Included in the array of suspects are Katherine, Ruth's unemotional husband Derek, Katherine's rumored lover Armand the Comte de la Roche, jewelry dealer Monsieur Papopolous, Ruth's maid Ada Mason, and several others. The next morning, Ruth is found dead and her valuable ruby, the 'Heart of Fire,' is missing.įamed detective Hercule Poirot is on the case and begins to piece together the clues as to Ruth's murder. On the train, Katherine has a brief exchange with Ruth Ketterling, a wealthy English woman who expresses great unhappiness in her marriage. Formerly employed as a ladies' companion in England, Katherine receives an inheritance upon her employer's death and decides to spend some time enjoying the European travels about which she has only ever heard but never experienced. Katherine Grey is on her first trip abroad. 'Trust the train, Mademoiselle,' murmured Poirot again. Trust the train, Mademoiselle, for it is le bon Dieu who drives it.' The whistle of the engine came again. You are young, younger than you yourself know. ''Journey's end in lovers meeting.'' Lenox laughed. 'Because the train gets to its journey's end at last, and there is a proverb about that in your language, Mademoiselle.' I am talking nonsense, but you know what I mean.' 'Trains are relentless things, aren't they, Monsieur Poirot? People are murdered and die, but they go on just the same.

Murder on the blue train