Hercule Poirot returns home to find an angry woman waiting to berate him outside his front door. Her name is Sylvia Rule, and she demands to know why Poirot has accused her of the murder of Barnabas Pandy. Poirot has no idea what she’s talking about and has never even heard of this man. Shaken, Poirot goes inside, only to find that he has a visitor waiting for him --- a man called John McCrodden, who also claims to have received a letter from Poirot that morning, accusing him of the murder of Barnabas Pandy. Poirot wonders how many more letters of this sort have been sent in his name. Who sent them, and why? More importantly, who is Barnabas Pandy, is he dead, and, if so, was he murdered?