The Million Dollar Bond Robbery is actually one of the best detective stories I have ever read. It is all well structured and recounted. The way how it is narrated makes the reader be curious and anxious during the whole story and it is just at the end when finally that complicated knot is undone.
If you, dear reader, are thinking of reading this short story let me tell you that you are not going to regret of that. Basically and as you can imagine, it is about a robbery that took place in a ship, the Olympia. Unfortunately, what was stolen was not a common thing, but a million dollars’ worth of Liberty Bonds which the London and Scottish Bank were sending to New York. As is it narrated, a lady called Esmeé Farquhar who was engaged to Philip Ridgeway (the man that was in charge of carrying the bonds to New York) asked for help to Mr. Poirot, a kind of detective and Captain Hastings, his partner, to solve the case. In spite of the fact that her boyfriend was the person who was carrying the bonds to New York, she was certain that no actual blame could attach to him because it had not been his fault in any way, so she told Mr. Poirot her version of the events in order to find the real thief. Principally, she told that the Bank wished to extend its credits in America and decided to send a million of dollars in Bonds, which were secretly enclosed in a portmanteau. The person who was in charge of bringing them was Mr. Ridgeway, the nephew of one of the two general manager of the bank, Mr. Vavasour (the other one was Mr. Shaw). A few hours before The Olympia arrived, the bonds were stolen and offered for sale. Apparently the lock had been forced but everything indicated that it had been unlocked with a key, which was almost impossible because the only three people who had a key to open it were Mr. Ridgeway, Mr. Vavasour and Mr. Shaw.
After listening to the lady, Mr. Poirot, made some inquires to Philip Ridgeway in order to see if his version agreed with Esmeé’s version and then, he interrogated the two general managers of he bank. After asking a few questions, Mr. Poirot had already discovered the guilty, but he did not want to accuse him still finding some evidence and the reason. So they decided to wait for the return of the Olympia and interrogate some more people in order to see what had happened exactly. Four stewards and a Poirot’s friend were asked, discovering that one of the last people who had disembarked was an old man, wearing glasses, who also was invalid. After that, two possibilities remained: the package had been hidden on board or thrown overboard. It was there, when they finally discovered that the bonds had not been packaged in the portmanteau, so they were not on board at all. Therefore, everything seemed to be that the bonds were never packaged and a substitution had been made in the office by one of the people who were there. Consequently, somebody, specifically the accomplice, had to travel on the Oplympia so that Philip could not discover it was a dummy (meanwhile the real packet with the bonds were travelling in a faster ship, The Gigantic). That accomplice was in charge of forcing the lock, but actually he unlocked it and thrown the package overboard and waited to be the last one to leave the ship. But who was behind of all of it? The answer was as simple as realizing that who was the person that had a duplicate key, who had ordered that childish plan: Mr. Shaw and his accomplice, who unlocked the portmanteau and thrown it overboard, had been the poor invalid man. As it is said in the text, “There are criminals in high places too”. Finally, it was another easy case solved by the great Mr. Poirot.
And the surprises continue, because for the ones who enjoy technology more than everything, there is also a digital version, a 50 minutes-video. That video, as it is expected, is not really similar with the text. There are some evident differences which make it almost completely different with the paper version. In the text for example, the robbery had been already done. On the other hand, in the video, it starts whit an attempt on Mr. Shaw’s life, because he was in charge of carrying the bonds to New York and not Mr. Ridgeway as it happened in the text. A second attack happened to him (he was poisoned) so now the work had to be made by Philip Ridegeway. As you have read, the thief’s accomplice was an invalid person but in the video, it was a beautiful woman, Miranda Brook, who also was travelling in the boat and was Mr. Shaw’s nurse and fiancé. While looking for the guilty, Mr. Vavasour and Ridgeway were put in prison. Everybody thought strongly that they were the thieves. But Mr. Poirot’s shrewdness let us know that Mr. Shaw together with his fiancé, Miranda, had planned the robbery.
In my opinion, both formats are able to make the reader curious during the whole story but, personally talking, I liked most the video. It does not agree with my common likes, because almost every time that I read a story and watch its movie, I prefer the paper version, because the facts are narrated in a better way. On the contrary, this time I preferred the video for many reasons, for example, the robbery had not happened yet, so we were able to see that and follow all the events. The thief’s accomplice was the nurse and at the same time it was a beautiful woman who stayed at the next room of Mr. Ridgeway’s, so it makes the story more attractive. Moreover, Mr. Vavasour and Ridgeway were took in prison thinking wrongly that one on them were the thief, so it made all the spectators completely confused and think that they were the guilty. Nevertheless, the text was interesting too, as I said at the beginning it has been one the best I have read.
So finally, both the video and the text are a very good option to read and watch. Any of them will make you interested in it. Now you can choose any, it is up to you…
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