This is a brief but effective description of Hercule Poirot, the detective created by Agatha Christie, in his first adventure, The Mysterious Affair at Styles.
[…]Poirot was an extraordinary looking little man. He was hardly (a mala pena) more than five feet, four inches, but carried himself (incedeva) with great dignity. His head was exactly the shape (forma) of an egg, and he always perched it (la faceva pendere) a little on one side. His moustache (baffi) was very stiff (rigidi) and military. The neatness (precision) of his attire was almost incredible. I believe a speck (un pulviscolo) of dust (polvere) would have caused him more pain (dolore) than a bullet wound (ferita di un proiettile). Yet this quaint (vecchio stile) dandified (dandy) little man who, I was sorry to see (mi spiaceva notare), now limped (zoppicava) badly, had been in his time one of the most celebrated members of the Belgian police. As a detective, his flair (eleganza) had been extraordinary, and he had achieved (raggiunto) triumphs by unravelling (risolvendo) some of the most baffling (misteriosi) cases of the day […]