The Labours of Hercules is a short story collection written by Agatha Christie and first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in 1947 and in the UK by Collins Crime Club in September of the same year. The US edition retailed at $2.50 and the UK edition at eight shillings and sixpence (8/6, 42½p). It features the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot and gives an account of twelve cases with which he intends to close his career as a private detective. His regular associates (his secretary, Miss Felicity Lemon, and valet, George/Georges) make cameo appearances, as does Chief Inspector Japp. The stories were all first published in periodicals, all but one during 1939 and 1940. (The lone exception was initially published in 1947.) In the foreword, Poirot declares that he will carefully choose the cases to conform to the mythological sequence of the Twelve Labours of Hercules. In some cases (such as "The Nemean Lion"), the connection is a highly tenuous one, while in others the choice of case is more or less forced upon Poirot by circumstances. By the end, "The Capture of Cerberus" has events that correspond with the twelfth labour with almost self-satirical convenience.
Plot summaries
Foreword Hercule Poirot is enjoying a social visit by Dr. Burton, a fellow of All Souls, who recites sonorously some lines from Homer's Iliad (XXIII, 316 f) and turns the conversation round to the subject of Poirot's unusual Christian name and how some of the pagan names parents give to their children do not suit their recipients. He thinks about Poirot's and Sherlock Holmes's mothers sitting together and discussing names for their children. Poirot claims ignorance of the legend of Hercules. The talk turns to Poirot's intention to retire after completing a few cases of interest and personal appeal and Burton laughingly refers to the twelve labours of Hercules. This comment gives Poirot pause for thought and after his visitor has gone, Poirot gets acquainted with the exploits of his legendary namesake, deciding his final cases will mimic Hercules' Twelve Labours.
The Nemean Lion Miss Lemon, Poirot's secretary, finds the first of the labours in a letter from a bluff outspoken businessman, Sir Joseph Hoggin, whose wife's Pekingese dog has been kidnapped. Poirot meets Hoggin, who tells him the dog was taken a week ago but returned for a ransom of two hundred pounds. Hoggin would have left the matter there but for the fact that the same thing had happened to an acquaintance at his club. Poirot meets the petulant Lady Hoggin and her put-upon companion, Miss Amy Carnaby, who is clearly frightened of her employer. Miss Carnaby took the yapping dog, Shan-Tung (described by Poirot as "a veritable lion"), for his walk in the park and she stopped to admire a baby in the pram. When she looked down, someone had cut the dog's leash and it had been taken. A ransom note said to leave the money in notes in an envelope for a Captain Curtis at an address in Bloomsbury. Poirot begins his investigations. Having ascertained the name of Miss Carnaby's previous employer, Lady Hartingfield who died a year before, he visits her niece who confirms Lady Hoggin's view of Miss Carnaby's lack of intellect but essential good qualities, looking after an invalid sister and being good with dogs, so much so that Lady Hartingfield left her Pekingese to her. Poirot interviews the park keeper who remembers the incident of the kidnap. He then investigates the address to which the ransom money was sent and finds it is a cheap hotel where letters are often left for non-residents. His third visit is to the wife of the man that Hoggin met at his club who gives a very similar story to that told by Lady Hoggin as to the method of kidnap and ransom demand. His last visit is back to Sir Joseph to report on progress, where he observes that Sir Joseph's relationship with his blonde secretary is not exactly on a professional level. Poirot sends his valet out investigating and finds an address which confirms Poirot's suspicions of where it would be and what he would find there. Poirot visits it and finds Miss Carnaby, her invalid sister, Emily, and a Pekingese dog, Augustus. They are part of a scam run by women who are companions to rich and ungrateful ladies. These women are poorly paid, without talent and will be cast adrift when they get older. The dog that is taken out for a walk is their own, Augustus, who is let off his lead and is able to find his way back to the sister's flat unaided, thus providing witnesses to the "crime". The "subject" of the kidnap is held at the sister's flat and its owner told of the ransom. Quite often it is the companion who is sent with the envelope of pound notes which goes into a general pool for all the companions involved in the scheme. Miss Carnaby feels guilty for her crime but excuses it on the basis of the way they are treated by their employers – only the other day Lady Hoggin accused her of tampering with her tonic as it tasted unpleasant. Poirot tells them their activities must stop and that the money must be returned to Lady Hoggin, although he is sure that he will be able to persuade her husband not to involve the police. Poirot meets Sir Joseph and offers two alternatives: prosecute the criminal (whom he does not name), in which case he will lose his money, or just take the money and call the case closed. The greedy Sir Joseph agrees to the latter option and takes Poirot's cheque. The detective turns the conversation round to murder cases and tells a rattled Sir Joseph that he reminds him of a Belgian murderer who poisoned his wife to marry his secretary. Poirot's meaning is quite clear and the shaken man gives Poirot his cheque back, telling him to keep the money. Poirot sends it back to the Misses Carnaby, telling them that it is the final contribution to their fund before it is wound up. Meanwhile, Lady Hoggin tells her relieved husband that her tonic no longer tastes so bitter.
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