Arthur Hastings is back providing narration. He makes a point, however, to say there are some chapters included where he did not witness the events, but has very good information from sources involved that the tale told in those chapters is accurate.
Poirot has received an anonymous letter.
Mr. Hercule Poirot,--You fancy yourself, don't you, at solving mysteries that are too difficult for our poor thick-headed British Police?
Let us see, Mr. Clever Poirot, just how clever you can be. Perhaps you'll find this nut too hard to crack. Look out for Andover, on the 21st of the month.
Yours, etc.,
A B C
Poirot's frequent companion in crime investigation, Inspector Japp of Scotland Yard believes the letter is a hoax of the sort sent to his own offices daily. Hastings is inclined to agree. However, something in the letter has Poirot wary.
The 21st comes and goes, and Japp is happy to tell Poirot all is well in Andover. Shortly thereafter, Japp calls to say a woman in Andover, last name Archer, was indeed found murdered in her small shop. It seems her husband may have murdered her, but things don't add up. There is also the matter of a well placed, open face down to Andover's train schedule in the ABC Railway Guide on her counter. It is not a guide she carried in her shop.
Poirot and Hastings question potential witnesses in Andover to no avail.
They must wait for another letter, and Poirot is certain there will be one, to try to avert another murder. Or solve it once it tragically occurs to make sense of the murderer's plan before he kills again.
Luckily they lived in an age when "chain" or "series" murders were not a common thing. It's fascinating as always to watch Poirot at work, connecting clues that anyone would miss, looking to the psychology of the killer as much as at his work.
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