The Million Dollar Bond Robbery

Esmée Farquhar, the fiancée of Philip Ridgeway, asks Poirot to clear his [Ridgeway's] name in the theft of one million dollars 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.