Hercule Poirot of Police of Brussels, until "the Great War" (World War I) forced him to leave for England. (In "The Mysterious Affair at Styles" Poirot had retired at age 55 in 1905) I had called in at my friend Poirot's rooms to find him sadly overworked. So much had he become the rage that every rich woman who had mislaid a bracelet or lost a pet kitten rushed to secure the services of the great Hercule Poirot. During World War I, Poirot left Belgium for England as a refugee (although he returned a few times). On 16 July 1916 he again
Recurring characters in the Hercule Poirot stories of the deductions Poirot makes, he never doubts nor discounts them (as, for instance, Japp initially might), no matter how fantastical. "The Man in the Brown Suit" is perhaps the only novel in which the emotional side of Colonel Race's nature has been given consideration. It gives depth to his personality. In the 1978 film of "Death on the Nile" Colonel Race was played by David Niven. In the same book's 2004 TV adaptation for the television series "Agatha Christie's Poirot", he was played by James Fox. As Fox was unavailable for the 2006 adaptation of "Cards on the Table"