One, Two, Buckle My Shoe

One, Two, Buckle My Shoe
Agatha Christie

A dentist lies murdered at his Harley Street practice…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?

One, Two, Buckle My Shoe

Copyright (#u4121a1b1-6283-5e15-84e1-70fde5ba1a4c)

Published by HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd

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London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)

First published in Great Britain by Collins 1940

Agatha Christie® Poirot® One, Two, Buckle My Shoe™

Copyright © 1940 Agatha Christie Limited. All rights reserved.

www.agathachristie.com (http://www.agathachristie.com)

Cover design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2016

Title lettering by Ghost Design

Cover photograph © Shutterstock.com (http://www.Shutterstock.com)

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 author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

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Source ISBN: 9780008164966

Ebook Edition © September 2016 ISBN: 9780007422630

Version: 2017-04-12

Dedication (#u4121a1b1-6283-5e15-84e1-70fde5ba1a4c)

To Dorothy North

who likes detective stories and cream,

in the hope it may make up to her

for the absence of the latter!

One, two, buckle my shoe,

Three, four, shut the door,

Five, six, picking up sticks,

Seven, eight, lay them straight,

Nine, ten, a good fat hen,

Eleven, twelve, men must delve,

Thirteen, fourteen, maids are courting,

Fifteen, sixteen, maids in the kitchen,

Seventeen, eighteen, maids in waiting,

Nineteen, twenty, my plate’s empty …

Table of Contents

Cover (#ua1037419-4e90-53d5-9e13-bbdda2707ba2)

Title Page (#uc1c938b7-419c-5044-aa1f-c1114982b86a)

Copyright (#ud61acd64-6839-567f-8975-abd855f43dbc)

Dedication (#u138c5dd3-9765-58e8-a0b7-4649812a1702)

Epigraph (#udcb4292b-a2ba-5f03-99f4-fe8297dc1911)

One, Two, Buckle My Shoe (#u45fc0049-52e9-5d1b-bf1e-7eddeae667c9)

Three, Four, Shut the Door (#ub83b3c39-e9aa-52d7-8a0b-2552c79e4b2d)

Five, Six, Picking Up Sticks (#litres_trial_promo)

Seven, Eight, Lay Them Straight (#litres_trial_promo)

Nine, Ten, a Good Fat Hen (#litres_trial_promo)

Eleven, Twelve, Men Must Delve (#litres_trial_promo)

Thirteen, Fourteen, Maids Are Courting (#litres_trial_promo)