Albert Aachen, a clown with a unique diving act, is found dead, the murder weapon happens to be a poison dart.

When a woman named Betty Barnard becomes the next victim, detective Hercule Poirot suspects that Sir Carmichael Clarke could be in grave danger.

As Poirot and Captain Hastings look into the crimes, a beautiful woman with an interesting monogram named Amanda Beatrice Cross becomes the focus of their investigation, at least until she leaps into the Thames.

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Depressingly unfunny comedy-thriller: though directed by Tashlin, virtually none of the misadventures encountered by Poirot during the course of his case raise even the slightest smile.

"[5] TCM calls Randall's Poirot "an Inspector Clouseau-style bumbler", noting that the second installment of the Pink Panther series had been well-received the previous year.