happened to an acquaintance at his club. Poirot meets the petulant Lady Hoggin and her put-upon companion, Miss Amy Carnaby, who is clearly frightened of her employer. Miss Carnaby took the yapping dog, Shan-Tung (described by Poirot as "a veritable lion"), for his walk in the park and she stopped to admire a baby in the pram. When she looked down, someone had cut the dog's leash and it had been taken. A ransom note said to leave the money in notes in an envelope for a Captain Curtis at an address in Bloomsbury. Poirot begins his investigations. Having ascertained the name of Miss Carnaby's previous employer, Lady Hartingfield who died a year before, he visits her niece who confirms Lady Hoggin's view of Miss Carnaby's lack of intellect but essential good qualities, looking after an invalid sister and being good with dogs, so much so that Lady Hartingfield left her Pekingese to her. Poirot interviews the park keeper who remembers the incident of the kidnap. He then investigates the address to which the ransom money was sent and finds it is a cheap hotel where letters are often left for non-residents. His third visit is to the wife of the man that Hoggin met at his club who gives a very similar story to that told by Lady Hoggin as to the method of kidnap and ransom demand. His last visit is back to Sir Joseph to report on progress, where he observes that Sir Joseph's relationship with his blonde secretary is not exactly on a professional level. Poirot sends his valet out investigating and finds an address which confirms Poirot's suspicions of where it would be and what he would find there. Poirot visits it and finds Miss Carnaby, her invalid sister, Emily and a Pekingese dog, Augustus. They are part of a scam run by women who are companions to rich and ungrateful ladies. These women are poorly paid, without talent and will be cast adrift when they get older. The dog that is taken out for a walk is their own, Augustus, who is let off his lead and is able to find his way back to the sister's flat unaided, thus providing witnesses to the "crime". The "subject" of the kidnap is held at the sister's flat and its owner told of the ransom. Quite often it is the companion who is sent with the