"Hickory Dickory Dock" Trivia Quiz

Answer: A popular nursery rhyme

"Hickory Dickory Dock" is a popular nursery rhyme. The hostel in the story is located on Hickory Road.

Answer: Penknife

The rucksack belonged to Len Bateson while the evening shoe was Sally's. Various other things like electric light bulbs, a costume brooch, a pair of earrings, a powder compact and a stethoscope had also been stolen. While Celia admitted to having taken some of them, she denied having stolen others like the electric bulbs, stethoscope and the rucksack. Those had been taken by Nigel.

Answer: She wanted to attract Colin's attention.

Celia was in love with Colin but he didn't seem to notice her. This was her way of attracting his attention. Poirot realized that Celia was too simple minded to think of this on her own. Later it is shown that Valerie had suggested this to Celia in order to cover up the other things that Nigel had stolen.

Answer: Morphine tartrate

Initially, the police thought Celia had committed suicide. Hence it was assumed that she had obtained the poison from the dispensary at St. Catherine's Hospital where she had worked.

Answer: Empty brandy bottles

Mrs. Nicoletis was dead against the police checking her cupboard but since they had a search warrant, she couldn't stop them. Mrs. Nicoletis was an alcoholic and this was the reason behind her frequent mood swings.

Answer: Zircon

Valerie needed money to pay off her gambling debts. She was used to dealing with precious stones because of her smuggling activities. When Celia stole Patricia's ring, Valerie claimed it was a mistake to steal something so expensive and had taken it from her on the pretext of returning it without drawing suspicion to Celia.

She then replaced the diamond with a zircon and pretended to find the ring in her bowl of soup.

Answer: She was her daughter.

Nobody knew about their relationship. Poirot guessed it, though, and realized that this was the reason she wanted Nigel to be punished for his crimes.

Answer: 4

Nigel Chapman had killed his mother a few years ago because she had threatened to inform the police about a cheque that he had forged. During the course of the book, he murders Celia Austin, Mrs. Nicoletis and Patricia Lane to avoid getting caught for his smuggling activities.

Answer: She was hit on the head.

She had been hit on the head with a marble paperweight slipped into a woollen sock. The police assumed the murder to have been committed after 6:15 p.m. because of the phone call Nigel had received from her at the police station. Afterwards, Poirot shows that the call had been made by Valerie in order to mislead the police regarding the time of the murder. Nigel had in fact killed Patricia before he left for the police station.

He was afraid that she would write to his father trying to bring about a reconciliation between them.

Answer: Nigel Chapman

Nigel poisoned Celia because she had seen him cutting up the rucksack and was urging him to confess about the things that he had stolen. Mrs. Nicoletis knew about his smuggling activities and he was afraid she would blurt it out under the influence of alcohol.