A sudden change of plans.

     At the Tokatlian I asked for a room with a bath at the hotel, then I asked, if there were any letters for me. There were 3, and an unexpected telegram. I opened it slowly, with no rush. It said:

" Development you predicted in Kassner case has come unexpectedly please return immediately. " 

I was quite disappointed with the need to change my plans, but duty is duty. I cancelled my room and asked the concierge about the time the Orient Express leaves. It was leaving at 9, and it was already ten minutes to eight, so I had some time to eat. I was ordering in the restaurant when I felt someone put his hand on my shoulder. It was the director of the company, Mr. Bouc. I told him I was called to London on some important business, and will be travelling on the Simplon-Orient. It turned out that we were going in the same direction.

     When Mr. Bouc has left me I had some time to look around the restaurant. There was about half a dozen people at the restaurant, but only two who caught my attention. One was an American, pleasant looking lad about the age of 30. But he was not the one who caught my attention. It was in fact, his companion. An old man the age between 60 and 70. His look displayed a rather benevolent personality, but his eyes showed something very opposite. When he glanced at me for a moment, I saw evil in the look, all very unnatural. It was like a wild beast was looking me straight in the eye, but on the outside, he looked of the most respectable.

     Afterwards I went to meet my friend in the lounge. The two men were waiting for their luggage to be brought downstairs. I asked my companion what he thought of the elder man. He told me he didn't much care for him, and that he made an unpleasant impression. Then, the concierge brought us bad news. The train was full, which is very rare in this time of the year, it's extraordinary. There's always plenty of space in the trains, but this day, every single first-class sleeping berth was engaged! It seemed very strange, I must say. To my luck, one of the passengers didn't turn up, so there was one second-class berth free for myself. It was the No. 7 berth. When the portier has shown me to the compartment I realised, that my travelling companion is the younger man travelling with the old man from Tokatlian, Mr. Ratchett his name was. The portier must have gotten a good tip for keeping the room for the young man only, as himself, and Mr. MacQueen were pretty annoyed by the fact of me sharing the compartment with him. However, a portier couldn't turn against the company director's orders. I re-entered the compartment and noticed that MacQueen had gotten over his annoyance. It was for one night only after all.

And so the Orient Express had started on it's three-days' journey across Europe.