Student Question
In Christie's The A. B. C. Murders, who committed the first murder, who was killed, when, where, and why?
Quick answer:
In The A. B. C. Murders, the first person killed is Alice Ascher, who is murdered by Franklin Clarke because her initials are AA and her shop is often empty, meaning the murderer is unlikely to be detected. She is killed by a blow to the back of the head between five and six o'clock in the evening. Initially, the only significant clue is an A. B. C. railway guide left in her store.
The first person murdered is an older woman, nearly sixty, named Alice Ascher. She is killed between five and six o'clock in the evening in the small tobacco and newspaper shop she owns by a blow to the back of her head. The police surgeon, Dr. Kerr, says that it is impossible to determine a murder weapon:
Impossible to say what it may have been. A weighted stick, a club, a form of sandbag—any of those would fit the case.
The police at first believe the murderer to be her husband, from whom she was separated, who is an alcoholic with a violent temper known to have threatened to kill Alice.
A significant clue about the murder is that an A. B. C. railway guide is left in the shop, linking the killing to the A. B. C. murder letter Poirot received. Poirot also learns that either a man or...
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a woman could have struck the blow.
In addition to the police surgeon, Poirot interviews Alice Ascher's niece, a parlor maid named Mary Drawer. She tells him that she was surprised that Mr. Ascher is said to have murdered her aunt, because she always thought his threats were harmless, and says her aunt had no fear of him.
Poirot and Hastings visit the tobacco shop and Mrs. Ascher's rooms behind and above it but find no significant clues, and they do not find any at the greengrocer's across the street or upon interviewing the last two men who entered her shop. The only significant clue is that A. B. C. guide. It is odd that it has no fingerprints and seems to have been deliberately left behind.
The murderer is Mr. Franklin Clarke. He murders Alice Ascher because she was often alone in the shop and her initials—A. A.—fit with his plan to pretend he was a serial killer murdering random people based on their names. He kills her simply to cover up his motive for killing his brother, Carmichael Clarke, which is to get his money.
In The A.B.C. Murders, who committed the third murder, who was the victim, and what were the key clues?
Agatha Christie's The A.B.C. Murders is the tale of a serial killer who murders victims alphabetically by name and place of residence. Against this killer is Hercule Poirot, Christie's most famous detective, who uses logic and character insight to solve crimes.
The third murder in this story, that of Sir Carmichael Clarke, occurs at his home in the village of Churston. The killer's letter alerting Poirot to the planned murder was intentionally misdirected and delayed for three days to prevent Poirot from stopping the murder. The wealthy Clarke was killed by a heavy blow to the head as he took his habitual evening walk.
By this point in the novel, Poirot has gathered a team of earlier victims's relatives to help him with the investigation. When he interviews Clarke's brother and his secretary, the latter is eager to help Poirot. In those family relationships lies the key not only to Clarke's murder but to the entire ABC murder spree: with Clarke's wife dying of cancer, he would probably soon remarry to his secretary and leave her his wealth rather than leaving his fortune to his brother. Clarke's brother planned the series of alphabetical murders not only to hide the fact that his brother was the true targeted victim, but also to place blame on an innocent but unstable salesman who worked as his pawn.
Poirot's questioning cleverly uncovers motives and clues over the course of the investigation. Now that you know whodunit, can you spot how Poirot solves the murders?