Poirot Bk3: Poirot Investigates (11/11)

The case of the missing will

Mystery:
-> Miss violet Marsh's uncle, Andrew's extraordinary will went missing.

Terms of the WIll:
1)Miss violet will inherit all of Andrew's fortune. - "During which Miss Violet Marsh may prove her wits"
2) All Andrew's fortune will be pass to various charitable institution. -"Andrew's wits will be proved better than Miss Violet Marsh.

=> Bottomline of the will is a spite. Miss violet needs to prove that she can outwit Andrew, so that she can get the inheritance, if not, the fortune will go to charity.

The story between the niece and uncle:
- Miss violet's parents died early during her childhood years.
- Andrew,her uncle, who was successful in agriculture business, took care of Violet
- Andrew was skeptic about girls studying in school, he thought girls should stay at home to do household chores
- However, Violet wanted to pursue studies and took up a scholarship.
- Andrew vowed that he can pit his wits against his niece anytime.

How did the will go missing?
- The old will would have left everything to the charity and was kept by the lawyers.
- The new will was testified by his housekeepers, Mr and Mrs Bakers, that his fortune would be given to Violet.
- Andrew had asked Mr Bakers to buy 2 printed will-form.
- Andrew wrote on one and made a mistake, so he tore it up and wrote again in the second printed will-form.
- Mr bakers brought the new will to the solicitor.
- However, when the solicitor searched for the will of Andrew, he could only find the old will.

Suspects, who might have stolen the will:
1) Mr Andrew Marsh-> If the story told by Miss Violet Marsh is true, it is possible for Mr Andrew Marsh to plot some methods to make his new will which is to leave everything to Violet disappears. And the old will that leaves everything to charity take into action. Hopefully, Poirot can find the new will assuming that the new will is searchable and that Mr Andrew never played a cheat to destroy the new will. Thus proving that himself will be smarter than his niece eventually.

2) Miss Violet Marsh-> could have managed to ask the Bakers family to fake their testimony on Andrew's new will. Probably, there wasn't any new will. Being the only person with blood ties, with Andrew, was upset about the Andrew not leaving anything to her. However, Violet claimed to be disinterested in the inheritance, since she had not done according to Andrew's wishes and Andrew had the rights to give his fortune to anyone he wished.

3) Mr and Mrs Bakers-> could have stolen the new will or in cahoot with Miss Violet. However, there wasn't any difference in their inheritance in old and new will. Mrs Bakers seemed to have better mind than her husband and was able to tell the details of new will by relating to other activities.

4) Employed workman from Plymouth-> had the opportunity to go to Mr Andrew's study room. However they provided valid and important information about Mr Andrew's study, that there was a secret compartment in the study which could be accessed by the switches.

Leads:
- The wills were written very clearly with date and the time of writting. If a will was written half an hour later, would render the older will useless.
- Poirot found an envelope but it was too small to contain the large will-form.

Poirot Bk3: Poirot Investigates (10/11)

The Adventure of the Italian Noblemen

Murdered:
Court Foscatini-> made a phone call to Dr Hawker and said that he had been killed. Dr Hawker, Poirot and Hasting rushed to Court Foscatini's apartment and found him dead.
-> was dealt with a terrible blow on the head by a marble statue
-> hand was grasping the telephone.
-> (On Mr Graves' account) was expected to have dinner with 2 other Italian men.
-> The murder time was speculated at 8:47pm. The autopsy of the body, the stopped clock and the phonecall timing were consistent.

Court Foscatini's dinning table:
-> a dish of fruit, but the 3 dessert playes were untouched.
-> 3 Coffee cups with remains of very black coffee in them
-> a box containing cigars and cigarettes stood on the table

Suspects:
1) Signor Ascanio and a young man-> Signor Ascanio is a Man of forty. Both were dinning with Court Foscatini.
- (On Mr Graves' account, Court Foscatini was going to settle the dispute among them, on the evening dinner of the day of murder.)
- No one saw them entering or leaving the hotel other than Mr Graves
- denied of having met Court Foscatini on the day he died
- had given Court Foscatini a large sum of money in exchange of the documents incriminating papers of a great man in Italy.
2) Mr Graves-> Court Foscatini's assistant
- had left Court Foscatini's room at about 8.30pm to meet a friend for a music concert in Edgware Road.

Curious:
- (On Signor's account, Foscatini was not a court, his name did not appear in the Almanach de Gotha.

Curious:
- Can a guy being stone on the head, on the verge of dying, could make a phone call?

Leads:
- Court Foscatini did not have coffee stained teeth.

Poirot Bk3: Poirot Investigates (9/11)

The disappearance of Mr Davenheim

Mystery:
Mr Davenheim-> a great financier and an owner of his bank- Davenheim Bank
-> Disappeared after returning home to take an envelope containing some document to meet his client Mr Lowen
-> was a man with balding head and thick beard
-> No one has seen Mr Davenheim and his body wasn't found.
-> His jacket was found in a lake quite a distance from his house
-> His automobile was still left in the garage, if he had taken another mode of transport, surely he would be seen by some people.
-> Mr Lowen had come to Mr Davenheim's house looking for Mr Davenheim after the first day of Mr Davenheim's disappearance.
-> The safe containing the precious jewel was broken in, and it was discovered after Mr Lowen came to the house.

Abnormal behaviour of Mr Davenheim before disappearance:
-> Mr Davenheim had not shared the same room as his wife since 3 months ago.
-> Mr Davenheim was physically less affectionate towards his wife
-> However, Mr Davenheim always brought precious jewels for his wife from business trip

Suspects:
1) Mr Davenheim ran away unnoticed-> Hardly the case because Mr Davenheim was a well known finanical figure.
2) Billy Kellert-> a thug
- had in possession of Mr Davenheim's seal gold ring and tried to pawn it.
- had assaulted a police officer and went to jail for 3 months.- saw a man with big moustache and dark complexion coming along the road to the village, throwing a small object over the hedge
- the description of the man fits Mr Lowen.
- went over and found Mr Davenheim's ring
-> seems to be more a thief than an apparent murderer
-> was out of the prison recently and could not possibly make up a fake story which has a perfecting fitting description of Mr Lowen
-> nevertheless Billy Kellert was a baddie.

3) Mr Lowen, Mr Davenheim's business client who was supposed to meet Mr Davenheim.
- However Mr Lowen claimed that he did not managed to meet Mr Davenheim at all.
- Was testified by Billy Kellert to have seen him on the day of disappearance of Mr Davenheim near his house.
- Was in the room whereby he could have broken the safe to steal the Jewels
- However, the sound of the breaking of the safe would definitly be heard and alerted.

4) Madame Davenheim-> wife of Mr Davenheim
- The story, of Mr Lowen breaking open the Safe to steal the jewellery unnoticed while she was also in the house, was not convincing.

Leads:
- Davenhiem Bank met with financial difficult and had to wind down.

Poirot Bk3: Poirot Investigates (8/11)

The kidnapped Prime Minister

Victim:
Mr David Macadam, England's prime minister, "he alone represents England"
- a bullet grazed his chin in a failed assassination when he sticked his head out of a car window.
- was sent to a hospital to have a bandage.
- was on his way for a conference at Versailles to discuss about the disarmament of Germany after the World War I.
- was kidnapped in France on the road where it bends.

Suspects:
1) O'Murphy, Mr David MacAdam's chauffer
-> When a band of masked man came to halt the Prime Minister's car in the morning and wounded Prime Minister, O'Murphy drove the car straight away as a faithful chauffer and saved the Prime Minister's life.
-> was a CID
-> However, when he was driving the Prime Minister in France, he left the main road.
-> Went missing

2) Captain Daniel, commander in chief who accompanied the Prime Minister to France
-> was found being knocked out by someone who clapped on his face with a pad of chloroform on the mouth in France.

Leads:
-The Military of both nation, France and England could not locate Prime Minister
- The local cottage hospital which did the bandage for the Prime Minister could not be located

Poirot Bk3: Poirot Investigates (7/11)

The Jewel Robbery at the Grand Metropolitan

Mystery:
A priceless piece of jewellery necklace was stolen in the Grand Metropolitan Hotel. The necklace was a pearl necklace, which was one of the finest made necklace in the world. It was also the highlights of the play. It was owned by Mrs Opalsen. She locked it in a case which had only one key to it and it was with Mrs Opalsen all the time. She left the case in a drawer with her maid, Celestine in the room. When Mr and Mrs Opalsen returned, they found out that the necklace was missing in the case. A chambermaid had been to the room and Celestine was in the room all the time and never stepped out of the room.

Suspects:
1) Celestine, the maid
-> had the most opportunity to steal the Jewellery.
-> The jewellery was found under her mattress but the case was not closed straight away
-> could possibly have a duplicate key for the case containing the jewellery but the possiblity maybe low.

2) Chambermaid
-> Celestine left her alone in the living room twice but only a short while to take scissor and a reel of cotton. She would not have the time to take out the case, unlock it, took out the necklace and hid it.
-> would think that Celestine stole it herself and trying to blame her

3) Mrs Opalsen
-> She could pull off some trick to seem like she did put in the necklace into the casing but she didn't. (Not Likely)

4) Mr Opalsen
-> Could possibly steal it and report stolen to claim insurance money.

Leads:
- There was a connecting door to the next room
- There was some french chalk applied on the roller of the drawer to make it slides smoothly
- Poirot ran a fingerprint on a valet and chambermaid

Poirot Bk3: Poirot Investigates (6/11)

The Adventure of the Egyptian Tomb

Mystery:
After breaking the seal to the Egyptian tombs, 4 Egyptian tombs Archaeology excavators died one after the other. First was the heart failure,then was one blood poisoning, one suicide and finally one tetanus. All seemed to die of natural death, but not so, if they were the works of the Egyptian curse; The curse of King Men-her-Ra's tomb.

Victims:
1) Sir John Willard- Died of sudden heart attack during excavating of the tomb.
-> He was the head of excavation
2) Mr Bleibner- Died of acute blood poisoning by a cut in his thumb
-> Amateur in Archaeology but a very wealthy man who placed money in where ever pleased him.
-> more concerned with the bones of the dead than his own flesh and blood.
-> Never really helped his nephew.
-> Essential financier for the excavation.
3) Young Rupert Bleibner- Shot himself
-> Nephew of Mr Bleibner
-> could have shot himself after receiving the news of the death of his uncle, Mr Bleibner
-> had borrowed money to come to Egypt.
-> Left a suicide note that considered him a Leper and an outcast, better of being dead.
-> Left a jocular will that he would leave everything to Robert Ames whom he owed his life to.


Curious:
- Mr Young Rupert Bleibner was wearing a pair of gloves when he shot himself


Suspects:
1) Curse of King Men-her-Ra-> the four deaths seemed so independent and natural

2) Mr Young Rupert Bleibner-> had come to Egypt to look for his Uncle and could have vengeance on his uncle who never helped him, and committed suicide when he realised how unneccessary was his crime.
3) Dr Tosswill, a minor official connected with British Musem

4) Mr Schneider, from Metropolitian Museum in New York

5) Dr Ames, a doctor.

6) Hassan, Sir John Willard's devoted native servant
-> Quite unlikely to have killed his own master
-> Serves Sir John Willard's Son like the previous master

Leads:
- Anubis, the jackal-headed, the god of departing soul, the dog-headed shadow figure was seen roaming about outside the tents. It was seen to have entered Dr Ames' tent.
- The power of superstition

Poirot Bk3: Poirot Investigates (5/11)

The Million Dollar Bond Robbery

Mystery:
A million dollar worth of liberty bonds were stolen on a liner traveling to New York. Liberty bonds were war bonds that were used to steal to the citizens so as to raise funds for World War I. The bonds were put into a casing that was fitted with extraordinary locks which could be only by the key. The bonds were entrusted to Mr Philips Ridgeway custody to bring it safely to New York. The bonds were found stolen when the cruise, Olympia was in sea. A thorough search was conducted on board, but could not find them. It was later discovered that the bonds were sold in the market 30mins after the cruise had docked in New York.

How was the bonds discovered lost?
-> Mr Philips Ridgeway's cabin trunk was taken out from the bunk. The casing containing the Bonds was scatched and cut about where they had tried to force the lock. However, the lock was open. If the thief had the key to open the lock, there was no need to meddle with the casing.
-> Mr Ridgeway claimed that the key had never left him.
-> The theft was conducted just a few hours before the cruise reached New York.

Suspects (the 3 key holders to the Bonds):
1) Mr Philips Ridgeway-> The keeper of the bonds.
-> Engaged to Miss Esmee Farquhar whom had great faith in Mr Ridgeway and asked Poirot to help to clear his name.
-> Mr Shaw was supposed to bring the bonds over to New York but had severe bronchitis, so Mr Ridgeway took over the job.

2) Mr Shaw-> was the one in charge of sending the bonds
-> was the one who ordered the lock for the bonds
-> was ill and could not send the bonds.
-> was not on board of the ship

3) Mr Vavasour-> Joint general Manager of the London and Scottish Bank
-> Uncle of Mr Philips Ridgeway whom had good testimony of Mr Ridgeway.

4) Mr Ventour-> occupant of the cabin which was next to Mr Ridgeway.
-> An elderly gentleman, wearing glasses, an invalid and hardly moved out of his cabin.
-> The last to get off the boat.
-> The evidence against him was little.


Leads:
-> One Broker swore that he had bought a bulk of the bonds before Olympia's arrival.
-> Gigantic liner departed for New York on the same day as Olympia, however departed from different port. Gigantic had arrived a day earlier than Olympia.

Poirot Bk3: Poirot Investigates (4/11)

The Mystery of Hunter's Lodge

Murdered:
Uncle Harrington Pace-> Shot on the head by a revolver in the gun-room of his house.
-> a rich old fellow who was living with Mr Havering and Zoe, his nephew family.
-> Never gotten along well with Mr Havering's father and elder brother.
-> Never gotten along well with other people in shooting club, could have incurred feud with others.

Suspects:
1) The black bearded man (seen by Zoe) climbing out of the window of the gun-room after the murder of Uncle Harrington. He was about middle aged and had a light overcoat.
2) Mrs Middleton, the housekeeper who was recently employed by the family a few weeks ago.
-> She was sent by Mrs Havering to call police.
-> She was with Mrs Havering when they heard the gunshot in the house.
-> After she had given her testimony to the police, she disappeared completely.
-> When inquired the maid agency, they claimed that they have no records of Mrs Middleton. The Havering family had sent a sum of money for the employment of a maid, but they did not specify who.
3) Mrs Havering Zoe, used to be an actress at the Frivolity.
-> She was with Mrs Middleton when they heard the gunshot in the house.
4) Mr Roger Havering, Husband of Zoe, claimed to be living harmoniously with Uncle Harrington. He was on a train to London when the Murder of Mr Harrington Pace took place. Captain Hastings had seen him on the train.

Leads: Mrs Havering Zoe was never seen with Mrs Middleton.

Poirot Bk3: Poirot Investigates (3/11)

The adventure of the Cheap Flat

Mystery:
Mr Robinson's family read about an advertisement of an apartment of the Montagu Mansion, which is next a big handsome looking building, Knightsbridge. That particular apartment is renting out at ridiculously cheap rate of £80 per month instead of £350. No premium. The furniture is sold at £50 and new occupants are to move in immediately. Mr Robinson and his family got this deal! What a catch!

Curious:
-> The explanation of the dirt cheap rental rate= the place could be haunted or the owner is lunatic with a taste of philanthropy.
-> The advertisement has been up for some time, Mr Robinson was definitely not the first to enquire about the flat. Neighbour of the flat would think that it is a scam to trick people in making futile trip here and then reject them.

Leads:
-> Shortly after Mr Robinson's family settled into their new apartment, Poirot inquired from the housing agent that Robinson had moved into the apartment 6months. Thus, it is likely that the previous owner used the name Robinson and wanted their new occupants to have the name Robinson.

Poirot Bk3: Poirot Investigates (2/11)

The Tragedy at Marsdon Manor

Murdered:
Northern Union Insurance company had asked Poirot to investigate the death of Mr Maltravers whom have insured his life with £50,000 only a few weeks ago. Mr Maltravers was found lying dead near a stone chair in his house garden. He had blood in his mouth and was initially suspected of internal bleeding, Haemorrhage, since there wasn't any external gunshot wound on the body. The verdict of heart failure was later altered to a unnatural death when a constable pointed out that there was bullet wound through the head. Mr Maltravers' rook rifle which was used to poach birds, was found beside him. Two shots fired from the little rook rifle.

Suspects:
1) Mr Maltravers committing suicide-> Perhaps Mr Maltravers was not very rich currently at all because he was on the verge of bankruptcy and all that he can leave for his young wife, was the insurance money of £50,000.
2) Mrs Maltravers-> A young lady of the age 27, with extraordinary beauty being married to the middle aged Mr Maltravers. She could possibly have persuaded her husband to take up insurance scheme with great returns and then murdered him and then remarry to a young loving man. (Based on the movie), at the time of murder, she was painting a picture of the garden infront of the house when one of the gardener broke out the news of the death of Mr Maltravers to her. Her account, before the verdict of unnatural death, that Mr Maltraver had strong premonition about his death and hence bought the insurance policy, was suspicious.
3) Captain Black-> same trade as Captain Hastings, police officer. Captain Black has been carrying a touch for Mrs Maltravers. He could possibly in cahoot with Mrs Maltravers in the murder. He was seen near to the mansion on the day of the murder. Being familiar with interrogation, Poirot had to conduct psychoanalysis on Captain Black. Poirot would think that Captain Black passed his test.

Leads:
->(Based on the movie), the overshadows in the painting of Mrs Maltravers does not reflect the time she claimed to have drawn it.
->There are some tales of the Mansion being haunted. The ghost of a deceased lady still lingers.
->Mrs Maltravers claimed to have encounters with the ghost.

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.