I Need Help Identifying a Christie Quotation

oabeles

Hello All.  I need help identifying the source and precise wording of a quote I'm pretty certain comes from a Poirot novel.  Its something along the lines of, "Until you know the motive, you do not know the crime," or "Until you have understood the motive, you have not understood the crime."
Any help will be appreciated.
Many thanks.

GKCfan

You might be thinking of a line from Poirot in The ABC Murders, where he's trying to understand why the ABC killer committed the crimes.  The line in question would be late in the book.

Dr.Sheppard

My suggestion is Peril At End House, on or near page 45. Poirot says: "To hunt down a murderer after a crime has been committed - c'est tout simple!  ....... To detect a crime before it has been committed - that is indeed of a rare difficulty." This is not the exact quote that you are looking for, but I am rereading the book and am currently at page 102 and feel that I have read the quote you want. I will try and find time to go back a few pages and identify if it is in this book.

DurwinBanks

please can anyone tell me which film Miss Marple says there is nothing wrong with this woman that can't be cured by linseed oil and cider vinegar.

Frances Laun

Darn, I remember something like that quote, but most of my books are in storage right now.  If I find it I will post.

Tommy_A_Jones

I think it might be said about Protheroe's Daughtern in Murder At The Vicarage or Megan in The Moving Finger, I can't se Miss Marple saying som ethng like that too Melchett or Slack but I can see her saying something like that to Dolly or Craddock about someone else but Dolly and Craddock don't appear in books with Melchett or slack, she may have said something like that to Miss Dane Calthorpe or she might be talking about Gina in They Do It With Mirrors 

luismk

In Tragedy in 3 acts, Poirot need to know the motive of the Mr Babbington´s death