the key to get in. Look at all the crates. Remember where the one is that is "Quite Interesting."

Find the crate that is labeled "Two Pair." It also has a "Quite Interesting" spot. The lid is secured with four nails. Use the hammer to pull the nails. Look in the crate. You have found the other pair of snowshoes. These are not damaged. Look at them in inventory. See that they are tightly bound with a length of copper wire. Click them on the Gears Icon. Place the snowshoes on the single box. Click the gear to separate the shoes from the wire.

Look at the wire in the magnifying glass. "Copper wire like this mist be conducive for something." Did she mean to say "conductive?"

Exit the crate and continue one step forward in the car. You see a clipboard on the left, and three barrels on the right. Inspect the barrels. One of vinegar, one of olive oil, and one of honey. Read the clipboard. It mentions the three barrels, and a "special security package" loaded in Istanbul. Go to the forward end of the car. Try to enter the secure room. It's locked. Inspect the door handle. Probably a fingerprint there.

Jump to the Calais coach, jump out Ratchett's window again. Walk to the rear of the train (screen left) and then go right, into the forest. You will come to a screen where there is a big, central rock, and three exits - NW, NE and S. You cannot proceed without snowshoes. We will call this the Base Rock.

Take the good pair of snowshoes out of inventory and click them on yourself. Exit to the northeast (upper right.) A wolf blocks your way. Use the gun. No, don't shoot the wolf, just frighten him away. Go East. Look at the tree on the far left. Must be a Maple tree. It has a sap-collecting spout in it. Take the spout. Return to the Base Rock (West-West.)

Now go NW. This node has three exits, W, NW, and East, where you just came from. Go NW. See the deer.
Go W. "So many paths." Go W. Go W again. Another tree on the far left with a spout. Take it. Go E.

Go NE to the fallen-tree node, and go NE again. Use the pistol and scare off the wolf. Follow him to the East, then inspect the snowbank. Look over the edge, and almost fall over, getting the steak knife.

Go NE and find the hut. Try the door. It's padlocked. Look at the window. One of the bars is loose. Use the hammer to take the loose bar. Use the bar to force the padlock. Enter the cabin and take the attendant's uniform lying there. Inspect it with the magnifying glass. Look at both sides. It is a "Petite." You find another passkey.

Walk to the other side of the hut. Take the Stiletto that somebody stuck in the chair

To return from the cabin: Exit the door, then
South, South Southeast,Southwest, (At the fallen-tree) South, Southeast, Southeast. This should get you to the Base Rock. Southwest. Southwest again takes you to the rear of the train. Do not enter the train; rather walk forward to the Coal Tender and insert the stovepipe where the steam is leaking. You will automatically return to the Calais Coach, outside Poirot's room.

Jump to the Restaurant car and go to the serving table at the far end. Take the blank menu cards. Also take the butter knife. Try going into the kitchen. Klaus is in a state because he does not have enough oil and vinegar. Continue into the Baggage car and go to the three barrels. Use your two spouts to tap the barrels. Fill a glass tumbler with oil, and another with vinegar. Return to the kitchen and give them to Klaus.

It's not enough vinegar. He goes to the baggage car, giving you the chance to explore the kitchen. Take the cleaver. Open the refrigerator and take the orange juice. Open the drawer under the fresh bread, and take the turkey baster. Cross the kitchen and take the cake batter.

You still need to collect the rest of the passports, and lift all the fingerprints you can.
If you're ever unsure whether you have someone's passport or not, go to inventory and click on the middle icon, that looks like a book, and select "Suspects." A list of all people will appear, with icons showing which passports you have. It also shows whose prints you have. Just keep in mind that one passenger is using a fake passport, and you will need to find the real one.

(In order to collect fingerprints, you must have found the blank menu cards and the typewriter ribbon for ink. In addition, some people will object to getting their fingers dirty, so you must have the paper napkins also.

Klaus is nearest, you might as well settle with him first. (You already have his passport.) Go find him in the baggage car and talk with him. You will collect his fingerprints. He's not interested in further conversation.

There was nobody in the restaurant, right? Some people are in their rooms, and some are in the Salon. Jump to the Salon Car. The first person you come to is Miss Debenham. Talk to her. Remember to always talk about everything possible with each person.

Talk with Lucien, the waiter. He is tending the bar. After talking with him, also take the ice bucket. He won't mind.

Go to the front part of the car and talk with Antonia Foscarelli. When finished, go to the Calais coach.

Enter Masterman's room (1-2) Talk with him. When you are finished, look at the overhead luggage rack. Inspect both suitcases. Take the book and inspect in inventory.

Enter Hector MacQueen's room (3-4) Talk with him. It's a long conversation; finish it all. On your way out, look in his file and take the Threatening Letters.

Enter Schmidt & Debenham's room (5-6) Talk with Frau Schmidt. She didn't actually hand you her passport during the conversation, remember to take it from the nightstand when you are finished talking.

Enter your own room (7-8) and take the Bible from the nightstand. Talk to Greta. Inspect her suitcase and take the postcard from Coney Island. As you talk with various people, you will begin to notice little inconsistencies in their stories. Keep using those little gray cells!

Go to room 10 and talk to Miss-pain-in-the-butt Hubbard. She balks at every question, but eventually you get the job done. After the conversation, she heads to the bar and you are free to explore the room. I could use a Martini too, after dealing with her! If you have all the equipment needed to lift prints, you can start collecting fingerprints from various objects.

If you have not done so, go to inventory and smash the lump of coal into dust by combining it with the hammer in the gears device. Now fill the turkey baster with coal dust by combining them in the gears device.

Turn around and inspect the doorknob to the connecting room. Use the baster to dust the print, then lift it with the Sellotape. (In the US it's called Scotch Tape. Harry Potter calls it "Spellotape." Cute, huh.)

The Count and Countess are in the Salon. enter her room (12) and look in the suitcase. There is nothing interesting in it, but see that the label conceals the initials H.M.K.

Go see Princess Dragomiroff in room 14. She's not there, but her passport is, along with a copper arthritis bracelet. Take them. Oops she really is there. Must have been in the Loo.

Finally talk to Arbuthnot (15) take Hardman's passport, (16) and talk to Michel about everything.

(I don't know about you, but when I travel, I don't leave my passport lying around.)

Go to the Athens-Paris coach. Assuming you came through here before and collected passports, you can skip to Michel's room, room 11. You catch Hardman going through Pierre's things. Take the key from him. Talk to him.

Go outside and talk to the Fireman and the Engineer. Yes, you have to trek all the way to the front of the train. Stop complaining, it's cold out here, and the sooner you get done the sooner you can go inside where it's warm.

If you have been diligent, you should now have all the passports and all the suspect's prints. It's time to talk to Hercule Poirot. It's slightly faster to enter the train through Ratchett's window, if you don't mind the dead body.

Unfortunately, even though it looks like you have everybody's passport, the Hardman one is a fake. You will need to go to his room (Calais 16) and look under the nightstand. You will find his ID card and a letter from Ratchett, along with the passport. This one lists his occupation as Private Investigator.

Jump to the baggage car and walk to the far end. Use the little key to open the secure room. Before you go in, inspect the door handle. "Interesting." Use the baster and the tape to get a print. Enter the room and look at the large crate to your right. Open it with the iron bar from the hut. Inspect the bed. Take the uniform and look at it in inventory. Look at the books, and dust them for prints. Back away from the interior of the crate, and inspect the latch at the top. Dust it for prints.

Exit the crate and go to the Safe. Know the combination? Inspect the inside of Ratchett's hat if you have not yet done so. It says Rev. 13.18 - sounds like a Bible verse. At first I thought the combination was 13-18 or something like that, but no - you have to look up the quotation and get your clue from that. When I first played this game I had not found Greta's bible at the time, so a quick Google search helped me. However, if you have her bible in your inventory, look at it in the Magnifying glass and turn it over. You will place the appropriate page in your documents. It says the number of the beast is six hundred, threescore and six. (Of course you need to know that one score is twenty) so the combination is 6-6-6. Left-Right-Left. When Antoinette hears it click, that's it. Open the safe, and take the document. It's Ratchett's confession.

In the baggage car itself, look at the snowshoe crate. Click on the label to get a closeup, then dust for prints. Also get a print from the open crate above the cabbages.

You have many more prints to collect, Do them in any order you like, just as long as you get them all.

Calais coach:
Rm. 10 (Ratchett) the window latch
Rm. 11 (Hubbard) the door handle to the connecting room.

Athens coach:
Rm. 7-8, the handle bars on the left and the silver vase on the nightstand.

In inventory:
The thick tumbler, the stiletto, the broken padlock and the broken snowshoes.

The procedure to get prints from inventory items is a bit tedious: Click the baster on the gears to get it to the combination utility
Put it into a square on the left.
Select the desired item from inventory, click it on the gears, and place it in a square on the left.
Click the central gear to "combine" them. The baster returns to inventory, and the item is dusted.
Place the dusted item into a square on the left,
Get the tape from inventory, click it on the gears, place it in a square on the left, and
Click the central gear to "combine" them, getting a print.

Climb out Ratchett's window and look at the footprints. Pour the cake batter into the depression. Use the ice tongs to pick up the frozen batter. Click the casting on the gears, and place it in a square on the left. Take the ice bucket from inventory and click it on the gears. Place it on the left, then click the central gear icon to combine the frozen footprint with ice, preserving it. It would melt if you went into the warm train without putting it on ice.

You need to visit all the occupied rooms, and compare the casting with their shoes. Shoes are found in those quarter-round corner closets in each room.

You must also compare the fingerprints you have lifted from all objects with the prints you took from all the suspects. You discover the following matches:

Books from Ratchett's crate - matches no one in the file.
Rachette's crate (latch) - matches MacQueen.
Security room handle - matches Michel.
Small (snowshoes) crate - matches Foscarelli.
Empty crate - matches Foscarelli.
Window sill of Ratchett's cabin - matches Foscarelli.
Doorknob of Hubbard's connecting door - matches Greta.
Handle bar in Cabin 7-8 in Athens-Paris coach - matches Arbuthnot.
Flower vase - matches Debenham.
Broken padlock from hut - matches Matteo.
Thick tumbler - matches Masterman.
Stiletto - matches no one in the file.
Broken snowshoes - matches Arbuthnot.

I found a bug! While in Princess Dragomiroff's room, she is not there, but she will talk to you if you click on the bed.

You need to talk to everybody again. This time, you will put together some inconsistencies in their stories; and learn that everybody's story seems linked to the others. If people won't talk to you, and you feel stuck, there is something that you have omitted. Be sure you have collected all the possible prints; thirteen in all, and that you have tested all of them. When you are ready to proceed, you will have seen a brief cutscene of the plow train arriving.

Start by searching for Michel. Perhaps he is in the room with the ham radio. Jump to the Athens-Paris coach and look in room 16. Look out the window, and a man is briefly seen. Go outside to see who it was, and Antoinette will be kidnapped, and locked in the hut. Observe that the broken padlock from your own inventory was used to lock the door. Check your inventory. All your possessions are gone! Look around the hut. Find Princess Dragomiroff's parasol under the cot. Look out the window. The lock is out of your reach, but with the aid of the parasol, you should be able to dislodge the lock and escape.

Outside, the weather appears to be worsening. I'm not sure if you need to pick up the broken lock again, but it's evidence after all. I recommend taking it. Look in the box, and voila - you have all your things back. All except the little key to the secure room, that is. Put the snowshoes on and get back into that nice warm train.

It's cocktail hour. Jump to the Salon car and talk with everyone who will give you the time.

MacQueen and Arbuthnot are sitting together - an odd combination if you ask me. Talk to both of them. Aha - Debenham had lied; she had been to America and she was the Armstrong's Governess.
Foscarelli is playing Solitaire. Talk to him. Come clean, he was their chauffeur.
Go further into the car. Take the Punchbowl from the bar, if you have not already done so.
Talk to Hubbard. She's not much help.
Talk to Hardman. He's not much help either. Creep.
Debenham won't talk just now.

Go to the restaurant. Talk to the Count. He doesn't say much. Talk to the Countess. Aha! She's not being very truthful, is she? She turns out to be Daisy's auntie. The nurse was Neudotter.

Talk to Dr. Constantine. He's insulted at being questioned. Go further into the car.

Talk to the Princess. The handkerchief is hers. The "H" is not an H at all, it's the letter N represented in the Cyrillic alphabet. She says "H" is written as "N". (She really should say " 'N' is written as 'H' ")
Talk to Frau Schmidt. Fifteen years would give her an alibi, ten would not.

Enter the kitchen and talk to Grumpy Klaus. Gadzooks - who on earth would steal his cake batter, imagine!

That's about it for the people for now. You have not been in your own room for quite a while. Let's see if everything is in order. Go to Calais 7-8. Check your own luggage and discover that someone has planted the red kimono in your room. Of all the nerve!

Report to M Poirot. Talk about everything. Before you exit his room, look in his luggage and read the letter from Barnaby. When it is time to continue, go to Athens-Paris 16, where the ham radio is. Don't worry, you won't be kidnapped again. If you look close at the radio, she says there's no power. Go to inventory and find the butter knife. You are going to create a telegraph key. Put the butter knife into the gears utility and also put the pliers there. Combine them to bend the knife. Now combine the bent knife and the large nails and the hammer to build the key. In inventory, combine the copper wire with the pliers to get a cut piece of wire. Place the key on the table, in front of the radio. Use the cut copper wire to attach the key to the radio.

Next, place that gorgeous glass punchbowl on the table next to the radio. Pour the orange juice into the bowl. (It's a source of acid.) Place the small statuette in the juice.

In inventory, use the copper bracelet and the pliers in the gears utility to bend the bracelet. Place the bent bracelet in the juice. (Different metals in acid can generate an electric current - sort of a battery.) You don't need to attach the wires - they seem to know how to do that themselves. Turn on the radio. Click on the key. It's easy to talk to Barbaby because you have read the book. Quick study, huh!

Ask him all the questions. He'll research everything. Whew! He must have nothing else to do. Turn off the radio, back away from the radio and return. Voila - he's done all his homework. Talk about every subject. One more thing - ask him to research Armstrong. Leave and return as before. Now you are done with the radio.

Talk to four more people. Debenham will talk now. She admits being governess.
Constantine feels qualified as a people-doctor, but is really a veterinarian.
Countess tells more about her sister.
Greta Admits being the nurse.

Before you report to Hercule Poirot, be sure you have time to watch the entire ending. It will take about three-quarters of an hour, requiring only your input as to which evidence is germane to which question. Poirot will offer not two but three believable solutions to the mystery, the first of which will satisfy the local authorities, the second of which will explain the passengers' plan, and the third of which will surprise everyone.

Talk to Poirot about everything, and the denouement will begin. Answer his questions. You know most of the answers, and if you give a wrong answer, keep going until you find the right one. It's not hard. It only matters if you are counting points.

Finally, talk about the three endings. I prefer to select them in the order three, two, one for a better flow to the story. In the unlikely event you finished this game and didn't shed a tear, you have a heart of stone indeed.

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