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
The Adventure of the Clapham Cook (short story) The Adventure of the Clapham Cook (short story) "The Adventure of the Clapham Cook" is a short story by crime fiction writer Agatha Christie. It features the writer's famous detective Hercule Poirot and his companion Captain Arthur Hastings. The story was first published in 1924 in the British weekly journal, "The Sketch", as part of the series, "The Grey Cells of M. Poirot II". It also was featured in a collection of short stories entitled "The Second Omnibus of Crime" by author Dorothy L. Sayers first published in 1932. It first appeared in book form in the U.S. in 1951