In the short story The Second Gong, Lytcham Close is considered as being one of the most famous old houses in England. It is the home of Hubert Lytcham Roche and he rules over his household there in his own eccentric way. At the beginning of the story, Hubert invites Hercule Poirot down for dinner in order to discuss a case he would like investigated. While waiting for Poirot, Hubert causes consternation and breaks with household tradition because he delays dinner by ten minutes because Poirot's train is running late. Hubert then causes even more consternation when he himself is late for dinner. What happens next forms the main plot of the story.