Alan (the Lone Librarian) Teder’s Reviews > Poirot's Early Cases > Status Update

11. The Veiled Lady *** Poirot is asked to retrieve a compromising letter from the hands of a blackmailer. Story first published as The Case of the Veiled Lady in The Sketch on 3 October 3, 1923 – Issue 1601.

10. The Chocolate Box **** Poirot tells Hastings the story of his only failure, which occurred when he was with the Belgian police. Story first published as The Clue of the Chocolate Box in The Sketch on May 23, 1923 – Issue 1582.

9. The Plymouth Express **** Poirot is asked by an American steel magnate to solve the murder of his daughter whose body was found on a train. Story first published as The Mystery of the Plymouth Express in The Sketch on April 4, 1923 – Issue 1575. The story was later expanded into the novel The Mystery of the Blue Train (Hercule Poirot #6 1928).

8. The Lost Mine *** Poirot tells Hastings the story of how he recovered the map of a lost mine after its owner was found murdered. Story first published in The Sketch on November 21, 1923 – Issue 1608.

7. The Lemesurier Inheritance *** The Lemesurier family is haunted by a curse that the first-born will never inherit the family title and estate. A mother asks Poirot to intervene in order to save her first-born son. Story first published in The Sketch on December 18, 1923 – Issue 1612.

6. The King of Clubs *** A dancer escapes from a murder and bursts into a house where the family is playing bridge. The Crown Prince who plans to marry her asks Poirot to assure him that the dancer herself is innocent. Story first published as The Adventure of the King of Clubs in The Sketch on March 21, 1923 – Issue 1573.

5. The Double Clue *** Poirot is asked to look into a jewelry theft where there are only 4 suspects but two clues are left behind which implicate different people. Also, Poirot meets his equivalent of “the woman” (i.e. a Sherlock Holmes allusion)? Story first published in The Sketch on December 5, 1923 – Issue 1610.

4. The Adventure of Johnnie Waverly **** A young boy is kidnapped from the Waverly Estate and the parents ask Poirot to investigate. He suspects an inside job. Story first published as The Kidnapping of Johnnie Waverly in The Sketch on October 10, 1923 – Issue 1602.

3. The Cornish Mystery **** A woman from Cornwall comes to London and asks Poirot to look into her husband whom she suspects is poisoning her. Poirot & Hastings arrive in Cornwall only to learn that the woman is dead from poisoning. The husband is arrested but Poirot has doubts about it. Story first published in The Sketch November 28, 1923 – Issue 1609.

2. The Adventure of Clapham Cook **** A matron asks Poirot to find her missing cook, meanwhile 50,000 £ have disappeared from a London bank along with a bank clerk. Story first published in The Sketch November 14, 1923 – Issue 1607.