Mrs Todd from Clapham comes to ask Hercule Poirot if he will help her find her cook Eliza who has disappeared. Poirot is at first insulted by such a trivial request for his talents, but then decides the case could be intriguing. As usual, his instincts are correct and soon uncovers an elaborate plot to hide an ever darker crime.

Captain Hastings points out to Poirot that the noise of fireworks on Guy Fawkes night would provide the ideal opportunity for a murder. Little does he know that his Mews garage will become the setting for a murder inquiry more complex than the gunpowder plot.

Poirot is called in to investigate a series of kidnap threats against the three year old son of a wealthy aristocrat. Once installed at Waverly Court, Poirot becomes suspicious about the child's parents - especially when the servants are suddenly dismissed. The absence of a cook forces Poirot and Hastings to look elsewhere for a decent meal which in turn leads to vital information about the planned kidnap.

Poirot is dining out at a London chop house one evening when eminent artist Henry Gasgcoine enters the restaurant for his customary dinner. The next morning, Poirot is intrigued to read in the newspaper that the painter has been found dead. When a post-mortem reveals that Gasgcoine died after eating only a little food, Poirot concludes that the man he saw dining in the restaurant could not have been Gasgcoine at all.

Poirot discovers a murder in his own block of flats, and goes on the trail of boisterous neighbours and strange nocturnal noises in the lift shaft.

Hercule Poirot is holidaying at the Palace Hotel in Rhodes. He and his fellow guests are interested in the arrival of famous and beautiful divorcee Valentine, accompanied by her fifth husband. They can't help but notice how Valentine immediately starts flirting with a good looking man who arrives the same day - much to the public displeasure of her husband. Just as Poirot finishes his holiday and prepares to leave he is called back to the hotel. After drinking a pink gin with the other guests, Valentine is dead.