Hercule Poirot met his lifelong friend, Captain Arthur Hastings, and solved the first of his cases to be published, "The Mysterious Affair at Styles". It is clear that Hastings and Poirot are already friends when they meet in Chapter 2 of the novel, as Hastings tells Cynthia that he has not seen him for "some years". Particulars such as the date of 1916 for the case and that Hastings had met Poirot in Belgium, are given in "Curtain: Poirot's Last Case", Chapter 1. After that case, Poirot apparently came to the attention of the British secret service and undertook cases for the
Recurring characters in the Hercule Poirot stories and showing unwavering loyalty towards Poirot. When forced to choose between Poirot and his wife in that novel, he chose Poirot. The two were an airtight team until Hastings met and married Dulcie Duveen, a beautiful music hall performer he met in "The Murder on the Links". They later emigrated to Argentina, leaving Poirot behind a "very unhappy old man". A mystery writer who is loosely based on Agatha Christie herself. Poirot's secretary, Miss Lemon, has few human weaknesses. The only two mistakes she is ever recorded making are a typing error in "Hickory Dickory Dock" and the mismailing of