Poirot turns his attention to the reappearance of the diamond ring, and confronts Valerie Hobhouse, in whose soup the ring was found. He claims the poisons were carefully disposed of, but cannot be sure that the morphine was not stolen from him while it was in his possession. Nigel Chapman admits to having stolen the stethoscope in order to pose as a doctor and steal some morphine tartrate from the hospital dispensary as part of a bet to acquire three deadly poisons (the other two being digitalin and hyoscine). Inspector Sharpe solves the mystery of the stolen stethoscope during his interviews with the inhabitants of the hostel.
The more important incidents which Celia denied committing remain unsolved. It doesn't take investigators long to see through attempts to make her death seem like suicide. Celia is discovered dead the following morning from an overdose of morphine. She makes restitution for the crimes and is seemingly reconciled with her victims. She appears to have committed the lesser thefts to attract the attention of Colin McNabb, a psychology student who regarded her as an interesting case study, but then almost immediately becomes engaged to her. She denies, however, the following: stealing Nigel Chapman's green ink and using it to deface Elizabeth Johnston's work taking the stethoscope, the light bulbs and boracic powder and cutting up and concealing a rucksack. Poirot’s solution of the petty thefts is unsubtle but effective: once he has threatened to call in the police, Celia Austin quickly confesses to the pettier incidents. (may contain spoilers - click on expand to read) This is nevertheless one of her most tenuous links to the original nursery rhyme, consisting of little more than the name of a road. The title is taken, as are other of Christie's titles, from a nursery rhyme: Hickory Dickory Dock. It is nevertheless not long before the crime of theft is the least of Poirot’s concerns. But when he sees the bizarre list of stolen and vandalized items - including a stethoscope, some lightbulbs, some old flannel trousers, a box of chocolates, a slashed rucksack, some boracic powder and a diamond ring later found in a bowl of a soup - he congratulates the warden, Mrs Hubbard, on a 'unique and beautiful problem'.
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