13 La cina

Poirot looks into Lord Edgware’s death. Someone stabbed him in his library. Jane, his wife, had split from him. She had spoken of plans to get rid of him. Poirot heard her say this himself. Yet she was dining with friends at the time of the murder. Edgware had also agreed to a divorce. This leaves her motive unclear.

Agatha Christie’s crime novel turns on a puzzling alibi. Poirot doubts what he hears. Readers face a mystery about timing and motive. They must weigh the risk that someone may mislead them.