The Curious Affair at Styles

The Mysterious Affair at Styles is Agatha Christie's very first novel. In this book, published in 1920, the reader meets for the first time the most famous detective of the 20th century, the mustachioed Belgian Hercule Poirot, as well as his friend and assistant Hastings. It was here that Poirot was first given the opportunity to demonstrate his deductive abilities and solve a mysterious crime (the poisoning of Mrs. Inglethorp, mistress of the Stiles estate), relying on well-known facts.

“The Big Four”

Into the house Hercule Poirot is broken into by an emaciated man in a soiled suit. He's barely alive. A few drops of cognac bring him to his senses. A man is trying to explain something, but he only has enough strength to write a large number “4” on a piece of paper several times...