why was the bluestone so precious and what was the amount the countess announced for its recovery?
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Answer:
The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle" is one of 56 short Sherlock Holmes stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the seventh story of twelve in the collection The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. It was first published in The Strand Magazine in January 1892
As London prepares for Christmas, newspapers report the theft of the near-priceless gemstone, the "Blue Carbuncle," from the hotel suite of the Countess of Morcar. John Horner, a plumber and a previously convicted felon, is soon arrested for the theft. Despite Horner's claims of innocence, the police are sure that they have their man. Horner's record, and his presence in the Countess's room where he was repairing a fireplace, are all the police need.
Just after Christmas, Watson pays a visit to Holmes at 221B Baker Street. He finds the detective contemplating a battered old hat brought to him by the commissionaire, Peterson. Both the hat and a Christmas goose had been dropped by a man in a scuffle with some street ruffians. The honest Peterson had sought Holmes's help in returning the items to their owner, but although the goose bears a tag with the name Henry Baker, there is little hope of finding the man as the name is a common one in London. Peterson takes the goose home for dinner, and Holmes keeps the hat to study as an intellectual exercise.
Peterson returns excited, carrying the Blue Carbuncle, saying that he found the gem in the goose's crop (an error by Conan Doyle, as geese do not have a crop).[2] Realizing that the identity of Henry Baker is now part of a larger mystery, Holmes makes a concerted effort to identify him. Based on his observations of the hat and its condition, Holmes deduces Baker's age, social standing, intellect, and domestic status, but cannot determine whether Baker knew that he was carrying the priceless gem. When Baker appears in response to advertisements that Holmes had placed in London newspapers, Holmes's deductions prove correct. Holmes gives Baker a new goose. Happily accepting the replacement bird, Baker declines to take away his original bird's entrails, thus convincing Holmes that he knew nothing about the gem. However, he does provide the valuable information that he had purchased the goose at the Alpha Inn, a pub near his place of employment, the British Museum.
Holmes and Watson set out across the city to determine how the jewel travelled from the Countess of Morcar's hotel room to the goose's crop. The proprietor of the Alpha Inn informs them that the goose was purchased from a dealer in Covent Garden. There, a merchant named Breckinridge gets angry with Holmes and refuses to help. He complains of the pestering he has endured about geese sold recently to the landlord of the Alpha Inn. Holmes, realizing that he is not the only one aware of the gem's connection to the goose, tricks an irate Breckinridge into revealing that the bird was supplied by Mrs. Oakshott, a poultry and egg seller in Brixton.