Katherine says she saw Derek enter Ruth's compartment. Murder and violence have followed in their wake. Dust-jacket illustration of the first UK edition. Whose hand was it that struck her down? Everyone is convinced the case is solved, but Poirot is not sure. Also, the television film shows Lady Tamplin's fourth husband (Corky by name) who acquires a ruby for her. So does Katherine Grey, who is having her first winter out of England, after recently receiving a relatively large inheritance. Lady Tamplin, Corky and her daughter Lennox also travel on the blue train. Derek did go into the compartment to talk to Ruth once he saw she was on the train, but he left when he saw she was asleep. The international setting makes for a good varied read, but there is a plethora of sixth-form schoolgirl French and some deleterious influences from the thrillers. The police suspect that Ruth's lover, the Comte de la Roche, killed her and stole the rubies, but Poirot does not think he is guilty. This dedication is a direct reference to the events of 1926 which included the death of Christie's mother on 5 April,[15] the breakdown of her marriage to Archibald Christie, and her famous ten-day disappearance in December that year. The writing of this book (part of which took place on the Canary Islands in early 1927)[11] was an ordeal for Christie. Were the jewels the motive for the murder, or were they only taken as a blind? The Mystery of the Blue Train was first serialised in the London evening newspaper The Star in thirty-eight un-illustrated instalments from Wednesday, February 1 to Thursday, 15 March 1928. They switch train compartments, and when Ruth is bludgeoned to death, making her features unrecognizable, Poirot speculates that the intended victim may have been Katherine. This was translated from the edition first published in France by Emmanuel Proust éditions in 2005 under the title of Le Train Bleu. Everyone is convinced the case is solved, but Poirot is not sure. He also says that the cigarette case with the K on it does not stand for Kettering, but Knighton. Derek did go into the compartment to talk to Ruth once he saw she was on the train, but he left when he saw she was asleep. Ruth's father, the American millionaire Rufus Van Aldin, and his secretary, Major Knighton, convince Poirot to take on the case. He asks Van Aldin and Knighton to come with him on the Blue Train to recreate the murder. I may tell you that I have heard of you from my old friend Rufus Van Aldin." [7], The New York Times Book Review of 12 August 1928 said, "Nominally Poirot has retired, but retirement means no more to him than it does to a prima donna. This is the only major work by Agatha Christie in which the UK first edition carries no copyright or publication date.