A classic Poirot mystery read by Hugh Fraser.

An outbreak of kleptomania at students hostel was not normally the sort of crime that aroused Hercule Poirot’s interest. However when he noticed the list of taken and vandalized products – including a stethoscope, some outdated flannel trousers, a container of chocolates, a slashed rucksack and a band within a plate of soup – he congratulated the warden, Mrs Hubbard, on a ‘exclusive and beautiful issue’.

The list produced zero sense whatsoever. But, reasoned Poirot, if this is merely a petty thief at work, why was everyone at the hostel so frightened?