Mr Jesmond

In the short story The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding, Mr Jesmond was the a government official who sough Poirot's help to recover a ruby which had been stolen from a foreign prince, Prince Ali. They had suspicions about who had taken the jewel but no proof and so could not use official channels. Besides, the circumstances of the loss and any publicity surrounding it would have serious political repercussions for the country concerned as well as for England.

Poirot noted that he did not know what official position Jesmond held, whether it is the Home Office, Foreign Office or some other discreet branch of the public service. Poirot had, in his career, met many other people like Jesmond, who specialised in handling discreet and delicate matters.

Poirot noted that Jesmond was ingenious in deployed whatever resources he had to achieve his aims. He asked Edwina Morecambe to secure an invitation for Poirot to spend Christmas at Kings Lacey. To persuade Poirot to accept, he made use of Poirot's weakness for quality modern central heating.

Portrayals
Mr Jesmond was played by David Howey in the film adaptation of the story in Series 3 of ITV's Agatha Christie's Poirot.