Agatha Christie’s The Chocolate Box has Hercule Poirot escorting Chief Inspector Japp to Belgium. Virginie introduces Poirot into the household and he begins interviewing the servants about the meal served on the night of M. Déroulard's death. He suspects poison, but all ate from common serving dishes. In the study where the death occurred, Poirot spots an open but full and untouched box of chocolates. M. Déroulard ate some chocolates every night after dinner, finishing a box on the night of his death. The servant retrieves the empty box. Poirot notices that the lids of the two boxes, one blue and one pink, are switched. As only Déroulard ate the chocolates, the new box should not have been opened yet. His doctor says Saint Alard and Déroulard had argued strenuously that evening, justifying the cause of death. Poirot finds the local chemist who made eye drops for the aged Madame Déroulard, for her cataracts. He finds the "English chemist" who had made up the prescription of trinitrin for John Wilson, small tablets in chocolate to lower blood pressure. Too many tablets at once would prove fatal. This development bothers Poirot. Wilson had the opportunity but not the motive whereas the position is reversed for M. de Saint Alard. Virginie gives Poirot the address of Saint Alard in the Ardennes. In the disguise of a plumber, Poirot breaks into the house and discovers an empty pill bottle from Wilson in the bathroom cupboard. Poirot thinks he has solved the case… You can listen online to free English audiobook “The Chocolate Box” by Agatha Christie on our website.
