‘The Lost Mine’ was first published in The Sketch, 21 November 1923. I laid down my bank book with a sigh. ‘It is a curious thing,’ I observed, ‘but my overdraft never seems to grow any less.’ ‘And it perturbs you not? Me, if I had an overdraft, never should I close my eyes all night,’ declared Poirot. ‘You deal in comfortable balances, I suppose!’ I retorted. ‘Four hundred and forty-four pounds, four and fourpence,’ said Poirot with some complacency. ‘A neat figure, is it not?’
