Prologue

“Your father has been found guilty of blackmail and attempted murder.”
    The Chief Inspector told me. He continued, “He will serve eight years in prison as per the court’s order and thus, all the responsibility to run your family’s hotel falls upon your shoulders from now on.
    I slowly nodded my head, not sure what other course of action should be undertaken in such a situation.
    He got up and left the room. I was now left alone, just with my thoughts. I reflected back to the events which took place during the last couple of months.
    My father was a respected citizen in the town and our hotel, ‘Jennifer’s Palace’ is a tourist favourite, since the last eight to ten years. It was renamed after my mother passed away.
    I was just four-years old then and no matter how hard I try, I can’t recount many memories of my childhood, spent with her.
    My father keeps on saying that her name is lucky for us and the hotel’s popularity has been increasing from the very moment, the name was changed.
    Around two months ago, a millionaire named, Reignald Pricks, came to our hotel due to some business-related work. He didn’t like to talk and never allowed servants to enter his room, even for cleaning purposes.
    This behaviour made my father a bit curious as to what kind of business was he actually doing. He knew for a fact that Mr. Pricks’ firm in the city was just a mediocre one, not so successful as compared to the money he made.
    One day when Mr. Pricks was out due to some confidential meeting, my father secretly entered his room with the 2nd key. He checked his documents which were carelessly scattered all around the room. Rather a silly thing, I believe, not to hide your belongings in a locker or at least, a suitcase.
    A thorough 5-10 minute search confirmed that Mr. Pricks was not just what he claimed to be. Besides being the owner of a small firm, he was also a smuggler. The location of our hotel, near the coast, enabled him to carry out his work easily.
    Instead of immediately informing the police, my father saw his chance to make some money.
    After Mr. Pricks returned back to the hotel that day, my father secretly tackled him. He told him about his newly gained knowledge and it was when the blackmailing began.
    For the course of the next 40-45 days, my father extracted huge amounts of money from him and didn’t allow him to leave the hotel when he wished.
    One day, Mr. Pricks, fed up with my father’s frequent money demands attacked him with all his strength, desperate to get it over with him at any cost. He fought back with full force and soon the whole hotel staff including some guests who were just casually roaming around and got startled by the noise, gathered around them. They were somehow separated and police was immediately called in.
    Both claimed attempt to murder by each other in the court and thus, the verdict gave my father an eight-year imprisonment for his charges, whereas, Mr. Pricks was given a 14-year imprisonment for his crimes and thats how I, a 19-year old boy was now given the responsibility of the hotel. Our reputation was also severely affected by this incident.
    I was still lost in my thoughts when the door opened again and a funny-looking little man, with an egg shaped head, entered the room and said, “Glad to find you here, M. Alfred Moosley. I was looking for you, you see.”
    I replied warmly, “Certainly sir! Make yourself comfortable.”
    And I pointed to the chair, just vacated by the Chief Inspector. He sat down and continued in his polite but impactful voice, “I will be spending my next week in this part of country and I will like to stay in this hotel of yours. So I wished to make an acquaintance with you.”
    There was a certain force in his personality and I couldn’t help admiring him more and more with every passing moment. Normally, I would have simply told anyone to go and check-in at the reception but this man seemed different. Instead, I said, “Nice to meet you too, sir. Your good name, please?”
    He replied with pride, “I am Hercule Poirot.”
    And an UNINTENDED ADVENTURE BEGAN!