THE HONORABLE LENOX TAMPLIN, who does not resemble her mother
M. HERCULE POIROT, the semiretired Belgian detective who is semimodest about admitting that he is always right
ADA MASON, lady's maid to Ruth Kettering, and English to the tip of her red nose
COMTE ARMAND DE LA ROCHE, a plausible scoundrel with a fatal fascination for women
The Mystery of the Blue Train
1. The Man with the White Hair
It was close on midnight when a man crossed the Place de la Concorde. In spite of the handsome fur coat which garbed his meagre form, there was something essentially weak and paltry about him.
A little man with a face like a rat. A man, one would say, who could never play a conspicuous part, or rise to prominence in any sphere. And yet, in leaping to such a conclusion, an onlooker would have been wrong. For this man, negligible and inconspicuous as he seemed, played a prominent part in the destiny of the world. In an Empire where rats ruled, he was the king of the rats.