A wealthy banker, Mathew Davenheim, disappears. He was last seen by his wife, leaving the grounds of his home. Suspicion falls on the head of Mr Davenheim's long-time business rival Gerald Lowen. Chief Inspector Japp gets Poirot involved in the case. However, due to some intellectual bravado by Poirot, he and Japp have a wager that Poirot can't solve the case without leaving his flat, resulting in Poirot being confined to his flat for seven days. This leaves Hastings to gather the clues, and we know how good a sleuth he is... Meanwhile, in between trying to solve the case, Poirot is working on conjuring tricks and looking after a friend's parrot.