The Double Clue by Agatha Christie. Short summary

5 seconds

Jewelry has been stolen from Marcus Hardman’s safe, and Poirot is asked to help. At the scene, Poirot finds two clues: a glove and a cigarette case with engraved initials.

1 minute

A story in the «Hercule Poirot» series. Antiques collector Marcus Hardman is robbed in his own house. The robbery occurred during a party. The owner decided to show the guests his collection of rare jewelry and saw that his safe was opened, and its contents disappeared. Four guests are under suspicion: the African millionaire Mr. Johnson, the Russian Countess Vera Rusakova, the young agent Bernard Parker and the socialite Lady Runcorn.

Hercule Poirot is invited to investigate the theft. The detective examines the scene of the crime and finds a man’s glove and a cigarette case — these are Bernard Parker’s belongings. Countess Rusakova is outraged that Poirot is pursuing Parker. The detective suspects that the Countess is not a real Russian.

The next day Poirot visits Hardman and tells him who the thief is. The Countess stole the jewels and planted the cigarette case with the initials «BP». The glove was lost by Parker himself. The double evidence raised doubts in the detective as to the agent’s guilt. The countess returned the stolen goods to Hardman.