<strong>Agatha</strong> Christie’s <strong>Poirot</strong> <strong>Episode</strong> <strong>Guide</strong> Ruth’s compartment around the time the murder would have taken place. Derek is then arrested. Everyone is convinced the case is solved, but <strong>Poirot</strong> is not sure. He does more investigating and learns more information, talking to his friends and to Katherine, eventually coming to the truth. He asks Van Aldin and Knighton to come with him on the Blue Train to recreate the murder. He tells them that Ada Mason is really Kitty Kidd, a renowned male impersonator and actress. Katherine saw what she thought was a boy getting off the train, but it was really Mason. <strong>Poirot</strong> realized that Mason was the only person who saw anyone with Ruth in the compartment, so this could have been a lie. He reveals that the murderer and Mason’s accomplice is Knighton, who is really The Marquis. He also says that the cigarette case with the K on it does not stand for Kettering, but Knighton. Since Knighton was supposedly in Paris, no one would have suspected him. Derek did go into the compartment to talk to Ruth once he saw she was on the train, but he left when he saw she was asleep. The police then arrest Knighton, and Van Aldin thanks <strong>Poirot</strong> for solving the case. 146
<strong>Agatha</strong> Christie’s <strong>Poirot</strong> <strong>Episode</strong> <strong>Guide</strong> Cards on the Table Season 10 <strong>Episode</strong> Number: 60 Season <strong>Episode</strong>: 2 Originally aired: Sunday March 19, 2006 Writer: <strong>Agatha</strong> Christie, Nick Dear Director: Sarah Harding Show Stars: David Suchet (Hercule <strong>Poirot</strong>) Recurring Role: Zoë Wanamaker (Ariadne Oliver) Guest Stars: Honeysuckle Weeks (Rhoda Dawes), Tristan Gemmill (Despard), Lesley Manville (Mrs Lorrimer), Robert Pugh (Colonel Hughes), Lucy Liemann (Miss Burgess), Jenny Ogilvie (Millie), Douglas Reith (Serge Maurice), David Westhead (Superintendent Wheeler), James Alper (Shaitana’s Butler), Philip Wright (Sergeant O’Connor), Lyndsey Marshal (Anne Meredith), Alex Jennings (Dr Roberts), Philip Bowen (Luxmore), Alexander Siddig (Shaitana), Cordelia Bugeja (Mrs Luxmore) Summary: The tycoon Shaitana, one of the richest men in England, invites <strong>Poirot</strong> to dinner and an evening of bridge, promising that his fellow-guests will include four killers who have escaped justice. <strong>Poirot</strong> accepts, and finds three others there who have an interest in detection - Superintendent Wheeler, Colonel Hughes of Military Intelligence and the crime writer Ariadne Oliver. But things take a deadly turn when Shaitana is stabbed to death. At an exhibition of snuff boxes, Hercule <strong>Poirot</strong> meets Mr. Shaitana, a mysterious foreign man who is consistently described as devil-like in appearance and manner. Shaitana jokes about <strong>Poirot</strong>’s visit to the snuff box exhibition, and claims that he has a better ”collection” that <strong>Poirot</strong> would enjoy: individuals who have got away with murder. He arranges a dinner party to show off this collection; <strong>Poirot</strong> is apprehensive. Upon arrival at Shaitana’s house on the appointed day, <strong>Poirot</strong> is joined by three other guests: mystery novelist Ariadne Oliver, Scotland Yard’s Superintendent Battle, and Colonel Race of His Majesty’s Secret Service. Soon, the other four guests join them: Dr. Roberts, a hearty, florid man; Mrs. Lorrimer, a perfectly poised gentlewoman of late middle age; Major John Despard, a dashing Army man and world traveller, recently returned from Africa; and Anne Meredith, a shy, quiet, very pretty young woman. Having brought them all to dinner, Shaitana skilfully manipulates the topic of conversation to possible motives for murder. Shaitana invites his eight guests to play bridge in the adjoining rooms; he, as the odd man out, does not play. Roberts, Meredith, Lorrimer, and Despard play in the first room, while <strong>Poirot</strong>, Oliver, Race, and Battle play in the next; Shaitana settles himself in a chair in the first room and thinks of how wonderfully his party is going. Hours later, <strong>Poirot</strong> and the others prepare to leave, and go to thank Shaitana. Shaitana has been murdered, stabbed in the chest with a jeweled stiletto. 147