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 the bourgeois Belgian is one of the stranger aspects of Poirot's world. He first met Poirot in Belgium in 1904 during the Abercrombie Forgery, and later that year joined forces again to hunt down a criminal known as Baron Altara. They also meet in England, where Poirot often helps Japp solve cases and lets him take the credit in return for special favours. These favours usually entail being supplied with cases that would interest him. George is the faithful valet of Hercule Poirot. In addition to these regular characters, it is noteworthy that all the gentlemen in the novels have