Summary

In the foreword, Captain Hastings assures the readers that even though not all of the narrative has come from his personal account, he can still vouch for everything that is said because he believes his sources and Hercule Poirot, the detective and his friend, has vouched for what has been written by him.

The first chapter details the meeting between Captain Hastings, after he traveled back from South America and Hercule Poirot. Poirot is in retirement and has decided that he only wants to take on interesting cases in the future. In this section, the reader learns that Poirot cares a lot about appearances as he talks about dying his hair. During this meeting, Poirot receives a letter forewarning of a murder to take place in Andover. Hastings thinks this is the work of madman, but Poirot takes is seriously. The...