Poirot is keen on an Art Deco mirror, but is outbid at auction by Gervase Chevenix who asks Poirot to find out if he is being defrauded - offering him the mirror as a fee. Poirot travels down to Chevenix's house, but, before he can begin the fraud investigation, his client is found shot dead and his "fee" shattered into a thousand pieces. A note beside the body which reads simply "sorry" is Poirot's only obvious piece of evidence.