Agatha Christie
One, Two, Buckle My Shoe

First Published

UK: Collins, London, Nov. 1940
US: Dodd Mead, New York, Feb. 1941 as "The Patriotic Murders"; Collier's Weekly, Aug.3-Sep.28 1940 as 'The Patriotic Murders'

Plot

(from HarperCollins "The Agatha Christie Collection" cover)

The dentist was found with a blackened hole below his right temple. A pistol lay on the floor near his outflung right hand. Later, one of his patients was found dead from a lethal dose of local anaesthetic. A clear case of murder and suicide, But why would a dentist commit a crime in the middle of a busy day of appointments?

A shoe buckle holds the key to the mystery. Now - in the words of the rhyme - can Poirot pick up the sticks and lay them straight?

Characters

Hercule Poirot, Colonel Abercrombie, Mr. Amberiotis, Reginald Barnes, Alfred Biggs, Alistair Blunt, Frank Carter, Agnes Fletcher, Gerda Grant, Ram Lal, Mrs. Merton, Georgina Morley, Henry Morley, Gladys Nevill, Jane Olivera, Julia Olivera, Mr. Reilly, Mabelle Sainsbury Seale

Mother Goose

ONE, TWO, BUCKLE MY SHOE: One, two, buckle my shoe;; Three, four, knock at the door;; Five, six, pick up sticks;; Seven, eight, lay them straight;; Nine, ten, a good fat hen;; Eleven, twelve, dig and delve;; Thirteen, fourteen, maids a-courting;; Fifteen, sixteen, maids a-kissing;; Seventeen, eighteen, maids a-waiting;; Nineteen, twenty, I've had plenty.

Movie & TV

One, Two, Buckle My Shoe: Agahta Christie's POIROT IV, 1992; director Ross Devenish; writer Clive Exton; cast David Suchet(Poirot), Philip Jackson(Japp), Carolyn Colquhoun(Marbelle), Joanna Phillip-Lane(Gerda), Peter Blythe(Blunt), Joe Greco(Alfred Biggs), Christopher Eccleston(Frank Carter), Karen Gledhill(Gladys Neville), Laurence Harrington(Henry Morley), Sara Stewart(Jane Olivera), Helen Horton(Julia Olivera), Kevork Malikyan(Amberiotis), Trilby James(Agnes Fletcher)

Agatha ChristieOne, Two, Buckle My Shoe