Agatha Christie had a large chest filled with family jewels and gold, and no one cared to look inside.

Long story short, in 2006 Jennifer Grant, an Agatha Christie fan, went to an estate auction of the late mystery writer's property, spent £100 on what the British fancy calling a 'strongbox'--which was considered such a minor piece of property from the house it wasn't even listed in the auction catalogue--and went home finding the chest locked.

Apparently not the inquisitive sort, it took four years for Grant to finally unlock the box and look inside. What Grant found was some gold coins, a small selection of the Christie family jewels, including a 19th century diamond brooch, and what is believed to be Christie's mother's diamond engagement ring. The contents go up for auction on October 8th, with an estimated selling price of £9,000-£14,000.

Grant says she doesn't wear the jewelry enough to warrant keeping them, and as a Christie fan herself she says "I thought, 'Why not let someone else enjoy them?'"

Or, you know, maybe "Hey, roughly £10,000-£15,000 in my pocket ain't half bad." But, hey, whatever excuse works for you.



Is everyone involved in this whole situation among the least curious human beings on the planet? How does a company hold an estate sale of a famous writer and decide a large, locked chest doesn't warrant more than a cursory look? And how does someone who buys a locked strongbox from a celebrity writer's estate not bother opening it for four years?

Geraldo Rivera would not stand for this.