Poirot Investigates is a short story collection written by English author Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by The Bodley Head in March 1924.The English Catalogue of Books. Vol XI (A-L: January 1921 – December 1925). Kraus Reprint Corporation, Millwood, New York, 1979 (page 310) In the eleven stories, famed eccentric detective Hercule Poirot solves a variety of mysteries involving greed, jealousy, and revenge. The American version of this book, published by Dodd, Mead and Company in 1925, featured a further three stories. The UK first edition featured an illustration of Poirot on the dust jacket by W. Smithson Broadhead, reprinted from the 21 March 1923 issue of The Sketch magazine.
The UK edition retailed at seven shillings and sixpence (7/6) while the 1925 US edition was $2.00.
Plot summaries
Note: the plots of the televised versions differ from these originals.
The Adventure of the Western Star
Poirot receives a visit from Miss Mary Marvell, the famous American film star on her visit to London. She has received three letters, handed to her by a Chinese man, which warn her to return her fabulous diamond jewel, the "Western Star", to where it came from – the left eye of an idol – before the next full moon. Her husband, Gregory Rolf, who bought it from a Chinese man in San Francisco, gave her the jewel three years ago. The pair are going to stay at Yardly Chase, the home of Lord and Lady Yardly when the moon is next full to discuss the making of a film there and Mary is determined to go with her diamond. Both Poirot and Hastings remember society gossip from three years back that linked Rolf and Lady Yardly. The Yardlys also own an identical diamond that came from the right eye of the idol – the Star of the East. After Mary has gone Poirot goes out and Hastings receives a visit from Lady Yardly, who was advised to visit Poirot by her friend Mary Cavendish. Hastings deduces that she too has received warning letters. Her husband plans to sell their jewel as he is in debt. When Poirot learns this he arranges to visit Yardly Chase and is there when the lights go out and Lady Yardly is attacked by a Chinese man and her jewel stolen. The next day, Mary's jewel is stolen from her London hotel. Poirot makes his investigations and returns the Yardlys' jewel to them.
Poirot tells Hastings that there never were two jewels or any Chinese man – it was all an invention by Rolf. Three years before in the United States he had an affair with Lady Yardly and blackmailed her into giving him the diamond which he then gave to his wife as a wedding present. Lady Yardly's was a paste copy that would have been discovered when her husband sold it. She was starting to push back against her blackmailer and Rolf arranged the deception against his wife that Lady Yardly copied when Hastings told her of the threats. Poirot's threats manage to persuade Rolf to give the real diamond back and leave the Yardlys in peace.
The Tragedy at Marsdon Manor Poirot is asked by a friend, who is the director of the Northern Union Insurance Company, to investigate the case of a middle-aged man who died of an internal haemorrhage just a few weeks after insuring his life for fifty thousand pounds. There were rumours that Mr Maltravers was in a difficult financial position and the suggestion has been made that he paid the insurance premiums and then committed suicide for the benefit of his beautiful young wife. Poirot and Hastings travel to Marsdon Manor in Essex where the dead man was found in the grounds, with a small rook rifle by his side. They interview the widow and can find nothing wrong. They are leaving when a young man, Captain Black, arrives. A gardener tells Poirot that he visited the house the day before the death. Poirot interviews Black and by using word association finds out that he knew of someone who committed suicide with a rook rifle in East Africa when he was there.
Poirot figures out that this story, told at the dinner table the day before the tragedy, gave Mrs Maltravers the idea of how to kill her husband by making him demonstrate to her how the victim would have put the gun in his mouth and then pulling the trigger. A maid claims to see Mr Maltravers standing in the hall; shortly afterward, the lights suddenly go out. Mr Maltravers appears in the room, his index finger glowing and pointing at his wife's hand, which is now covered in blood. Terrified, she confesses to the murder. Poirot reveals that he hired an actor to impersonate the victim, and that he gripped Mrs. Maltravers' hand to mark it with fake blood when the lights went out.
The Adventure of the Cheap Flat Hastings is at a friend's house with several other people when the talk turns to flats and houses. Mrs Robinson tells the party how she and her husband have managed to obtain a flat in Knightsbridge for a very attractive price. Poirot is interested and decides to investigate. The porter at the flat tells them that the Robinsons have been there for six months, despite Mrs Robinson's telling Hastings they had only just obtained the lease. Poirot rents another flat in the building and, by use of the coal lift, manages to gain entry to the Robinsons' flat and fix the locks so he can enter at will. Inspector Japp tells Poirot that important American naval plans were stolen from that country by an Italian called Luigi Valdarno who managed to pass them to a suspected spy for Japan, Elsa Hardt, before being killed in New York. Hardt and an accomplice then fled the United States for England.
That night, when the Robinsons' flat is empty, Poirot and Hastings lie in wait and apprehend another Italian who has come to kill Hardt and her accomplice in revenge for the death of Valdarno. They disarm the man and take him to another house in London, which Poirot has verified as the spies' new residence. The pair had rented the Knightsbridge flat under the name of Robinson, but moved out upon discovering that an Italian gang was targeting them. The spies rented the flat cheaply to a real couple of the same name whose wife roughly matched Elsa's description, in the hope that they would be killed in the spies' place. Hardt reveals the hiding place of the plans before the Italian tries to shoot her with an empty revolver and escapes; Japp arrests the spies, and an agent of the United States Secret Service recovers the plans.
The Mystery of Hunter's Lodge Poirot and Hastings receive a visit from a Mr Roger Havering, the second son of a Baronet who is married to an actress. Mr Havering stayed at his club in London the previous evening and the following morning received a telegram from his wife saying that his Uncle Harrington Pace was murdered the previous evening and to come at once with a detective. As Poirot is indisposed, Hastings sets off with Havering for the scene of the crime.
Mr Pace, the brother of Mr Havering's mother, owns a hunting lodge on the Derbyshire moors. When Hastings and Havering arrive there they meet Inspector Japp as Scotland Yard has been called. As Havering goes off with Japp, Hastings speaks with the housekeeper, Mrs Middleton, who tells him she showed a black-bearded man into the house the previous evening who wanted to see Mr Pace. She and Mrs Zoe Havering were outside the room where the two men were talking when they heard a shot. The door to the room was locked but they found an open window; gaining entry, they found Mr Pace dead, shot by one of two pistols on display in the room. The pistol and the man are now missing.
Mrs Middleton sends Zoe Havering to see Hastings and she confirms the housekeeper's story. Japp confirms Havering's alibi for his train times to London and his attendance at the club. Soon the missing pistol is found dumped in Ealing. Hastings wires to Poirot with the facts, but Poirot is interested only in the clothes worn by and descriptions of Mrs Middleton and Mrs Havering. Poirot wires back to arrest Mrs Middleton at once but she disappears before this can happen. Upon investigation, no trace can be found of her existence, either from the agency that sent her or how she reached Derbyshire.
Once Hastings is back in London, Poirot gives Hastings his theory – Mrs Middleton never existed. She was Zoe Havering in disguise. Only Mr Havering claims to have seen the two women together at the same time. Havering did go to London with one of the pistols which he dumped and Mrs Havering shot her uncle with the other pistol. Japp is convinced of the theory but does not have enough evidence to make an arrest. The Haverings inherit their uncle's fortune but not for long: the two are soon killed in an aeroplane crash.
The Million Dollar Bond Robbery The fiancée of Philip Ridgeway asks Poirot to clear his name in the theft of $1 million in Liberty bonds issued by the bank for which he works. Ridgeway explains to Poirot that he had been entrusted by the managers, Mr Shaw and Mr Vavasour (Ridgeway's uncle), to transport the bonds by ship across the Atlantic Ocean for sale in the United States. They had been counted out in his presence in London, sealed in a packet, and placed in his trunk, which was fitted with a lock for which only he and the managers had keys. A few hours before the ship arrived in New York, Ridgeway discovered that someone had tried to force the lock, but then picked it and stolen the bonds. The ship and its personnel and passengers were thoroughly searched, but no trace of them was found. Following the theft, the bonds were being offered for sale in New York so quickly that one broker claimed to have bought some even before the ship had docked.
After Vavasour states that Shaw has just recovered from a bout of bronchitis, Poirot and Hastings travel to Liverpool, where the ship has recently returned from its ocean crossing. Learning from the stewards that an elderly invalid man occupied the cabin adjacent to Ridgeway's and hardly ever left it, Poirot declares the case solved and sends an explanation to Scotland Yard so the police can arrest the thief. The culprit is Shaw, who had prepared a duplicate dummy packet and given it to Ridgeway prior to the crossing. Shaw had sent the real bonds on a faster ship, with instructions for an accomplice to begin selling them just after Ridgeway docked, and boarded Ridgeway's ship in disguise to steal the duplicate (using the key he carried) and throw it overboard. Upon reaching New York, Shaw booked return passage on the first available ship so that he could reach London in time to establish his cover story.
The Adventure of the Egyptian Tomb Lady Willard, widow of the famous Egyptologist Sir John Willard, consults Poirot. Her husband was the archaeologist on the excavation of the tomb of the Pharaoh Men-her-Ra together with an American financier, Mr Bleibner. Both men died within a fortnight of each other, Sir John of heart failure and Mr Bleibner of blood poisoning. A few days later Bleibner's nephew, Rupert, shot himself and the press is full of stories of an Egyptian curse. Lady Willard's son, Guy, has now gone out to Egypt to continue his father's work and she fears that he will die next. To Hastings' surprise, Poirot states that he believes in the forces of superstition and agrees to investigate. Poirot cables New York for details concerning Rupert Bleibner. The young man was travelling in the South Seas and borrowed enough money to take him to Egypt. His uncle refused to advance him a penny, and the nephew returned to New York, where he sank lower and lower and then shot himself, leaving a suicide note saying that he was a leper and an outcast.