Poirot's Early Cases is a short story collection written by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by Collins Crime Club in September 1974.

Chief Inspector Japp asks Poirot to assist Scotland Yard in the strange events which took place at a recent costumed Victory Ball.

In the roles of Pierrot and Pierrette were Mr and Mrs Christopher Davidson and finally, Miss "Coco" Courtenay, an actress rumoured to be engaged to Lord Cronshaw, was Columbine.

Eliza accepted the offer and left her job that day to take a train north, giving the solicitor a letter of resignation to deliver to Mrs Todd.

Disguised as the solicitor, Simpson concocted the inheritance as a ruse to get Eliza out of the way and then deliberately failed to deliver her letter to Mrs Todd.

He attempts to flee from England but is soon apprehended trying to board an ocean liner bound for Venezuela, and Davis' body is found in the trunk, in storage at a Glasgow railway station.

Some time later, Mrs Pengelley's body is exhumed and found to contain high levels of arsenic, and her husband is arrested and charged with her murder.

Poirot conjectures that Radnor had intended to take control of the family's money by gaining the confidence of both women, marrying Freda, killing Mrs Pengelley, and framing her husband for the crime.

Horrified that someone inside the house is involved, Mr Waverly sacks all of the staff except Tredwell, his long-time butler, and Miss Collins, his wife's trusted secretary-companion.

Poirot examines the scene of the crime and finds a man's glove holding the safe open and a cigarette case with the initials "BP".

Poirot receives a visit from Prince Paul of Maurania, who wants to marry the dancer Valerie Saintclair, currently under suspicion for the murder of Henry Reedburn, a theatrical impresario.

He deduces that the four family members (parents, son, daughter) set up the bridge game to provide an alibi for themselves, but left one card in the box by mistake.

Poirot and Hastings travel to the home in Northumberland and renew their acquaintance with Hugo, who believes that Ronald is doomed and that the couple's younger son Gerald will inherit.

He had engineered the deaths of the other family members in order to inherit the estate and, having gone mad, was trying to maintain the legend of the curse by killing Ronald; the "sting" was actually a sedative.

Hearing of Lester's invitation to visit the hotel from Wu Ling himself, Pearson set the young man up to take the blame for the murder.

Gracie rode the train past Bristol dressed in similar clothing to the now-dead woman and bought two items from a newsboy, drawing attention to herself in many ways.

Poirot learns that John Wilson, a friend of Paul who had visited him that night, had recently had a prescription filled for tablets of trinitrin (nitroglycerin) in chocolate.

To avenge the death, she stole the tablets, poisoned the last chocolate in Paul's box, and slipped the bottle into M. de Saint Alard's pocket as he left, expecting that his valet would find it and throw it out.

When Ms. Garnett discovers she has lost her key, the two men, Donovan Bailey and Jimmy Faulkener, make their way up through the coal lift and let the women in.

Poirot takes note of a handkerchief hidden in Protheroe's right sleeve, and also of how fresh the room air is despite the closed window and the multiple cigarette stubs in the ashtray and fireplace grate.

Protheroe's true surname is revealed as Wendover; he had been involved with the treacherous sinking of a naval vessel some years earlier and Parker was blackmailing him over the incident.

She found his body on the morning after his argument with Parker and decided to frame the latter as a murderer, moving the gun to Wendover's right hand, closing the window, and locking the door.

Poirot witnessed the early signs of Langton's romance with Molly Deane being rekindled and Harrison leaving a Harley Street consultant having obviously been given bad news.

In disguise, Poirot goes to Lavington's house the next day and finds the box hidden in a hollowed log, at the bottom of a small wood pile in the kitchen.

Poirot explains that he had previously seen John performing card tricks, reflected on Forbes' comments about his music hall experience, and conjectured that he might have been a ventriloquist as well as a magician.

Poirot had guessed that John had a heart condition after finding a prescription for digitalin in Adeline's bag and observing that he exhibited dilated pupils as a side effect of its use, but she did not.

Poirot interviews the local police inspector who tells him that they now know that Miss Barrowby died from a dose of strychnine but the problem is that the victim and her two family members all ate the same meal.

Maurice Richardson in The Observer (22 September 1974) described Hastings as, "so dumb at times he makes Watson look like Leibnitz", and concluded, "Many date from an early period before she found herself as a Mystifier, but all communicate that unique Christie euphoria.

[8][9] The story The Adventure of Johnnie Waverly was adapted as the twelfth episode of season 2 of the French television series Les Petits Meurtres d'Agatha Christie, airing in 2016.

Two of the stories (Plymouth Express and The Adventure of the Clapham Cook) were adapted as 2005 episodes of the Japanese animated television series Agatha Christie's Great Detectives Poirot and Marple.