The Second Gong - a Hercule Poirot Short Story by Agatha Christie..A classic Agatha Christie short story with the diminutive Hercule Poirot at his best. Lytcham Close, one of the oldest stately homes in England, is owned by its last remaining heir. It's a house ruled by his intolerable whims. Old Hubert Lytcham Roche demands complete silence when he plays selected music and dinner is timed exactly with a resounding gong, no matter to trifle with. Be on time for dinner, or don't expect to be invited back, is the motto for guests at Lytcham Close.
Rushing down at hearing the second, or is it the first gong, Joan Ashby is about to find out that not only is dinner delayed, but there will be a sound neither she nor anyone else can explain. Everyone is thrown into disarray when Hubert doesn't show for dinner, and instead a new guest is announced. The new guest is Hercule Poirot himself. What unfolds is a mystery of lovers, Michaelmas daisies, and a death that is not as it appears.
The short story is available individually for the first time as an eBook.
It was previously published in the print anthologies 'The Witness for The Prosecution and Other Stories', and 'Problem at Pollensa Bay and Other Stories'.
