In chapter 21 of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, for example, Poirot talks about a mentally disabled nephew: this proves to be a ruse so that he can find out about homes for the mentally unfit, and in Dumb Witness, Poirot tells of an elderly invalid mother as a pretence to investigate the local nurses.

Later, though, he tells Poirot to draw back and escape the trap.

* In chapter 2, Anne Meredith tells Poirot that she knows Ariadne Oliver from her book The Body in the Library, which was the title of a book later written by Agatha Christie and published in 1942.

Geniuses like Sherlock Holmes often find a use for faithful mediocrities like Dr. Watson, and by a coincidence it is the local doctor who follows Poirot round, and himself tells the story.

Later, Thora, Carmichael's assistant, is fired by a delusional Lady Clarke, who tells Poirot that she saw Thora talking to a shabbily dressed stranger on the day Carmichael was murdered.

Poirot tells that Carmichael would have been alive, had the Churston letter not gone astray.

Franklin says he cannot prove a thing, but Poirot tells him that his fingerprint was found on one of the keys of typewriter.

Although he lacks Poirot's intellect, Poirot has often complimented Hastings ' ability to remember facts and details about their cases even if he deplores the manner in which Hastings tells the story at times.

Hercule Poirot continues his investigation by interviewing Dr. Ferguson, who tells Poirot that Joyce was once his patient.

Poirot then introduces Hastings to Captain Kent who tells them of the sinking of many U. S. boats after the Japanese earthquake.

Poirot talks to Halliday's wife who tells him that her husband went to Paris on Thursday the 20 July to talk to some people connected with his work among them the notable French scientist Madame Olivier.

However, Poirot tells her that the cigarette he has contains a poisonous dart, and Olivier unties Hastings, who unties Poirot and binds and gags Olivier.

Then Poirot tells Hastings that Abe Ryland is Number 2, an American millionaire.

The arrival of Templeton's adopted son causes a disturbance ; he tells Poirot that he thinks his mother is trying to poison his father.

Poirot pretends to have stomach cramps, and when he is alone with Hastings, he quickly tells him that Templeton's son is number Four, as he dabbed up the crumbs with a small slice of bread at the table.

Poirot tells Linda she is innocent, and not to hate her " next step-mother ".

Eventually, the dancer Mirelle, who was on the train with Derek, tells Poirot she saw Derek leave Ruth's compartment around the time the murder would have taken place.

Arriving at Mon Repos Poirot speaks with the daunting and domineering Lady Astwell who tells him that Sir Reuben's brother and business partner, Victor, is also a guest in the house.

A week later, an acquaintance, Dr Stillingfleet, phones Poirot and tells him that Farley has shot himself.

Poirot tells them all of the reason for the previous visit.

Away from the dig at Dr Reilly's home, Nurse Leatheran tells Poirot the story of Mrs. Leidner's earlier life, her first marriage, its end, and the young brother in law she has not seen in 15 years.

She goes to stay with Miss Lawson, but Poirot tells her to go to a certain hotel, and read some papers he has prepared for her.

After solving a case Poirot has the habit of collecting all people involved into a single room and explaining them the reasoning that led him to the solution, and revealing that the murderer is one of them.

It has been said that twelve cases related in The Labours of Hercules ( 1947 ) must refer to a different retirement, but the fact that Poirot specifically says that he intends to grow marrows indicates that these stories also take place before Roger Ackroyd, and presumably Poirot closed his agency once he had completed them.

Poirot regards Hastings as a poor private detective, not particularly intelligent, yet helpful in his way of being fooled by the criminal or seeing things the way the average man would see them, and for his tendency to unknowingly " stumble " onto the truth.

There have been a number of radio adaptations of the Poirot stories, most recently twenty seven of them on BBC Radio 4 ( and regularly repeated on BBC 7 ), starring John Moffatt ( Maurice Denham and Peter Sallis have also played Poirot on BBC Radio 4, Mr. Denham in The Mystery of the Blue Train and Mr. Sallis in Hercule Poirot's Christmas ).

As there seems to be no conventional way to prove which of them has committed Shaitana's murder, Poirot suggests that the group of sleuths delve into the past and uncover the murders that the dead man thought he knew about.

In Chapter 19, Poirot reflects over his first case on England, where he " brought together two people who loved one another by the simple method of having one of them arrested for murder.

In two of the books in which he appears — The Mysterious Affair at Styles and The ABC Murders — Hastings plays a prominent role in the resolution of the mystery, with a casual observation he makes at one point in the novel leading Poirot to realise the guilty party: By mentioning that Poirot had to straighten some spill holders and ornaments in Styles, he prompts Poirot to realise that someone had moved them, thus allowing Poirot to discover a crucial piece of evidence, and when he suggests that an incorrectly addressed letter revealing the latest crime in ABC Murders was addressed that way on purpose, Poirot realises that the letter had indeed been wrongly addressed deliberately so that it would not be received until after the murderer had committed his crime, revealing that the murderer had attached greater importance to that particular murder, and wanted to be certain that it was committed.

Like those of Miss Lemon and Arthur Hastings, the role of Inspector Japp in Poirot's career has been exaggerated by adaptations of Christie's original novels ; specifically by the TV series Agatha Christie's Poirot, where these characters are often introduced into stories that did not originally feature them.

Poirot calls all those involved together to observe them directly, his habitual method, via Entwhistle.

These Four, working together, aimed at establishing a world dominion, and against them were ranged Hercule Poirot, the little Belgian detective with the egg-shaped head, the green eyes and ' the little gray cells ,' and his friend Hastings.

As Poirot learns from speaking to them during the first half of the novel, none of the quintet has an obvious motive, and while their views of the original case differ in some respects there is no immediate reason to suppose that the verdict in the case was wrong.

Poirot arranges a meeting between them and says that Norton must not speak to anyone further of what he has seen.

Sarah and Lee-Wortley having joined them in the snow, Poirot invites the young man to check Bridget's pulse and he confirms there isn't one.

Punshon of The Guardian, in his review of January 13, 1939, said that Poirot, " by careful and acute reasoning is able to show that a convincing case can be made out against all the members of the family till the baffled reader is ready to believe them all guilty in turn and till Poirot in one of his famous confrontation scenes indicates who is, in fact, the culprit.

But all that never obscures the main theme as Poirot gradually unravels the puzzle of which four bridge-players had murdered their host.

The Mysterious Affair at Styles was adapted as a 103-minute drama and transmitted on ITV in the UK on Sunday September 16, 1990 as a special episode in their series Agatha Christie's Poirot to celebrate the centenary of the author's birth.

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd was adapted as a 103-minute drama transmitted in the U. K. on ITV Sunday January 2, 2000, as a special episode in their series, Agatha Christie's Poirot.

Hastings meets Poirot in Belgium several years before their meeting on 16 July 1916, at Styles Court, Essex, which is their first encounter in literature.

The two remain friends right up to Poirot's death, although there is little evidence regarding their possible meetings between 1937 and 1975, but we know that Hastings at least saw Poirot a year before the latter's death.

James Japp, while being a competent detective, is no match for Poirot ; he frequently finds himself a step behind the great detective but has developed a grudging respect for the man's abilities over their years together.

Japp and Hastings often commiserate on their confusion and inability to keep up with Poirot on cases.

He jokes that Mrs. Poirot and Mrs. Holmes must have collaborated when naming their sons.

Many of the great fictional detectives have their Watson: Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot, for example, is often accompanied by Captain Arthur Hastings.

Knowing their defeat, the three members retreat to a laboratory and Vera decided to bargain with Poirot.

Poirot invites everyone on a picnic to test their vertigo.

As with many of the early Poirot adaptations, the characters of Hastings, Inspector Japp and Miss Lemon had a bigger role in the episode than their roles in the book, with Hastings joining Poirot in the resort, Japp investigating the murder ( a role performed by Colonel Weston in the book ) and Lemon investigating Alice Corrigan's murder.

The novel features Hercule Poirot and Arthur Hastings in their final appearances in Christie's works ( see below ).

In it, Poirot reveals that he wore a false moustache as well as a wig and explains that X was Norton, a man who had perfected the technique of which Iago in Othello ( like a character in Ervine's play ) is master: applying just such psychological pressure as is needed to provoke someone to commit murder, where normally they would let the other live and dismiss their desires as simply the heat of the moment, without anyone ever truly realising what he is doing.

The mystery can be solved at an old English country house called Kings Lacey where it will be arranged for Poirot to join a family there for their Christmas celebrations, supposedly to experience a typical English Christmas.

On Christmas Eve at Kings Lacey, Poirot is told about the other members of their party by Mrs Lacey, his elderly host in the house.

Colin, Michael, and Bridget are disappointed with Poirot as he does not meet their expectations of what a detective should look like.

The next morning, the children carry out their " murder " plan and rouse Poirot from his bed to investigate the " dead " body but the planners get a shock when Poirot confirms that Bridget is indeed dead.

Poirot heard the children planning their " murder " through an open window and used this opportunity to take Lee-Wortley in.

Poirot begins a game of nerves with everyone in the house, extending his stay and searching everyone's bedrooms, much to their annoyance.