Hallowe'en Party

Poirot meets Mrs. Oliver at Apple Trees, Rowena Drake’s house. Despite his recognition of the motif, Poirot notes that Mrs. Oliver is uncharacteristically not eating an apple. Poirot explains his plan—having seen Spence, he will tour the house, then speak to Joyce’s mother. He will then interview other local people and discuss with Spence and Elspeth. Mrs. Oliver likens Poirot to a computer, which makes him contend that he will therefore produce the right solution to the mystery.

Poirot finds Mrs. Drake highly competent and suspects she dislikes the “inadequacy” of not predicting and preventing a murder in her house. Mrs. Drake laments that “sad fatalities” are on the rise. She contends that the murderer must have been “highly disturbed.”

Mrs. Oliver refuses to enter the library. Mrs. Drake confirms that water had splashed on the floor, but that this did not point to a specific culprit since nearly everyone in the party got wet while bobbing for apples. When pressed, Mrs. Drake insists she liked Joyce, but reveals her annoyance with Joyce’s claim of witnessing a murder. She characterizes Joyce as boastful, reporting that the only recent crimes in Woodleigh Common were “uninteresting” and occurred years in the past.