- When a Chinese businessman with a map to a long lost silver mine is found dead in Chinatown, Poirot must find the map and killer.
- Hercule Poirot is hired by Lord Pearson, who happens to be the head of the bank where Poirot keeps his accounts, to find Mr. Wu Ling who was to have attended a meeting at the bank that morning, but who has disappeared. The missing man was to sell the bank a deed to a silver mine. When the man is found dead, Poirot finds himself searching for a killer. All of the evidence seems to point to an American, Charles Lester, but Poirot finds that to be just a little too convenient. At home, Poirot and Captain Hastings find themselves involved in a vicious game of Monopoly!—garykmcd
- Hercule Poirot is approached by Lord Pearson, head of Poirot's bank, to find an important client of the bank. Mr Wu Ling was due to meet Lord Pearson and sell he bank a silver mine, but he never appeared. Shortly afterwards, Mr Ling's dead body is discovered, murdered, in Chinatown. Suspicion falls on Charles Lester, a business associate of Mr Ling, but Poirot is not so sure it is him. Meanwhile, Poirot' bank balance has gone into overdraft, resulting in some of his cheques bouncing. More importantly, Poirot and Hastings are engaging in a bitter, seemingly interminable game of Monopoly.—grantss
- Chinese businessman Han Wu Ling has discovered a map leading to the location of a long-lost silver mine. He agrees to sell it to the London and Shanghai Bank, where Lord Pearson has called a meeting of the board of directors in order to purchase the map. But Mr. Wu Ling fails to attend the meeting, and is later found dead in Chinatown. The lead suspect, an American stock investor and speculator, is found with Mr. Wu Ling's passport. But nothing is simple as the investigation leads to opium dens, drugs, gambling, and the seedy underside of life in London.—Spirit
- Poirot informs Hastings that he has no risky investments except for fourteen thousand shares in Burma Mines Ltd, which were given to him for services rendered. He relates the story to Hastings. The lead-silver mines were originally worked only for the silver by the Chinese in the fifteenth century. The lead remained, and is of immense value now. The mine's location was lost; the only clue to its location is in old papers in the hands of a Chinese family. Wu Ling agreed to negotiate a sale of the papers and traveled to England to complete the transaction. Mr. Pearson (Anthony Bate) (Chairman of the London & Shanghai Bank) was to meet Wu Ling at the train in Southampton, but the train was delayed, so Pearson left. He thought Wu Ling made his own way to London where he booked into the Hotel Russell Square and telephoned the company to say that he would see them the next day. He failed to appear at the meeting and the hotel was contacted. They said Wu Ling had gone out earlier with a friend. He still failed to appear at the offices throughout the day. The police were contacted, and the next evening Wu Ling's body was found floating in the Thames.
Poirot investigates people who shared the voyage to England with Wu Ling. He finds that one of them, a young bank clerk called Charles Lester (Colin Stinton), was the man who called for Wu Ling at his hotel on the morning of the disappearance. Mr Lester told a story of having been asked by Wu Ling to call for him at 10:30 am. He claims Wu Ling did not meet him & instead his servant took them to Limehouse (an opium den) where Lester started to get nervous and got out of the taxi before they reached their destination and that was the end of his connection with the affair.
However, Wu Ling had no servant & The taxi driver who took both men to a known opium den said Lester alone emerged looking ill half an hour later. Lester is arrested but the papers about the mine are not found. Pearson and Poirot go to Limehouse and investigate the opium den. Lester is sitting there looking dejected. Poirot claims to Lester that he killed Wu Ling as something was found in his jacket pocket at home, by Lester's wife (Barbara Barnes), which she turned over to Poirot. Lester denies it, & Pearson claims that indeed Lester is the culprit as Wu Ling's passport was found in Lester's jacket. But Poirot clarifies that he never said what was found in Lester's jacket pocket by his wife.
Poirot quickly finds the papers - Pearson has them. He had indeed met Wu Ling in Southampton (there was only his own word that he failed to meet the visitor) and taken him direct to Limehouse where Wu Ling was killed. Pearson wanted to profit from the mine, all by himself and hence wanted to get his hands on the papers from Wu. One of the opium dealers had already been put into the Hotel Russell Square to impersonate Wu Ling. Hearing of Lester's invitation to visit the hotel from Wu Ling himself, Pearson set the young man up to take the blame for the murder. Lester entered the opium den and was drugged & put besides Wu Ling's dead body. When Lester comes to his senses, having only a hazy recollection and losing his nerve, he denies entering the den. Pearson's insistence in taking Poirot to Limehouse was an elaborate charade to divert the detective's suspicions but it had the opposite effect. Pearson is arrested and Poirot becomes a shareholder in a Burmese mine.
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