Wealthy spinster Emily Arundell writes to Hercule Poirot in the belief she has been the victim of an attempted murder after a fall in her Berkshire home. Her family and household believe she tripped over a ball left by her Wire Fox Terrier Bob. When Poirot receives the letter, he learns she is dead; her physician, Dr Grainger, states her death was from chronic liver problems. While recovering from her earlier fall, she made a new will, which bequeathed her vast fortune and home to her companion, Minnie Lawson.