Page "Hercule Poirot" Paragraph 45

During World War I, Poirot left Belgium for Britain as a refugee.

It was here, on 16 July 1916, that he again met his lifelong friend, Captain Arthur Hastings, and solved the first of his cases to be published: The Mysterious Affair at Styles.

After that case Poirot apparently came to the attention of the British secret service, and undertook cases for the British government, including foiling the attempted abduction of the Prime Minister.

Readers were told that the British authority learned about Poirot's keen investigative ability from certain Belgian royals.