Meeting Mary Debenham and Colonel Arbuthnot

In the restaurant car, Poirot observes the two other passengers: Mary Debenham, a coolly efficient young Englishwoman returning from Baghdad, and Colonel Arbuthnot, a lean, brown-skinned army officer from India. They exchange brief, polite conversation, revealing a mutual acquaintance and a growing but restrained intimacy. Poirot notes their reserved English manner and senses an undercurrent of tension between them.