Anne's Reviews > The Case of the Missing Will: a Hercule Poirot Short Story

What good is an education?
More specifically, what good is an education for women? <--said Violet Marsh's Uncle Andrew.
When she was orphaned at 14, Violet went to live with her uncle on his farm, and they mostly got along very well.



It wasn't until she decided to further her education that a rift developed between them.
As his only living relative, her uncle had planned to leave his fortune to his niece. However, he told her if she went ahead with this hair-brained idea of more schooling, he'd cut her out of the will.
Violet went to school.



They were still on speaking terms when he died, and he apparently decided to give her a sporting chance to get his money. She had one year to live in his house and prove how clever she was by pitting her smarts against his. If she failed, all of his money went to charity, and she would get diddly-squat. She assumed this meant he's hidden a new will in her favor somewhere on his property.



So what does education do for you?
Well, in Violet's case, it told her to always call in an expert.
Poirot solved the mystery, while Hastings wondered what her uncle would think about the way Violet beat him at his own game.



Originally published in The Sketch magazine in 1923.
Read as part of the short story collections The Early Cases of Hercule Poirot & Poirot Investigates .