The Mysterious Affair at Styles

Imagination is a good servant, and a bad master.

Nevertheless, in view of the world-wide notoriety which attended it, I have been asked, both by my friend Poirot and the family themselves, to write an account of the whole story. This, we trust, will effectually silence the sensational rumours which still persist.
I will therefore briefly set down the circumstances which led to my being connected with the affair.

We had a good yarn about old times, and it ended in his inviting me down to Styles to spend my leave there.

Every mur­derer is prob­ably some­body’s old friend

“I did not de­ceive you, mon ami. At most, I per­mit­ted you to de­ceive your­self.”

when you find that people are not telling you the truth—look out!

Everything must be taken into ac­count. If the fact will not fit the the­ory—let the the­ory go.

“You gave too much rein to your ima­gin­a­tion. Ima­gin­a­tion is a good ser­vant, and a bad mas­ter. The simplest ex­plan­a­tion is al­ways the most likely.”

“In­stinct is a mar­vel­lous thing,” mused Poirot. “It can neither be ex­plained nor ig­nored.”

These few words—and everything’s changed.’ And then she says to me: ‘Never trust a man, Dor­cas, they’re not worth it!’