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
Hercule Poirot of the story, set in modern times, was played for comedy, with Poirot investigating the murders while evading the attempts by Hastings (Robert Morley) and the police to get him out of England and back to Belgium. Albert Finney played Poirot in 1974 in the cinematic version of "Murder on the Orient Express". As of today, Finney is the only actor to receive an Academy Award nomination for playing Poirot, though he did not win. Peter Ustinov played Poirot six times, starting with "Death on the Nile" (1978). He reprised the role in "Evil Under the Sun" (1982) and "Appointment