A million dollars in Liberty Bonds. A sealed cabin on a luxury ocean liner. And a crime so perfectly timed it was over before the ship left port. Poirot and Hastings are on the case — but Poirot won't be boarding the Olympia. He'll solve this one from his armchair with a single question about a timetable. One of Christie's sharpest early puzzles and a masterclass in misdirection.
| Author | Agatha Christie |
|---|---|
| First Published | 1923, The Sketch magazine |
| Collection | Poirot Investigates (1924) |
| Setting | London & the SS Olympia, transatlantic |
| TV Adaptation | Agatha Christie's Poirot, ITV (1991) — David Suchet |
| Read Time | ~25 minutes |
Dame Agatha Christie (1890–1976) is the best-selling fiction writer of all time, outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare. She introduced Hercule Poirot in 1920 and by 1923 was already in complete command of the puzzle mystery. Her 66 novels, 14 short story collections, and The Mousetrap — the longest-running stage play in history — remain the gold standard of detective fiction.
Poirot and Hastings are discussing newspaper reports of bond thefts when Miss Esmé Farquhar arrives to hire Poirot. Her fiancé Philip Ridgeway was transporting a million dollars in Liberty Bonds on the SS Olympia — locked in a cabin safe, key never leaving his pocket — when they vanished. Scotland Yard is baffled and Ridgeway's own uncle suspects him of negligence. Poirot asks one precise question about the ship's sailing schedule, and needs nothing else. The truth: the theft never happened on board at all. It was engineered before departure by the one person who controlled both the bonds and the paperwork. The locked cabin was a decoy. The ocean liner was a stage set. Christie placed every clue in plain sight — and still wins.
Did you spot the timetable clue before Poirot revealed it?
Poirot solves this without leaving his chair — satisfying or too easy?
The real crime happens before the story even begins. How does Christie make that work?
Project Gutenberg / Standard Ebooks — Poirot Investigates (US public domain)
BritBox — Agatha Christie's Poirot, Season 3 (1991)
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