His friend, solicitor Gilbert Entwhistle, asks Hercule Poirot to help solve a riddle and a murder. The riddle has to do with Richard Abernethie's will. It would seem that he changed his will immediately prior to his death, distributing all of his wealth equally among family members but excluding George Abernethie who, in all previous wills, had been the sole beneficiary. The two had supposedly argued recently, but Entwhistle suspects the new will may be a forgery. As for the murder, he would like Poirot to investigate the death of Cora Galaccio, who was violently beaten to death the day after Richard's funeral. She too had inherited from the suspect will, but are the two deaths and the will all part of a greater plot, or is there a simpler explanation?