Kim Kardashian, right, was robbed in the early hours of Monday October, 3, while staying in a luxury, secret hotel

There's no doubt that the recent robbery in Paris of reality TV star Kim Kardashian is the most extraordinary heist of this decade — and one that caused a sensation around the world.

In the early hours of Monday, October 3, a gang dressed as police officers stormed the Paris hotel where the Keeping Up With The Kardashians star was staying, in a raid as audacious as it was shocking.

The prize? £4.5 million worth of jewellery which the 35-year-old mother of two — who is married to rap artist Kanye West — had been flashing on social media all week.

Having broken in to the apartment — reports are conflicting as to how they did it — the gang then tied her up, threatened her at gunpoint and dumped her in the bathtub, before making off with her diamonds.

All this without a single police officer being alerted until they had made their escape.

Some are now pointing the finger at the Pink Panthers, a network of jewel thieves from the Balkans whose raids have targeted the most valuable gems on the planet. It must, of course, have been a horrific experience for Kim — but that doesn’t stop the conspiracy theories, which have gathered pace in the past two weeks as more facts emerge. The latest centres on a mysterious video released on Tuesday showing the crime scene. Within hours it had been removed by Kim’s lawyers.

She’s also suing an American website that claimed she had fabricated the robbery for publicity purposes at a time when the viewing figures for her reality show are falling.

So what really happened at the Hotel de Pourtales last week? With the help of expert analysis, ALISON BOSHOFF and SAM GREENHILL examine the questions that remain unanswered . . .

1 WHO FILMED THE MYSTERY VIDEO?

On Tuesday, celebrity website Radar Online posted a three-minute video of the inside of the apartment on the night the robbery happened.

Within a couple of hours it had been taken down, possibly because under French law it is illegal to film someone in a private space without their consent. The footage appears to have been shot covertly by someone inside the room — there’s speculation it could have been a policeman.

In it, you see an apparently calm Kim Kardashian sitting on a sofa wrapped in a blanket, making a video call on her mobile phone. Policemen and a forensics worker are also shown, talking as they examine the rooms.

In the hours after the robbery, a video appeared online of the aftermath of the crime in which Kim lost her £3.5 million engagement ring, given to her by rapper Kanye West

There’s a huge TV and the doors — through which the raiders must have entered — appear undamaged.

Though it has been said she was not filming for Keeping Up With The Kardashians, cameras and lights appear to have been set up in the room. Her assistant is also wearing what looks like a lapel microphone.

A Kardashian spokesman told Radar Online that the footage had been taken five hours after the robbery.

Former FBI agent Manny Gomez, who once won FBI Investigator of the Year, told the site: ‘It is interesting to me how calm she and her personal assistant appear to be. She was acting very normally, as if nothing happened.’

2 WHY WAS SHE ALLOWED TO STAY AT THAT HOTEL?

Known as the ‘no address hotel’, this discreet residence is a hop and a skip from Rue Cambon, a prime location in Paris where many celebrities choose to stay. However, despite the evident prestige and fancy artwork, the hotel has poor security — there are no CCTV cameras on the outside or inside of the building.

Former undercover DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) agent Michael Levine says: ‘The Hotel de Pourtales may claim it is because high-profile stars are camera-shy, but the lack of surveillance may also be grounds for a lawsuit blaming the whole incident on lax security.’

Kim was staying at the The Hotel de Pourtales, pictured, in Paris, which has been criticised because of the lack of CCTV covering the areas around and inside the building

A former French Foreign Legion captain called Axel, who runs Paris-based global security firm Lisda, said he’d never have recommended it to a famous or wealthy client. ‘Security hardly exists there, that was a robbery waiting to happen,’ he said.

Surely their highly paid security team should have warned Kanye and Kim that it was an inadvisable choice — especially given the incredibly valuable jewellery inside?

Kanye West has been spotted there several times over the past few years, on trips to the city without Kim and before their wedding.

He was with Kim at shows the previous week, and left the stage at his own concert when he heard of the robbery. However, her family were staying at the hotel George V, while at Paris Fashion Week last year the couple stayed at Le Royal Monceau.

3 WHERE WAS SECURITY ON THE NIGHT?

This is perhaps the £4.5 million question. The couple employ experienced bodyguard Pascal Duvier as their head of security. He is in charge of a team that includes both drivers and close protection staff. Numbers on the team reportedly vary between three and a dozen.

It is said by her PR team that Kim had three bodyguards on the trip, but they were split between her and her two sisters, who were at another hotel.

Kim and Kanye employ bodyguard Pascal Duvier as their head of security, but on the night he was guarding Kourtney, leaving the reality TV star in the hotel on her own

Why so few, when at home in Los Angeles there are a permanent team of four, day and night? Her PR team told gossip magazine Page Six that it was her decision to send Duvier out with her sister Kourtney that night.

Why would Duvier consent to this? Sources who work in close protection say that it is unheard-of for a ‘principal’ who is this high-profile and wealthy to be left without at least one bodyguard on duty throughout the night, outside the door.

Even if he went with Kourtney, why wasn’t someone else assigned to Kim? And who accompanied her to the hotel in the first place?

In the circumstances, why hasn’t Duvier been fired? He is still the couple’s head of security.

Revelations that he filed for bankruptcy for his German security company 11 weeks ago with debts of more than £800,000 may increase the pressure to let him go.

4 WHY WASN'T SHE TOLD TO BOLT THE DOOR?

Police were initially puzzled as to how the robbers got into the flat.

First, reports said that the concierge had been overpowered by gunmen and left tied up in a cupboard.

Following a telephone interview with Kim last Tuesday, police were told the concierge had let the raiders into the lift, which works via keycard and pin number, and then through an armoured door using a master key.

Some security experts have asked why Kim did not bolt the door - especially when her head of security was not outside as he had been told to look after Kourtney Kardashian

But why wasn’t the door to the apartment bolted on the inside? A basic security precaution which, again, you would expect her protection team to have told her to take?

Almost all modern hotel rooms have a lock or bolt on the inside of the door. Either this one didn’t — the reports are unclear — or Kim felt so safe that she didn’t bolt the door.

5 WHO WAS IN THE APARTMENT WITH HER?

Confusion reigns. The initial statement, by Kim’s PR Ina Treciokas, said that Kim’s children North and Saint were ‘not in the room at the time’. It later emerged, though, that they were in New York all along.

Her long-time friend and stylist Simone Harouche was said to have been asleep in a downstairs bedroom of the two-storey apartment. Some reports say she locked herself in the downstairs bathroom when she heard the commotion and tried to call 911.

It is not entirely certain at this stage who was in the two-storey apartment with Kim at the time

No wonder that didn’t work — the emergency number in France is 112.

She then is said to have either phoned or texted Duvier, and he arrived ‘within two minutes’ according to the entertainment website E!

Other reports say Simone was only woken by Kim screaming once she had freed herself from ties and a gag.

6 WHY DID NEIGHBOURS HEAR NOTHING?

Reports from People magazine say Kim was ‘screaming’ during and after the robbery and that she went out on a balcony to shout for help.

There are, though, no witnesses to this, according to police sources. As reported in Le Parisien newspaper, neighbours ‘did not hear a thing’.

Some reports suggest Kim managed to escape and was screaming from a balcony, but no witnesses have come forward and local media reports that neigbhours did not hear anything

7 HOW DID THE ROBBERS TIE HER UP? According to multiple reports, Kim was gagged with tape and bound hand and foot — reportedly with cable ties.

People magazine reported that she ‘wriggled free’ of her bonds. US Weekly said: ‘After they left she was able to wiggle her hands out the tie.’

If they were zip ties, this would be near impossible. They are made of a durable nylon with tiny teeth down one side and a moulded ratchet on the end.

Reports suggest Kim was tied up with cable ties although she appears to have manged to slip her bonds and call for help, however, the star did not appear to have any marks on her writs

They lock when the teeth align, and more movement only tightens them. If they are tied in front, they can be broken if you raise your hands above your head and bring them down with force and speed while pulling your elbows apart.

However, survival experts warn it will cut deeply into your wrists. There was no sign of any injury to Kim’s hands when she arrived in New York on Monday afternoon last week, or in the Radar video.

8 WHAT WAS IN THE JEWELLERY BOX?

From the very first reports, the value of the jewellery taken remained consistent at £8.5 million. Police said the men stole a jewellery box worth more than £5 million and a ring worth £3.5 million.

The ring is presumably her second engagement ring, a massive Lorraine Schwartz diamond worth around that amount. The rest of the haul, though, remains a mystery. She was not seen wearing anything over the previous week that would be worth anything like this sum.

Insurance documents have now come to light saying that the 13 items taken are worth a much more modest — but still enormous — £4.5 million.

It is now known exactly what was in the jewellery box which was stolen on the night

She wore Jacob & Co jewellery from a new line created by her husband which is not yet on sale. For comparison, though, a gold necklace by Jacob & Co can be picked up for £3,600.

Had she been loaned, for instance, a £1 million diamond necklace it would habitually come with its own security, if she was even permitted to keep it with her overnight.

One source who has borrowed an item worth seven figures says: ‘It came with a bodyguard who literally kept his eyes on it every second that I had it.’ Jeweller Farley Cahen concurs: ‘Any jeweller will tell you that if you loan somebody that amount of goods, security measures are in place.

‘It would’ve cost less than £800 for the night to have armed guards outside the door or even in the flat.’

9 DID THE CROOKS REALLY GET AWAY ON BIKES?

Luc Poignant, a spokesman for the investigative unit of the Paris police, said three of the men left on foot and two on bicycles — Velibs, the Paris equivalent of Boris bikes.

This is one of the strangest claims about the whole heist. Chunky Velibs are notorious for their sluggishness and low speeds.

And where did they hire the Velibs? The nearest pick-up station is several hundred yards away.

If they arrived on the machines, where did they park them without fearing they might be pinched?

Sources have suggested the raiders escaped on bicycles while others suggest they used a car

One report claimed the bandits left the bikes in a garage nearby, then hot-footed it through a shopping arcade to find them after the raid.

The garage owner told the Mail the suggestion was preposterous. Apart from anything else, the arcade’s through-route is locked at night. And why is there no CCTV image of them triumphantly gliding down Rue Tronchet?

Last week a variation on the cycle theme held that they stole some bikes parked in the inner courtyard. It seems unlikely that they would have relied on the chance of finding some.

A traditional getaway car seems a far more likely bet. The saloon seen on a shoe shop’s CCTV cruising up and down the road while the heist was under way had blacked out windows, which would have allowed the gang to speed away unseen.

It might have been a squash though: five raiders plus the driver?

10 DID THE POLICE GATHER ALL THE EVIDENCE?

There is some surprise that Kim flew back to New York on a private plane at 10am, just seven hours after the robbery.

Police sources indicate that she had given a statement at her apartment. It is not believed she went to a police station.

It is unclear if forensic teams tested her clothing and skin for any possible DNA samples that may have been left by her attackers.

In normal circumstances, the victim of such a serious crime would be expected to be interviewed at length by both police and prosecutors over several days.

There is also mystery about other details that have emerged following the robbery.

Kim left Paris shortly after the robbery although there are contradictory reports about what happened during the raid and what exactly the criminals managed to steal from the TV star

Police have said that Kim had been locked in the bathroom — an odd detail, as most bathrooms only lock from the inside. But sources close to Kim said that the door had not been locked.

Police also said that two iPhones belonging to Kim were stolen. However, other sources reported that she texted her bodyguard after the robbery — and another said she rang him while screaming for help on the balcony.

Adding to the confusion, she was seen with a phone on the day of the robbery.

Initial reports said there were two robbers. Within a few hours this had increased to ‘about five’.