Poirot receives letters announcing murders in towns whose names follow the alphabet. An ABC railway guide is left beside each victim, and a travelling stocking salesman appears repeatedly near the crime scenes, giving the police an apparently coherent suspect.
The widening geographical pattern creates public fear and forces Poirot to work beyond a single household. He studies the differences among the victims and the psychology of a killer who seems to seek national attention, testing whether the visible sequence is the true purpose of the crimes or a structure designed to hide a more personal motive.
The alphabetical pattern creates the appearance of a murderer governed by abstract system rather than personal motive. Poirot’s task is to test whether that pattern explains the crimes or merely directs attention away from ordinary relationships. Railway timetables, printed guides and press coverage give the killer modern tools for creating distance between victims and constructing a public narrative around the case.
Jacqueline Winspear
20 books
Rhys Bowen
53 books