A repugnant Amercian widow is killed during a trip to Petra... Among the towering red cliffs of Petra, like some monstrous swollen Buddha, sat the corpse of Mrs Boynton. A tiny puncture mark on her wrist was the only sign of the fatal injection that had killed her. With only 24 hours available to solve the mystery, Hercule Poirot recalled a chance remark hed overheard back in Jerusalem: `You see, dont you, that shes got to be killed? Mrs Boynton was, indeed, the most detestable woman hed ever met...