An Answer To Their Prayers Trivia Quiz

Answer: Killing a young kidnapped girl

"Murder on the Orient Express" is a very strange case for Hercule Poirot. He travels on the famous train from Istanbul to Paris, when a fellow passenger called Samuel Ratchett is murdered. He is stabbed multiple times. The wounds are very different to each other, some of them inflicted with great force, others apparently by a weaker person.

Some wounds are delivered by a left handed person, others by a right handed one. As the train is stranded in the snow, it seems unlikely a stranger could have come in, leaving all the passengers in the coach suspected of the crime. Poirot soon is able to deduce that the real name of the victim is Cassetti.

He is responsible for the kidnapping of young Daisy Armstrong, only three years old at the time of the kidnapping.

A ransom was paid, but Daisy was already killed by Cassetti. The family was devastated and soon more tragedy followed as the mother of Daisy lost her child in labour and died herself too. Her husband and a nursemaid both committed suicide. Cassetti was caught, but managed to escape prosecution. Twelve people of the Armstrong household worked on a plan to avenge the death of little Daisy. All of them stabbed Ratchett, explaining the different wounds.

Hercule Poirot deduces what happens, but finally accepts the theory of a stranger boarding the train in Vinkovci and escaping unnoticed, to spare the family further suffering.

Answer: Vicarage

"Murder at the Vicarage" is the first full length novel that Miss Marple appeared in. She is one of the four town gossips portrayed in that novel, living in the village of St. Mary Mead. Out of the four Miss Marple does not just indulge in idle gossip, but often draws parallels to similar cases in the village.

In this particular case Colonel Lucius Protheroe is murdered, a very prominent member of the local community. He serves as churchwarden and local magistrate among others. He is known as being very outspoken and treats his wife and daughter poorly.

As one day Lucius is found dead in the vicar's study, many people in the village are suspected, most of all his wife Anne and her new lover, painter Lawrence Redding. Anne and Lawrence both confess to the crime, but it appears they both fear that the other is to blame.

The case therefore seems wide open again. Miss Marple eventually manages to deduce that Lawrence and Anne have indeed worked together to kill Lucius Protheroe.

Answer: Crooked House

In "Crooked House" the story is narrated by Charles Hayward. He falls in love with Sophia Leonides. Suddenly her grandfather Aristide Leonides dies under suspicious circumstances. He is poisoned by his own medicine. Sophia does not want to marry Charles, until the guilty person has been found. Naturally suspicion falls on all members of her family, although all of them hope that Brenda, the new young wife of Aristide, is responsible for the murder. Charles, whose father is head of Scotland Yard, starts an investigation of his own.

When the nanny Janet Rowe is also killed and an attempt is made to kill Josephine Leonides, the 12-year old grandchild of Aristide, things soon get complicated. Charles has grown very fond of Josephine, a very smart child who loves to play detective and brags she knows the identity of the murderer.

When Josephine and her aunt Edith are found to be missing, things take a turn for the worse. It turns out Edith, the sister of Aristides' first wife, has deliberately killed both herself and Josephine by driving her car over a cliff.

In a letter she reveals her motive to Charles. It was Josephine who killed her grandfather, as he did not want to pay for her ballet lessons. Edith was very ill and soon to die. After discovering Josephine's diary, she sought to spare the family further suffering and stop the horrible crimes of the young Josephine.

Answer: Vansittart was to be the next headmistress

The setting for "Cat Among the Pigeons" is the exclusive Meadowbank School for Girls for the most part. The story starts in the Middle East country of Ramat however. A revolution is about to break out and Prince Ali Yusuf tries to flee the county aided by his pilot Bob Rawlinson. He manages to hide precious jewels in the suitcase of his sister Joan Sutcliffe and her daughter Jennifer, concealing them in a tennis racket. This is how they end up at the Meadowbank School for Girls, where Jennifer is a student. One night the game mistress at the school is found murdered at the new sports pavillion. Hercule Poirot is asked to investigate the mystery by Julia Upjohn, after an incident where a mysterious woman comes to exchange Jennifer's tennis racket for a new one (not knowing that Julia and Jennifer had traded tennis rackets before). Julia, whose mother used to work in British Intelligence, figures out that there is something wrong as Jennifer's racket had only recently been restrung.

Eventually two more murders occur and Hercule Poirot eventually solves the case, with the help of Mrs. Upjohn (who recognizes a dangerous secret agent among the staff of the school in secretary Ann Shapland). The second murder turns out to be unrelated to the other two murders. Mrs. Chadwick, one of the longest serving teachers and co-founder of the school, caught Mrs. Vansittart at the sports pavillion one night investigating the locker of Princess Shaista, who also comes from Ramat and is a relative of Prince Ali Yusuf. Having brought a sandbag to defend herself, she sees a chance to remove Mrs. Vansittart, who is seen by many as the successor of current headmistress and co-founder of the school, Honiara Bulstrode. At the end of the book secret agent Ann Shapland tries to shoot Mrs. Upjohn. Mrs. Bulstrode steps in, but Mrs. Chadwick shields her in turn and is wounded. While dying she reveals the truth about the murder of Mrs. Vansittart.

Answer: Jane Wilkinson

Hercule Poirot first meets actress Jane Wilkinson at a restaurant. She asks him to persuade her husband Lord Edgware to grant her a divorce. When Poirot visits Lord Edgware, he says he already agreed to a divorce. Shortly after he is found dead. Apparently his wife Jane Wilkinson walked into the study (and was recognised by the butler among others) and stabbed her husband.

When it is revealed that Jane Wilkinson was a guest at a dinner party elsewhere and never left there, as observed by many other guests, things turn complicated.

When actress Carlotta Adams dies later, apparently by an overdose of Veronal, it appears that Adams impersonated Wilkinson and might be responsible for the murder. It turns out later however that Adams did impersonate Wilkinson, but at the dinner party.

At that party Jane Wilkinson talked with fellow guest Donald Ross about Greek mythology. Jane Wilkinson was however known to be a bit of an airhead. She managed to persuade Carlotta Adams to impersonate her at the dinner party, telling her it was part of a joke.

She then killed Carlotta, making it seem as if Carlotta had killed herself with Veronal, overcome by guilt for murdering Lord Edgware. In this way Jane would have an alibi for the murder of her husband, which she did in reality commit. Although her husband had granted her a divorce, her new lover The Duke of Merton did not approve of marriage with a divorced woman.

Answer: A fortune that will be inherited

In "A Pocketful of Rye" ruthless businessman Rex Fortescue dies one morning at his office, while drinking a cup of tea. In his pocket some rye is found. When his young new wife Adele and the maid Gladys also die, elderly sleuth Miss Marple becomes involved.

She had trained the maid Gladys and is horrified by the cruel way she is murdered (her body is found hanging on a clothes line with a clothes peg on her nose). Miss Marple soon deduces the murderer is following a nursery rhyme called "Sing A Song of Sixpence".

She also finds out that Rex Fortescue once cheated his business partner MacKenzie, who was supposedly killed by Rex at a mine in Eastern Africa, called the Blackbird Mine. His children are still alive and their whereabouts are unknown.

It eventually turns out that Jennifer, the wife of Percival Fortescue (one of the sons of Rex), is actually one of the MacKenzie children. This turns out to be a false clue, as eventually Miss Marple finds out the younger son Lance Fortescue is responsible for the murders.

He found out that the Blackbird Mine was indeed valuable and made sure he was in line to inherit it. He charmed the maid Gladys under an assumed name to get her to add "truth serum" to the marmalade of Rex Fortescue. After that he killed his stepmother and Gladys.

Answer: Superintendent Battle

When Luke Fitzwilliam returns to England from his post as a policeman in the East in "Murder is Easy", he travels by train and begins to speak to the old lady seated opposite to him, Lavinia Pinkerton. To his surprise she tells him there is a killing spree going on in the village of Wychwood.

She is on her way to tell Scotland Yard about it. She describes the murderer to Luke, as having a special kind of look while looking at the next intended victim. Many deaths have occurred in the village, all looking like possible accidents. Miss Pinkerton believes otherwise.

When Luke later finds out that Lavinia Pinkerton was run over by a car on her way to Scotland Yard and that one of the possible next victims has also died, he travels to Wychwood, first posing as the author of a book on witchcraft.

He stays with Bridget Conway, a niece of a friend of his. She is engaged to the rich and rather pompous Lord Easterfield. Eventually Luke falls in love with Bridget and tries to keep her out of trouble.

He thinks he is looking for a male murderer and eventually comes to suspect Lord Easterfield, who boasts that all victims have died after having insulted or quarrelled with him. He is found to be horribly wrong when the real murderer Honoria Waynflete tries to kill Bridget. He manages to stop her in time and learns that Honoria was still angry that Lord Easterfield (who comes from a humble background) took over her family home and broke off their engagement. She tried to frame Lord Easterfield for the murders. At the end of the novel Superintendent Battle is asked by Luke to come help with the investigation and he arrests Honoria Waynflete.

Answer: She was responsbible for Marina Gregg contracting German measles while pregnant

In "The Mirror Crack'd From Side to Side" Agatha Christie returns to the village of St. Mary Mead, where her elderly sleuth Miss Marple lives. Her friend, Dolly Bantry, has sold her estate Gossington Hall after the death of her husband, and now lives in a small lodge on the property.

The estate is bought by film star Marina Gregg and her current husband Jason Rudd. They renovate extensively and soon give a party for the benefit of local charity St. John's Ambulance. Many of the villagers are invited into the house to look around. Suddenly one of those guests, Heather Badcock, dies after drinking a poisoned cocktail. Badcock was known for being somewhat obnoxious, yet very helpful in various charities around the village.

There seems to be no motive for killing her. Miss Marple investigates the murder, but can't prevent two further deaths.

She eventually finds out that Marina Gregg had always wanted to have children of her own. When she finally succeeded in getting pregnant, she was unfortunate enough to contract German Measles, leaving the child severely handicapped.

She never understood how it happened. During the garden party she learns from Heather Badcock that she once met her, asking for an autograph of the famous film star. At the time Heather had German measles. Realising that Heather was responsible for her misfortune, Marina poisoned her cocktail. At the end of the book Marina Gregg dies, although it is left open whether she has committed suicide or was given an overdose by her loving husband, who realised what his wife had done.

Answer: Sir Henry Clithering

In "Death by Drowning" retired police commissoner Sir Henry Clithering is staying at Gossington Hall, the house of his friends, Dolly and Arthur Bantry. One morning he receives a visit from Miss Marple, another old friend. She tells him about the murder of young Rose Emmott, who drowned in the river, after being pushed off the footbridge nearby.

She was apparently pregnant by architect Rex Sandford, who has a fiancée in London though. When a note is found urging Rose to meet him at the place where she died, it seems that the case is very clear. Miss Marple however tells Sir Henry that she realises who the real killer is, due to the special knowledge that she has about village life.

She urges him to help the local police find the real killer and writes down the name of the person that she thinks has murdered Rose Emmott. Sir Henry can't resist helping his old friend, although he does so somewhat reluctantly.

He eventually is able to find out that Rose is killed by Mrs. Bartlett. Her lodger is Joe Ellis. Joe was hopelessly in love with Rose and had even offered to marry her and raise her child. Mrs. Bartlett is in love with Joe herself and killed Rose. Naturally it turns out that Miss Marple was right and had written down the right name.

Answer: Looking at bridge scores

In "Cards of the Table" Hercule Poirot meets Mr. Shaitana, a rather eccentric man, at an exhibition. He promises Poirot to hold a dinner party, showing him his own collection, in this case a collection of people that got away with murder. At the party three other sleuths are invited: Superintendent Battle, Colonel Race and author Ariadne Oliver.

A game of bridge is started with the sleuths in one room and the other four guests (the supposed murderers) in the other room. At the end of the evening, it is discovered that their host Mr. Shaitana was stabbed. Only one of the four suspected murderers had the chance to kill him.

In this novel Hercule Poirot makes great use of psychology. He is most interested in the bridge scores from that evening. By looking at the bidding patterns, he is able to deduce, who had the perfect opportunity to kill Mr. Shaitana.

He eventually brings the killer, Dr. Roberts, to justice. One of the other suspects Major Despard is exonerated from the crime he was initially suspected of by Mr. Shaitana and marries Rhoda, a friend of the young Anne Meredith (another of the suspects).

The dishonest Anne tries to murder Rhoda at the end of the book, by pushing her into the water. Anne however dies herself in the process.