LITMIR.BIZ

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face, and she replied constrainedly:

      ‘I’m afraid that’s impossible.’

      ‘You have it with you – hein?’ Poirot was watching her narrowly.

      The girl hesitated a moment, then slipped her hand into the bosom of her gown, drawing out a long thin chain. She leaned forward, unclosing her hand. In the palm, a stone of white fire, exquisitely set in platinum, lay and winked at us solemnly.

      Poirot drew in his breath with a long hiss.

      ‘Épatant!’ he murmured. ‘You permit, madame?’ He took the jewel in his own hand and scrutinized it keenly, then restored it to her with a little bow. ‘A magnificent stone – without a flaw. Ah, cent tonnerres! and you carry it about with you, comme ça!’

      ‘No, no, I’m very careful really, Monsieur Poirot. As a rule it’s locked up in my jewel-case, and left in the hotel safe deposit. We’re staying at the Magnificent, you know. I just brought it along today for you to see.’

      ‘And you will leave it with me, n’est-ce pas? You will be advised by Papa Poirot?’

      ‘Well, you see, it’s this way, Monsieur Poirot. On Friday we’re going down to Yardly Chase to spend a few days with Lord and Lady Yardly.’

      Her words awoke a vague echo of remembrance in my mind. Some gossip – what was it now? A few years ago Lord and Lady Yardly had paid a visit to the States, rumour had it that his lordship had rather gone the pace out there with the assistance of some lady friends – but surely there was something more, more gossip which coupled Lady Yardly’s name with that of a ‘movie’ star in California – why! it came to me in a flash – of course it was none other than Gregory B. Rolf.

      ‘I’ll let you into a little secret, Monsieur Poirot,’ Miss Marvell was continuing. ‘We’ve got a deal on with Lord Yardly. There’s some chance of our arranging to film a play down there in his ancestral pile.’

      ‘At Yardly Chase?’ I cried, interested. ‘Why, it’s one of the showplaces of England.’

      Miss Marvell nodded.

      ‘I guess it’s the real old feudal stuff all right. But he wants a pretty stiff price, and of course I don’t know yet whether the deal will go through, but Greg and I always like to combine business with pleasure.’

      ‘But – I demand pardon if I am dense, madame – surely it is possible to visit Yardly Chase without taking the diamond with you?’

      A shrewd, hard look came into Miss Marvell’s eyes which belied their childlike appearance. She looked suddenly a good deal older.

      ‘I want to wear it down there.’

      ‘Surely,’ I said suddenly, ‘there are some very famous jewels in the Yardly collection, a large diamond amongst them?’

      ‘That’s so,’ said Miss Marvell briefly.

      I heard Poirot murmur beneath his breath: ‘Ah, c’est comme ça!’ Then he said aloud, with his usual uncanny luck in hitting the bull’s-eye (he dignifies it by the name of psychology): ‘Then you are without doubt already acquainted with Lady Yardly, or perhaps your husband is?’

      ‘Gregory knew her when she was out West three years ago,’ said Miss Marvell. She hesitated a moment, and then added abruptly: ‘Do either of you ever see Society Gossip?’

      We both pleaded guilty rather shamefacedly.

      ‘I ask because in this week’s number there is an article on famous jewels, and it’s really very curious –’ She broke off.

      I rose, went to the table at the other side of the room and returned with the paper in question in my hand. She took it from me, found the article, and began to read aloud:

      ‘… Amongst other famous stones may be included The Star of the East, a diamond in the possession of the Yardly family. An ancestor of the present Lord Yardly brought it back with him from China, and a romantic story is said to attach to it. According to this, the stone was once the right eye of a temple god. Another diamond, exactly similar in form and size, formed the left eye, and the story goes that this jewel, too, would in course of time be stolen. “One eye shall go West, the other East, till they shall meet once more. Then, in triumph shall they return to the god.” It is a curious coincidence that there is at the present time a stone corresponding closely in description with this one, and known as “The Star of the West”, or “The Western Star”. It is the property of the celebrated film star, Miss Mary Marvell. A comparison of the two stones would be interesting.’

      She stopped.

      ‘Épatant!’ murmured Poirot. ‘Without doubt a romance of the first water.’ He turned to Mary Marvell. ‘And you are not afraid, madame? You have no superstitious terrors? You do not fear to introduce these two Siamese twins to each other lest a Chinaman should appear and, hey presto! whisk them both back to China?’

      His tone was mocking, but I fancied that an undercurrent of seriousness lay beneath it.

      ‘I don’t believe that Lady Yardly’s diamond is anything like as good as mine,’ said Miss Marvell. ‘Anyway, I’m going to see.’

      What more Poirot would have said I do not know, for at that moment the door flew open, and a splendid-looking man strode into the room. From his crisply curling black head, to the tips of his patent-leather boots, he was a hero fit for romance.

      ‘I said I’d call round for you, Mary,’ said Gregory Rolf, ‘and here I am. Well, what does Monsieur Poirot say to our little problem? Just one big hoax, same as I do?’

      Poirot smiled up at the big actor. They made a ridiculous contrast.

      ‘Hoax or no hoax, Mr Rolf,’ he said dryly, ‘I have advised Madame your wife not to take the jewel with her to Yardly Chase on Friday.’

      ‘I’m with you there, sir. I’ve already said so to Mary. But there! She’s a woman through and through, and I guess she can’t bear to think of another woman outshining her in the jewel line.’

      ‘What nonsense, Gregory!’ said Mary Marvell sharply. But she flushed angrily.

      Poirot shrugged his shoulders.

      ‘Madame, I have advised. I can do no more. C’est fini.’

      He bowed them both to the door.

      ‘Ah! la la,’ he observed, returning. ‘Histoire des femmes! The good husband, he hit the nail – tout de même, but he was not tactful! Assuredly not.’

      I imparted to him my vague remembrances, and he nodded vigorously.

      ‘So I thought. All the same, there is something curious underneath all this. With your permission, mon ami, I will take the air. Await my return, I beg of you, I shall not be long.’

      I was half asleep in my chair when the landlady tapped on the door, and put her head in.

      ‘It’s another lady to see Mr Poirot, sir. I’ve told her he was out, but she says as how she’ll wait, seeing as she’s come up from the country.’

      ‘Oh, show her in here, Mrs Murchinson. Perhaps I can do something for her.’

      In another moment the lady had been ushered in. My heart gave a leap as I recognized her. Lady Yardly’s portrait had figured too often in the Society papers to allow her to remain unknown.

      ‘Do sit down, Lady Yardly,’ I said, drawing forward a chair. ‘My friend, Poirot, is out, but I know for a fact that he’ll be back very shortly.’

      She thanked me and sat down. A very different type, this, from Miss Mary Marvell. Tall, dark, with flashing eyes, and a pale proud face – yet something wistful in the curves of the mouth.

      I felt a desire to rise to the occasion. Why not? In Poirot’s presence I have frequently

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