Labors of Hercules

I've travelled the world twice over,

Met the famous: saints and sinners,

Poets and artists, kings and queens,

Old stars and hopeful beginners,

I've been where no-one's been before,

Learned secrets from writers and cooks

All with one library ticket

To the wonderful world of books.

© JANICE JAMES.

THE LABOURS OF HERCULES

A modern "Labours of Hercules33 - it was an idea that appealed to Hercule Poirot.

In the period before his retirement, he decided to undertake twelve cases with special reference to the twelve

labours of ancient Hercules.

Amusing and original, each case

more baffling than the last, we

guarantee the Labours of Hercules

will test the wits of the most ingenious

armchair detective.

AGATHA CHRISTIE

THE LABOURS

OF HERCULES

Complete and Unabridged

,vw^

Q

| ULVERSCROFT

Leicester

First Published 1947

First Large Print Edition

published April 1978

by arrangement with

Collins, London & Glasgow

and

Dodd, Mead & Company Inc.

New York

Reprinted 1990

© Agatha Christie, 1947

British Library CIP Data

Christie, Agatha 18901976

Labours of Hercules--Large print ed.-(Ulverscroft large print series: mystery) I. Title

823'.912 [F]

ISBN 0 7089 01190

ETOBICOKE

PUBLIC UBRARIE5

LONG BRAf .»

Published by IF . A. Thorpe (Publishing) Ltd.

Anstey, Leicestershire

Printed and bound in Great Britain by

T. J. Press (Padstow) Ltd., Padstow, Cornwall

To

EDMUND CORK

OF WHOSE LABOURS ON BEHALF

OF HERCULE POIROT I AM

DEEPLY APPRECIATIVE

THIS BOOK IS AFFECTIONATELY

DEDICATED

CONTENTS

Foreword page i

^ i. The Nemean Lion 13

2. The Lemean Hydra 58

^ 3. The Arcadian Deer 102

i 4. The Erymanthian Boar 134

5. The Augean Stables 173

^ 6. The Stymphalean Birds 206

7. The Cretan Bull 243

^ 8. The Horses of Diomedes 291

i/9. The Girdle of Hyppolita 325

10. The Flock of Geryon353

^ii. The Apples of the Hesperides 389

i2. The Capture of Cerberus 419

•'

FOREWORD

ERCULE POIROTS flat was essentially

modem in its furnishings.

It gleamed with chromium. Its

easy-chairs, though comfortably padded, were square and uncompromising in outline.

H

On one of these chairs sat Hercule

Poirot, neatly --in the middle of the

chair. Opposite him, in another chair, sat

Dr. Burton, Fellow of All Souls, sipping

appreciatively at a glass of Poirot's

Chateau Mouton Rothschild. There was

no neatness about Dr. Burton. He was

plump, untidy, and beneath his thatch of

white hair beamed a rubicund and benign

countenance. He had a deep wheezy

chuckle and the habit of covering himself

and everything round him with tobacco

ash. In vain did Poirot surround him with

ashtrays.

Dr. Burton was asking a question. 'Tell me," he said. "Why Hercule ?"

"You mean, my Christian name ?"

"Hardly a Christian name," the other

demurred. "Definitely pagan. But why?

That's what I want to know. Father's

fancy? Mother's whim? Family reasons?

If I remember rightly --though my memory

isn't what it was --you had a brother

called Achille, did you not ?"

Poirot's mind raced back over the

details of Achille Poirot's career. Had all