rival would be hanged for murder. Poirot's earlier conversation included several traps, including the time of Langton's appointment. Poirot already knew Langton was due to return at eight-thirty but Harrison said it was nine, by which time he hoped to have committed the deed. Having realised and repented of what he would have done, Harrison expresses his gratitude for Poirot having visited and spoiled his plans. "The Veiled Lady" Poirot tells Hastings that the criminals of England fear him too much, so he has no cases. Hastings describes a recent theft from a jeweller's shop window in Bond Street. The perpetrator was arrested on the spot. However, they found paste copies of the six stolen stones on him. He had already passed the real jewels to an accomplice. A heavily veiled lady arrives. She identifies herself as Lady Millicent Castle Vaughan, whose engagement to the Duke of Southshire was recently announced. At age sixteen she wrote an indiscreet letter to a soldier. The letter would surely anger her fiancé, and it is now in the possession of Mr Lavington. He is demanding twenty thousand pounds for its return, a sum she cannot afford. She went to Lavington's house in Wimbledon to plead with him. He showed her the letter in a Chinese puzzle box and says he keeps in a place she will never find. Lavington calls on Poirot, but laughs at his request to return the letter. He leaves for Paris, giving Lady Millicent several days to pay up. Poirot goes to Lavington's house the next day. He calls in the morning, dressed as a man hired to affix burglarproof locks on the window. He saws through the sash latch of a window and breaks in that night with Hastings. After a long search, Poirot finds the box hidden in a hollowed log, at the bottom of a small wood pile in the kitchen. The next day, Lady Millicent calls for the letter. She also insists on the puzzle box as a souvenir but Poirot prevents her taking it. Then, he reveals a hidden compartment in the box holding the six missing jewels from the Bond Street robbery. The fake letter was a red herring for anyone who found the puzzle box. Japp appears from another room and identifies the lady as "Gertie", an accomplice of Lavington, whose real name was Reed. Reed was killed in Holland a few