Poirot Bk3: Poirot Investigates (1/11)

The Adventure of the Western Star

Mystery: The precious jewel, 'The Western Star', which was insured with 50,000pounds, was stolen. Prior to it's disappearance, there were three letters suggesting that the previous owner wants it back. The letters were believed to be from a chinaman, who was originally the keeper of the jewel, which was known to be the left eye the temple of God.

The tale of the Western Star: Two precious stones came out from the eyes of God. The left eye is called the Western Star and it shall travel around the world in west direction, while the right eye, known to be the Eastern Star, travels in east direction. When the two jewels meet again, God will come and take both of them back. Now the two jewels have arrived in England and a mysterious chinaman came to warn the owners in letters that the jewels will be taken from them.

1st Victim- Lady Yardly, the owner of the Eastern Star.
-> She was wearing a necklace with the precious Jewel on it. Just before she was about to enter the living room, she was robbed by a Chinaman from the back of the door. The robber must have pulled her while Lady Yardly's hand was on the door knob, such that Lady Yardly banged the door when she was being pulled. The robber took out the Eastern Star and threw the necklace on the floor. A small piece of a chinese looking garment was caught by the backdoor where the robber fled from.

2nd Victim- Mr Rolf, a fiance of Miss Mary Marwell. The owner of the Western Star.
-> Mr Rolf kept the Western Star in a safe deposit in the hotel. The Hotel worker, who was in charge of safe guarding the Western Star, withdrew the Jewel for a man whom he was mistaken to be Mr Rolf. On the hotel staff's account, the man had produced a signature which was identical to Mr Rolf.

Suspects:
1) The Chinaman-> He was trying to claim back the jewel. The whole story of the Western and Eastern Star could be a hoax and he was after the two expensive jewels or his purpose of helping God to recover his eyes, genuinely true. He could also try to get the jewel at a cheaper cost by coming out with the tales. Lord Yardly was willing to sell the jewel a tenth of its' originally value. No one has ever seen him, except for Lady Yardly who has seen his pigtail.
2) The owner of the Jewels, especially Mr Rolf-> they could have stolen the jewels themselves and ask for compensation from the insurance company of 50,000 pounds for the jewel being stolen by the chinaman.

Leads:
-> Lady Yardly came to Hasting with regards to the Jewel and Hastings shared with her the threatening letters from the Chinaman. Lady Yardly produced the same stories about receiving the letters from Chinaman, however she claimed that she had destroyed those letters.
-> The news about the lost of the Eastern star was published on the Newspaper. Shortly after the publish, the Western star was too reported to be lost.
-> Mr Rolf was not in a very good relationship with Miss Mary Marwell.