The director of the Compagnie Wagon Lits, M. Bouc provides comic relief in the story. He previously served on the Belgian police force with Poirot. M. Bouc, while traveling on the Orient Express, is the one who ask Poirot to solve the case. He is continually frustrated by the case and very often confused by Poirot. Mrs. Hubbard is a famous actress and is the grandmother to Daisy Armstrong, who is also on the train. Mrs. Hubbard is a comedic representation of the “American woman.” She is also the only woman on the train to admit that she is American. She is a loud person who needs to constantly be the center of attention and continually speaks about how she believes in the American way of life. When she first meets Poirot she is speaking about America, praising the methods used there and claiming that other nations can’t get the hang of the American way of life because they are lazy.