Hercule Poirot is a the main character, he is a private detective and former police officer. He gets on the Taurus express to stamboul. On the train there are two other people Mary Debenham and Colonel Arthbuthnot. They act like they don't know eachother, but he believes that they do. The train stops in Stamboul and Poirot stays at the Tokatlian hotel and runs into M. Bouc. Poirot gets a telgram saying to come back to London. So he gets a ticket on the Orient Express. While on the train, he sees Ratchett. Who asks him to work for him, Ratchett tells him how he has been getting threat letters. But Poirot denies the job. Early morning on the first night Poirot is woken by a cry from Ratchett's cabin. It turns out that the train is stuck in a snow bank. They find Ratchett dead in his room, stabbed 12 times. Few evidence is found just a hankerchief with the intial "H" on it, his window opened, pipe cleaner, a match, and a burned piece of paper with "Armstrong" written on it. A few years back, a little girl, Daisy Armstrong, was kidnapped by someone named Cassetti. Poirot figrues out that Cassetti is Rachett. M.Bouc and Poirot interview everyone but start with Wagon Conductor, then Hector Mcqueen. Hector knows about the note so he is apart pf the case. After the interviews, alibis are good but there is some suspicios parts. They told him about a woman in a red kimono during the night of the murder. Poirot checks everyones luggage and finds the red kimono in his own luggage. He sits down with M.Bouc amd Dr.Constatine and reviews the evidence. While doing that he finds the true identity of Countess Antrenyi who is Helena Goldenburg, the aunt of Daisy Armstrong. He also finds the indenties of Mary Debenham was Daisy's governess, Antonio Foscanelli was the Armstrong's chaffer, Masterman the valet, and Greta Ohlsson was Daisy Armstrong's nurse. Princess Dragomiroff gets her handkerchief from Poirot, the one found in Ratchett's room. Poirot gets all of the passengers in one room, and tells him his theories. His first is that, someone got on the train at Vincovci and killed Ratchett. His other one was, that 12 of the 13 of the people on board, all close to the armstrong family, killed him for what he did to Daisy. They admit that the second theory is right. M.Bouc will tell the police that the first one is correct for the sake of the family.