Scene Summaries

Question 1

Chapter 1

Answer 1

Dr. Sheppard at the Breakfast Table

Question 2

Chapter 1 - Dr. Sheppard at the Breakfast Table summary?

Answer 2

• introduced to the narrator sheppard and he informs readers Ms. ferrars has died
• Caroline and Sheppard have breakfast together and Sheppard reveals the death to her, only to find out she already knew and got the news from Annie the parlourmaid
• Caroline believes Mrs ferrars poisoned her own husband a year ago, and Caroline assumes her death was a suicide out of remorse for murdering her husband
• Sheppard tries to say this idea is nonsense, but it is clear he somewhat agrees.

Question 3

Chapter 2

Answer 3

Who’s Who in King’s Abbot

Question 4

Chapter 2: Who’s Who in King’s Abbot summary ?

Answer 4

• Sheppard interrupts the narrative to give background to the village
• kings abbot is “rich in unmarried ladies and retired military officers” all whom love to gossip
• Fernly park where Roger Ackroyd lives is the most important house
• as he goes on his rounds, Sheppard recalls seeing Ralph and Mrs ferrars talking
• his recollection is interrupted by a meeting with Ackroyd who seems troubled, and believes Ralph is still in London
• The last patient he sees is Miss Russell with a “bad knee” but really wants to know how to stop cocaine addiction.

Question 5

Chapter 3

Answer 5

The Man Who Grew Vegetable Marrows

Question 6

Chapter 3: The Man Who Grew Vegetable Marrows summary ?

Answer 6

• At lunch Caroline shares some gossip: Ralph Paton is staying at the Three Boars, the local inn, and went on a date—perhaps with Flora
• Caroline mentions a new neighbour—a foreigner who is interested in growing vegetable marrow
• Sheppard goes outside when a vegetable marrow narrowly misses him
• Porirot’s head appears over the wall, and he apologizes for hurling the vegetable
• He tells Sheppard he is retired from his profession, which was the “study of human nature.” and mentions he’s old friends with Ackroyd, who told him his stepson Ralph is engaged to Flora
• As the men converse Sheppard reveals he lost a large inheritance in a bad investment
• meantime, Caroline has run into Ackroyd, told him Ralph was staying at the Three Boars, and overheard Ralph talking of Ackroyd’s will
• Sheppard goes to the three boars, and Ralph tells him he’s in a mess and that the source of the problem is Roger Ackroyd.

Question 7

Chapter 4

Answer 7

Dinner at Fernly

Question 8

Chapter 4: Dinner at Fernly summary ?

Answer 8

• 7:30 Sheppard arrives at Fernly Park and Parker lets him in
• before he enters the drawing room, he hears a sound from inside, like a window being shut
• As he opens the door Miss Russell is just leaving looking flushed, she claims she was checking the flowers in the room
• there are no windows in the room, Sheppard then tries to open the silver table lid and recognises this as the sound
• Flora enters the room, followed shortly by Mrs. Ackroyd, Hector Blunt Ackroyd and Geoffrey Raymond and all go in to dine
• Ackroyd is subdued and preoccupied during dinner
• after dinner Sheppard and Ackroyd are in the study and parker brings in Sheppard’s bag
• He has Sheppard close and lock the window, and then reveals Mrs. Ferrars confessed poisoning her husband and told Ackroyd, to whom she had been secretly engaged, she was being blackmailed by someone who knew the truth
• She did not disclose the identity of the blackmailer but hinted the person was a member of Ackroyd’s household
• Ackroyd feels responsible for her suicide because he reacted with horror to her confession
• Parker enters with the evening’s mail on a tray, and then leaves again
• In the stack of mail is a letter from Mrs. Ferrars, posted just before she died
• Ackroyd reads part of it aloud. It is a suicide note, full of regret for her wrongs and asking him to find the blackmailer
• Suddenly, Ackroyd refuses to read more, despite Sheppard’s urging, saying he will read it later.
• As Dr. Sheppard leaves, Parker is near the door, as if he had been listening.
• As the doctor walks home, he passes through the gates near the lodge of Fernly Park and encounters a stranger with his face obscured by a hat and an upturned collar.
• The stranger asks the way to Fernly Park. Once at home, Dr. Sheppard winds the clocks, and at 10:15 he starts up the stairs to bed.
• Suddenly the phone rings.
• Dr. Sheppard answers, and then tells Caroline, “They’ve just found Roger Ackroyd murdered.”

Question 9

Chapter 5

Answer 9

Murder

Question 10

Chapter 5: Murder summary ?

Answer 10

• Sheppard drives quickly to Fernly and rings the bell when Parker answers the door and asked if he’s phoned the police, Parker is taken aback
• Sheppard reveals Ackroyd’s death but Parker is shocked, insisting he made no such call
• The door of the study is locked, and Ackroyd does not answer when called. They break down the door and find Ackroyd stabbed in the back
• Sheppard sends Parker to alert the police and the household. Then he does “what little had to be done,” carefully leaving the dagger undisturbed
• Raymond and Blunt arrive and suggests there was a burglary because no one would want to murder Ackroyd
• The letter from Mrs. Ferrars is missing
• Inspector Davis and Jones arrive
• Sheppard and the others explain what happened, the doctor claiming Ackroyd had been dead half an hour or more when they found him
• Outside the window, now wide open, the police find footprints indicating a person went in and out that way
• Sheppard suddenly remembers the stranger he encountered the night before and describes him to the police
• Sheppard says he left the house at 8:50 and arrived home by 9:15. Raymond says he heard Ackroyd talking to someone in his study at 9:30
• Parker claims he saw Flora exiting the room at 9:45 and telling him Ackroyd did not want to be disturbed
• The inspector sends Raymond to fetch Flora and asks her about her interaction with Ackroyd. She replies that when she went in to say goodnight, he said he was busy
• When pressed, she says he told her to tell Parker not to disturb him
• Immediately after they inform Flora her uncle is dead, she faints and is taken upstairs

Question 11

Chapter 6

Answer 11

The Tunisian Dagger

Question 12

Chapter 6: The Tunisian Dagger summary ?

Answer 12

• the inspector again questions the doctor about the mysterious stranger who says he didn’t get a good look at the man’s face
• The inspector then tells him Parker mentioned something about blackmail and Sheppard says Parker must have been listening at the door
• The doctor then tells the inspector everything Roger Ackroyd divulged during their earlier conversation
• Both men agree Parker has been acting suspiciously, and the inspector seems to think Parker is the culprit
• after the inspector removes the dagger from the body, the doctor examines the body
• When they ask Raymond about the dagger, he says Blunt gave Ackroyd the knife from Tunis
• Raymond notes it is usually kept in the silver table and the doctor reveals he heard the lid of the little table being closed the evening before
• Miss Russell is questioned, and she claims she shut the open lid when she was checking the flowers
• The inspector floats a theory: someone reached in the open window near the table and took the dagger.
• When Dr. Sheppard gets home, he tells Caroline about the murder but not the blackmail and Caroline thinks the idea of Parker being the prime suspect is ridiculous

Question 13

Chapter 7

Answer 13

I Learn My Neighbour’s Profession

Question 14

Chapter 7: I Learn My Neighbour’s Profession summary ?

Answer 14

• The next morning Sheppard completes his rounds and, returning home, learns from his sister that Flora has arrived and wants to see him
• She asks Sheppard to go with her to the Larches to ask Poirot to look into her uncle’s death
• She reveals Poirot is a famous private detective
• Flora says the police suspect Ralph, but Flora doesn’t believe he is the murderer
• When they visit the Larches, Poirot agrees to take the case, though he warns them he won’t stop until he finds out the truth
• Dr. Sheppard briefs Poirot on the facts of the case and they go to the station to let the police know Poirot will be working on the case
• Inspector Raglan is less than enthusiastic about this news but lists the evidence against Ralph
• Poirot takes the opportunity to examine the crime scene and asks Sheppard to describe the position of the body and other details about the room
• He also asks Parker about the state of the fire in the room when the body was discovered
• Colonel Melrose enters and announces the phone call has been traced to the train station of Kings Abbot

Question 15

Chapter 8

Answer 15

Inspector Raglan Is Confident

Question 16

Chapter 8: Inspector Raglan Is Confident summary ?

Answer 16

• Colonel Melrose wonders aloud why the person placed the telephone call
• poirot asks Sheppard about the stranger he encountered at 9:00 the previous evening
• Parker and Raymond are both summoned to speak with Poirot, who asks Raymond if he pushed the chair back into its correct place after the body was found. Raymond says he did not
• Both Raymond and Parker are asked about any strangers that might have visited Ackroyd. They agree the closest thing to a stranger would have been a young man who came to sell Ackroyd a Dictaphone
• But this man does not match Sheppard’s description of the stranger he saw.
• Poirot asks to see the silver table in the drawing room
• Inspector Raglan walks by, boasts of his superior investigative method, and reveals Paton was seen going up toward Ackroyd’s house at 9:25
• He concludes Ralph had enough time to steal the dagger, stab his stepfather, and get back to the inn.
• Poirot investigates a small summerhouse on the grounds. Inside, Poirot discovers two clues: a scrap of a white material and a small goose quill.

Question 17

Chapter 9

Answer 17

The Goldfish Pond

Question 18

Chapter 9: The Goldfish Pond summary ?

Answer 18

• On the way back to the main house, Poirot and Sheppard discuss who might stand to inherit the estate
• They overhear a conversation between Blunt and Flora. Blunt says he intends to go back to Africa, making Flora distressed. Blunt asks if she’d prefer he stay, and she says she does
• She also reveals the family lawyer, Mr. Hammond, has informed her Ackroyd left her a sizable inheritance. She is happy and suggests the money leaves her free.
• Poirot then makes his presence known, and the two join Blunt and Flora
• In response to Poirot’s questioning, Blunt says when he was outside for a smoke about 9:30 he heard Ackroyd’s voice coming from inside
• He also tells them he thought he saw a woman disappearing into the bushes
• Poirot asks if he moved the pulled-out chair in the room back to its correct position. Blunt says no. - Poirot asks Flora if the dagger was in the silver table when she was examining it before dinner. She says she thinks it was not there.
• Poirot sees something bright in the pond and attempts to fish it out. Pretending to be unsuccessful, he actually retrieves the object and quickly hides it
• On the way back to the house, he shows the object to Sheppard. It is a woman’s wedding ring with an inscription

Question 19

Chapter 10

Answer 19

The Parlourmaid

Question 20

Chapter 10: The Parlourmaid summary ?

Answer 20

• At the house, money matters are discussed
• Poirot asks Mr. Hammond if Ralph needed money. Mr. Hammond says yes
• poirot asks about the terms of Ackroyd’s will, the rest of the large estate goes to Ralph
• it is discovered that 40 pounds are missing from Ackroyd’s bedroom
• Ursula Bourne is summoned and asked about the money. She says Ackroyd’s bedroom was not hers to tidy
• Elsie Dale is similarly summoned and questioned, but she, too, denies knowing anything about the money.
  -Poirot and Sheppard discuss Ursula Bourne, who also reported being treated rudely the evening before and who planned to leave Ackroyd’s service as a result
• Poirot notes she does not have an alibi for the time of the murder. Sheppard recalls the letter from Mrs. Ferrars did not specify the gender of the blackmailer. Poirot is intrigued by this bit of information.
• Poirot observes that a good deal of evidence points to Ralph as the murderer. But since Flora seems so convinced of Ralph’s innocence, he intends to keep investigating to be sure

Question 21

Chapter 11

Answer 21

Poirot Pays a Call

Question 22

Chapter 11: Poirot Pays a Call summary ?

Answer 22

• poirot gives sheppard the task of visiting Ursula Bournes reference, Mrs Folliot.
• when asked abour Bourne she becomes upset and refuses to say anything about her.
• when Sheppard arrives home, Caroline is excited to tell him that she has had a visit from poirot. poirot was flattering towards her and Caroline gave him some gossip: the story of overhearing Ralph talking to an unknown woman in the woods.
• poirot asks about Shepards patients and who he saw on the day of Ackroyd’s death, Caroline recalls Miss Russell.
• hearing this jogs Shepards memory of the strange drug queries she had.

Question 23

Chapter 12

Answer 23

Round the Table

Question 24

Chapter 12: Round the Table summary ?

Answer 24

• On Monday Dr. Sheppard gives evidence at the inquest, which Ralph Paton does not attend.
• In fact, he cannot be found, an absence the inspector finds suspicious. Dr. Sheppard, Poirot, and the inspector again discuss the phone call the doctor received the night of the murder.
• Poirot still maintains, “when we find the explanation of that telephone call we shall find the explanation of the murder.”
• Poirot cautions the inspector against putting too much importance on the fingerprints found on the dagger, suggesting they are likely to be Ackroyd’s own, placed there by the murderer after Ackroyd was dead.
• Returning to Fernly a short while later, Poirot assembles a “little reunion” of Mrs. Ackroyd, Flora, Major Blunt, Raymond, and Dr. Sheppard around the dinner table.
• He begins by asking Flora, as Ralph’s fiancée, to persuade him to come forward.
• She swears she has no idea of his whereabouts.
• He then puts the question of Ralph’s whereabouts to the whole group.
• No one speaks up.
• Poirot assures them he intends to get to the truth, though he knows every person at the table is hiding something.

Question 25

Chapter 13

Answer 25

The Goose Quill

Question 26

Chapter 13: The Goose Quill summary ?

Answer 26

• poirot and Shepard have dinner.
• Poirot chides his guest about holding back the information on Ralph’s rendezvous in the woods and says he finds Miss Russell quite interesting.
• Dr. Sheppard expresses curiosity about what Poirot really thinks of the whole matter, but Poirot tells him he is “like the little child who wants to know the way the engine works” and declines to enlighten the doctor.
• However, Poirot does give Dr. Sheppard a little lecture on how he ascertains characters’ movements and double-checks them, using the doctor’s evidence about his encounter with the mysterious stranger as an example.
• Poirot also explains that the quill he picked up in the summerhouse is used for taking heroin, and the path the stranger was headed toward would have taken him to the summerhouse as well as to the main house.
• Poirot also notes his serious doubts about the parlourmaid’s story.
• Then he invites Dr. Sheppard to share his own theories. The doctor says he believes the person with Ackroyd at 9:30 was Ralph, but since Ackroyd was alive at 9:45, Ralph is not the murderer—the mysterious stranger must be.
• Also, he thinks the stranger was in league with Parker, who was trying to blackmail Mrs. Ferrars.
• Poirot says this theory does not account for telephone call, the pushed-out chair, the missing 40 pounds, or Blunt’s belief that Raymond was the person with Ackroyd at 9:30.
• Also, Poirot observes the case against Ralph is a little too neat, suggesting he is actually innocent.

Question 27

Chapter 14

Answer 27

Mrs. Ackroyd

Question 28

Chapter 14: Mrs. Ackroyd summary ?

Answer 28

• investigation has entered a different phase and Shepard now follows the investigation through town gossip.
• Mrs Ackroyd thinks she is ill and Shepard goes to see her however she gets to her point, complaining that poirot insinuated she is hiding something.
• turns out she is and she had many unpaid bills and was considering having some of the contents of the of the silver table valued, being the one who left it open.
• miss Russell interupted her coming into the drawing room quickly, explianing why she seemed out of breath.
• Shepard connects this info to poirots discoveries in the summer house.
• On his way out, he notices Ursula Bourne has been crying and inquires as to why.
• She says if he knows where Ralph is, he should tell him to come home.
• Back at home, the doctor learns Poirot has given Caroline a task: to find out if Ralph Paton’s boots were black or brown.
• Dr. Sheppard does not understand, but he says, “I see now that I was unbelievably stupid about these boots. I failed altogether to grasp the point.” Caroline has a friend who works at the Three Boars find out. She discovers the boots are black.

Question 29

Chapter 15

Answer 29

Geoffrey Raymond

Question 30

Chapter 15: Geoffrey Raymond summary ?

Answer 30

• Tuesday afternoon Dr. Sheppard visits Poirot, bringing him some jam.
• He tells of his conversation with Mrs. Ackroyd, and Poirot notes this supports Miss Russell’s claim that she closed the lid of the silver table.
• Now they know for certain she was outside—probably meeting someone.
• Sheppard also tells that Ralph’s boots were black, not brown.
• Poirot seems “crestfallen” and soon changes the topic.
• Geoffrey Raymond arrives and confesses: “I was in debt … and that legacy came in the nick of time.” He hadn’t wanted to mention it at first because he thought it made him look bad.
• After Raymond leaves, Poirot hints Blunt may be concealing something about his love life.
• Dr. Sheppard then suggests the blackmailer of Mrs. Ferrars is not necessarily the same person who murdered Roger Ackroyd.
• Poirot agrees it is possible, but he points out the letter naming the blackmailer has disappeared.
• Then Poirot suggests Parker may be the blackmailer, since he could easily have taken the letter.
• He then suggests a little experiment.
• The two go together to Fernly and tell Parker they want to test whether voices inside could have been heard from the terrace.
• Major Blunt is told to stay on the terrace, and Parker and Flora reenact their meeting outside Ackroyd’s room.
• Parker, carrying a tray with two whiskey glasses on it, speaks to Flora.
• After Parker leaves, Flora confirms she thinks there were two glasses on the tray. Poirot seems satisfied.
• When the two are alone again, Dr. Sheppard asks Poirot what was the point of the question about the glasses. “One must say something,” Poirot says, adding, “that particular question did as well as any other.”
  -Sheppard is perplexed, but Poirot does not explain further, though he indicates he has gained important information.

Question 31

Chapter 16

Answer 31

An Evening at Mah Jong

Question 32

Chapter 16: An Evening at Mah Jong summary ?

Answer 32

• That night Dr. Sheppard and Caroline invite Miss Gannett and Colonel Carter for a mah jong party.
• Once the game starts, the gossip soon follows. They discuss the case for a time, focusing on the meaning of Poirot’s boot question, the money stolen from Ackroyd, and how the parlourmaid is heard crying every night.
• As the game continues, gossip turns toward Ralph Paton. Caroline expresses displeasure that her brother, who is often with Poirot, isn’t contributing to the gossip.
• Suddenly Dr. Sheppard realizes he has “The Perfect Winning,” a rare event in the game of mah jong, when a player wins on their original hand. “I had never hoped to hold the hand myself,” he says.
• Feeling triumphant, he shows his winning hand. Then, in the giddiness of victory, he parts with one small piece of information about the case: the gold wedding ring with the inscription.
• Several theories emerge as to who was secretly married to whom.
• After the party, Dr. Sheppard and Caroline go up to bed. Caroline mentions she knows Flora does not care at all about Ralph Paton and never has.

Question 33

Chapter 17

Answer 33

Parker

Question 34

Chapter 17: Parker summary ?

Answer 34

• joint funeral of Mrs. Ferrars and Roger Ackroyd takes place.
• Afterward Hercule Poirot invites Dr. Sheppard back to his home. Poirot asks for help in interrogating a witness—Parker, who is supposed to meet him at the Larches.
• Poirot says he hopes Parker is the blackmailer.
• Poirot begins the meeting with Parker by asking him if he has “made many experiments in blackmail?”
• Although the butler acts shocked, it turns out Poirot has learned Parker was blackmailing his previous employer, Major Ellerby.
• Parker confesses and admits he eavesdropped on Ackroyd after he heard the word blackmail through the study door.
• After Parker leaves, Poirot observes the butler believes “it was Ackroyd himself who was the victim of blackmail” and thus “knows nothing at all about the Mrs. Ferrars business.”
• Next, Poirot takes Dr. Sheppard to see Mr. Hammond. Poirot asks the doctor to explain what Ackroyd said about Mrs. Ferrars being blackmailed.
• Mr. Hammond, also the lawyer for Mrs. Ferrars’s estate, confirms she paid out 20,000 pounds from her estate during the last year of her life.
• Dr. Sheppard invites Poirot to dinner. After they have eaten, Poirot, Caroline, and the doctor discuss the case.
• Caroline tells Poirot she thinks he’s wrong for believing someone in the Ackroyd household is the murderer.
• She maintains Flora wouldn’t kill anyone and Ralph isn’t a murderer.
• She also has a theory that Ralph is hiding in Cranchester, a theory Poirot does not confirm.
• Then he describes how an ordinary man might become a murderer.
• He might have a weakness, and when the opportunity of easy money by blackmail presents itself, the temptation is too great.
• But the woman he is blackmailing decides to reveal the truth, and so the blackmailer becomes a murderer- the exact situation sheppard found himself in.
• After Poirot’s hypothetical scenario concludes, the phone rings. The police in Liverpool have detained Charles Kent, the man believed to be mysterious stranger. They ask Dr. Sheppard to identify him.

Question 35

Chapter 18

Answer 35

Charles Kent

Question 36

Chapter 18: Charles Kent summary ?

Answer 36

• Dr. Sheppard, Poirot, and Inspector Raglan travel to Liverpool.
• On the way, Inspector Raglan admits Poirot was correct about the fingerprints on the dagger being Ackroyd’s own.
• Dr. Sheppard identifies Charles Kent as the man he met near Fernly.
• Then Poirot shows Kent the small goose quill he found in the summerhouse, saying Kent dropped it that night.
• Kent admits he was at the house that evening.
• But he adds he was at a pub by 9:25 and thus couldn’t have done the murder.
• Poirot suggests Kent was born in Kent, noting “under certain circumstances” a person named Kent would come from Kent. Kent becomes angry.
• Later Dr. Sheppard and Poirot have lunch together. Sheppard notes, “I know now that the whole thing lay clearly unraveled before him.” But things are still unclear to the doctor.
• When he asks why Kent was at Fernly, Poirot answers “because he was born in Kent.” But this answer does not illuminate the issue for Sheppard.

Question 37

Chapter 19

Answer 37

Flora Ackroyd

Question 38

Chapter 19: Flora Ackroyd summary ?

Answer 38

• Just after his rounds the following morning, Dr. Sheppard encounters Inspector Raglan.
• The inspector informs him the barmaid at the Dog and Whistle, Sally Jones, has confirmed Kent’s alibi.
• Sheppard and Inspector Raglan go together to Hercule Poirot’s home to deliver this news.
• Poirot advises Raglan not to release Kent just yet.
• Poirot also explains he believes Flora took the 40 pounds from Roger Ackroyd’s bedroom.
• Then, as she was coming down the staircase, she saw Parker approaching Ackroyd’s study door with the tray of whiskey, and she pretended to be exiting the study.
• Poirot explains how he used his “little experiment” to demonstrate how this sequence of events could have happened.
• The three men then drive to Fernly, where they discuss the scenario with Flora.
• Major Blunt is with her.
• Flora confirms Poirot’s version of events, saying she is “weak” and that noticing a similar weakness in Ralph made her willing to marry him.
• Major Blunt contradicts her, claiming Ackroyd gave him the 40 pounds, but Poirot does not believe his confession.
• Speaking privately to Blunt, Poirot says he knows the secret Blunt has been concealing: he is in love with Flora.
• Poirot tells him not to worry, for Flora is not really in love with Ralph—she’s being loyal to him simply because he’s under suspicion. Blunt rushes outside after Flora.

Question 39

Chapter 20

Answer 39

Miss Russell

Question 40

Chapter 20: Miss Russell summary ?

Answer 40

• Inspector Raglan is confused and discouraged by the new developments in the case.
• He complains that the alibis are now worthless and that he has to start from scratch, with a new focus on 9:30 instead of 9:45.
• The inspector is still puzzled by the telephone call to Dr. Sheppard, and Poirot continues to maintain it is an important clue.
• The inspector considers the possibility that Ralph went to see Roger Ackroyd, found him attacked and nearly dead, left quickly thinking he’d be blamed, but called the police in case Ackroyd could be saved.
• Back at Dr. Sheppard’s house, the doctor sees a few patients, and then goes to his workshop to repair a broken alarm clock.
• Poirot arrives to talk to Dr. Sheppard, and Caroline shows him to the workshop.
• It turns out Poirot would like Dr. Sheppard’s help interviewing Miss Russell, an interview that will take place in Dr. Sheppard’s surgery.
• Dr. Sheppard agrees.
• In the interview, Poirot informs Miss Russell that Flora lied about seeing her uncle at 9:45.
• This time discrepancy means Charles Kent’s alibi is no good. Miss Russell breaks down, admitting Kent is her illegitimate son who had been living in Canada and returned to England.
• A drug addict, he came to see her, asking for money. She met him in the summerhouse about 9:20 or 9:25, spoke with him, and gave him some cash.
• Poirot notes that Kent could not have been the person with Ackroyd at 9:30.

Question 41

Chapter 21

Answer 41

The Paragraph in the Paper

Question 42

Chapter 21: The Paragraph in the Paper summary ?

Answer 42

• The next morning an announcement written by Hercule Poirot appears in the newspaper.
• It says Ralph Paton was found and arrested in Liverpool, where he was preparing to leave for America.
• the news sparks fresh gossip, led by Caroline.
• Caroline also reveals she saw a mysterious man arrive at Poirot’s house, but when she asks Poirot about it, he says only, “Soon you must make his acquaintance.”
• Poirot asks Dr. Sheppard to come to his home that evening at 9:00 and to bring along Mrs. Ackroyd, Flora, Blunt, and Raymond.
• It will be a “little reunion,” he says.
• Dr. Sheppard goes to Fernly to issue this invitation.
• There, Mrs. Ackroyd tells him Flora is engaged to Hector Blunt.
• Back at home, Dr. Sheppard is surprised by the arrival of Ursula Bourne, who is distraught and demands to see Poirot.
• Poirot goes to her at once, sympathetically saying, “It is not Ursula Bourne, is it, my child—but Ursula Paton? Mrs. Ralph Paton.”

Question 43

Chapter 22

Answer 43

Ursula’s Story

Question 44

Chapter 22: Ursula’s Story summary ?

Answer 44

• Ursula Bourne reacts to Poirot’s question with sobbing and admits she and Ralph have been secretly married.
• Having seen the paragraph in the paper, she wants Poirot to help save Ralph, who she insists is innocent.
• Poirot urges her to tell him everything, and she does.
• She is poor, but a gentlewoman by birth.
• When her father died, she had to make a living.
• Her sister, Mrs. Folliott, gave Ursula a reference so she could find a job as a parlourmaid.
• After obtaining employment at Fernly, she met Ralph Paton, fell in love, and married him.
• Ralph had told her they could make it public when he paid off his debts and had enough money to support her.
• However, getting out of debt was easier said than done, so when Ackroyd told Ralph he would pay his debts if he married Flora, he agreed.
• But Ursula was upset when she found out.
• She approached Roger Ackroyd and told him the truth—a conversation that did not go well and resulted in her preparing to leave his employ.
• Ursula and Ralph later met in the summerhouse.
• Poirot then asks what time the meeting took place.
• She says it was 9:33 when she met Ralph there, and they argued for about 10 minutes.
• Poirot assures her the newspaper announcement is false and asks her to trust him to sort everything out.

Question 45

Chapter 23

Answer 45

Poirot’s Little Reunion

Question 46

Chapter 23: Poirot’s Little Reunion summary?

Answer 46

• Sheppard shows Poirot the manuscrip he has been writing and Poirot congratulates him for keeping his personality in the background.
• everyone makes their way to poirots for the reunion apart from caroline who isnt invited because she isnt a suspect.
  _ poirot introduces Ursula as Mrs Ralph Paton which surprises everyone.
• He then begins to tell the story, beginning from the time he agreed to take the case.
• He outlines how he figured out there were two separate meetings in the summerhouse on the night of the murder.
• One was between Ursula Bourne and Ralph Paton.
• The meeting in the woods between Ralph and an unknown woman, plus the wedding ring inscribed “from R.” and a date, rounded out the picture of secret spouses.
• Another meeting was between Charles Kent and Miss Russell.Poirot mentions a most interesting aspect of the case: the question of who was with Roger Ackroyd at 9:30.
• It could not have been Ralph, who was in the summerhouse at the time.
• Charles Kent had already left. Poirot, therefore, considered the possibility no one was with Ackroyd at all.
• He points out that the words spoken by Ackroyd are not conversational.
• Rather they sound like dictation for a letter given to a secretary.
• He has his guests recall the young man who visited the previous Wednesday—from the Dictaphone company.
• Poirot reveals he asked the company if Ackroyd purchased one, and it turns out he did.
• Raymond mentions it would have been better for Ralph if he’d come forward.
• As the group speculates about where Ralph might be, Poirot points dramatically to the doorway, where Ralph Paton is standing.

Question 47

Chapter 24

Answer 47

Ralph Paton’s Story

Question 48

Chapter 24: Ralph Paton’s Story summary ?

Answer 48

• Hercule Poirot observes that even after he accused everyone of concealing information and several people came forward with their secrets, Dr. Sheppard did not.
• But Poirot figured out Dr. Sheppard must have met with Ralph and told him the case looked pretty bad for him.
• Dr. Sheppard admits he thought suspicion would fall on Ralph, whose money trouble and secret marriage would make him look guilty.
• He encouraged Ralph to go into hiding and helped him hide in a nursing home for the “mentally unfit.”
• Poirot comments quietly to Dr. Sheppard that his manuscript of the case was truthful “as far as it went.” But “it did not go very far.”
• Ralph says he left the summerhouse about 9:45 and walked all over town, thinking about what to do next.
• Raymond notes this activity doesn’t give him an alibi.
• Agreeing, Poirot explains that the real murderer needs to come forward to save Ralph from arrest.
• A message arrives, and Poirot reads it.
• Then he says he knows the identity of the murderer and intends to send it to Inspector Raglan in the morning.

Question 49

Chapter 25

Answer 49

The Whole Truth

Question 50

Chapter 25: The Whole Truth summary ?

Answer 50

• Hercule Poirot gestures to Dr. Sheppard to stay behind after the others leave. “What did you think of it all?” Poirot asks him.
  _ Dr. Sheppard replies he’s not sure why Poirot didn’t go to the police instead of giving an elaborate warning and wonders if Poirot really believes one of the people present at the reunion committed the murder.
• In answer, Poirot walks through the case to show that “all the facts point indisputably to one person.” Two facts and one time discrepancy led him to the truth.
• The first fact is the telephone call, which Poirot deduced must have been made by an accomplice.
• The motive for the call had to be that Roger Ackroyd’s body was discovered at a certain time, allowing the murderer to be there.
• Dr. Sheppard, Parker, Blunt, and Raymond were the only people present when the body was found.
• In addition, in his position as butler Parker would have been on the scene whenever the body was found and thus had no need of the phone call.
• The pulled-out chair was the second fact.
• Pulled out, it would have been directly between the door and the window and positioned to hide completely the small table just in front of the window.
• Poirot concluded there must have been something on the table the murderer did not want seen.
• So the murderer moved the chair to block it from view and then shortly after the body was discovered, removed the mystery object and moved the chair back into position.
• The presence of the Dictaphone salesman gave Poirot the idea that the object on the table was a Dictaphone. Because no Dictaphone was found at the scene, the murderer must have removed it in some kind of receptacle.
• Poirot suggests that by 9:30 Ackroyd was already dead, and a Dictaphone had been rigged up to play back his voice, possibly using some kind of mechanical timing device, like an alarm clock.
• Then Poirot comes to the mmatter of the footprints.
• He notes Ralph had two similar pairs of shoes—one pair that was being cleaned at the time of the crime (and was taken by the police) and one that the murderer must have taken to make the footprints.
• Ralph, then, was not wearing either of these but must have owned a third pair of shoes, perhaps a pair of boots—a fact Poirot had Caroline confirm.
• Poirot sums up his analysis of the murderer.
• It had to be someone who was at the Three Boars that day, knew Ackroyd had bought a Dictaphone, had mechanical skill, had the opportunity to take the dagger from the silver table before Flora arrived, brought a receptacle for hiding the Dictaphone—such as a black bag—and was briefly alone in the study after the crime was discovered and while Parker was telephoning for the police. Dr. Sheppard, in fact.

Question 51

Chapter 26

Answer 51

Chapter 26: And Nothing but the Truth

Question 52

Chapter 26: And Nothing but the Truth summary ?

Answer 52

• Poirot tells Dr. Sheppard the time discrepancy in his story drew his attention.
• If it took five minutes or less to walk from the gates by the lodge to the house, and Dr. Sheppard left Fernly at 8:50, why was it 9:00 when Dr. Sheppard passed the through the gates.
• Poirot suggests the doctor killed Roger Ackroyd before leaving at 8:50 and then faked the footprints, locked the study door from the inside, headed toward the gate, and passed it at 9:00. The Dictaphone, timed to begin at 9:30, would provide an alibi, for Sheppard was already home then.
• Poirot then explains the motive: Dr. Sheppard was the one who blackmailed Mrs. Ferrars. When it was clear she had confessed to Ackroyd, the doctor killed him to hide his secret.
• The phone call was arranged to ensure Dr. Sheppard was on the scene immediately to retrieve the Dictaphone and place it into his black bag.
• Dr. Sheppard had asked a steward of an American ship to call him with some message about a patient.
• Dr. Sheppard pretended the call was about Ackroyd.
• Poirot suggests Dr. Sheppard finish his manuscript with its former reticence and perhaps make use of an overdose of sleeping medicine in order to clear Ralph’s name. Dr. Sheppard thanks Poirot for an entertaining evening and goes home.

Question 53

Chapter 27

Answer 53

Apologia

Question 54

Chapter 27: Apologia summary ?

Answer 54

• At 5:00 the following morning, Dr. Sheppard finishes his manuscript.
• In it, he explains a few more details about the crime: how he decided to substitute the dagger from the silver table for the one he’d brought along and how he knew he’d have to kill Roger Ackroyd as soon as he heard of Mrs. Ferrars’s death.
• On the pretense of making a minor repair to the Dictaphone, Dr. Sheppard had brought it home and made a timing device for it in his workshop.
• Dr. Sheppard points out the places in his written account of the murder where he omitted important details, such as “I hesitated with my hand on the door handle, looking back and wondering if there was anything I had left undone” and “I did what little had to be done.”
• Reflecting on Hercule Poirot’s statement that there is “only one way out,” Dr. Sheppard considers what drug to use.
• He decides on Veronol, the same drug Mrs. Ferrars took. He writes he is taking this way out because he doesn’t want Caroline to know what he’s done and believes Poirot will keep it from her.
• He ends the manuscript wishing “Hercule Poirot had never retired from work and come here to grow vegetable marrows.”