Poirot (TV Series)

The ABC Murders (1992)

Hugh Fraser: Captain Hastings

Photos 

Quotes 

• Captain Hastings : You mean it wasn't true?

  Hercule Poirot : Not in the least, mon ami.

  Captain Hastings : Good Lord!

• Captain Hastings : So how have you been these last six months? Busy?

  Hercule Poirot : No, the little grey cells, I fear, they grow the rust.

• Hercule Poirot : Which of us one time or another have not felt aggrieved by a shopkeeper.

  Captain Hastings : Good Lord! Yes.

• Hercule Poirot : I did not say this before, Hastings, because... uh, perhaps it would have been mistaken for self-importance - a characteristic that I dislike more than any other.

  Captain Hastings : Oh, right...

  [Giving Poirot a look of disbelief] 

• Captain Hastings : Look at this room, Poirot - all that's left of a life -a couple of broken china ornaments, a photograph, a new pair of stockings...

  Hercule Poirot : Hastings, let us not become sentimental.

• Captain Hastings : Good Lord!

  Hercule Poirot : What is it?

  Captain Hastings : It's another one. Another ABC Murder letter.

• [repeated line] 

  Captain Hastings : Good Lord!

• [last lines] 

  Captain Hastings : [to Mr. Cust]  Just down below the rapids was a native canoe, obviously in some kind of trouble. And I suddenly realised that they were being pursued by something rather horrid.

• Captain Hastings : [Hastings and Poirot are doing dishes. Hastings hands a washed dish to Poirot, who inspects the dish, dries and places it in the stack]  Do you think their cooperation will lead to anything?

  Hercule Poirot : It is possible. You know, Hastings...

  [Hastings gives another washed dish to Poirot] 

  Hercule Poirot : I cannot rid my mind of the impression that something was said this afternoon that was significant.

  [Poirot hands the dish back to Hastings to re-wash, which he does, without skipping a beat. Hastings passes the dish to Poirot for the second time] 

  Hercule Poirot : Ah, it is odd. I cannot pin it down exactly.

  [Poirot rejects the dish again, and hands it back to Hastings for a third washing. This routine seems to be normal] 

  Hercule Poirot : But something passed through my mind that reminded me of that which I had already seen or heard or noted.

  [Close-up of Hastings, who continues to wash and pass to Poirot. It is difficult to tell if the thrice-washed dish was finally approved and dried by Poirot] 

• Captain Hastings : But, Poirot, there weren't any fingerprints on it.

  [the railway guide] 

  Hercule Poirot : Exactimont, Hastings. Our murderer - he is in the dark and seeks to remain in the dark. But in the very nature of things he cannot help to throw the light upon himself.