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First published in Great Britain by
Collins 1969
Agatha Christie® Poirot® Halloweâen Partyâ¢
Copyright © 1969 Agatha Christie Limited. All rights reserved.
www.agathachristie.com
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Agatha Christie asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the authorâs imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
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Source ISBN: 9780008129613
Ebook Edition © September 2015 ISBN: 9780007422364
Version: 2017-04-12
Mrs Ariadne Oliver had gone with the friend with whom she was staying, Judith Butler, to help with the preparations for a childrenâs party which was to take place that same evening.
At the moment it was a scene of chaotic activity. Energetic women came in and out of doors moving chairs, small tables, flower vases, and carrying large quantities of yellow pumpkins which they disposed strategically in selected spots.
It was to be a Halloweâen party for invited guests of an age group between ten and seventeen years old.
Mrs Oliver, removing herself from the main group, leant against a vacant background of wall and held up a large yellow pumpkin, looking at it criticallyââThe last time I saw one of these,â she said, sweeping back her grey hair from her prominent forehead, âwas in the United States last yearâhundreds of them. All over the house. Iâve never seen so many pumpkins. As a matter of fact,â she added thoughtfully, âIâve never really known the difference between a pumpkin and a vegetable marrow. Whatâs this one?â
âSorry, dear,â said Mrs Butler, as she fell over her friendâs feet.
Mrs Oliver pressed herself closer against the wall.
âMy fault,â she said. âIâm standing about and getting in the way. But it was rather remarkable, seeing so many pumpkins or vegetable marrows, whatever they are. They were everywhere, in the shops, and in peopleâs houses, with candles or nightlights inside them or strung up. Very interesting really. But it wasnât for a Halloweâen party, it was Thanksgiving. Now Iâve always associated pumpkins with Halloweâen and thatâs the end of October. Thanksgiving comes much later, doesnât it? Isnât it November, about the third week in November? Anyway, here, Halloweâen is definitely the 31st of October, isnât it? First Halloweâen and then, what comes next? All Soulsâ Day? Thatâs when in Paris you go to cemeteries and put flowers on graves. Not a sad sort of feast. I mean, all the children go too, and enjoy themselves. You go to flower markets first and buy lots and lots of lovely flowers. Flowers never look so lovely as they do in Paris in the market there.â
A lot of busy women were falling over Mrs Oliver occasionally, but they were not listening to her. They were all too busy with what they were doing.
They consisted for the most part of mothers, one or two competent spinsters; there were useful teenagers, boys of sixteen and seventeen climbing up ladders or standing on chairs to put decorations, pumpkins or vegetable marrows or brightly coloured witchballs at a suitable elevation; girls from eleven to fifteen hung about in groups and giggled.
âAnd after All Soulsâ Day and cemeteries,â went on Mrs Oliver, lowering her bulk on to the arm of a settee, âyou have All Saintsâ Day. I think Iâm right?â
Nobody responded to this question. Mrs Drake, a handsome middle-aged woman who was giving the party, made a pronouncement.