Murder on the Orient Express

by

Agatha Christie

M. Bouc, who is a friend of Poirot’s, is a high-ranking employee of the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits, the company that operates the Orient Express. As the murder of Mr. Ratchett is a considerable liability for the company, Bouc asks Poirot to solve the case. Whatever his talents as a train executive, Bouc is comically unsuited for detective work, as he seizes prematurely on bits of convenient evidence and proceeds according to personal prejudices, including his admitted dislike of Italians. Bouc provides a good foil for the careful, open-minded Poirot so that the latter can explain his thought process about the case to the reader by way of correcting Bouc’s misconceptions.

M. Bouc Quotes in Murder on the Orient Express

The Murder on the Orient Express quotes below are all either spoken by M. Bouc or refer to M. Bouc. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Justice Theme Icon
).
Part 1 Chapter 3 Quotes

“And yet—it lends itself to romance, my friend. All around us are people, of all classes, of all nationalities, of all ages. For three days these people, these strangers to one another, are brought together.”

Related Characters: M. Bouc (speaker), Hercule Poirot
Page Number: 25
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 1 Chapter 8 Quotes

“I will come to the moment when, after the parents had paid over the enormous sum of two hundred thousand dollars, the child's dead body was discovered; it had been dead for at least a fortnight. Public indignation rose to fever point. And there was worse to follow. Mrs. Armstrong was expecting another baby. Following the shock of the discovery, she gave birth prematurely to a dead child, and herself died. Her broken-hearted husband shot himself.”

Related Characters: Hercule Poirot (speaker), M. Bouc, Mr. Ratchett / Cassetti, Daisy Armstrong
Page Number: 75
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 2 Chapter 5 Quotes

"Without a doubt, that is the solution of the mystery. Doubtless he and this Ratchett were in this kidnapping business together. Cassetti is an Italian name. In some way Ratchett did on him what they call the double-cross. The Italian tracks him down, sends him warning letters first, and finally revenges himself upon him in a brutal way. It is all quite simple." Poirot shook his head doubtfully.

Related Characters: M. Bouc (speaker), Hercule Poirot, Antonio Foscarelli
Page Number: 117
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 3 Chapter 5 Quotes

"It has this advantage," said Poirot. "If you confront anyone who has lied with the truth, he will usually admit it—often out of sheer surprise. It is only necessary to guess right to produce your effect. That is the only way to conduct this case. I select each passenger in turn, consider his or her evidence, and say to myself, 'If so and so is lying, on what point is he lying, and what is the reason for the lie?' And I answer, 'If he is lying—if, you mark—it could only be for such a reason and on such a point.'”

Related Characters: Hercule Poirot (speaker), M. Bouc
Page Number: 250-251
Explanation and Analysis:
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M. Bouc Quotes in Murder on the Orient Express

The Murder on the Orient Express quotes below are all either spoken by M. Bouc or refer to M. Bouc. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Justice Theme Icon
).
Part 1 Chapter 3 Quotes

“And yet—it lends itself to romance, my friend. All around us are people, of all classes, of all nationalities, of all ages. For three days these people, these strangers to one another, are brought together.”

Related Characters: M. Bouc (speaker), Hercule Poirot
Page Number: 25
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 1 Chapter 8 Quotes

“I will come to the moment when, after the parents had paid over the enormous sum of two hundred thousand dollars, the child's dead body was discovered; it had been dead for at least a fortnight. Public indignation rose to fever point. And there was worse to follow. Mrs. Armstrong was expecting another baby. Following the shock of the discovery, she gave birth prematurely to a dead child, and herself died. Her broken-hearted husband shot himself.”

Related Characters: Hercule Poirot (speaker), M. Bouc, Mr. Ratchett / Cassetti, Daisy Armstrong
Page Number: 75
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 2 Chapter 5 Quotes

"Without a doubt, that is the solution of the mystery. Doubtless he and this Ratchett were in this kidnapping business together. Cassetti is an Italian name. In some way Ratchett did on him what they call the double-cross. The Italian tracks him down, sends him warning letters first, and finally revenges himself upon him in a brutal way. It is all quite simple." Poirot shook his head doubtfully.

Related Characters: M. Bouc (speaker), Hercule Poirot, Antonio Foscarelli
Page Number: 117
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 3 Chapter 5 Quotes

"It has this advantage," said Poirot. "If you confront anyone who has lied with the truth, he will usually admit it—often out of sheer surprise. It is only necessary to guess right to produce your effect. That is the only way to conduct this case. I select each passenger in turn, consider his or her evidence, and say to myself, 'If so and so is lying, on what point is he lying, and what is the reason for the lie?' And I answer, 'If he is lying—if, you mark—it could only be for such a reason and on such a point.'”

Related Characters: Hercule Poirot (speaker), M. Bouc
Page Number: 250-251
Explanation and Analysis: