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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Final Proof, by R. Ottolengui
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Final Proof
+       or the Value of Evidence
+
+Author: R. Ottolengui
+
+Release Date: April 18, 2011 [EBook #35902]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FINAL PROOF ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Suzanne Shell, Ernest Schaal, and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This
+book was produced from scanned images of public domain
+material from the Google Print project.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                    BY RODRIGUES OTTOLENGUI
+
+
+=An Artist in Crime.= 16^o, $1.00; paper, 50 cts.
+
+=A Conflict of Evidence.= 16^o, $1.00; paper, 50 cts.
+
+=A Modern Wizard.= 16^o, $1.00; paper, 50 cts.
+
+=The Crime of the Century.= 16^o, $1.00; paper, 50 cts.
+
+=Final Proof, or, the Value of Evidence.= 16^o, $1.00; paper, 50 cts.
+
+
+                          G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS
+
+                           NEW YORK & LONDON
+
+
+
+
+                              FINAL PROOF
+                                   OR
+                         THE VALUE OF EVIDENCE
+
+
+                                   BY
+                             R. OTTOLENGUI
+
+
+       AUTHOR OF "AN ARTIST IN CRIME," "A CONFLICT OF EVIDENCE,"
+                    "THE CRIME OF THE CENTURY," ETC.
+
+
+                             [Illustration]
+
+
+                          G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS
+                          NEW YORK AND LONDON
+                        The Knickerbocker Press
+                                  1898
+
+
+
+
+                            Copyright, 1898
+                                   BY
+                          G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS
+                  Entered at Stationers' Hall, London
+
+
+                   The Knickerbocker Press, New York
+
+
+
+
+                               PREFATORY
+
+
+The first meeting between Mr. Barnes, the detective, and Robert Leroy
+Mitchel, the gentleman who imagines himself to be able to outdo
+detectives in their own line of work, was fully set forth in the
+narrative entitled _An Artist in Crime_. Subsequently the two men
+occupied themselves with the solution of a startling murder mystery, the
+details of which were recorded in _The Crime of the Century_. The
+present volume contains the history of several cases which attracted
+their attention in the interval between those already given to the
+world, the first having occured shortly after the termination of the
+events in _An Artist in Crime_, and the others in the order here given,
+so that in a sense these stories are continuous and interdependent.
+
+                                                               R. O.
+
+
+
+
+                                CONTENTS
+
+
+                                                            PAGE
+
+                                   I
+        THE PHOENIX OF CRIME                                   1
+
+                                   II
+        THE MISSING LINK                                     132
+
+                                  III
+        THE NAMELESS MAN                                     151
+
+                                   IV
+        THE MONTEZUMA EMERALD                                169
+
+                                   V
+        A SINGULAR ABDUCTION                                 189
+
+                                   VI
+        THE AZTEC OPAL                                       210
+
+                                  VII
+        THE DUPLICATE HARLEQUIN                              230
+
+                                  VIII
+        THE PEARLS OF ISIS                                   261
+
+                                   IX
+        A PROMISSORY NOTE                                    294
+
+                                   X
+        A NOVEL FORGERY                                      325
+
+                                   XI
+        A FROSTY MORNING                                     341
+
+                                  XII
+        A SHADOW OF PROOF                                    365
+
+
+
+
+                              FINAL PROOF
+
+                                   OR
+
+                         THE VALUE OF EVIDENCE
+
+
+
+
+                              FINAL PROOF
+
+                                   I
+
+                          THE PHOENIX OF CRIME
+
+                                   I
+
+
+Mr. Mitchel was still at breakfast one morning, when the card of Mr.
+Barnes was brought to him by his man Williams.
+
+"Show Mr. Barnes in here," said he. "I imagine that he must be in a
+hurry to see me, else he would not call so early."
+
+A few minutes later the detective entered, saying:
+
+"It is very kind of you to let me come in without waiting. I hope that I
+am not intruding."
+
+"Not at all. As to being kind, why I am kind to myself. I knew you must
+have something interesting on hand to bring you around so early, and I
+am proportionately curious; at the same time I hate to go without my
+coffee, and I do not like to drink it too fast, especially good coffee,
+and this is good, I assure you. Draw up and have a cup, for I observe
+that you came off in such a hurry this morning that you did not get
+any."
+
+"Why, thank you, I will take some, but how do you know that I came off
+in a hurry and had no coffee at home? It seems to me that if you can
+tell that, you are becoming as clever as the famous Sherlock Holmes."
+
+"Oh, no, indeed! You and I can hardly expect to be as shrewd as the
+detectives of romance. As to my guessing that you have had no coffee,
+that is not very troublesome. I notice three drops of milk on your coat,
+and one on your shoe, from which I deduce, first, that you have had no
+coffee, for a man who has his coffee in the morning is not apt to drink
+a glass of milk besides. Second, you must have left home in a hurry, or
+you would have had that coffee. Third, you took your glass of milk at
+the ferry-house of the Staten Island boat, probably finding that you had
+a minute to spare; this is evident because the milk spots on the tails
+of your frock-coat and on your shoe show that you were standing when you
+drank, and leaned over to avoid dripping the fluid on your clothes. Had
+you been seated, the coat tails would have been spread apart, and
+drippings would have fallen on your trousers. The fact that in spite of
+your precautions the accident did occur, and yet escaped your notice, is
+further proof, not only of your hurry, but also that your mind was
+abstracted,--absorbed no doubt with the difficult problem about which
+you have come to talk with me. How is my guess?"
+
+"Correct in every detail. Sherlock Holmes could have done no better. But
+we will drop him and get down to my case, which, I assure you, is more
+astounding than any, either in fact or fiction, that has come to my
+knowledge."
+
+"Go ahead! Your opening argument promises a good play. Proceed without
+further waste of words."
+
+"First, then, let me ask you, have you read the morning's papers?"
+
+"Just glanced through the death reports, but had gotten no further when
+you came in."
+
+"There is one death report, then, that has escaped your attention,
+probably because the notice of it occupies three columns. It is another
+metropolitan mystery. Shall I read it to you? I glanced through it in
+bed this morning and found it so absorbing that, as you guessed, I
+hurried over here to discuss it with you, not stopping to get my
+breakfast."
+
+"In that case you might better attack an egg or two, and let me read the
+article myself."
+
+Mr. Mitchel took the paper from Mr. Barnes, who pointed out to him the
+article in question, which, under appropriate sensational headlines,
+read as follows:
+
+                   *       *       *       *       *
+
+"The account of a most astounding mystery is reported to-day for the
+first time, though the body of the deceased, now thought to have been
+murdered, was taken from the East River several days ago. The facts are
+as follows. On Tuesday last, at about six o'clock in the morning,
+several boys were enjoying an early swim in the river near Eighty-fifth
+Street, when one who had made a deep dive, on reaching the surface
+scrambled out of the water, evidently terrified. His companions crowded
+about him asking what he had seen, and to them he declared that there
+was a 'drownded man down there.' This caused the boys to lose all
+further desire to go into the water, and while they hastily scrambled
+into their clothes they discussed the situation, finally deciding that
+the proper course would be to notify the police, one boy, however, wiser
+than the others, declaring that he 'washed his hands of the affair' if
+they should do so, because he was not 'going to be held as no witness.'
+In true American fashion, nevertheless, the majority ruled, and in a
+body the boys marched to the station-house and reported their discovery.
+Detectives were sent to investigate, and after dragging the locality for
+half an hour the body of a man was drawn out of the water. The corpse
+was taken to the Morgue, and the customary red tape was slowly unwound.
+At first the police thought that it was a case of accidental drowning,
+no marks of violence having been found on the body, which had evidently
+been in the water but a few hours. Thus no special report of the case
+was made in the press. Circumstances have developed at the autopsy,
+however, which make it probable that New Yorkers are to be treated to
+another of the wonderful mysteries which occur all too frequently in the
+metropolis. The first point of significance is the fact, on which all
+the surgeons agree, that the man was dead when placed in the water.
+Secondly, the doctors claim that he died of disease, and not from any
+cause which would point to a crime. This conclusion seems highly
+improbable, for who would throw into the water the body of one who had
+died naturally, and with what object could such a singular course have
+been pursued? Indeed this claim of the doctors is so preposterous that a
+second examination of the body has been ordered, and will occur to-day,
+when several of our most prominent surgeons will be present. The third,
+and by far the most extraordinary circumstance, is the alleged
+identification of the corpse. It seems that one of the surgeons
+officiating at the first autopsy was attracted by a peculiar mark upon
+the face of the corpse. At first it was thought that this was merely a
+bruise caused by something striking the body while in the water, but a
+closer examination proved it to be a skin disease known as 'lichen.' It
+appears that there are several varieties of this disease, some of which
+are quite well known. That found on the face of the corpse, however, is
+a very rare form, only two other cases having been recorded in this
+country. This is a fact of the highest importance in relation to the
+events which have followed. Not unnaturally, the doctors became greatly
+interested. One of these, Dr. Elliot, the young surgeon who first
+examined it closely, having never seen any examples of lichen before,
+spoke of it that evening at a meeting of his medical society. Having
+looked up the literature relating to the disease in the interval, he was
+enabled to give the technical name of this very rare form of the
+disease. At this, another physician present arose, and declared that it
+seemed to him a most extraordinary coincidence that this case had been
+reported, for he himself had recently treated an exactly similar
+condition for a patient who had finally died, his death having occurred
+within a week. A lengthy and of course very technical discussion ensued,
+with the result that Dr. Mortimer, the physician who had treated the
+case of the patient who had so recently died, arranged with Dr. Elliot
+to go with him on the following day and examine the body at the Morgue.
+This he did, and, to the great amazement of his colleague, he then
+declared, that the body before him was none other than that of his own
+patient, supposed to have been buried. When the authorities learned of
+this, they summoned the family of the deceased, two brothers and the
+widow. All of these persons viewed the corpse separately, and each
+declared most emphatically that it was the body of the man whose funeral
+they had followed. Under ordinary circumstances, so complete an
+identification of a body would leave no room for doubt, but what is to
+be thought when we are informed by the family and friends of the
+deceased that the corpse had been cremated? That the mourners had seen
+the coffin containing the body placed in the furnace, and had waited
+patiently during the incineration? And that later the ashes of the dear
+departed had been delivered to them, to be finally deposited in an urn
+in the family vault, where it still is with contents undisturbed? It
+does not lessen the mystery to know that the body in the Morgue (or the
+ashes at the cemetery) represents all that is left of one of our most
+esteemed citizens, Mr. Rufus Quadrant, a gentleman who in life enjoyed
+that share of wealth which made it possible for him to connect his name
+with so many charities; a gentleman whose family in the past and in the
+present has ever been and still is above the breath of suspicion.
+Evidently there is a mystery that will try the skill of our very best
+detectives."
+
+                   *       *       *       *       *
+
+"That last line reads like a challenge to the gentlemen of your
+profession," said Mr. Mitchel to Mr. Barnes as he put down the paper.
+
+"I needed no such spur to urge me to undertake to unravel this case,
+which certainly has most astonishing features."
+
+"Suppose we enumerate the important data and discover what reliable
+deduction may be made therefrom."
+
+"That is what I have done a dozen times, with no very satisfactory
+result. First, we learn that a man is found in the river upon whose face
+there is a curious distinguishing mark in the form of one of the rarest
+of skin diseases. Second, a man has recently died who was similarly
+afflicted. The attending physician declares upon examination that the
+body taken from the river is the body of his patient. Third, the family
+agree that this identification is correct. Fourth, this second dead man
+was cremated. Query, how can a man's body be cremated, and then be
+found whole in the river subsequently? No such thing has been related in
+fact or fiction since the beginning of the world."
+
+"Not so fast, Mr. Barnes. What of the Phoenix?"
+
+"Why, the living young Phoenix arose from the ashes of his dead
+ancestor. But here we have seemingly a dead body re-forming from its own
+ashes, the ashes meanwhile remaining intact and unaltered. A manifest
+impossibility."
+
+"Ah; then we arrive at our first reliable deduction, Mr. Barnes."
+
+"Which is?"
+
+"Which is that, despite the doctors, we have two bodies to deal with.
+The ashes in the vault represent one, while the body at the Morgue is
+another."
+
+"Of course. So much is apparent, but you say the body at the Morgue is
+another, and I ask you, which other?"
+
+"That we must learn. As you appear to be seeking my views in this case I
+will give them to you, though of course I have nothing but this
+newspaper account, which may be inaccurate. Having concluded beyond all
+question that there are two bodies in this case, our first effort must
+be to determine which is which. That is to say, we must discover whether
+this man, Rufus Quadrant, was really cremated, which certainly ought to
+be the case, or whether, by some means, another body has been exchanged
+for his, by accident or by design, and if so, whose body that was."
+
+"_If_ it turns out that the body at the Morgue is really that of Mr.
+Quadrant, then, of course, as you say, some other man's body was
+cremated, and----"
+
+"Why may it not have been a woman's?"
+
+"You are right, and that only makes the point to which I was about to
+call your attention more forcible. If an unknown body has been
+incinerated, how can we ever identify it?"
+
+"I do not know. But we have not arrived at that bridge yet. The first
+step is to reach a final conclusion in regard to the body at the Morgue.
+There are several things to be inquired into, there."
+
+"I wish you would enumerate them."
+
+"With pleasure. First, the autopsy is said to have shown that the man
+died a natural death, that is, that disease, and not one of his
+fellow-beings, killed him. What disease was this, and was it the same as
+that which caused the death of Mr. Quadrant? If the coroner's physicians
+declared what disease killed the man, and named the same as that which
+carried off Mr. Quadrant, remembering that the body before them was
+unknown, we would have a strong corroboration of the alleged
+identification."
+
+"Very true. That will be easily learned."
+
+"Next, as to this lichen. I should think it important to know more of
+that. Is it because the two cases are examples of the same rare variety
+of the disease, or was there something so distinct about the location
+and area or shape of the diseased surface, that the doctor could not
+possibly be mistaken?--for doctors do make mistakes, you know."
+
+"Yes, just as detectives do," said Mr. Barnes, smiling, as he made notes
+of Mr. Mitchel's suggestions.
+
+"If you learn that the cause of death was the same, and that the lichen
+was not merely similar but identical, I should think that there could be
+little reason for longer doubting the identification. But if not fully
+satisfied by your inquiries along these lines, then it might be well to
+see the family of Mr. Quadrant, and inquire whether they too depend upon
+this lichen as the only means of identification, or whether, entirely
+aside from that diseased spot, they would be able to swear that the body
+at the Morgue is their relative. You would have in connection with this
+inquiry an opportunity to ask many discreet questions which might be of
+assistance to you."
+
+"All of this is in relation to establishing beyond a doubt the identity
+of the body at the Morgue, and of course the work to that end will
+practically be simple. In my own mind I have no doubt that the body of
+Mr. Quadrant is the one found in the water. Of course, as you suggest,
+it will be as well to know this rather than merely to think it. But once
+knowing it, what then of the body which is now ashes?"
+
+"We must identify that also."
+
+"Identify ashes!" exclaimed Mr. Barnes. "Not an easy task."
+
+"If all tasks were easy, Mr. Barnes," said Mr. Mitchel, "we should have
+little need of talent such as yours. Suppose you follow my advice,
+provided you intend to accept it, as far as I have indicated, and then
+report to me the results."
+
+"I will do so with pleasure. I do not think it will occupy much time.
+Perhaps by luncheon, I----"
+
+"You could get back here and join me. Do so!"
+
+"In the meanwhile shall you do any--any investigating?"
+
+"I shall do considerable thinking. I will cogitate as to the possibility
+of a Phoenix arising from those ashes."
+
+
+                                   II
+
+Leaving Mr. Mitchel, Mr. Barnes went directly to the office of Dr.
+Mortimer, and after waiting nearly an hour was finally ushered into the
+consulting-room.
+
+"Dr. Mortimer," said Mr. Barnes, "I have called in relation to this
+remarkable case of Mr. Quadrant. I am a detective, and the extraordinary
+nature of the facts thus far published attracts me powerfully, so that,
+though not connected with the regular police, I am most anxious to
+unravel this mystery if possible, though, of course, I should do nothing
+that would interfere with the regular officers of the law. I have
+called, hoping that you might be willing to answer a few questions."
+
+"I think I have heard of you, Mr. Barnes, and if, as you say, you will
+do nothing to interfere with justice, I have no objection to telling
+you what I know, though I fear it is little enough."
+
+"I thank you, Doctor, for your confidence, which, I assure you, you
+shall not regret. In the first place, then, I would like to ask you
+about this identification. The newspaper account states that you have
+depended upon some skin disease. Is that of such a nature that you can
+be absolutely certain in your opinion?"
+
+"I think so," said the doctor. "But then, as you must have found in your
+long experience, all identifications of the dead should be accepted with
+a little doubt. Death alters the appearance of every part of the body,
+and especially the face. We think that we know a man by the contour of
+his face, whereas we often depend, during life, upon the habitual
+expressions which the face ever carries. For example, suppose that we
+know a young girl, full of life and happiness, with a sunny disposition
+undimmed by care or the world's worry. She is ever smiling, or ready to
+smile. Thus we know her. Let that girl suffer a sudden and perhaps
+painful death. In terror and agony as she dies, the features are
+distorted, and in death the resultant expression is somewhat stamped
+upon the features. Let that body lie in the water for a time, and when
+recovered it is doubtful whether all of her friends would identify her.
+Some would, but others would with equal positiveness declare that these
+were mistaken. Yet you observe the physical contours would still be
+present."
+
+"I am pleased, Doctor, by what you say," said Mr. Barnes, "because with
+such appreciation of the changes caused by death and exposure in the
+water, I must lay greater reliance upon your identification. In this
+case, as I understand it, there is something peculiar about the body, a
+mark of disease called lichen, I believe?"
+
+"Yes. But what I have said about the changes caused by death must have
+weight here also," said the doctor. "You see I am giving you all the
+points that may militate against my identification, that you may the
+better judge of its correctness. We must not forget that we are dealing
+with a disease of very great rarity; so rare, in fact, that this very
+case is the only one that I have ever seen. Consequently I cannot claim
+to be perfectly familiar with the appearance of surfaces attacked by
+this disease, after they have suffered the possible alterations of
+death."
+
+"Then you mean that, after all, this spot upon which the identification
+rests does not now look as it did in life?"
+
+"I might answer both yes and no to that. Changes have occurred, but they
+do not, in my opinion, prevent me from recognizing both the disease and
+the corpse. To fully explain this I must tell you something of the
+disease itself, if you will not be bored?"
+
+"Not at all. Indeed, I prefer to know all that you can make intelligible
+to a layman."
+
+"I will use simple language. Formerly a great number of skin diseases
+were grouped under the general term 'lichen,' which included all growths
+which might be considered fungoid. At the present time we are fairly
+well able to separate the animal from the vegetable parasitic diseases,
+and under the term 'lichen' we include very few forms. The most common
+is _lichen planus_, which unfortunately is not infrequently met, and is
+therefore very well understood by the specialists. _Lichen ruber_,
+however, is quite distinct. It was first described by the German, Hebra,
+and has been sufficiently common in Europe to enable the students to
+thoroughly well describe it. In this country, however, it seems to be
+one of the rarest of diseases. White of Boston reported a case, and Fox
+records another, accompanied by a colored photograph, which, of course,
+aids greatly in enabling any one to recognize a case should it occur.
+There is one more fact to which I must allude as having an important
+bearing upon my identification. _Lichen ruber_, like other lichens, is
+not confined to any one part of the body; on the contrary, it would be
+remarkable, should the disease be uncontrolled for any length of time,
+not to see it in many places. This brings me to my point. The seat of
+the disease, in the case of Mr. Quadrant, was the left cheek, where a
+most disfiguring spot appeared. It happened that I was in constant
+attendance upon Mr. Quadrant for the trouble which finally caused his
+decease, and therefore I saw this lichen in its incipiency, and more
+fortunately I recognized its true nature. Now whether due to my
+treatment or not, it is a fact that the disease did not spread; that is
+to say, it did not appear elsewhere upon the body."
+
+"I see! I see!" said Mr. Barnes, much pleased. "This is an important
+point. For if the body at the Morgue exhibits a spot in that exact
+locality and nowhere else, and if it is positively this same skin
+disease, it is past belief that it should be any other than the body of
+your patient."
+
+"So I argue. That two such unique examples of so rare a disease should
+occur at the same time seems incredible, though remotely possible. Thus,
+as you have indicated, we have but to show that the mark on the body at
+the Morgue is truly caused by this disease, and not by some abrasion
+while in the water, in order to make our opinion fairly tenable. Both
+Dr. Elliot and myself have closely examined the spot, and we have agreed
+that it is not an abrasion. Had the face been thus marked in the water,
+we should find the cuticle rubbed off, which is not the case.
+Contrarily, in the disease under consideration, the cuticle, though
+involved in the disease, and even missing in minute spots, is
+practically present. No, I am convinced that the mark on the body at the
+Morgue existed in life as the result of this lichen, though the
+alteration of color since death gives us a much changed appearance."
+
+"Then I may consider that you are confident that this mark on the body
+is of the same shape, in the same position, and caused by the same
+disease as that which you observed upon Mr. Quadrant?"
+
+"Yes. I do not hesitate to assert that. To this you may add that I
+identify the body in a general way also."
+
+"By which you mean?"
+
+"That without this mark, basing my opinion merely upon my long
+acquaintance with the man, I would be ready to declare that Mr.
+Quadrant's body is the one which was taken from the water."
+
+"What, then, is your opinion as to how this strange occurrence has come
+about? If Mr. Quadrant was cremated, how could----"
+
+"It could not, of course. This is not the age of miracles. Mr. Quadrant
+was not cremated. Of that we may be certain."
+
+"But the family claim that they saw his body consigned to the furnace."
+
+"The family believe this, I have no doubt. But how could they be sure?
+Let us be accurate in considering what we call facts. What did the
+family see at the crematory? They saw a closed coffin placed into the
+furnace."
+
+"A coffin, though, which contained the body of their relative."
+
+Mr. Barnes did not of course himself believe this, but made the remark
+merely to lead the doctor on.
+
+"Again you are inaccurate. Let us rather say a coffin which once
+contained the body of their relative."
+
+"Ah; then you think that it was taken from the coffin and another
+substituted for it?"
+
+"No. I do not go so far. I think, nay, I am sure, that Mr. Quadrant's
+body was taken from the coffin, but whether another was substituted for
+it, is a question. The coffin may have been empty when burned."
+
+"Could we settle that point by an examination of the ashes?"
+
+The doctor started as though surprised at the question. After a little
+thought he replied hesitatingly:
+
+"Perhaps. It seems doubtful. Ashes from bone and animal matter would, I
+suppose, bring us chemical results different from those of burned wood.
+Whether our analytical chemists could solve such a problem remains to be
+seen. Ordinarily one would think that ashes would resist all efforts at
+identification." The doctor seemed lost in thoughtful consideration of
+this scientific problem.
+
+"The trimmings of the coffin might contain animal matter if made of
+wool," suggested Mr. Barnes.
+
+"True; that would certainly complicate the work of the chemist, and
+throw doubt upon his reported results."
+
+"You admitted, Doctor, that the body was placed in the coffin. Do you
+know that positively?"
+
+"Yes. I called on the widow on the night previous to the funeral, and
+the body was then in the coffin. I saw it in company with the widow and
+the two brothers. It was then that it was decided that the coffin should
+be closed and not opened again."
+
+"Whose wish was this?"
+
+"The widow's. You may well understand that this lichen greatly
+disfigured Mr. Quadrant, and that he was extremely sensitive about it.
+So much so that he had not allowed any one to see him for many weeks
+prior to his death. It was in deference to this that the widow expressed
+the wish that no one but the immediate family should see him in his
+coffin. For this reason also she stipulated that the coffin should be
+burned with the body."
+
+"You say this was decided on the night before the funeral?"
+
+"Yes. To be accurate, about five o'clock in the afternoon, though at
+this season and in the closed rooms the lamps were already lighted."
+
+"Was this known to many persons? That is, that the coffin was not again
+to be opened?"
+
+"It was known of course to the two brothers, and also to the undertaker
+and two of his assistants who were present."
+
+"The undertaker himself closed the casket, I presume?"
+
+"Yes. He was closing it as I escorted the widow back to her own room."
+
+"Did the brothers leave the room with you?"
+
+"I think so. Yes, I am sure of it."
+
+"So that the body was left with the undertaker and his men, after they
+knew that it was not to be opened again?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Did these men leave before you did?"
+
+"No. I left almost immediately after taking the widow to her own room
+and seeing her comfortably lying down, apparently recovered from the
+hysterical spell which I had been summoned to check. You know, of
+course, that the Quadrant residence is but a block from here."
+
+"There is one more point, Doctor. Of what disease did Mr. Quadrant die?"
+
+"My diagnosis was what in common parlance I may call cancer of the
+stomach. This, of course, I only knew from the symptoms. That is to say,
+there had been no operation, as the patient was strenuously opposed to
+such a procedure. He repeatedly said to me, 'I would rather die than be
+cut up.' A strange prejudice in these days of successful surgery, when
+the knife in skilful hands promises so much more than medication."
+
+"Still these symptoms were sufficient in your own mind to satisfy you
+that your diagnosis was accurate?"
+
+"I can only say in reply that I have frequently in the presence of
+similar symptoms performed an operation, and always with the same
+result. The cancer was always present."
+
+"Now the coroner's autopsy on the body at the Morgue is said to have
+shown that death was due to disease. Do you know what they discovered?"
+
+"Dr. Elliot told me that it was cancer of the stomach."
+
+"Why, then, the identification seems absolute?"
+
+"So it seems. Yes."
+
+
+                                  III
+
+Mr. Barnes next called at the home of the Quadrants, and was informed
+that both of the gentlemen were out. With some hesitation he sent a
+brief note in to the widow, explaining his purpose and asking for an
+interview. To his gratification his request was granted, and he was
+shown up to that lady's reception-room.
+
+"I fear, madame," said he, "that my visit may seem an intrusion, but I
+take the deepest sort of interest in this sad affair of your husband,
+and I would much appreciate having your permission and authority to
+investigate it, with the hope of discovering the wrong-doers."
+
+"I see by your note," said Mrs. Quadrant in a low, sad voice, "that you
+are a detective, but not connected with the police. That is why I have
+decided to see you. I have declined to see the regular detective sent
+here by the police, though my husband's brothers, I believe, have
+answered all his questions. But as for myself, I felt that I could not
+place this matter in the hands of men whom my husband always distrusted.
+Perhaps his prejudice was due to his politics, but he frequently
+declared that our police force was corrupt. Thus you understand why I am
+really glad that you have called, for I am anxious, nay, determined, to
+discover if possible who it was who has done me this grievous wrong. To
+think that my poor husband was there in the river, when I thought that
+his body had been duly disposed of. It is horrible, horrible!"
+
+"It is indeed horrible, madame," said Mr. Barnes sympathizingly. "But we
+must find the guilty person or persons and bring them to justice."
+
+"Yes! That is what I wish. That is what I am ready to pay any sum to
+accomplish. You must not consider you are working, as you courteously
+offer, merely to satisfy your professional interest in a mysterious
+case. I wish you to undertake this as my special agent."
+
+"As you please, madame, but in that case I must make one condition. I
+would ask that you tell this to no one unless I find it necessary. At
+present I think I can do better if I am merely regarded as a busybody
+detective attracted by an odd case."
+
+"Why, certainly, no one need know. Now tell me what you think of this
+matter."
+
+"Well, it is rather early to formulate an opinion. An opinion is
+dangerous. One is so apt to endeavor to prove himself right, whereas he
+ought merely to seek out the truth. But if you have any opinion, it is
+necessary for me to know it. Therefore I must answer you by asking the
+very question which you have asked me. What do you think?"
+
+"I think that some one took the body of my husband from the coffin, and
+that we burned an empty casket. But to guess what motive there could be
+for such an act would be beyond my mental abilities. I have thought
+about it till my head has ached, but I can find no reason for such an
+unreasonable act."
+
+"Let me then suggest one to you, and then perhaps your opinion may
+be more useful. Suppose that some person, some one who had the
+opportunity, had committed a murder. By removing the body of your
+husband, and replacing it with that of his victim, the evidences of his
+own crime would be concealed. The discovery of your husband's body,
+even if identified, as it has been, could lead to little else than
+mystification, for the criminal well knew that the autopsy would show
+natural causes of death."
+
+"But what a terrible solution this is which you suggest! Why, no one had
+access to the coffin except the undertaker and his two men!"
+
+"You naturally omit your two brothers, but a detective cannot make such
+discrimination."
+
+"Why, of course I do not count them, for certainly neither of them could
+be guilty of such a crime as you suggest. It is true that Amos--but that
+is of no consequence."
+
+"Who is Amos?" asked Mr. Barnes, aroused by the fact that Mrs. Quadrant
+had left her remark unfinished.
+
+"Amos is one of my brothers--my husband's brothers, I mean. Amos
+Quadrant was next in age, and Mark the youngest of the three. But, Mr.
+Barnes, how could one of the undertakers have made this exchange which
+you suggest? Certainly they could not have brought the dead body here,
+and my husband's body never left the house prior to the funeral."
+
+"The corpse which was left in place of that of your husband must have
+been smuggled into this house by some one. Why not by one of these men?
+How, is a matter for explanation later. There is one other possibility
+about which you may be able to enlighten me. What opportunity, if any,
+was there that this substitution may have occurred at the crematory?"
+
+"None at all. The coffin was taken from the hearse by our own
+pall-bearers, friends all of them, and carried directly to the room into
+which the furnace opened. Then, in accordance with my special request,
+the coffin, unopened, was placed in the furnace in full view of all
+present."
+
+"Were you there yourself?"
+
+"Oh! no, no! I could not have endured such a sight. The cremation was
+resorted to as a special request of my husband. But I am bitterly
+opposed to such a disposition of the dead, and therefore remained at
+home."
+
+"Then how do you know what you have told me?--that there was no chance
+for substitution at the crematory?"
+
+"Because my brothers and other friends have related all that occurred
+there in detail, and all tell the same story that I have told you."
+
+"Dr. Mortimer tells me that you decided to have the coffin closed
+finally on the evening prior to the funeral. With the casket closed, I
+presume you did not consider it necessary to have the usual watchers?"
+
+"Not exactly, though the two gentlemen, I believe, sat up through the
+night, and occasionally visited the room where the casket was."
+
+"Ah! Then it would seem to have been impossible for any one to enter the
+house and accomplish the exchange, without being detected by one or both
+of these gentlemen?"
+
+"Of course not," said Mrs. Quadrant, and then, realizing the necessary
+deduction, she hastened to add: "I do not know. After all, they may not
+have sat up through all the night."
+
+"Did any one enter the house that night, so far as you know?"
+
+"No one, except Dr. Mortimer, who stopped in about ten as he was
+returning from a late professional call. He asked how I was, and went
+on, I believe."
+
+"But neither of the undertakers came back upon any excuse?"
+
+"Not to my knowledge."
+
+At this moment some one was heard walking in the hall below, and Mrs.
+Quadrant added:
+
+"I think that may be one of my brothers now. Suppose you go down and
+speak to him. He would know whether any one came to the house during the
+night. You may tell him that you have seen me, if you wish, and that I
+have no objection to your endeavoring to discover the truth."
+
+Mr. Barnes bade Mrs. Quadrant adieu and went down to the parlor floor.
+Not meeting any one, he touched a bell, and when the servant responded,
+asked for either of the gentlemen of the house who might have come in.
+He was informed that Mr. Mark Quadrant was in the library, and was
+invited to see him there.
+
+Mr. Mark Quadrant was of medium height, body finely proportioned, erect
+figure, a well-poised head, keen, bright eyes, a decided blond, and wore
+a Vandyke beard, close trimmed. He looked at Mr. Barnes in such a manner
+that the detective knew that whatever he might learn from this man would
+be nothing that he would prefer to conceal, unless accidentally
+surprised from him. It was necessary therefore to approach the subject
+with considerable circumspection.
+
+"I have called," said Mr. Barnes, "in relation to the mysterious
+circumstances surrounding the death of your brother."
+
+"Are you connected with the police force?" asked Mr. Quadrant.
+
+"No. I am a private detective."
+
+"Then you will pardon my saying that you are an intruder--an unwelcome
+intruder."
+
+"I think not," said Mr. Barnes, showing no irritation at his reception.
+"I have the permission of Mrs. Quadrant to investigate this affair."
+
+"Oh! You have seen her, have you?"
+
+"I have just had an interview with her."
+
+"Then your intrusion is more than unwelcome; it is an impertinence."
+
+"Why, pray?"
+
+"You should have seen myself or my brother, before disturbing a woman in
+the midst of her grief."
+
+"I asked for you or your brother, but you were both away. It was only
+then that I asked to see Mrs. Quadrant."
+
+"You should not have done so. It was impertinent, I repeat. Why could
+you not have waited to see one of us?"
+
+"Justice cannot wait. Delay is often dangerous."
+
+"What have you to do with justice? This affair is none of your
+business."
+
+"The State assumes that a crime is an outrage against all its citizens,
+and any man has the right to seek out and secure the punishment of the
+criminal."
+
+"How do you know that any crime has been committed?"
+
+"There can be no doubt about it. The removal of your brother's body from
+his coffin was a criminal act in itself, even if we do not take into
+account the object of the person who did this."
+
+"And what, pray, was the object, since you are so wise?"
+
+"Perhaps the substitution of the body of a victim of murder, in order
+that the person killed might be incinerated."
+
+"That proposition is worthy of a detective. You first invent a crime,
+and then seek to gain employment in ferreting out what never occurred."
+
+"That hardly holds with me, as I have offered my service without
+remuneration."
+
+"Oh, I see. An enthusiast in your calling! A crank, in other words.
+Well, let me prick your little bubble. Suppose I can supply you with
+another motive, one not at all connected with murder?"
+
+"I should be glad to hear you propound one."
+
+"Suppose that I tell you that though my brother requested that his body
+should be cremated, both his widow and myself were opposed? Suppose that
+I further state that my brother Amos, being older than I, assumed the
+management of affairs, and insisted that the cremation should occur? And
+then suppose that I admit that to thwart that, I removed the body
+myself?"
+
+"You ask me to suppose all this," said Mr. Barnes quietly. "In reply, I
+ask you, do you make such a statement?"
+
+"Why, no. I do not intend to make any statement, because I do not
+consider that you have any right to mix yourself up in this affair. It
+is my wish that the matter should be allowed to rest. Nothing could be
+more repugnant to my feelings, or to my brother's, were he alive, poor
+fellow, than all this newspaper notoriety. I wish to see the body
+buried, and the mystery with it. I have no desire for any solution."
+
+"But, despite your wishes, the affair will be, must be, investigated.
+Now, to discuss your imaginary proposition, I will say that it is so
+improbable that no one would believe it."
+
+"Why not, pray?"
+
+"First, because it was an unnatural procedure upon such an inadequate
+motive. A man might kill his brother, but he would hardly desecrate his
+brother's coffin merely to prevent a certain form of disposing of the
+dead."
+
+"That is mere presumption. You cannot dogmatically state what may
+actuate a man."
+
+"But in this case the means was inadequate to the end."
+
+"How so?"
+
+"If the combined wishes of yourself and the widow could not sway your
+brother Amos, who had taken charge of the funeral, how could you hope
+when the body should be removed from the river, that he would be more
+easily brought around to your wishes?"
+
+"The effort to cremate the body having failed once, he would not resist
+my wishes in the second burial."
+
+"That is doubtful. I should think he would be so incensed by your act,
+that he would be more than ever determined that you should have no say
+in the matter. But supposing that you believed otherwise, and that you
+wished to carry out this extraordinary scheme, you had no opportunity to
+do so."
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"I suppose, of course, that your brother sat up with the corpse through
+the night before the funeral."
+
+"Exactly. You suppose a good deal more than you know. My brother did not
+sit up with the corpse. As the coffin had been closed, there was no need
+to follow that obsolete custom. My brother retired before ten o'clock.
+I myself remained up some hours longer."
+
+Thus in the mental sparring Mr. Barnes had succeeded in learning one
+fact from this reluctant witness.
+
+"But even so," persisted the detective, "you would have found difficulty
+in removing the body from this house to the river."
+
+"Yet it was done, was it not?"
+
+This was unanswerable. Mr. Barnes did not for a moment place any faith
+in what this brother had said. He argued that had he done anything like
+what he suggested, he would never have hinted at it as a possibility.
+Why he did so was a puzzle. Perhaps he merely wished to make the affair
+seem more intricate, in the hope of persuading him to drop the
+investigation, being, as he had stated, honestly anxious to have the
+matter removed from the public gaze, and caring nothing about any
+explanation of how his brother's body had been taken from the coffin. On
+the other hand, there was a possibility which could not be entirely
+overlooked. He might really have been guilty of acting as he had
+suggested, and perhaps now told of it as a cunning way of causing the
+detective to discredit such a solution of the mystery. Mr. Barnes
+thought it well to pursue the subject a little further.
+
+"Suppose," said he, "that it could be shown that the ashes now in the
+urn at the cemetery are the ashes of a human being?"
+
+"You will be smart if you can prove that," said Mr. Quadrant. "Ashes
+are ashes, I take it, and you will get little proof there. But since you
+discussed my proposition, I will argue with you about yours. You say,
+suppose the ashes are those of a human being. Very well, then, that
+would prove that my brother was cremated after all, and that I have been
+guying you, playing with you as a fisherman who fools a fish with
+feathers instead of real bait."
+
+"But what of the identification of the body at the Morgue?"
+
+"Was there ever a body at the Morgue that was not identified a dozen
+times? People are apt to be mistaken about their friends after death."
+
+"But this identification was quite complete, being backed up by
+scientific reasons advanced by experts."
+
+"Yes, but did you ever see a trial where expert witnesses were called,
+that equally expert witnesses did not testify to the exact contrary? Let
+me ask you a question. Have you seen this body at the Morgue?"
+
+"Not yet."
+
+"Go and see it. Examine the sole of the left foot. If you do not find a
+scar three or four inches long the body is not that of my brother. This
+scar was the result of a bad gash made by stepping on a shell when in
+bathing. He was a boy at the time, and I was with him."
+
+"But, Mr. Quadrant," said Mr. Barnes, astonished by the new turn of the
+conversation, "I understood that you yourself admitted that the
+identification was correct."
+
+"The body was identified by Dr. Mortimer first. My sister and my brother
+agreed with the doctor, and I agreed with them all, for reasons of my
+own."
+
+"Would you mind stating those reasons?"
+
+"You are not very shrewd if you cannot guess. I want this matter
+dropped. Had I denied the identity of the body it must have remained at
+the Morgue, entailing more newspaper sensationalism. By admitting the
+identity, I hoped that the body would be given to us for burial, and
+that the affair would then be allowed to die."
+
+"Then if, as you now signify, this is not your brother's body, what
+shall I think of your suggestion that you yourself placed the body in
+the river?"
+
+"What shall you think? Why, think what you like. That is your affair.
+The less you think about it, though, the better pleased I should be. And
+now really I cannot permit this conversation to be prolonged. You must
+go, and if you please I wish that you do not come here again."
+
+"I am sorry that I cannot promise that. I shall come if I think it
+necessary. This is your sister's house, I believe, and she has expressed
+a wish that I pursue this case to the end."
+
+"My sister is a fool. At any rate, I can assure you, you shall not get
+another chance at me, so make the most of what information I have given
+you. Good morning."
+
+With these words Mr. Mark Quadrant walked out of the room, leaving Mr.
+Barnes alone.
+
+
+                                   IV
+
+Mr. Barnes stood for a moment in a quandary, and then decided upon a
+course of action. He touched the bell which he knew would call the
+butler, and then sat down by the grate fire to wait. Almost immediately
+his eye fell upon a bit of white paper protruding from beneath a small
+rug, and he picked it up. Examining it closely, he guessed that it had
+once contained some medicine in powder form, but nothing in the shape of
+a label, or traces of the powder itself, was there to tell what the drug
+had been.
+
+"I wonder," thought he, "whether this bit of paper would furnish me with
+a clue? I must have it examined by a chemist. He may discern by his
+methods what I cannot detect with the naked eye."
+
+With this thought in his mind, he carefully folded the paper in its
+original creases and deposited it in his wallet. At that moment the
+butler entered.
+
+"What is your name?" asked Mr. Barnes.
+
+"Thomas, sir," said the man, a fine specimen of the intelligent New York
+negro. "Thomas Jefferson."
+
+"Well, Thomas, I am a detective, and your mistress wishes me to look
+into the peculiar circumstances which, as you know, have occurred. Are
+you willing to help me?"
+
+"I'll do anything for the mistress, sir."
+
+"Very good. That is quite proper. Now, then, do you remember your
+master's death?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"And his funeral?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"You know when the undertaker and his men came and went, and how often,
+I presume? You let them in and saw them?"
+
+"I let them in, yes, sir. But once or twice they went out without my
+knowing."
+
+"At five o'clock on the afternoon before the funeral, I am told that
+Mrs. Quadrant visited the room where the body was, and ordered that the
+coffin should be closed for the last time. Did you know this?"
+
+"No, sir."
+
+"I understand that at that time the undertaker and two of his men were
+in the room, as were also the two Mr. Quadrants, Mrs. Quadrant, and the
+doctor. Now, be as accurate as you can, and tell me in what order and
+when these persons left the house."
+
+"Dr. Mortimer went away, I remember, just after Mrs. Quadrant went to
+her room to lie down. Then the gentlemen went in to dinner, and I served
+them. The undertaker and one of his men left together just as dinner was
+put on table. I remember that because the undertaker stood in the hall
+and spoke a word to Mr. Amos just as he was entering the dining-room.
+Mr. Amos then turned to me, and said for me to show them out. I went to
+the door with them, and then went back to the dining-room."
+
+"Ah! Then one of the undertaker's men was left alone with the body?"
+
+"I suppose so, unless he went away first. I did not see him go at all.
+But, come to think of it, he must have been there after the other two
+went away."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Because, when I let out the undertaker and his man, their wagon was at
+the door, but they walked off and left it. After dinner it was gone, so
+the other man must have gone out and driven off in it."
+
+"Very probably. Now, can you tell me this man's name? The last to leave
+the house, I mean?"
+
+"I heard the undertaker call one 'Jack,' but I do not know which one."
+
+"But you saw the two men--the assistants, I mean. Can you not describe
+the one that was here last?"
+
+"Not very well. All I can say is that the one that went away with the
+undertaker was a youngish fellow without any mustache. The other was a
+short, thick-set man, with dark hair and a stubby mustache. That is all
+I noticed."
+
+"That will be enough. I can probably find him at the undertaker's. Now,
+can you remember whether either of the gentlemen sat up with the corpse
+that night?"
+
+"Both the gentlemen sat in here till ten o'clock. The body was across
+the hall in the little reception-room near the front door. About ten the
+door-bell rang, and I let in the doctor, who stopped to ask after Mrs.
+Quadrant. He and Mr. Amos went up to her room. The doctor came down in a
+few minutes, alone, and came into this room to talk with Mr. Mark."
+
+"How long did he stay?"
+
+"I don't know. Not long, I think, because he had on his overcoat. But
+Mr. Mark told me I could go to bed, and he would let the doctor out. So
+I just brought them a fresh pitcher of ice-water, and went to my own
+room."
+
+"That is all, then, that you know of what occurred that night?"
+
+"No, sir. There was another thing, that I have not mentioned to any one,
+though I don't think it amounts to anything."
+
+"What was that?"
+
+"Some time in the night I thought I heard a door slam, and the noise
+woke me up. I jumped out of bed and slipped on some clothes and came as
+far as the door here, but I did not come in."
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"Because I saw Mr. Amos in here, standing by the centre-table with a
+lamp in his hand. He was looking down at Mr. Mark, who was fast asleep
+alongside of the table, with his head resting on his arm on the table."
+
+"Did you notice whether Mr. Amos was dressed or not?"
+
+"Yes, sir. That's what surprised me. He had all his clothes on."
+
+"Did he awaken his brother?"
+
+"No. He just looked at him, and then tiptoed out and went upstairs. I
+slipped behind the hall door, so that he would not see me."
+
+"Was the lamp in his hand one that he had brought down from his own
+room?"
+
+"No, sir. It was one that I had been ordered to put in the room where
+the coffin was, as they did not want the electric light turned on in
+there all night. Mr. Amos went back into the front room, and left the
+lamp there before he went upstairs."
+
+"Do you know when Mr. Mark went up to his room? Did he remain downstairs
+all night?"
+
+"No, sir. He was in bed in his own room when I came around in the
+morning. About six o'clock, that was. But I don't know when he went to
+bed. He did not come down to breakfast, though, till nearly noon. The
+funeral was at two o'clock."
+
+"That is all, I think," said Mr. Barnes. "But do not let any one know
+that I have talked with you."
+
+"Just as you say, sir."
+
+As it was now nearing noon, Mr. Barnes left the house and hastened up to
+Mr. Mitchel's residence to keep his engagement for luncheon. Arrived
+there, he was surprised to have Williams inform him that he had received
+a telephone message to the effect that Mr. Mitchel would not be at home
+for luncheon.
+
+"But, Inspector," said Williams, "here's a note just left for you by a
+messenger."
+
+Mr. Barnes took the envelope, which he found inclosed the following from
+Mr. Mitchel:
+
+"FRIEND BARNES:--
+
+"Am sorry I cannot be home to luncheon. Williams will give you a bite. I
+have news for you. I have seen the ashes, and there is now no doubt that
+a body, a human body, was burned at the crematory that day. I do not
+despair that we may yet discover whose body it was. More when I know
+more."
+
+
+                                   V
+
+Mr. Barnes read this note over two or three times, and then folded it
+thoughtfully and put it in his pocket. He found it difficult to decide
+whether Mr. Mitchel had been really detained, or whether he had
+purposely broken his appointment. If the latter, then Mr. Barnes felt
+sure that already he had made some discovery which rendered this case
+doubly attractive to him, so much so that he had concluded to seek the
+solution himself.
+
+"That man is a monomaniac," thought Mr. Barnes, somewhat nettled. "I
+come here and attract his attention to a case that I know will afford
+him an opportunity to follow a fad, and now he goes off and is working
+the case alone. It is not fair. But I suppose this is another challenge,
+and I must work rapidly to get at the truth ahead of him. Well, I will
+accept, and fight it out."
+
+Thus musing, Mr. Barnes, who had declined Williams's offer to serve
+luncheon, left the house and proceeded to the shop of the undertaker.
+This man had a name the full significance of which had never come home
+to him until he began the business of caring for the dead. He spelled it
+Berial, and insisted that the pronunciation demanded a long sound to the
+"i," and a strong accent on the middle syllable. But he was constantly
+annoyed by the cheap wit of acquaintances, who with a significant titter
+would call him either Mr. "Burial," or Mr. "Bury all."
+
+Mr. Barnes found Mr. Berial disengaged, undertakers, fortunately, not
+always being rushed with business, and encountered no difficulty in
+approaching his subject.
+
+"I have called, Mr. Berial," said the detective, "to get a little
+information about your management of the funeral of Mr. Quadrant."
+
+"Certainly," said Mr. Berial; "any information I can give, you are
+welcome to. Detective, I suppose?"
+
+"Yes; in the interest of the family," replied Mr. Barnes. "There are
+some odd features of this case, Mr. Berial."
+
+"Odd?" said the undertaker. "Odd don't half cover it. It's the most
+remarkable thing in the history of the world. Here I am, with an
+experience in funerals covering thirty years, and I go and have a man
+decently cremated, and, by hickory, if he ain't found floating in the
+river the next morning. Odd? Why, there ain't any word to describe a
+thing like that. It's devilish; that's the nearest I can come to it."
+
+"Well, hardly that," said Mr. Barnes, with a smile. "Of course, since
+Mr. Quadrant's body has been found in the river, it never was cremated."
+
+"Who says so?" asked the undertaker, sharply. "Not cremated? Want to bet
+on that? I suppose not. We can't make a bet about the dead. It wouldn't
+be professional. But Mr. Quadrant was cremated. There isn't any question
+about that point. Put that down as final."
+
+"But it is impossible that he should have been cremated, and then
+reappear at the Morgue."
+
+"Just what I say. The thing's devilish. There's a hitch, of course. But
+why should it be at my end, eh? Tell me that, will you? There's just as
+much chance for a mistake at the Morgue as at the funeral, isn't there?"
+This was said in a tone that challenged dispute.
+
+"What mistake could have occurred at the Morgue?" asked Mr. Barnes.
+
+"Mistaken identification," replied the undertaker so quickly that he had
+evidently anticipated the question. "Mistaken identification. That's
+your cue, Mr. Barnes. It's happened often enough before," he added, with
+a chuckle.
+
+"I scarcely think there can be a mistake of that character," said Mr.
+Barnes, thinking, nevertheless, of the scar on the foot. "This
+identification is not merely one of recognition; it is supported by
+scientific reason, advanced by the doctors."
+
+"Oh! doctors make mistakes too, I guess," said Mr. Berial, testily.
+"Look here, you're a detective. You're accustomed to weigh evidence.
+Now tell me, will you, how could this man be cremated, as I tell you he
+was, and then turn up in the river? Answer that, and I'll argue with
+you."
+
+"The question, of course, turns on the fact of the cremation. How do you
+know that the body was in the coffin when it was consigned to the
+furnace?"
+
+"How do I know? Why, ain't that my business? Who should know if I don't?
+Didn't I put the body in the coffin myself?"
+
+"Very true. But why could not some one have taken the body out after you
+closed the coffin finally, and before the hour of the funeral?"
+
+Mr. Berial laughed softly to himself, as though enjoying a joke too good
+to be shared too soon with another. Presently he said:
+
+"That's a proper question, of course; a very proper question, and I'll
+answer it. But I must tell you a secret, so you may understand it. You
+see in this business we depend a good deal on the recommendation of the
+attending physician. Some doctors are real professional, and recommend a
+man on his merits. Others are different. They expect a commission.
+Surprises you, don't it? But it's done every day in this town. The
+doctor can't save his patient, and the patient dies. Then he tells the
+sorrowing friends that such and such an undertaker is the proper party
+to hide away the result of his failure; failure to cure, of course. In
+due time he gets his little check, ten per cent. of the funeral bill.
+This seems like wandering away from the point, but I am coming back to
+it. This commission arrangement naturally keeps me on the books of
+certain doctors, and vicy versy it keeps them on mine. So, working for
+certain doctors, it follows that I work for a certain set of people. Now
+I've a Catholic doctor on my books, and it happens that the cemetery
+where that church buries is in a lonesome place; just the spot for a
+grave-robber to work undisturbed, especially if the watchman out there
+should happen to be fond of his tipple, which I tell you, again in
+confidence, that he is. Now, then, it has happened more than once,
+though it has been kept quiet, that a grave filled up one afternoon
+would be empty the next morning. At least the body would be gone. Of
+course they wouldn't take the coffin, as they'd be likely to be caught
+getting rid of it. You see, a coffin ain't exactly regular household
+furniture. If they have time they fill the grave again, but often enough
+they're too anxious to get away, because, of course, the watchman might
+not be drunk. Well, these things being kept secret, but still pretty
+well known in the congregation, told in whispers, I might say, a sort of
+demand sprung up for a style of coffin that a grave-robber couldn't
+open,--a sort of coffin with a combination lock, as it were."
+
+"You don't mean to say--" began Mr. Barnes, greatly interested at last
+in the old man's rather lengthy speech. He was interrupted by the
+undertaker, who again chuckled as he exclaimed:
+
+"Don't I? Well, I do, though. Of course I don't mean there's really a
+combination lock. That would never do. We often have to open the coffin
+for a friend who wants to see the dead face again, or for folks that
+come to the funeral late. It's funny, when you come to think of it, how
+folks will be late to funerals. As they only have this last visit to
+make, you'd think they'd make it a point to be on time and not delay the
+funeral. But about the way I fasten a coffin. If any grave-robber
+tackles one of my coffins without knowing the trick, he'd be astonished,
+I tell you. I often think of it and laugh. You see, there's a dozen
+screws and they look just like ordinary screws. But if you work them all
+out with a screw-driver, your coffin lid is just as tight as ever. You
+see, it's this way. The real screw works with a reverse thread, and is
+hollow on the top. Now I have a screw-driver that is really a screw.
+When the screw-threaded end of this is screwed into the hollow end of
+the coffin-bolt, as soon as it is in tight it begins to unscrew the
+bolt. To put the bolt in, in the first place, I first screw it tight on
+to my screw-driver, and then drive it in, turning backwards, and as soon
+as it is tight my screw-driver begins to unscrew and so comes out. Then
+I drop in my dummy screw, and just turn it down to fill the hole. Now
+the dummy screw and the reverse thread of the real bolt is a puzzle for
+a grave-robber, and anyway he couldn't solve it without one of my own
+tools."
+
+Mr. Barnes reflected deeply upon this as a most important statement. If
+Mr. Quadrant's coffin was thus fastened, no one could have opened it
+without the necessary knowledge and the special screw-driver. He
+recalled that the butler had told him that one of Mr. Berial's men had
+been at the house after the departure of the others. This man was
+therefore in the position to have opened the coffin, supposing that he
+had had one of the screw-drivers. Of this it would be well to learn.
+
+"I suppose," said Mr. Barnes, "that the coffin in which you placed Mr.
+Quadrant was fastened in this fashion?"
+
+"Yes; and I put the lid on and fastened it myself."
+
+"What, then, did you do with the screw-driver? You might have left it at
+the house."
+
+"I might have, but I didn't. No; I'm not getting up a combination and
+then leaving the key around loose. No, sir; there's only one of those
+screw-drivers, and I take care of it myself. I'll show it to you."
+
+The old man went to a drawer, which he unlocked, and brought back the
+tool.
+
+"You see what it is," he continued--"double-ended. This end is just the
+common every-day screw-driver. That is for the dummies that fill up the
+hollow ends after the bolts are sent home. The other end, you see, looks
+just like an ordinary screw with straight sides. There's a shoulder to
+keep it from jamming. Now that's the only one of those, and I keep it
+locked in that drawer with a Yale lock, and the key is always in my
+pocket. No; I guess that coffin wasn't opened after I shut it."
+
+Mr. Barnes examined the tool closely, and formed his own conclusions,
+which he thought best to keep to himself.
+
+"Yes," said he aloud; "it does seem as though the mistake must be in the
+identification."
+
+"What did I tell you?" exclaimed Mr. Berial, delighted at thinking that
+he had convinced the detective. "Oh, I guess I know my business."
+
+"I was told at the house," said Mr. Barnes, "that when you left, after
+closing the coffin, one of your men stayed behind. Why was that?"
+
+"Oh, I was hungry and anxious to get back for dinner. One of my men,
+Jack, I brought away with me, because I had to send him up to another
+place to get some final directions for another funeral. The other man
+stayed behind to straighten up the place and bring off our things in the
+wagon."
+
+"Who was this man? What is his name?"
+
+"Jerry, we called him. I don't know his last name."
+
+"I would like to have a talk with him. Can I see him?"
+
+"I am afraid not. He isn't working with me any more."
+
+"How was that?"
+
+"He left, that's all. Threw up his job."
+
+"When was that?"
+
+"This morning."
+
+"This morning?"
+
+"Yes; just as soon as I got here, about eight o'clock."
+
+Mr. Barnes wondered whether there was any connection between this man's
+giving up his position, and the account of the discoveries in regard to
+Mr. Quadrant's body which the morning papers had published.
+
+
+                                   VI
+
+"Mr. Berial," said Mr. Barnes after a few moments' thought, "I wish you
+would let me have a little talk with your man--Jack, I think you called
+him. And I would like to speak to him alone if you don't mind. I feel
+that I must find this other fellow, Jerry, and perhaps Jack may be able
+to give me some information as to his home, unless you can yourself tell
+me where he lives."
+
+"No; I know nothing about him," said Mr. Berial. "Of course you can
+speak to Jack. I'll call him in here and I'll be off to attend to some
+business. That will leave you alone with him."
+
+Jack, when he came in, proved to be a character. Mr. Barnes soon
+discovered that he had little faith in the good intentions of any one in
+the world except himself. He evidently was one of those men who go
+through life with a grievance, feeling that all people have in some way
+contributed to their misfortune.
+
+"Your name is Jack," said Mr. Barnes; "Jack what?"
+
+"Jackass, you might say," answered the fellow, with a coarse attempt at
+wit.
+
+"And why, pray?"
+
+"Well, a jackass works like a slave, don't he? And what does he get out
+of it? Lots of blows, plenty of cuss words, and a little fodder. It's
+the same with yours truly."
+
+"Very well, my man, have your joke. But now tell me your name. I am a
+detective."
+
+"The devil a much I care for that. I ain't got nothin' to hide. My
+name's Randal, if you must have it. Jack Randal."
+
+"Very good. Now I want to ask you a few questions about the funeral of
+Mr. Quadrant."
+
+"Ask away. Nobody's stoppin' you."
+
+"You assisted in preparing the body for the coffin, I think?"
+
+"Yes, and helped to put him in it."
+
+"Have you any idea how he got out of it again?" asked Mr. Barnes
+suddenly.
+
+"Nit. Leastways, not any worth mentionin', since I can't prove what I
+might think."
+
+"But I should like to know what you think, anyway," persisted the
+detective.
+
+"Well, I think he was took out," said Randal with a hoarse laugh.
+
+"Then you do not believe that he was cremated?"
+
+"Cremated? Not on your life. If he was made into ashes, would he turn up
+again a floater and drift onto the marble at the Morgue? I don't
+think."
+
+"But how could the body have gotten out of the coffin?"
+
+"He couldn't. I never saw a stiff do that, except once, at an Irish
+wake, and that fellow wasn't dead. No, the dead don't walk. Not these
+days. I tell you, he was took out of the box. That's as plain as your
+nose, not meanin' to be personal."
+
+"Come, come, you have said all that before. What I want to know is, how
+you think he could have been taken out of the coffin."
+
+"Lifted out, I reckon."
+
+Mr. Barnes saw that nothing would be gained by getting angry, though the
+fellow's persistent flippancy annoyed him extremely. He thought best to
+appear satisfied with his answers, and to endeavor to get his
+information by slow degrees, since he could not get it more directly.
+
+"Were you present when the coffin lid was fastened?"
+
+"Yes; the boss did that."
+
+"How was it fastened? With the usual style of screws?"
+
+"Oh, no! We used the boss's patent screw, warranted to keep the corpse
+securely in his grave. Once stowed away in the boss's patent screw-top
+casket, no ghost gets back to trouble the long-suffering family."
+
+"You know all about these patent coffin-screws?"
+
+"Why, sure. Ain't I been working with old Berial these three years?"
+
+"Does Mr. Berial always screw on the coffin lids himself?"
+
+"Yes; he's stuck on it."
+
+"He keeps the screw-driver in his own possession?"
+
+"So he thinks."
+
+"What do you mean?" asked Mr. Barnes, immediately attentive.
+
+"Just what I say. Old Berial thinks he's got the only screw-driver."
+
+"But you know that there is another?"
+
+"Who says so? I don't know anything of the sort."
+
+"Why, then, do you cast a doubt upon the matter by saying that Mr.
+Berial thinks he has the only one?"
+
+"Because I do doubt it, that's all."
+
+"Why do you doubt it?"
+
+"Oh, I don't know. A fellow can't always account for what he thinks, can
+he?"
+
+"You must have some reason for thinking there may be a duplicate of that
+screw-driver."
+
+"Well, what if I have?"
+
+"I would like to know it."
+
+"No doubt! But it ain't right to cast suspicions when you can't prove a
+thing, is it?"
+
+"Perhaps others may find the proof."
+
+"Just so. People in your trade are pretty good at that, I reckon."
+
+"Good at what?"
+
+"Proving things that don't exist."
+
+"But if your suspicion is groundless, there can be no harm in telling it
+to me."
+
+"Oh, there's grounds enough for what I think. Look here, suppose a case.
+Suppose a party, a young female party, dies. Suppose her folks think
+they'd like to have her hands crossed on her breast. Suppose a man, me,
+for instance, helps the boss fix up that young party with her hands
+crossed, and suppose there's a handsome shiner, a fust-water diamond, on
+one finger. Suppose we screw down that coffin lid tight at night, and
+the boss carts off his pet screw-driver. Then suppose next day, when he
+opens that coffin for the visitors to have a last look at the young
+person, that the other man, meanin' me, happens to notice that the
+shiner is missin'. If no other person notices it, that's because they're
+too busy grievin'. But that's the boss's luck, I say. The diamond's
+gone, just the same, ain't it? Now, you wouldn't want to claim that the
+young person come out of that patent box and give that diamond away in
+the night, would you? If she come out at all, I should say it was in the
+form of a ghost, and I never heard of ghosts wearin' diamonds, or givin'
+away finger rings. Did you?"
+
+"Do you mean to say that such a thing as this has occurred?"
+
+"Oh, I ain't sayin' a word. I don't make no accusations. You can draw
+your own conclusions. But in a case like that you would think there was
+more than one of them screw-drivers, now, wouldn't you?"
+
+"I certainly should, unless we imagined that Mr. Berial himself returned
+to the house and stole the ring. But that, of course, is impossible."
+
+"Is it?"
+
+"Why, would you think that Mr. Berial would steal?"
+
+"Who knows? We're all honest, till we're caught."
+
+"Tell me this. If Mr. Berial keeps that screw-driver always in his own
+possession, how could any one have a duplicate of it made?"
+
+"Dead easy. If you can't see that, you're as soft as the old man."
+
+"Perhaps I am. But tell me how it could be done."
+
+"Why, just see. That tool is double-ended. But one end is just a common,
+ordinary screw-driver. You don't need to imitate that. The other end is
+just a screw that fits into the thread at the end of the bolts. Now old
+Berial keeps his precious screw-driver locked up, but the bolts lay
+around by the gross. Any man about the place could take one and have a
+screw cut to fit it, and there you are."
+
+This was an important point, and Mr. Barnes was glad to have drawn it
+out. It now became only too plain that the patented device was no
+hindrance to any one knowing of it, and especially to one who had access
+to the bolts. This made it the more necessary to find the man Jerry.
+
+"There was another man besides yourself who assisted at the Quadrant
+funeral, was there not?" asked Mr. Barnes.
+
+"There was another man, but he didn't assist much. He was no good."
+
+"What was this man's name?"
+
+"That's why I say he's no good. He called himself Jerry Morton, but it
+didn't take me long to find out that his name was really Jerry Morgan.
+Now a man with two names is usually a crook, to my way of thinkin'."
+
+"He gave up his job here this morning, did he not?"
+
+"Did he?"
+
+"Yes. Can you tell why he should have done so? Was he not well enough
+paid?"
+
+"Too well, I take it. He got the same money I do, and I done twice as
+much work. So he's chucked it, has he? Well, I shouldn't wonder if there
+was good reason."
+
+"What reason?"
+
+"Oh, I don't know. That story about old Quadrant floatin' back was in
+the papers to-day, wasn't it?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Very well. There you are."
+
+"You mean that this man Morgan might have had a hand in that?"
+
+"Oh, he had a hand in it all right. So did I and the boss, for that
+matter. But the boss and me left him screwed tight in his box, and Jerry
+he was left behind to pick up, as it were. And he had the wagon too.
+Altogether, I should say he had the chance if anybody. But mind you, I
+ain't makin' no accusations."
+
+"Then, if Jerry did this, he must have had a duplicate screw-driver?"
+
+"You're improvin', you are. You begin to see things. But I never seen
+him with no screw-driver, remember that."
+
+"Was he in Mr. Berial's employment at the time of the other affair?"
+
+"What other affair?"
+
+"The case of the young lady from whose finger the diamond ring was
+stolen."
+
+"Oh, that. Why, he might have been, of course, but then, you know, we
+was only supposin' a case there. We didn't say that was a real affair."
+Randal laughed mockingly.
+
+"Have you any idea as to where I could find this man Morgan?"
+
+"I don't think you will find him."
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"Skipped, I guess. He wouldn't chuck this job just to take a holiday."
+
+"Do you know where he lived?"
+
+"Eleventh Avenue near Fifty-fourth Street. I don't know the number, but
+it was over the butcher shop."
+
+"If this man Morgan did this thing, can you imagine why he did it?"
+
+"For pay; you can bet on that. Morgan ain't the man as would take a risk
+like that for the fun of the thing."
+
+"But how could he hope to be paid for such an act?"
+
+"Oh, he wouldn't hope. You don't know Jerry. He'd be paid, part in
+advance anyway, and balance on demand."
+
+"But who would pay him, and with what object?"
+
+"Oh, I don't know. But let me tell you something. Them brothers weren't
+all so lovin' to one another as the outside world thinks. In the fust
+place, as I gathered by listenin' to the talk of the servants, the one
+they called Amos didn't waste no love on the dead one, though I guess
+the other one, Mark, liked him some. I think he liked the widow even
+better." Here he laughed. "Now the dead man wanted to be cremated--that
+is, he said so before he was dead. The widow didn't relish the idea, but
+she ain't strong-minded enough to push her views. Now we'll suppose a
+case again. I like that style, it don't commit you to anything. Well,
+suppose this fellow Mark thinks he'll get into the good graces of the
+widow by hindering the cremation. He stands out agin it. Amos he says
+the old fellow wanted to be burned, and let him burn. 'He'll burn in
+hell, anyway.' That nice, sweet remark he did make, I'll tell you that
+much. Then the brothers they quarrel. And a right good row they did
+have, so I hear. Now we'll suppose again. Why couldn't our friend, Mr.
+Mark, have got up this scheme to stop the cremation?"
+
+Mr. Barnes was startled to hear this man suggest exactly what Mark
+himself had hinted at. Could it be only a coincidence or was it really
+the solution of the mystery? But if so, what of the body that was really
+cremated? But then again the only evidence in his possession on that
+point was the bare statement in the note received from Mr. Mitchel. Two
+constructions could be placed upon that note. First, it might have been
+honestly written by Mr. Mitchel, who really believed what he wrote,
+though, smart as he was, he might have been mistaken. Secondly, the note
+might merely have been written to send Mr. Barnes off on a wrong clue,
+thus leaving Mr. Mitchel a chance to follow up the right one. Resuming
+his conversation with Randal, Mr. Barnes said:
+
+"Then you imagine that Mr. Mark Quadrant hired this man Morgan to take
+away the body and hide it until after the funeral?"
+
+"Oh, I don't know. All I'll say is, I don't think Jerry would be too
+good for a little job like that. Say, you're not a bad sort, as
+detectives go. I don't mind givin' you a tip."
+
+"I am much obliged, I am sure," said Mr. Barnes, smiling at the fellow's
+presumption.
+
+"Don't mention it. I make no charge. But see. Have you looked at the
+corpse at the Morgue?"
+
+"No. Why?"
+
+"Well, I stopped in this morning and had a peep at him. I guess it's
+Quadrant all right."
+
+"Have you any special way of knowing that?"
+
+"Well, when the boss was injectin' the embalmin' fluid, he stuck the
+needle in the wrong place first, and had to put it in again. That made
+two holes. They're both there. You might wonder why we embalmed a body
+that was to be cremated. You see, we didn't know the family wasn't going
+to let him be seen, and we was makin' him look natural."
+
+"And you are sure there are two punctures in the body at the Morgue?"
+
+"Dead sure. That's a joke. But that ain't the tip I want to give you.
+This is another case of diamond rings."
+
+"You mean that there were diamond rings left on the hand when the body
+was placed in the coffin?"
+
+"One solitaire; a jim dandy. And likewise a ruby, set deep like a
+carbuncle, I think they call them other red stones. Then on the little
+finger of the other hand there was a solid gold ring, with a flat top to
+it, and a letter 'Q' in it, made of little diamonds. Them rings never
+reached the Morgue."
+
+"But even so, that does not prove that they were taken by the man who
+removed the corpse from the coffin. They might have been taken by those
+who found the body in the river."
+
+"Nit. Haven't you read the papers? Boys found it, but they called in the
+police to get it out of the water. Since then the police has been in
+charge. Now I ain't got none too good an opinion of the police myself,
+but they don't rob the dead. They squeeze the livin', all right, but not
+the dead. Put that down. You can believe, if you like, that Jerry carted
+that body off to the river and dumped it in, diamond rings and all. But
+as I said before, you don't know Jerry. No, sir, if I was you, I'd find
+them rings, and find out how they got there. And maybe I can help you
+there, too,--that is, if you'll make it worth my while."
+
+Mr. Barnes understood the hint and responded promptly:
+
+"Here is a five-dollar bill," said he. "And if you really tell me
+anything that aids me in finding the rings, I will give you ten more."
+
+"That's the talk," said Randal, taking the money. "Well, it's this way.
+You'll find that crooks, like other fly birds, has regular haunts. Now I
+happen to know that Jerry spouted his watch, a silver affair, but a good
+timer, once, and I take it he'd carry the rings where he's known,
+'specially as I'm pretty sure the pawnbroker ain't over inquisitive
+about where folks gets the things they borrow on. If I was you, I'd try
+the shop on Eleventh Avenue by Fiftieth Street. It don't look like a
+rich place, but that kind don't want to attract too much attention."
+
+"I will go there. I have no doubt that if he took the rings we will find
+them at that place. One thing more. How was Mr. Quadrant dressed when
+you placed him in the coffin? The newspapers make no mention of the
+clothing found on him."
+
+"Oh, we didn't dress him. You see, he was to be burned, so we just
+shrouded him. Nothin' but plain white cloth. No buttons or nothin' that
+wouldn't burn up. The body at the Morgue was found without no clothes
+of any kind. I'd recognize that shroud, though, if it turns up. So
+there's another point for you."
+
+"One thing more. You are evidently sure that Mr. Quadrant's body was
+taken out of the coffin. Do you think, then, that the coffin was empty
+when they took it to the crematory?"
+
+"Why, sure! What could there be in it?"
+
+"Suppose I were to tell you that another detective has examined the
+ashes and declares that he can prove that a human body was burned with
+that coffin. What would you say?"
+
+"I'd say he was a liar. I'd say he was riggin' you to get you off the
+scent. No, sir! Don't you follow no such blind trail as that."
+
+
+                                  VII
+
+As Mr. Barnes left the undertaker's shop he observed Mr. Burrows coming
+towards him. It will be recalled that this young detective, now
+connected with the regular police force of the metropolis, had earlier
+in life been a _protege_ of Mr. Barnes. It was not difficult to guess
+from his being in this neighborhood that to him had been intrusted an
+investigation of the Quadrant mystery.
+
+"Why, hello, Mr. Barnes," Mr. Burrows exclaimed, as he recognized his
+old friend. "What are you doing about here? Nosing into this Quadrant
+matter, I'll be bound."
+
+"It is an attractive case," replied Mr. Barnes, in non-committal
+language. "Are you taking care of it for the office?"
+
+"Yes; and the more I look into it the more complicated I find it. If you
+are doing any work on it, I wouldn't mind comparing notes."
+
+"Very well, my boy," said Mr. Barnes, after a moment's thought, "I will
+confess that I have gone a little way into this. What have you done?"
+
+"Well, in the first place, there was another examination by the doctors
+this morning. There isn't a shadow of doubt that the man at the Morgue
+was dead when thrown into the water. What's more, he died in his bed."
+
+"Of what disease?"
+
+"Cancer of the stomach. Put that down as fact number one. Fact number
+two is that the mark on his face is exactly the same, and from the same
+skin disease that old Quadrant had. Seems he also had a cancer, so I
+take it the identification is complete; especially as the family say it
+is their relative."
+
+"Do they all agree to that?"
+
+"Why, yes--that is, all except the youngest brother. He says he guesses
+it's his brother. Something about that man struck me as peculiar."
+
+"Ah! Then you have seen him?"
+
+"Yes. Don't care to talk to detectives. Wants the case hushed up; says
+there's nothing in it. Now I know there is something in it, and I am not
+sure he tells all he knows."
+
+"Have you formed any definite conclusion as to the motive in this
+case?"
+
+"The motive for what?"
+
+"Why, for removing the body from the coffin."
+
+"Well, I think the motive of the man who did it was money. What the
+motive of the man who hired him was, I can't prove yet."
+
+"Oh! Then you think there are two in it?"
+
+"Yes; I'm pretty sure of that. And I think I can put my finger on the
+man that made the actual transfer."
+
+The two men were walking as they talked, Mr. Burrows having turned and
+joined the older detective. Mr. Barnes was surprised to find his friend
+advancing much the same theory as that held by Randal. He was more
+astonished, however, at the next reply elicited. He asked:
+
+"Do you mind naming this man?"
+
+"Not to you, if you keep it quiet till I'm ready to strike. I'm pretty
+sure that the party who carried the body away and put it in the river
+was the undertaker's assistant, a fellow who calls himself Randal."
+
+Mr. Barnes started, but quickly regained his self-control. Then he said:
+
+"Randal? Why, how could he have managed it?"
+
+"Easily enough. It seems that the coffin was closed at five on the
+afternoon before the funeral, and the undertaker was told, in the
+presence of this fellow Randal, that it would not be opened again. Then
+the family went in to dine, and Berial and the other man, a fellow with
+an alias, but whose true name is Morgan, left the house, the other one,
+Randal, remaining behind to clear up. The undertaker's wagon was also
+there, and Randal drove it to the stables half an hour or so later."
+
+Mr. Barnes noted here that there was a discrepancy between the facts as
+related by Mr. Burrows and as he himself had heard them. He had been
+told by Berial himself that it was "Jack" who had left the house with
+him, while Burrows evidently believed that it was Jack Randal who had
+been left behind. It was important, therefore, to learn whether there
+existed any other reason for suspecting Randal rather than Morgan.
+
+"But though he may have had this opportunity," said Mr. Barnes, "you
+would hardly connect him with this matter without corroborative
+evidence."
+
+"Oh, the case is not complete yet," said Mr. Burrows; "but I have had
+this fellow Randal watched for three days. We at the office knew about
+this identification before the newspapers got hold of it, be sure of
+that. Now one curious thing that he has done was to attempt to destroy
+some pawn-tickets."
+
+"Pawn-tickets?"
+
+"Yes. I was shadowing him myself last night, when I saw him tear up some
+paper and drop the pieces in the gutter at the side of the pavement. I
+let my man go on, for the sake of recovering those bits of paper. It
+took some perseverance and no little time, but I found them, and when
+put together, as I have said, they proved to be pawn-tickets."
+
+"Have you looked at the property represented yet?"
+
+"No. Would you like to go with me? We'll go together. I was about to
+make my first open appearance at the undertaker's shop to face this
+fellow, when you met me. But there's time enough for that. We'll go and
+look at the rings if you say the word."
+
+"Rings, are they?" said Mr. Barnes. "Why, I would like nothing better.
+They might have been taken from the corpse."
+
+"Haven't a doubt of it," said Mr. Burrows. "Here are the pawn-tickets.
+There are two of them. Both for rings." He handed the two pawn-tickets
+to Mr. Barnes. The pieces had been pasted on another bit of paper and
+the two were consequently now on a single sheet. Mr. Barnes looked at
+them closely and then said:
+
+"Why, Burrows, these are made out in the name of Jerry Morgan. Are you
+sure you have made no mistake in this affair?"
+
+"Mistake? Not a bit of it. That fellow thinks he is smart, but I don't
+agree with him. He imagines that we might guess that one of those who
+had the handling of the body did this job, and when he pawned the rings
+he just used the other fellow's name. It's an old trick, and not very
+good, either."
+
+Mr. Barnes was not entirely convinced, though the theory was possible,
+nay, plausible. In which case, the tip which Randal had given to Mr.
+Barnes was merely a part of his rather commonplace scheme of
+self-protection at the expense of a fellow-workman. He was glad now that
+he had met Burrows, for his possession of the pawn-tickets made it easy
+to visit the pawnbroker and see the rings; while his connection with the
+regular force would enable him to seize them should they prove to have
+been stolen from the body of Mr. Quadrant. It was noteworthy that the
+pawn-tickets had been issued by the man to whose place Randal had
+directed him. Arrived there, Mr. Burrows demanded to see the rings, to
+which the pawnbroker at first demurred, arguing that the tickets had
+been torn, that they had not been issued to the one presenting them, and
+that unless they were to be redeemed he must charge a fee of twenty-five
+cents for showing the goods. To all of this Mr. Burrows listened
+patiently and then showing his shield said meaningly:
+
+"Now, friend Isaac, you get those rings out, and it will be better for
+you. The Chief has had an eye on this little shop of yours for some
+time."
+
+"So help me Moses!" said the man, "he can keep both eyes on if he
+likes."
+
+But his demeanor changed, and with considerable alacrity he brought out
+the rings. There were three, just as Randal had described to Mr. Barnes,
+including the one with the initial "Q" set in diamonds.
+
+"Who left these with you?" asked Mr. Burrows.
+
+"The name is on the ticket," answered the pawnbroker.
+
+"You are inaccurate, my friend. A name is on the ticket, yes, but not
+the name. Now tell me the truth."
+
+"It's all straight. I ain't hiding anything. Morgan brought the things
+here."
+
+"Morgan, eh? You are sure his name is Morgan? Quite sure?"
+
+"Why, that's the name I know him by. Sometimes he goes by the name of
+Morton, I've heard. But with me it's always been Morgan, Jerry Morgan,
+just as it reads on the ticket."
+
+"Oh, then you know this man Morgan?"
+
+"No; only that he borrows money on security once in a while."
+
+"Well, now, if his name is Morgan, did you think this ring with a 'Q' on
+it was his? Does 'Q' stand for Morgan?"
+
+"That's none of my affair. Heavens, I can't ask everybody where they get
+things. They'd be insulted."
+
+"Insulted! That's a good one. Well, when I get my hands on this chap
+he'll be badly insulted, for I'll ask him a lot of questions. Now,
+Isaac, let me tell you what this 'Q' stands for. It stands for Quadrant,
+and that's the name of the man found in the river lately, and these
+three rings came off his fingers. After death, Isaac; after death! What
+do you think of that?"
+
+"You don't say! I'm astonished!"
+
+"Are you, now? Never thought your friend Morgan or Morton, who works out
+by the day, and brought valuable diamonds to pawn, would do such a
+thing, did you? Thought he bought these things out of his wages, eh?"
+
+"I never knew he wasn't honest, so help me Moses! or I wouldn't have had
+a thing to do with him."
+
+"Perhaps not. You're too honest yourself to take 'swag' from a 'crook,'
+even though you loan about one quarter of the value."
+
+"I gave him all he asked for. He promised to take them out again."
+
+"Well, he won't, Isaac. I'll take them out myself."
+
+"You don't mean you're going to keep the rings? Where do I come in?"
+
+"You're lucky you don't come into jail."
+
+"May I ask this man a few questions, Burrows?" said Mr. Barnes.
+
+"As many as you like, and see that you answer straight, Isaac. Don't
+forget what I hinted about the Chief having an eye on you."
+
+"Why, of course, I'll answer anything."
+
+"You say you have known this man Morgan for some time?" asked Mr.
+Barnes. "Can you give me an idea of how he looks?"
+
+"Why, I ain't much on descriptions. Morgan is a short fellow, rather
+stocky, and he's got dark hair and a mustache that looks like a
+paintbrush."
+
+Mr. Barnes recalled the description which the butler had given of the
+man who had remained at the house when the others went away, and this
+tallied very well with it. As Berial had declared that it was Morgan who
+had been left at the house, and as this description did not fit Randal
+at all, he being above medium height, with a beardless face which made
+him seem younger than he probably was, it began to look as though in
+some way Mr. Burrows had made a mistake, and that Randal was not
+criminally implicated, though perhaps he had stolen the pawn-tickets,
+and subsequently destroyed them when he found that a police
+investigation was inevitable.
+
+There was no object in further questioning the pawnbroker, who pleaded
+that as the owners of the property were rich, and as he had "honestly"
+made the loan, they might be persuaded to return to him the amount of
+his advance, adding that he would willingly throw off his "interest."
+
+Leaving the place, and walking together across town, Mr. Barnes said to
+Mr. Burrows:
+
+"Tom, I am afraid you are on a wrong scent. That man Randal stole those
+pawn-tickets. He did not himself pawn the rings."
+
+"Maybe," said the younger man, only half convinced. "But you mark my
+word. Randal is in this. Don't believe all that 'fence' says. He may be
+in with Randal. I fancy that Randal pawned the things, but made the Jew
+put Morgan's name on them. Now that we ask him questions, he declares
+that Morgan brought them to him, either to protect Randal, or most
+likely to protect himself. Since there is a real Morgan, and he knew the
+man, he had no right to write his name on those tickets for things
+brought to him by some one else."
+
+"But why are you so sure that Morgan is innocent? How do you know that
+he was the one that went off with old Berial when they left the house?"
+
+"Simply because the other man, Randal, took the wagon back to the
+stables."
+
+"Are you certain of that?"
+
+"Absolutely. I have been to the stables, and they all tell the same
+story. Randal took the wagon out, harnessing the horse himself, as he
+often did. And Randal brought it back again, after six o'clock; of that
+they are certain, because the place is merely a livery for express
+wagons, trucks, and the like. The regular stable-boys go off between six
+and seven, and there is no one in charge at night except the watchman.
+The drivers usually take care of their own horses. Now the watchman was
+already there when Randal came in with the wagon, and two of the
+stable-boys also saw him."
+
+"Now, Tom, you said that in your belief there was another man in this
+case,--one who really was the principal. Have you any suspicion as to
+that man's identity?"
+
+"Here's my idea," said Mr. Burrows. "This fellow Randal was sounded by
+the man who finally engaged him for the job, and, proving to be the
+right sort, was engaged. He was to take the body out of the coffin and
+carry it away. The man who hired Randal must have been one of the
+brothers."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"It must have been, else the opportunity could not have been made, for,
+mark me, it was made. See! The widow was taken to the room to see the
+corpse, and then it was arranged that the coffin should be closed and
+not opened again before the funeral. That was to make all sure. Then
+came the closing of the coffin and the departure of two of the
+undertakers. The third, Randal, remained behind, and while the family
+lingered at dinner the job was done. The body was carried out to the
+wagon and driven off. Now we come to the question, which of the brothers
+did this?"
+
+"Which have you decided upon?"
+
+"Why, the object of this devilish act was to please the widow by
+preventing this cremation to which she objected. The man who concocted
+that scheme thought that when the body should be found it would then be
+buried, which would gratify the widow. Now why did he wish to gratify
+her? Because he's in love with her. She's not old, you know, and she's
+still pretty."
+
+"Then you think that Mark Quadrant concocted this scheme?"
+
+"No! I think that Amos Quadrant is our man."
+
+It seemed destined that Mr. Burrows should surprise Mr. Barnes. If the
+older detective was astonished when he had heard Burrows suggest that
+Randal had been the accomplice in this affair, he was more astounded now
+to hear him accuse the elder brother of being the principal. For, had
+not Mark Quadrant told him that it was Amos who had insisted upon the
+cremation? And that Amos, being the elder, had assumed the control of
+the funeral?
+
+"Burrows," said Mr. Barnes, "I hope that you are not merely following
+your impulsive imagination?"
+
+Mr. Burrows colored as he replied with some heat:
+
+"You need not forever twit me with my stupidity in my first case. Of
+course I may be mistaken, but I am doing routine work on this affair. I
+have not any real proof yet to support my theories. If I had I should
+make an arrest. But I have evidence enough to make it my duty to go
+ahead on definite lines. When the mystery clears a little, I may see
+things differently."
+
+"I should like to know why you think that Amos is in love with his
+sister-in-law."
+
+"Perhaps it would be safer to claim that he was once in love with her.
+The past is a certainty, the present mere conjecture. I got the tip from
+a slip of the tongue made by Dr. Mortimer, and I have corroborated the
+facts since. I was speaking with Dr. Mortimer of the possibility of
+there being any ill-feeling between the members of this family, when he
+said: 'I believe there was some hard feeling between the deceased and
+his brother Amos arising from jealousy.' When he had let the word
+'jealousy' pass his lips, he closed up like a clam, and when I pressed
+him, tried to pass it off by saying that Amos was jealous of his
+brother's business and social successes. But that did not go down with
+me, so I have had some guarded inquiries made, with the result that it
+is certain that Amos loved this woman before she accepted Rufus."
+
+"What if I tell you that I have heard that the younger brother, Mark, is
+in love with the widow, and that it was he who opposed cremation, while
+it was Amos who insisted upon carrying out the wishes of his brother?"
+
+"What should I say to that? Well, I should say that you probably got
+that yarn from Randal, and that he had been 'stuffing you,' as the
+vernacular has it, hoping you'll excuse the vulgar expression."
+
+It nettled Mr. Barnes to have his younger _confrere_ guess so accurately
+the source of his information, and to hear him discredit it so
+satirically. He recognized, however, that upon the evidence offered Mr.
+Burrows had not yet made out his case, and that therefore the mystery
+was yet far from solved.
+
+"Look here, Burrows," said Mr. Barnes. "Take an older man's advice.
+Don't go too fast in this case. Before you come to any conclusion, find
+this man Jerry Morgan."
+
+"Why, there won't be any trouble about that."
+
+"Oh, then you know where he is?"
+
+"Why, he is still with Berial. At least he was up to last night."
+
+"Ah, now we come to it!" Mr. Barnes was gratified to find that Burrows
+had not kept full control of his case. "Last night was many hours ago.
+Morgan threw up his job this morning, and left."
+
+"The devil you say!"
+
+"Oh, yes," said Mr. Barnes, determined now to make Mr. Burrows a little
+uncomfortable. "I have no doubt he intends to skip out, but, of course,
+he cannot get away. You have him shadowed?"
+
+"Why, no, I have not," said Mr. Burrows, dejectedly. "You see, I did not
+connect him in my mind with----"
+
+"Perhaps he is not connected with the case in your mind, Burrows, but he
+is connected with it in fact. He is unquestionably the key to the
+situation at present. With him in our hands we could decide whether it
+was he or Randal who pawned those rings. Without him we can prove
+nothing. In short, until you get at him the case is at a standstill."
+
+"You are right, Mr. Barnes," said Mr. Burrows, manfully admitting his
+error. "I have been an ass. I was so sure about Randal that I did not
+use proper precautions, and Morgan has slipped through my fingers. But
+I'll find his trail, and I'll track him. I'll follow him to the opposite
+ocean if necessary, but I'll bring him back."
+
+"That is the right spirit, Tom. Find him and bring him back if you can.
+If you cannot, then get the truth out of him. Let me say one thing more.
+For the present at least, work upon the supposition that it was he who
+pawned those rings. In that case he has at least two hundred dollars for
+travelling expenses."
+
+"You are right. I'll begin at once without losing another minute."
+
+"Where will you start?"
+
+"I'll start where he started--at his own house. He's left there by now,
+of course, but I'll have a look at the place and talk a bit with the
+neighbors. When you hear from me again, I'll have Morgan."
+
+
+                                  VIII
+
+Mr. Barnes returned to his home that night feeling well satisfied with
+his day's work. With little real knowledge he had started out in the
+morning, and within ten hours he had dipped deeply into the heart of the
+mystery. Yet he felt somewhat like a man who has succeeded in working
+his way into the thickest part of a forest, with no certainty as to
+where he might emerge again, or how. Moreover, though he had seemingly
+accomplished so much during the first day, he seemed destined to make
+little headway for many days thereafter. On the second day of his
+investigation he ascertained one fact which was more misleading than
+helpful. It will be recalled that Mark Quadrant had told him that his
+brother had a scar on the sole of his foot made by cutting himself
+whilst in swimming. Mr. Barnes went to the Morgue early, and examined
+both feet most carefully. There was no such scar, nor was it possible
+that there ever could have been. The feet were absolutely unmarred.
+Could it be possible that, in spite of the apparently convincing proof
+that this body had been correctly identified, nevertheless a mistake had
+been made?
+
+This question puzzled the detective mightily, and he longed impatiently
+for an opportunity to talk with one of the family, especially with the
+elder brother, Amos. Delay, however, seemed unavoidable. The police
+authorities, having finally accepted the identification, delivered the
+body to the Quadrants, and a second funeral occurred. Thus two more days
+elapsed before Mr. Barnes felt at liberty to intrude, especially as it
+was not known that he had been regularly retained by Mrs. Quadrant.
+
+Meanwhile nothing was heard from Burrows, who had left the city, and, as
+a further annoyance, Mr. Barnes was unable to catch Mr. Mitchel at home
+though he called three times. Failing to meet that gentleman, and
+chafing at his enforced inactivity, the detective finally concluded to
+visit the cemetery in the hope of learning what had occurred when Mr.
+Mitchel had inspected the ashes. Again, however, was he doomed to
+disappointment. His request to be allowed to examine the contents of the
+urn was refused, strict orders to that effect having been imposed by the
+Chief of the regular detective force.
+
+"You see," explained the superintendent, "we could not even let you look
+into the urn upon the order of one of the family, because they have
+claimed the body at the Morgue, and so they have no claim on these
+ashes. If a body was burned that day, then there is a body yet to be
+accounted for, and the authorities must guard the ashes as their only
+chance to make out a case. Of course they can't identify ashes, but the
+expert chemists claim they can tell whether a human body or only an
+empty coffin was put into the furnace."
+
+"And are the experts making such an analysis?" asked Mr. Barnes.
+
+"Yes. The Chief himself came here with two of them, the day before
+yesterday. They emptied out the ashes onto a clean marble slab, and
+looked all through the pile. Then they put some in two bottles, and
+sealed the bottles, and then put the balance back in the urn and sealed
+that also. So, you see, there isn't any way for me to let you look into
+that urn."
+
+"No, of course not," admitted the detective, reluctantly. "Tell me, was
+any one else present at this examination besides the Chief and the two
+experts?"
+
+"Yes. A gentleman they called Mitchel, I believe."
+
+Mr. Barnes had expected this answer, yet it irritated him to hear it.
+Mr. Mitchel had information which the detective would have given much to
+share.
+
+During the succeeding days he made numerous ineffectual efforts to have
+an interview with Amos Quadrant, but repeatedly was told that he was
+"Not at home." Mrs. Quadrant, too, had left town for a rest at one of
+their suburban homes, and Mark Quadrant had gone with her. The city
+house, with its closed shutters, seemed as silent as the grave, and the
+secret of what had occurred within those walls seemed almost hopelessly
+buried.
+
+"What a pity," thought the detective, "that walls do not have tongues as
+well as ears."
+
+A week later Mr. Barnes was more fortunate. He called at the Quadrant
+mansion, expecting to once more hear the servant say coldly, "Not at
+home," in answer to his inquiry for Mr. Quadrant, when, to his surprise
+and pleasure, Mr. Quadrant himself stepped out of the house as he
+approached it. The detective went up to him boldly, and said:
+
+"Mr. Quadrant, I must have a few words with you."
+
+"Must?" said Mr. Quadrant with an angry inflection. "I think not. Move
+out of my way, and let me pass."
+
+"Not until you have given me an interview," said Mr. Barnes firmly,
+without moving.
+
+"You are impertinent, sir. If you interfere with me further, I will have
+you arrested," said Mr. Quadrant, now thoroughly aroused.
+
+"If you call a policeman," said Mr. Barnes, calmly, "I will have you
+arrested."
+
+"And upon what charge, pray?" said Mr. Quadrant, contemptuously.
+
+"I will accuse you of instigating the removal of your brother's body
+from the coffin."
+
+"You are mad."
+
+"There are others who hold this view, so it would be wise for you to
+move carefully in this matter."
+
+"Would you object to telling me what others share your extraordinary
+opinion?"
+
+"I did not say that it is my opinion. More than that, I will say that it
+is not my opinion, not at present at all events. But it is the view
+which is receiving close attention at police headquarters."
+
+"Are you one of the detectives?"
+
+"I am a detective, but not connected with the city force."
+
+"Then by what right do you intrude yourself into this affair?"
+
+Mr. Barnes knew that he must play his best card now, to gain his point
+with this man. He watched him closely as he answered:
+
+"I am employed by Mrs. Quadrant."
+
+There was an unmistakable start. Amos Quadrant was much disturbed to
+hear that his sister-in-law had hired a detective, and curiously enough
+he made no effort to hide his feelings. With some show of emotion he
+said in a low voice:
+
+"In that case, perhaps, we should better have a talk together. Come in."
+
+With these words he led the way into the house, and invited the
+detective into the same room wherein he had talked with Mark Quadrant.
+When they had found seats, Mr. Quadrant opened the conversation
+immediately.
+
+"What is your name?" he asked.
+
+"John Barnes," was the reply.
+
+"Barnes? I have heard of you. Well, Mr. Barnes, let me be very frank
+with you. Above all things it has been my wish that this supposed
+mystery should not be cleared up. To me it is a matter of no consequence
+who did this thing, or why it was done. Indeed, what suspicions have
+crossed my mind make me the more anxious not to know the truth. Feeling
+thus, I should have done all in my power to hinder the work of the
+regular police. When you tell me that my sister-in-law has engaged your
+services, you take me so by surprise that I am compelled to think a bit
+in order to determine what course to pursue. You can readily understand
+that my position is a delicate and embarrassing one."
+
+"I understand that thoroughly, and you have my sympathy, Mr. Quadrant."
+
+"You may mean that well, but I do not thank you," said Mr. Quadrant,
+coldly. "I want no man's sympathy. This is purely an impersonal
+interview, and I prefer to have that distinctly prominent in our minds
+throughout this conversation. Let there be no misunderstanding and no
+false pretenses. You are a detective bent upon discovering the author of
+certain singular occurrences. I am a man upon whom suspicion has
+alighted; and, moreover, guilty or innocent, I desire to prevent you
+from accomplishing your purpose. I do not wish the truth to be known. Do
+we understand one another?"
+
+"Perfectly," said Mr. Barnes, astonished by the man's manner and
+admiring his perfect self-control and his bold conduct.
+
+"Then we may proceed," said Mr. Quadrant. "Do you wish to ask me
+questions, or will you reply to one or two from me?"
+
+"I will answer yours first, if you will reply to mine afterwards."
+
+"I make no bargains. I will answer, but I do not promise to tell you
+anything unless it pleases me to do so. You have the same privilege.
+First, then, tell me how it happened that Mrs. Quadrant engaged you in
+this case."
+
+"I called here, attracted merely by the extraordinary features of this
+case, and Mrs. Quadrant granted me a short interview, at the end of
+which she offered to place the matter in my hands as her
+representative."
+
+"Ah! Then she did not of her own thought send for you?"
+
+"No."
+
+"You told me that the regular detectives are considering the theory that
+I instigated this affair. As you used the word instigated, it should
+follow that some other person, an accomplice, is suspected likewise. Is
+that the idea?"
+
+"That is one theory."
+
+"And who, pray, is my alleged accomplice?"
+
+"That I cannot tell you without betraying confidence."
+
+"Very good. Next you declared that you yourself do not share this view.
+Will you tell me on what grounds you exculpate me?"
+
+"With pleasure. The assumed reason for this act of removing your brother
+from his coffin was to prevent the cremation. Now it was yourself who
+wished to have the body incinerated."
+
+"You are mistaken. I did not wish it. On the contrary, I most earnestly
+wished that there should be no cremation. You see I incriminate myself."
+
+He smiled painfully, and a dejected expression crossed his face. For an
+instant he looked like a man long tired of carrying some burden, then
+quickly he recovered his composure.
+
+"You astonish me," said Mr. Barnes. "I was told by Mr. Mark that you
+insisted upon carrying out your brother's wish in this matter of
+disposing of his body."
+
+"My brother told you that? Well, it is true. He and I quarrelled about
+it. He wished to have a regular burial, contrary to our brother's
+oft-repeated injunction. I opposed him, and, being the elder, I assumed
+the responsibility, and gave the orders."
+
+"But you have admitted that you did not wish this?"
+
+"Do we always have our wishes gratified in this world?"
+
+The detective, watching the man's face closely, again noted that
+expression of weariness cross his features, and an instinctive feeling
+of pity was aroused. Once more the skein became more entangled. His own
+suspicion against Mark Quadrant rested upon the supposition that the act
+was committed with the intent of making capital out of it with the
+widow, and was based upon the theory that Amos wished to have his
+brother incinerated. If now it should transpire that after all it was
+Amos who managed the affair, his motive was a higher one, for, while
+appearing to carry out the wishes of his deceased brother, he must have
+aimed to gratify the widow, without admitting her to the knowledge that
+his hand had gained her purpose. This was a higher, nobler love. Was
+Amos Quadrant of this noble mould? The question crossing the detective's
+mind met a startling answer which prompted Mr. Barnes to ask suddenly:
+
+"Is it true that, speaking of this cremation, you said: 'Let him burn;
+he'll burn in hell anyway'?"
+
+Amos Quadrant flushed deeply, and his face grew stern as he answered:
+
+"I presume you have witnesses who heard the words, therefore it would be
+futile to deny it. It was a brutal remark, but I made it. I was
+exasperated by something which Mark had said, and replied in anger."
+
+"It is a sound doctrine, Mr. Quadrant," said the detective, "that words
+spoken in anger often more truly represent the speaker's feelings than
+what he says when his tongue is bridled."
+
+"Well?"
+
+"If we take this view, then it is apparent that you did not hold a very
+high regard for your brother."
+
+"That is quite true. Why should I?"
+
+"He was your brother."
+
+"And because of the accident of birth, I was bound to love him? A
+popular fallacy, Mr. Barnes. He was equally bound, then, to love me, but
+he did not. Indeed he wronged me most grievously."
+
+"By marrying the woman you loved?"
+
+Mr. Barnes felt ashamed of his question, as a surgeon often must be
+sorry to insert the scalpel. To his surprise it elicited no retort. Mr.
+Quadrant's reply was calmly spoken. All he said was:
+
+"Yes, he did that."
+
+"Did she know?" ventured the detective hesitatingly.
+
+"No, I think not--I hope not."
+
+There was a painful pause. Mr. Quadrant looked down at the floor, while
+Mr. Barnes watched him, trying to decide whether the man were acting a
+part with intent to deceive, as he had announced that he would not
+hesitate to do; or whether he were telling the truth, in which case the
+nobility of his character was brought more into perspective.
+
+"Are you sure," said Mr. Barnes after a pause, "that the body taken from
+the river was that of your brother Rufus?"
+
+"Why do you ask that?" said Mr. Quadrant, on the defensive at once. "Can
+there be any doubt?"
+
+"Before I reply, let me ask you another question. Did your brother Rufus
+have a scar on the sole of his foot?"
+
+The other man started perceptibly, and paused some time before
+answering. Then he asked:
+
+"What makes you think so?"
+
+"Mr. Mark Quadrant told me that his brother had such a scar, caused by
+gashing his foot while in swimming."
+
+"Ah, that is your source of information. Well, when Mark told you that
+his brother had met with such an accident, he told you the truth."
+
+"But did the accident leave a scar?" Mr. Barnes thought he detected a
+carefully worded evasive answer.
+
+"Yes, the cut left a bad scar; one easily noticed."
+
+"In that case I can reply to your question. If, as you both say, your
+brother had a scar on the sole of his foot, then there exists
+considerable doubt as to the identification of the body which was at the
+Morgue, the body which you have both accepted and buried as being that
+of your relative. Mr. Quadrant, there was no scar on that body."
+
+"Odd, isn't it?" said Mr. Quadrant, without any sign of surprise.
+
+"I should say it is very odd. How do you suppose it can be explained?"
+
+"I do not know, and, as I have told you before, I do not care. Quite the
+reverse; the less you comprehend this case the better pleased I shall
+be."
+
+"Mr. Quadrant," said Mr. Barnes, a little nettled, "since you so frankly
+admit that you wish me to fail, why should I not believe that you are
+telling me a falsehood when you state that your brother told me the
+truth?"
+
+"There is no reason that I care to advance," said Mr. Quadrant, "why you
+should believe me, but if you do not, you will go astray. I repeat, what
+my brother told you is true."
+
+It seemed to the detective that in all his varied experience he had
+never met with circumstances so exasperatingly intricate. Here was an
+identification for many reasons the most reliable that he had known, and
+now there appeared to be a flaw of such a nature that it could not be
+set aside. If the body was that of Mr. Quadrant, then both these men
+had lied. If they told the truth, then, in spite of science, the
+doctors, and the family, the identification had been false. In that case
+Rufus Quadrant had been cremated after all, and this would account for
+the statement in Mr. Mitchel's note that a human body had been
+incinerated. Could it be that these two brothers were jointly implicated
+in a murder, and had pretended to recognize the body at the Morgue in
+order to have it buried and to cover up their crime? It seemed
+incredible. Besides, the coincidence of the external and internal
+diseases was too great.
+
+"I would like to ask you a few questions in relation to the occurrences
+on the day and evening preceding the funeral," said Mr. Barnes, pursuing
+the conversation, hoping to catch from the answers some clue that might
+aid him.
+
+"Which funeral?" said Mr. Quadrant.
+
+"The first. I have been told that you and your brother were present when
+the widow last viewed the face of her husband, and that at that time,
+about five o'clock, you jointly agreed that the coffin should not be
+opened again. Is this true?"
+
+"Accurate in every detail."
+
+"Was the coffin closed at once? That is, before you left the room?"
+
+"The lower part of the coffin-top was, of course, in place and screwed
+fast when we entered the room. The upper part, exposing the face, was
+open. It was this that was closed in my presence."
+
+"I would like to get the facts here very accurately, if you are willing.
+You say, closed in your presence. Do you mean merely covered, or was the
+top screwed fast before you went out of the room, and, if so, by whom?"
+
+"Mark took our sister away, but Dr. Mortimer and myself remained until
+the screws were put in. Mr. Berial himself did that."
+
+"Did you observe that the screws were odd? Different from common
+screws?"
+
+Mr. Barnes hoped that the other man would betray something at this
+point, but he answered quite composedly:
+
+"I think I did at the time, but I could not describe them to you now. I
+half remember that Mr. Berial made some such comment as 'No one can get
+these out again without my permission.'"
+
+"Ah! He said that, did he? Yet some one must have gotten those screws
+out, for, if your identification was correct, your brother's body was
+taken out of that casket after the undertaker had put in those screws,
+which he said could not be removed without his permission. How do you
+suppose that was accomplished?"
+
+"How should I know, Mr. Barnes, unless, indeed, I did it myself, or
+instigated or connived at the doing? In either case, do you suppose I
+would give you any information on such a point?"
+
+"Did your brother Rufus have any rings on his fingers when placed in the
+coffin?" asked Mr. Barnes, swiftly changing the subject.
+
+"Yes--three: a diamond, a ruby, and a ring bearing his initial set in
+diamonds."
+
+"These rings were not on the body at the Morgue."
+
+"Neither was that scar," said Mr. Quadrant, with a suppressed laugh.
+
+"But this is different," said Mr. Barnes. "I did not find the scar, but
+I have found the rings."
+
+"Very clever of you, I am sure. But what does that prove?"
+
+"It proves that your brother's body was taken from the coffin before the
+coffin was placed in the crematory furnace."
+
+"Illogical and inaccurate," said Mr. Quadrant. "You prove by the
+recovery of the rings, merely that the rings were taken from the
+coffin."
+
+"Or, from the body after it was taken out," interjected Mr. Barnes.
+
+"In either case it is of no consequence. You have rooted up a theft,
+that is all. Catch the thief and jail him, if you like. I care nothing
+about that. It is the affair of my brother's death and burial that I
+wish to see dropped by the inquisitive public."
+
+"Yes, but suppose I tell you that the theory is that the man who stole
+the rings was your accomplice in the main matter? Don't you see that
+when we catch him, he is apt to tell all that he knows?"
+
+"When you catch him? Then you have not caught him yet. For so much I am
+grateful." He did not seem to care how incriminating his words might
+sound.
+
+"One thing more, Mr. Quadrant. I understand that you retired at about
+ten o'clock on that night--the night prior to the first funeral, I mean.
+You left your brother Mark down here?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Later you came downstairs again."
+
+"You seem to be well posted as to my movements."
+
+"Not so well as I wish to be. Will you tell me why you came down?"
+
+"I have not admitted that I came downstairs."
+
+"You were seen in the hall very late at night, or early in the morning.
+You took the lamp out of the room where the casket was, and came in here
+and looked at your brother, who was asleep. Then you returned the lamp
+and went upstairs. Do you admit now that you had just come downstairs?"
+
+"I admit nothing. But to show you how little you can prove, suppose I
+ask you how you know that I had just come downstairs? Why may it not be
+that I had been out of the house, and had just come in again when your
+informant saw me?"
+
+"Quite true. You might have left the house. Perhaps it was then that the
+body was taken away?"
+
+"If it was taken away, that was certainly as good a time as any."
+
+"What time?"
+
+"Oh, let us say between twelve and two. Very few people would be about
+the street at that hour, and a wagon stopping before a door would
+attract very little attention. Especially if it were an undertaker's
+wagon."
+
+"An undertaker's wagon?" exclaimed Mr. Barnes, as this suggested a new
+possibility.
+
+"Why, yes. If, as you say, there was an accomplice in this case, the
+fellow who stole the rings, you know, he must have been one of the
+undertaker's men. If so, he would use their wagon, would he not?"
+
+"I think he would," said Mr. Barnes sharply. "I thank you for the point.
+And now I will leave you."
+
+
+                                   IX
+
+Mr. Barnes walked rapidly, revolving in his mind the new ideas which had
+entered it during the past few minutes. Before this morning he had
+imagined that the body of Rufus Quadrant had been taken away between
+five and six o'clock, in the undertaker's wagon. But it had never
+occurred to him that this same wagon could have been driven back to the
+house at any hour of the day or night, without causing the policeman on
+that beat to suspect any wrong. Thus, suddenly, an entirely new phase
+had been placed upon the situation. Before, he had been interested in
+knowing which man had been left behind; whether it had been Morgan or
+Randal. Now he was more anxious to know whether the wagon had been taken
+again from the stable on that night, and, if so, by whom. Consequently
+he went first to the undertaker's shop, intending to interview Mr.
+Berial, but that gentleman was out. Therefore he spoke again with
+Randal, who recognized him at once and greeted him cordially.
+
+"Why, how do you do," said he. "Glad you're round again. Anything turned
+up in the Quadrant case?"
+
+"We are getting at the truth slowly," said the detective, watching his
+man closely. "I would like to ask you to explain one or two things to me
+if you can."
+
+"Maybe I will, and maybe not. It wouldn't do to promise to answer
+questions before I hear what they are. I ain't exactly what you would
+call a fool."
+
+"Did you not tell me that it was Morgan who was left at the house after
+the coffin was closed, and that you came away with Mr. Berial?"
+
+"Don't remember whether I told you or not. But you've got it straight."
+
+"But they say at the stables that it was you who drove the wagon back
+there?"
+
+"That's right, too. What of it?"
+
+"But I understood that Morgan brought the wagon back?"
+
+"So he did; back here to the shop. He had to leave all our tools and
+things here, you see. Then he went off to his dinner, and I took the
+horse and wagon round to the stables."
+
+"Where do you stable?"
+
+"Harrison's, Twenty-fourth Street, near Lex."
+
+"Now, another matter. You told me about the loss of those rings?"
+
+"Yes, and I gave you the tip where you might find them again. Did you go
+there?"
+
+"Yes; you were right. The rings were pawned exactly where you sent me."
+
+"Oh, I don't know," said the fellow, airishly. "I ought to be on the
+police force, I guess. I can find out a few things, I think."
+
+"It isn't hard to guess what you know," said the detective, sharply.
+
+"What do you mean?" Randal was on the defensive at once.
+
+"I mean," said Mr. Barnes, "that it was you who pawned those rings."
+
+"That's a lie, and you can't prove it."
+
+"Don't be too sure of that. We have the pawn tickets."
+
+This shot went home. Randal looked frightened, and was evidently
+confused.
+
+"That's another lie," said he, less vigorously. "You can't scare me. If
+you have got them, which you haven't, you won't find my name on them."
+
+"No; you used your friend Morgan's name, which was a pretty low trick."
+
+"Look here, you detective," said Randal blusteringly, "I don't allow no
+man to abuse me. You can't talk that way to me. All this talk of yours
+is rot. That's what it is, rot!"
+
+"Look here, Randal. Try to be sensible if you can. I have not yet made
+up my mind whether you are a scoundrel or a fool. Suppose you tell me
+the truth about those tickets. It will be safest, I assure you."
+
+Randal looked at the detective and hesitated. Mr. Barnes continued:
+
+"There is no use to lie any longer. You were shadowed, and you were seen
+when you tore up the tickets. The pieces were picked up and put
+together, and they call for those rings. Don't you see we have you fast
+unless you can explain how you got the tickets?"
+
+"I guess you're givin' it to me straight," said Randal after a long
+pause. "I guess I better take your advice and let you have it right. One
+afternoon I saw Morgan hide something in one of the coffins in the shop.
+He tucked it away under the satin linin'. I was curious, and I looked
+into it after he'd gone that night. I found the pawn tickets. Of course
+I didn't know what they were for except that it was rings. But I guessed
+it was for some stuff he'd stolen from the corpse of somebody. For it
+was him took the other jewels I told you about, and I seen him with a
+screw-driver the match to the boss's. So I just slipped the tickets in
+my pocket thinkin' I'd have a hold on him. Next day I read about this
+man bein' found in the river, and I stopped to the Morgue, and, just as
+I thought, his rings was gone. I worried over that for an hour or two,
+and then I thought I better not keep the tickets, so I tore them up and
+threw them away."
+
+"That, you say, was the night after this affair was published in the
+papers?"
+
+"No; it was the same night."
+
+"That is to say, the night of that day on which I came here and had a
+talk with you?"
+
+"No, it was the night before. You're thinkin' about the mornin' papers,
+but I seen it first in the afternoon papers."
+
+This statement dispelled a doubt which had entered the mind of the
+detective, who remembered that Mr. Burrows had told him that the
+pawn-ticket incident had occurred on the evening previous to their
+meeting. This explanation, however, tallied with that, and Mr. Barnes
+was now inclined to credit the man's story.
+
+"Very good," said he. "You may be telling the truth. If you have nothing
+to do with this case, you ought to be willing to give me some
+assistance. Will you?"
+
+Randal had been so thoroughly frightened that he now seemed only too
+glad of the chance to win favor in the eyes of Mr. Barnes.
+
+"Just you tell me what you want, and I'm your man," said he.
+
+"I want to find out something at the stable, and I think you can get the
+information for me better than I can myself."
+
+"I'll go with you right away. The boy can mind the shop while we're
+gone. Charlie, you just keep an eye on things till I get back, will
+you? I won't be out more'n ten minutes. Come on, Mr. Barnes, I'm with
+you."
+
+On the way to the stable Mr. Barnes directed Randal as to what he wished
+to learn, and then at his suggestion waited for him in a liquor saloon
+near by, while he went alone to the stable. In less than ten minutes
+Randal hurried into the place, flushed with excitement and evidently
+bubbling over with importance. He drew the detective to one side and
+spoke in whispers.
+
+"Say," said he, "you're on the right tack. The wagon was out again that
+night, and not on any proper errand, neither."
+
+"Tell me what you have learned," said Mr. Barnes.
+
+"Of course the night watchman ain't there now, but Jimmy, the day
+superintendent, is there, and I talked with him. He says there was some
+funny business that night. First I asked him about the wagon bein' out
+or not, and he slaps his hand on his leg, and he says: 'By George!' says
+he, 'that's the caper. Didn't you put that wagon in its right place when
+you brung it in that afternoon?' he says to me. 'Of course,' says I;
+'where do you think I'd put it?' 'Well,' says he, 'next mornin' it was
+out in the middle of the floor, right in the way of everything. The boys
+was cussin' you for your carelessness. I wasn't sure in my own mind or I
+would have spoke; but I thought I seen you shove that wagon in its right
+place.' 'So I did,' says I, 'and if it was in the middle of the stable,
+you can bet it was moved after I left. Now who moved it?' 'I don't
+know,' says he, 'but I'll tell you another thing what struck me as odd.
+I didn't have nothin' particular to do that night, and I dropped in for
+an hour or so to be sociable like with Jack'--that's the night watchman.
+'While I was there,' he goes on, 'while I was there, who should come in
+but Jerry Morgan! He didn't stop long, but he took us over to the saloon
+and balled us off'--that means he treated to drinks. 'Next day I come
+round about six o'clock as usual,' says Jimmy, goin' on, 'and there was
+Jack fast asleep. Now that's the fust time that man ever dropped off
+while on watch, and he's been here nigh on to five years. I shook him
+and tried every way to 'waken him, but it didn't seem to do no good.
+He'd kind of start up and look about dazed, and even talk a bit, but as
+soon as I'd let up, he'd drop off again. I was makin' me a cup of
+coffee, and, thinkin' it might rouse him, I made him drink some, and, do
+you know, he was all right in a few minutes. At the time I didn't think
+much about it, but since then I have thought it over a good deal, and,
+do you know what I think now?' 'No,' says I; 'what do you think?' 'I
+think,' says he, 'I think that Jimmy was drugged, and if he was, Jerry
+Morgan done the trick when he balled us off, and you can bet it was him
+took that wagon out that night.' That's the story Jimmy tells, Mr.
+Barnes, and it's a corker, ain't it?"
+
+"It certainly is important," said Mr. Barnes.
+
+Once more he had food for thought. This narrative was indeed important;
+the drowsiness of the watchman and his recovery after drinking coffee
+suggested morphine. The detective likewise recalled the story of the
+butler who claimed that he had seen Mark Quadrant asleep while he was
+supposed to be guarding the coffin. Then, too, there was the empty paper
+which had once held some powder, and which he had himself found in the
+room where Mark Quadrant had slept. Had he too been drugged? If so, the
+question arose, Did this man Morgan contrive to mix the morphine with
+something which he thought it probable that the one sitting up with the
+corpse would drink, or had Amos given his brother the sleeping-potion?
+In one case it would follow that Morgan was the principal in this
+affair, while in the other he was merely an accomplice. If his hand
+alone managed all, then it might be that he had a deeper and more potent
+motive than the mere removal of the body to avoid cremation, the latter
+being a motive which the detective had throughout hesitated to adopt
+because it seemed so weak. If Morgan substituted another body for the
+one taken from the coffin, then the statement of Mr. Mitchel that a body
+had been cremated was no longer a discrepancy. There was but one
+slightly disturbing thought. All the theorizing in which he now indulged
+was based on the assumption that Randal was not deceiving. Yet how could
+he be sure of that? Tom Burrows would have said to him: "Mr. Barnes,
+that fellow is lying to you. His story may be true in all except that it
+was himself and not Morgan who did these things." For while he had
+thought it best to let Randal go alone to the stable to make inquiries,
+this had placed him in the position of receiving the tale at
+second-hand, so that Randal might have colored it to suit himself. For
+the present, he put aside these doubts and decided to pursue this clue
+until he proved it a true or false scent. He dismissed Randal with an
+injunction to keep his tongue from wagging, and proceeded to the house
+of the man Morgan, regretting now that he had not done so before.
+
+The tenement on Eleventh Avenue was one of those buildings occupying
+half a block, having stores on the street, with narrow, dark, dismal
+hallways, the staircases at the farther end being invisible from the
+street door, even on the sunniest days, without a match. Overhead, each
+hallway offered access to four flats, two front and two back, the doors
+being side by side. These apartments each included two or three rooms
+and what by courtesy might be called a bathroom, though few indeed of
+the tenants utilized the latter for the purpose for which it had been
+constructed, preferring to occupy this extra space with such of their
+impedimenta as might not be in constant use.
+
+When one enters a place of this character asking questions, if he
+addresses any of the adults he is likely to receive scant information in
+reply. Either these people do not know even the names of their
+next-door neighbors, or else, knowing, they are unwilling to take the
+trouble to impart the knowledge. The children, however, and they are as
+numerous as grasshoppers in a hayfield, not only know everything, but
+tell what they know willingly. It is also a noteworthy fact that amidst
+such squalor and filth, with dirty face and bare legs, it is not
+uncommon to find a child, especially a girl, who will give answers, not
+only with extreme show of genuine intelligence, but, as well, with a
+deferential though dignified courtesy which would grace the
+reception-rooms of upper Fifth Avenue.
+
+It was from such an urchin, a girl of about twelve, that Mr. Barnes
+learned that Jerry Morgan had lived on the fifth floor back.
+
+"But he's gone away, I guess," she added.
+
+"Why do you think so?" asked Mr. Barnes.
+
+"Oh, 'cause he ain't been in the saloon 'cross the way for 'bout a week,
+and he didn't never miss havin' his pint of beer every night 's long 's
+he 's been here."
+
+"Do you think I could get into his room?" asked Mr. Barnes.
+
+"I could get you our key, an' you could try," suggested the girl. "I
+reckon one key will open any door in this house. It's cheaper to get
+locks in a bunch that way, I guess, an' besides, poor folks don't get
+robbed much anyhow, an' so they ain't got no 'casion to lock up every
+time they go out. What little they've got don't tempt the robbers, I
+guess. Maybe the 'punushment fits the crime' too quick."
+
+"'The punishment fits the crime,' you think," said Mr. Barnes with a
+smile. "Where did you get that from?"
+
+"Oh, I seen the Mikado oncet," said the girl rather proudly. "But I
+didn't mean what you said; I said it fits 'too quick'; that's too snug,
+you know, though sometimes it's 'quick' too. You see, I guess they don't
+get enough out of flats like these to pay for the risk."
+
+"You are quite a philosopher," said Mr. Barnes, approvingly. "Now run
+and get the key, and we will see whether it fits or not."
+
+She hurried upstairs, and was awaiting Mr. Barnes, with the key in her
+hand, when he reached the third landing. This she gave to him, and then
+followed him up the remaining flights, where she pointed out the door
+which led into Morgan's flat. The key was not needed, as the door was
+not locked, and the detective pushed it open and entered. The room
+seemed bare enough, what little furniture there was being too evidently
+the product of a second-hand furniture store. There seemed little hope
+of finding anything helpful to his investigation in this room, yet the
+detective, with his usual thoroughness, examined every drawer, and every
+corner or crevice in which anything might have been hidden, or have been
+accidentally dropped, and at last he did discover something which more
+than repaid him.
+
+In the darkest corner of the dark closet, where perhaps it had dropped
+unperceived, he found an old vest, of no value in itself. But a search
+of the pockets brought an exclamation of gratification to the
+detective's lips, as from one of them he drew forth a folded paper still
+containing a whitish powder. Mr. Barnes was certain that this powder was
+morphine, and at length he felt his feet on solid ground in trailing the
+criminal. No longer need he doubt Randal. His story of the probable
+drugging of the night watchman at the stable now became not only
+credible, but probable. Thinking that he might gain something by further
+questioning the girl, Mr. Barnes said:
+
+"Why, here is some medicine! Perhaps he was sick and has gone away for
+his health."
+
+With the keen intelligence of her class, the girl replied:
+
+"Some folks go away for their health without bein' sick."
+
+"How do you mean?"
+
+"When it gets so it ain't healthy for them to stay in town, you know."
+
+"You mean for fear of the police?"
+
+"Sure! What else?"
+
+"But do you think that this man Morgan would do anything that would make
+him afraid of meeting a policeman?"
+
+"Oh, I don't know. But 'birds of a feather flock together,' you know.
+One of his pals was pinched, and he's workin' for the country now, on
+the Island."
+
+"Who was that?" Mr. Barnes did not regret the time spent in talking with
+this observing youngster.
+
+"I don't know his right name. They called him Billy the Red, over to the
+saloon."
+
+Mr. Barnes started. This was a clue indeed. This was a well-known
+criminal whom she had named; one who had earned his sobriquet by killing
+two men in a barroom fight, when he had been one of the celebrated Whyo
+gang. If Morgan consorted with such as he, there could be little doubt
+as to his social status.
+
+"You say Billy the Red was one of Morgan's pals. Did he have any others
+that you know of?" Mr. Barnes continued.
+
+"Well, he used to be with him most till he went up, but lately he's been
+travellin' with Tommy White."
+
+"Where can I find him; do you know?"
+
+"Better look him up on the Island, too, I guess. He ain't been round
+here for quite some days."
+
+"Perhaps he does not come because Morgan is away?"
+
+"Oh, no, that can't be, 'cause he stopped showin' up before Morgan left.
+The neighbors was beginnin' to wonder and talk, just 'bout the time
+Morgan skipped. You see, Tommy White he lived right next door, in the
+next flat, him and Nellie."
+
+"Ah, he had a wife?"
+
+"I don't know about that. She was his girl anyway, though some thought
+Morgan was sweet on her too."
+
+Mr. Barnes thought the fog was lifting.
+
+"Where is this Nellie now?"
+
+"You can search me! She's gone too. The hull three has skipped out."
+
+"What, all three at the same time?"
+
+"No, that's the funny part of it. That's what makes folks talk. You see,
+we didn't see nothin' of Tommy White for two or three days, but Nellie
+she was round all right. But when Morgan he cut it, Nellie she lit out
+too."
+
+"Let me get this right, my girl. And mind you make no mistake, for this
+is important."
+
+"I ain't makin' no mistakes, mister. I'm givin' it to you dead right,
+and that's more 'n you'd get out of anybody else in this castle. But
+I've got my reasons, and," this she added with a sly wink, "you ain't
+fooled me any, you know. You're a detective, that's what you are."
+
+"What makes you think so?"
+
+"Oh, there ain't much to guess. People dressed like you don't come to a
+place like this and nose into another man's rooms just for amusement.
+Not much they don't. It's business with you."
+
+"Well, never mind that. Tell me, are you sure that White disappeared
+first, and that the girl was here afterwards, but that she has not been
+seen since Morgan went away?"
+
+"That's right. You got it straight the first time. Now what do you make
+of it? I know my own opinion."
+
+"Suppose you tell me your opinion first," said Mr. Barnes, anxious to
+hear her answer.
+
+"Well," said the girl, "it's very simple, what I think. I think Tommy's
+been done for."
+
+"Done for?" Mr. Barnes comprehended her meaning but preferred to have
+her speak more plainly.
+
+"Yes, done for, that's what I said. They've put him out of the way,
+those two. And if that's right, it's a shame, 'cause Tommy was a good
+fellow. It was him took me to the theatre, that time when I seen the
+Mikado."
+
+Evidently this one visit to a theatre had been an event in her weary
+little life, and the man who had given her that bit of pleasure and had
+afforded her that one glimpse of what she would have described as the
+"dressed-up folks," had by that act endeared himself to her childish
+heart. If he had been injured, her little soul longed for vengeance, and
+she was ready to be the instrument which might lead Justice to her
+victim.
+
+Mr. Barnes began to believe that the solution of this mystery was near
+at hand. He left the building, thanking the child for what she had told
+him, and promising to find out what had become of her friend Tommy
+White. Crossing the street he entered the saloon where the girl had told
+him that Morgan had been in the habit of buying his daily pint of beer.
+By talking with the bartender he hoped to elicit further information.
+
+The gentlemanly dispenser of liquid refreshment, whose constant boast
+was that he knew how to manufacture over three hundred different mixed
+drinks without using any intoxicant, stood beside the mahogany counter,
+polishing up the glasses, which he piled in an imposing pyramid on the
+shelf at the back, where the display was made doubly attractive by the
+plate mirror behind. His hair was scrupulously brushed and his short
+white coat was immaculately clean. Fortunately there was no one else in
+the place, so that the detective was afforded a good opportunity for
+free conversation. He asked for a Manhattan cocktail, and admired the
+dexterity with which the man prepared the drink. Raising it to his lips
+and tasting it as a connoisseur might, Mr. Barnes said:
+
+"Could not be better at the Waldorf."
+
+"Oh, I don't know," said the fellow, deprecatingly, but pleased at the
+implied compliment.
+
+"Your face is very familiar to me," said Mr. Barnes; "have you ever met
+me before?"
+
+"Never in my life," said the bartender, without the slightest change of
+expression.
+
+"That's odd," said Mr. Barnes, pursuing the point with a purpose; "I am
+pretty good at faces. I seldom forget one, and just as seldom make a
+mistake. I would almost swear I have seen you before."
+
+"I was tending bar at the Astor House for two years. Perhaps you saw me
+there," suggested the man.
+
+"Ah, that is it," said Mr. Barnes, pretending to accept this
+explanation; "I often take my luncheon there. By the way, I suppose you
+are pretty well acquainted around the neighborhood?"
+
+"Oh, I know a few people," said the man, cautiously.
+
+"You know Tommy White, of course?"
+
+"Do I?"
+
+"Don't you?"
+
+"I might, without knowing his name. Our customers don't all leave their
+cards when they buy a drink. I don't know your name, for instance."
+
+"Yes, but I do not live in the neighborhood. White must come here
+often."
+
+"Well, he hasn't been in lately," said the bartender, and then stopped
+short as he noted the slip that he had made. The detective did not
+choose to appear to notice it, but asked:
+
+"That is the point. Isn't it odd that he should have disappeared?"
+
+"Oh, I don't know. A man can go out of town if he wants to, I guess."
+
+"Do you know that White went out of town?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Have you seen Tommy White since Jerry Morgan skipped?"
+
+"See here! what the devil are you asking me all these questions for? Who
+are you, anyway, and what are you after?"
+
+"I am Jack Barnes, detective, but I'm not after you, Joe Allen, alias
+Fred Martin, alias Jimmy Smith, alias Bowery Bill, alias the Plug."
+
+This sally left the man stolidly unmoved, but it affected his attitude
+towards his questioner, nevertheless, as he sullenly answered:
+
+"There's nothing you can get against me, so I don't scare even if you
+know me. If you don't want me, what do you want?"
+
+"Look here, Joe," said Mr. Barnes, in friendly, confidential tones, "a
+bluff does not go with me, and you know it never did. Now why did you
+not acknowledge that you knew me when I first came in?"
+
+"What's the use of courtin' trouble? I wasn't sure you'd remember my
+face. It's quite a time since we met."
+
+"True. It is five years since that Bond Street affair, and you got three
+years for that, if I remember rightly."
+
+"Well, I served my time, didn't I? So that's ended, ain't it?"
+
+"Yes. But what about that little business of the postage-stamp robbery
+out in Trenton?"
+
+"Why, I didn't have no hand in that."
+
+"Well, two of your pals did, and when they were caught and sent up they
+were square enough not to peach on you. The Mulberry Street crowd did
+not know how thick you were with those boys, or you might have got into
+trouble. But I knew, and you know that I knew."
+
+"Well, what if you did? I tell you I wasn't in that."
+
+"You would not like to be obliged to prove where you were that night,
+would you?"
+
+"Oh, I suppose it's always hard to prove I was one place, when fellows
+like you go on the stand and swear I was somewhere else. So, as I said
+before, what's the use of courtin' trouble?"
+
+"Now you are sensible, and as I said, I am not after you. All I want is
+some information. Give me another cocktail, and have one yourself."
+
+"Thanks, I will. Go ahead with your catechism; I'll answer so long as
+you don't try to make me squeal on any of my friends. I'd go up before
+I'd do that. And you know that."
+
+"That's all right. I know you're square, and that is why I feel sure you
+would not be mixed up in a murder."
+
+"Murder?"
+
+This time the fellow was frightened. How could he be sure that this
+detective was not trying to entrap him? How could he know positively
+that he had not been accused by some pal who wished to shift
+responsibility from himself to another? This is the Damocles sword that
+ever hangs over the head of the wrong-doer. His most chosen companions
+may either tell of what he has done, or accuse him of crime which he has
+not committed.
+
+"I am afraid so. But what are you worrying over? Did I not tell you that
+you are not in it? Listen to me, Joe. This Jerry Morgan has skipped out
+of town, and it looks as though he took Tommy White's girl Nellie with
+him. Now, where is Tommy White?"
+
+"I don't know a thing. I swear I don't."
+
+"Yes, you do. You do not know what has become of him, but you know
+something. Morgan isn't any pal of yours, is he?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Very well. Then why not tell me what you know? If he has done anything
+to White, he ought not to go free, ought he? You do not stand in with
+murder, do you?"
+
+"No, I don't. But how do I know there's been any murder?"
+
+"You don't know it, but since I suggested it to you, you think so. I see
+that in your face. Now, what do you know?"
+
+"Well, I don't know much, but what I know I don't want used to make
+another fellow go to the chair."
+
+"That is no affair of yours. You are not responsible for what the law
+does. Come, I have no more time to waste. Tell me what you know, or say
+right out that you will not. Then I will know what to do."
+
+The implied threat decided the man, and without further attempt at
+evasion he said:
+
+"Well, I suppose there ain't any use my runnin' any risk for a man
+that's nothin' to me. It's this way: Morgan's an old-time crook--I
+suppose you know that?" Mr. Barnes nodded, although this was news to
+him. Allen continued: "He's been at it since he was a kid. Was in the
+reformatory, and learned more there about crooked work in a year than he
+would have picked up in ten outside. He's never done time, though, since
+he graduated from that institution. Learned enough, I guess, to keep
+out of sight of your crowd. Two years ago he moved into this
+neighborhood and since then I've seen him in here a good deal. He took
+up with Tommy White--a young fellow that would have lived straight only
+he was in bad company, and was railroaded with a gang for a job he
+really had no hand in. That settled him. When he came out of Sing Sing
+he wasn't likely to go for a straight job at a dollar a day, when he
+could lay around idle and pick up a good thing every now and then that
+would keep him going. I guess he and Morgan done a good many jobs
+together; anyway, they never was short of money. One thing was funny
+about those two--nobody ever seen them in the daytime. They used to say
+they was 'workin',' but that didn't go with the crowd that hangs out
+here. Neither Morgan nor White would work if they could help it. They
+was just like brothers, those two, till White took up with this girl
+Nellie. I think Morgan was jealous of his luck from the first, 'cause
+the girl is a peach. One of your real blondes, without no bleachin'
+stuff. She's got a skin like velvet, and hands and feet like a lady.
+White soon found out that his pal was sweet on the girl, and many a time
+they've rowed over her. Finally, about two weeks ago the two of them was
+in here, and they was drinkin' pretty hard and just ready for a scrap,
+when the girl comes in. Morgan goes up to her and puts his arm round her
+and kisses her plump. White was mad in a minute, but he turned on her
+instead of him and he says, says he: 'Nellie, I want you to hammer that
+duffer over the head for doin' that,' and he picks up a beer glass and
+hands it to her. Nellie she takes the glass, and she says: 'I've heard
+of a kiss for a blow,' she says, 'but a blow for a kiss is a new one on
+me. It ain't that way in the Bible, Tommy, so I guess if you want any
+hammerin' done, you'd better do it yourself. I'm thinkin' of joinin' the
+Salvation Army, you know.' This made Morgan and the crowd laugh, and
+White got fierce. He snatched the glass out of Nellie's hand and made
+for Morgan. But Morgan he ducks and lets White go by him, and he picks
+up a beer glass too; then when White came for him again he landed a
+terrible blow with the glass right back of White's ear. Tommy went down
+in a heap and lay on the ground quiverin'. The whole thing happened so
+quick nobody could interfere. Morgan got sober in a second, I tell you,
+and he was scared. Everybody crowded round, and the girl she was a
+wonder. You'd think bein' a woman she'd cry and make a fuss? Not a bit
+of it. She got some ice and put it on White's head, and threw water in
+his face, and she puts her ear down to his heart, and then she looks up
+after a bit, and she says, as cool as could be: 'Boys, he's only
+stunned. He'll come round all right. Some of you help get him home, and
+I'll look after him. He'll sleep off his liquor and he won't know what
+hurt him when he wakes in the mornin'.' Well, Morgan and the others they
+did what she said. They took White up and carted him over to his flat,
+and put him to bed. My! but he was limp, and his face was that blue it's
+been before me ever since."
+
+"Did White get over that blow?"
+
+"That's the point. Nellie and Morgan said he did; that he was a bit sore
+next day and had a headache. That was likely enough. But when you talked
+about murder a while ago, I admit I got scared, cause White's never been
+seen since that night."
+
+"You are sure of that?"
+
+"Dead sure. Nellie said he was gone out of town, and the boys swallowed
+the story. But when both Morgan and Nellie skipped it looked bad, and
+folks began to talk. As for me, I've been nervous for days. Why, when
+that body was picked out of the river I just couldn't keep away from the
+Morgue. I just had to have a peep at it. I was sure it would be White,
+and that Morgan had pitched him over. My, but wasn't I glad to see it
+was another man!"
+
+Assuring Allen that his story would not be used in any way that would
+bring him into conflict with the authorities, Mr. Barnes left the saloon
+and went to his office, feeling that at last this problem had been
+solved. Evidently White had died of his wound, and when Morgan learned
+that the coffin of Mr. Quadrant was not to be opened before it was
+consigned to the crematory, he had conceived one of the most ingenious
+schemes ever devised for disposing of a murdered body. By placing White
+in the coffin and allowing his body to be incinerated, all traces of
+his crime would seem to have been obliterated. To accomplish this it was
+necessary to have the use of the undertaker's wagon, and this he had
+managed by drugging the watchman, as well as Mark Quadrant. The transfer
+made, he was still left with the other body, and his disposition of that
+was the most ingenious part of the plan. By throwing the corpse of Rufus
+Quadrant into the water he apparently took little risk. It could not be
+recognized as White of course, and if correctly identified a mystery
+would be created that ought to baffle the detectives, however clever
+they might be. Mr. Barnes felt that he had been fortunate, to learn so
+much from such unpromising clues.
+
+At his office he found a telegram and a letter, both bearing on the
+case. The telegram was from Mr. Burrows, and informed him that Morgan
+had been captured in Chicago, and would be in New York on the following
+day. This was more than gratifying, and Mr. Barnes mentally praised the
+young detective. The letter was from Mr. Mitchel, and read:
+
+    "FRIEND BARNES:
+
+    "At last I have fathomed the Quadrant mystery. Will drop in
+    on you about noon to-morrow and tell you how the affair was
+    managed. You will be surprised, I am sure.
+
+                                                      "MITCHEL."
+
+"Will I?" said Mr. Barnes to himself.
+
+
+                                   X
+
+Mr. Burrows arrived at the offices of Mr. Barnes about eleven o'clock on
+the following morning, which much pleased the older detective, who
+wished to have his case complete before the arrival of Mr. Mitchel.
+
+"Well, Tom," said Mr. Barnes, cordially, "so you have caught your man
+and brought him back?"
+
+"Did I not promise you that I would?" replied Mr. Burrows.
+
+"Yes, but even a cleverer man than yourself cannot always hope to keep
+such a promise. Do you know that this fellow, Morgan, is a professional
+crook who has never been caught at his work before?"
+
+"So he has told me," said Mr. Burrows, modestly refraining from any
+boastfulness.
+
+"He told you the truth in that instance, and I trust you have also
+succeeded in getting a confession from him as to his connection with
+this Quadrant matter?"
+
+"He has pretended to make a clean breast of it, but of course we must
+verify his story. One cannot place too much faith in the confessions of
+a crook."
+
+"Does he admit that he took the rings?"
+
+"Yes, it seems you were right there."
+
+"Does he explain how and why he took the body from the coffin?"
+
+"On the contrary, he denies having done so."
+
+"Then he lies," said Mr. Barnes. "I have not been idle since you went
+away, but my tale will keep. Let me hear first what Morgan's alleged
+confession amounts to."
+
+"He admits that he stole the rings. He has a duplicate of that
+screw-driver of which old Berial is so fond of bragging, and when he was
+left alone with the body, he opened the coffin and took the rings, and,
+in keeping with his limited standard of morals, he offers a rather
+ingenious excuse for his act."
+
+"I should like to hear a good excuse for robbing the dead."
+
+"That is his point exactly. He says that as the dead cannot own
+property, the dead cannot be robbed. As the family had declared that the
+coffin was not to be opened again, Morgan says he considered the rings
+as practically consigned to the furnace, and then he asks, 'What was the
+use of seeing stuff like that burned up, when it was good money to me?'
+It is a nice point, Mr. Barnes. If the owner elects to throw away or
+destroy his property, can we blame a man for appropriating the same?"
+
+"We may not be able to blame him, but we certainly have the power to
+punish him. The law will not accept such sophistry as palliation for
+crime. What else does the fellow admit?"
+
+"The rest of his tale is quite interesting, and I think would surprise
+you, unless, indeed, you have discovered the truth yourself."
+
+"I think I could make a shrewd guess," said Mr. Barnes.
+
+"Well, I wish you would tell me your story first. You see, after all, I
+am the legally employed investigator of this matter, and I should like
+to hear your story before telling mine, that I may be absolutely certain
+that your results have been arrived at by a different line of work,
+though of course you understand that I do not for a moment imagine that
+you would intentionally color your story after hearing mine."
+
+"I understand you perfectly, Tom," said Mr. Barnes, kindly, "and I am
+not at all offended. You are right to wish to have the two stories
+independently brought before your reasoning faculties. Morgan tells you
+that he stole the rings in the afternoon. Perhaps he did, and perhaps he
+took them later. It does not now seem to be material. The subsequent
+facts, as I deduce them from the evidence, are as follows: Morgan had a
+pal, who was sweet on a girl called Nellie. By the way, did you get any
+trace of her?"
+
+"She was with Morgan when I found him and she has come back with us."
+
+"Good. Very good, It seems that Morgan also admired the girl, and that
+finally he and his pal had a saloon fight over her, during which Morgan
+struck the other man with a beer glass. This man fell to the floor
+unconscious, and was taken to his home in that condition. He has not
+been seen in the neighborhood since. Now we come to another series of
+events. Morgan admits taking the rings. Suppose we accept his story. He
+then left the house and drove the wagon back to the shop. Randal took
+it from there to the stables, but later in the evening Morgan visited
+the stables and induced the night watchman to take a drink. That drink
+was drugged, and the drug was morphine. The watchman slept soundly, and
+there is little doubt that while thus unconscious Morgan took the
+undertaker's wagon out of the stable on some errand. There is an
+interesting series of links in this chain which convicts Morgan of using
+morphine to accomplish his purpose. First, it is nearly certain that the
+watchman was drugged; second, a witness will testify that he found Mr.
+Mark Quadrant sound asleep, when he was supposed to be watching the
+coffin; third, I have taken from the pocket of a vest found in Morgan's
+rooms a powder which a chemist declares is morphine. Is not that fairly
+good evidence?"
+
+"It is good evidence, Mr. Barnes, but it does not prove that Morgan took
+that body from the coffin."
+
+"What, then, does it show?"
+
+"It makes him an accomplice at least. He undoubtedly drugged the
+watchman and took the wagon out of the stables, but beyond that you can
+prove nothing. You have not offered any motive that would actuate him in
+stealing the body."
+
+"The motive is quite sufficient, I assure you. His pal, whom he struck
+down with the beer glass, and who has not been seen by his neighbors
+since that night, must have died from the blow. It was his body that was
+cremated."
+
+Mr. Burrows shook his head, and seemed sorry to upset the calculations
+of his old friend.
+
+"I am afraid you cannot prove that," said he. "Tell me, what was the
+name of this pal? Have you learned that?"
+
+"Yes; Tommy White."
+
+"Do you know him by any other name?"
+
+"No; but as he is unquestionably a crook he probably has a dozen
+aliases."
+
+"One will suffice at present. Tommy White is none other than your
+disinterested informant, Jack Randal."
+
+"What!" exclaimed Mr. Barnes, recognizing instantly that if this were
+true his whole edifice tumbled to the ground.
+
+"Yes. I think that Morgan has told me a clean-cut story, though, as I
+said before, we must verify it. You see, he is a crook and ready to
+acquire other people's property, but I think he has a wholesome dread of
+the electric chair that will keep him out of murder. He was at one time
+a pal of Billy the Red, now in Sing Sing. After that fellow was put away
+he took up with Tommy White, alias Jack Randal. Randal, it seems,
+induced Morgan to join him in his nefarious schemes. The undertaker has
+told you, perhaps, as he has told me, that he invented his patent coffin
+because of numerous grave robberies that had occurred in one of the
+cemeteries. He little suspected that the robbers were his two
+assistants. These fellows would steal from the dead, while preparing the
+bodies for burial, if it seemed safe, as, for example, was the case with
+Mr. Quadrant, where it was known that the coffin was not again to be
+opened. In other cases they would visit the grave together. Sometimes
+they merely appropriated what jewelry there might be, but in not a few
+instances they stole the bodies as well, disposing of them to medical
+students."
+
+"What a diabolical partnership!"
+
+"Yes, indeed. Now, coming to the saloon fight, you are correct enough
+except as to the results. White, or Randal, was unconscious during the
+greater part of the night, and in the morning had but a dim recollection
+of what had occurred. He understood, however, that his injury had been
+the result of a fight with Morgan, and also that the girl Nellie had
+'thrown him over,' to adopt the vernacular. He therefore left the
+neighborhood, and though the two men continued to work for Berial, they
+did not resume their friendship. White evidently was nursing his
+grievances, and only awaited an opportunity to make trouble for his old
+pal Morgan. This he hoped to accomplish by the information which he gave
+to you."
+
+"You will hardly expect me to believe that Morgan gave up his position
+and left town without some better reason than a mere quarrel with his
+pal, and a petty theft?"
+
+"Morgan did not give up his position, nor did he leave town of his own
+volition. He was sent away."
+
+"Sent away? By whom?"
+
+"By the principal in this case. I told you from the first that there
+were two in it. He has admitted to me what I did not know, but what I
+believe now because you tell me the same story. He confesses that he
+drugged the watchman at the stables and then drove the wagon away. But
+he denies that he either took Quadrant's body from the coffin, or indeed
+that he drove the wagon to the Quadrant house. In fact, he says he was
+paid to get the wagon unknown to the watchman, and that he was furnished
+with the powders with which he was to drug the man."
+
+"Am I to understand that one of the dead man's brothers hired Morgan to
+do this?"
+
+Mr. Barnes was thinking of his conversation with Amos Quadrant, during
+which that gentleman had suggested that an undertaker's wagon might
+approach the house at any hour without attracting attention. He was
+consequently astonished by the younger detective's reply.
+
+"No," said Mr. Burrows; "he does not implicate either of the Quadrants.
+He declares that it was old Berial who hired him to do his part of the
+job."
+
+
+                                   XI
+
+New possibilities crowded into the thoughts of Mr. Barnes as he heard
+this unexpected statement. Berial hired Morgan to procure the wagon! Did
+it follow, then, that Berial was the principal, or was he in turn but
+the tool of another? Amos Quadrant had confessed that secretly it had
+not been his wish to have his brother cremated. Yet his was the
+authority which had engaged the undertaker and directed the funeral. Had
+he chosen to avoid the cremation without permitting the widow to know
+that his will accomplished her wish, how easy for him to engage the
+undertaker to carry out his purpose, oddly planned as it was! How
+readily might the poor undertaker have been bribed by this wealthy man
+to take the risk! After all, if this were the explanation, wherein lay
+the crime? By what name would it be designated in the office of the
+district attorney? Yet, even now, when all seemed known, two unexplained
+facts stood out prominently. How was it that the foot of the deceased
+Quadrant showed no scar? And what of the assertion made by Mr. Mitchel
+that a human body had been cremated? Could it be that Berial, taking
+advantage of the opportunity offered by his employer, had secretly
+disposed of some other body, while merely supposed to have removed Rufus
+Quadrant from his coffin? If so, whose body was it that had been
+cremated, and how could identification be looked for among the ashes in
+the urn at the cemetery? Mr. Barnes was chagrined to find such questions
+in his mind with no answer, when Mr. Mitchel might arrive with his
+promised surprise at any moment. Perhaps Morgan was lying when he
+accused the undertaker.
+
+"Have you been able yet," asked Mr. Barnes, "to verify any part of this
+man's story?"
+
+"Well, we only arrived at six this morning, but I may say yes, I have
+found some corroborative evidence."
+
+"What?"
+
+"I have the shroud in which Rufus Quadrant was dressed in his coffin."
+
+"That is important. Where did you find it?"
+
+"In quite a suggestive place. It was locked up in old Berial's private
+closet at the shop, which we searched this morning."
+
+"That certainly is significant. But even so, Tom, how do we know that
+this Morgan, who robs the dead and has duplicate screw-drivers for
+opening patented coffin fastenings, would hesitate to place a shroud
+where it would seem to substantiate his accusation of another?"
+
+"We do not know positively, of course. We have not fully solved this
+mystery yet, Mr. Barnes."
+
+"I fear not, Tom," said Mr. Barnes, glancing at the clock as he heard a
+voice asking for him in the adjoining office; "but here comes a man who
+claims that he has done so."
+
+Mr. Mitchel entered and saluted the two men cordially, after receiving
+an introduction to the younger.
+
+"Well, Mr. Barnes," said Mr. Mitchel, "shall I surprise you with my
+story, or have you two gentlemen worked it all out?"
+
+"I do not know whether you will surprise us or not," said Mr. Barnes.
+"We do not claim to have fully solved this mystery; that much we will
+admit at once. But we have done a great deal of work, and have learned
+facts which must in the end lead to the truth."
+
+"Ah, I see. You know some things, but not all. The most important fact,
+of course, would be the identity of the body which is the centre of this
+mystery. Do you know that much?"
+
+"I have no doubt that it has been correctly identified," said Mr.
+Barnes, boldly, though not as confident as he pretended. "It was the
+corpse of Rufus Quadrant, of course."
+
+"You are speaking of the body at the Morgue?"
+
+"Certainly. What other?"
+
+"I alluded to the body which was cremated," said Mr. Mitchel quietly.
+
+"It has not been proven that any body was cremated," replied Mr. Barnes.
+
+"Has it not? I think it has."
+
+"Ah, you know that? Well, tell us. Who was the man?"
+
+"The man in the coffin, do you mean?"
+
+"Yes. The man who was cremated in place of Mr. Quadrant."
+
+"Have you any suspicion?"
+
+"I did have until an hour ago. I supposed that the criminal who managed
+this affair had thus disposed of the remains of a pal whom he had killed
+in a saloon row--a man called Tommy White."
+
+"No, that is wrong. The body cremated was the corpse of a woman."
+
+"Of a woman!" exclaimed both detectives in concert.
+
+"Yes, gentlemen," said Mr. Mitchel, "it was a woman's body that was
+placed in the furnace. I think, Mr. Barnes, that I suggested such a
+possibility to you on the day when you first called my attention to this
+affair?"
+
+"Yes. You said it might be a woman as well as a man. But that was merely
+a caution against hastily deciding as to the sex of the victim,
+supposing that a murder had been committed and the criminal had thus
+proceeded to hide his crime. But subsequent investigations have not
+brought to us even a suspicion that any woman has been foully dealt
+with, who could have been placed in the coffin by any who had the
+opportunity."
+
+"Which only proves," said Mr. Mitchel, "that as usual you detectives
+have worked in routine fashion, and consequently, by beginning at the
+wrong end, you have not reached the goal. Now I have reached the goal,
+and I venture the belief that I have not done one half of the work that
+either of you have been compelled to bestow upon your investigations."
+
+"We cannot all be as intellectually brilliant as yourself," said Mr.
+Barnes testily.
+
+"Come, come, Mr. Barnes. No offense meant, I assure you. I am only
+upholding the argument, which I have advanced previously, that the very
+routine which gentlemen of your calling feel bound to follow often
+hampers if it does not hinder your work. I am merely a tyro, but not
+being professionally engaged on this case I was perhaps freer to see
+things with eyes unblinded by traditional methods of work. It is just as
+the onlooker often sees an opportunity to win, which the men playing a
+game of chess overlook. The player has his mind upon many combinations
+and sees much that the onlooker does not see. So here. You and Mr.
+Burrows have probably discovered many things that I do not even suspect,
+but it has been my luck to get at the truth. If you care to hear it, I
+will describe in detail how I worked out the problem."
+
+"Of course we wish to hear the truth," said Mr. Barnes reluctantly;
+"that is, if indeed you have learned what it is."
+
+"Very good. As I have said, hampered by the seeming necessity of
+following your investigations along customary lines, you probably began
+with the body at the Morgue. I pursued the opposite course. The case
+seemed so unique that I was convinced that the motive would prove to be
+equally uncommon. If the body at the Morgue were really that of Mr.
+Quadrant, as seemed probable from the identifications by the family and
+the doctor, I was sure that it had been taken from the coffin to make
+room for the corpse of another. No other motive occurred to my mind
+which appeared to be adequate. Consequently I thought that the first
+essential in unravelling the mystery would be the establishment of the
+fact that a human body had been cremated, and then, if possible, to
+discover the identity of that body."
+
+"In other words, to identify the ashes of a cremated body," interjected
+Mr. Barnes, with a slight sneer.
+
+"Just so. That in itself was a problem so novel that it attracted my
+interest. It is usually considered that cremation has the objectionable
+feature that it offers a means of hiding the crime of murder. This idea
+has contributed not a little to thwart those who have endeavored to make
+this means of disposing of the dead popular. Would it not be an
+achievement to prove that incineration is not necessarily a barrier
+against identification?"
+
+"I should say so," said Mr. Barnes.
+
+"So thought I, and that was the task which I set myself. I visited the
+chief of the detective bureau, and soon interested him in my theories.
+He even permitted me to be present at the examination of the ashes,
+which was undertaken at my suggestion, an expert chemist and his
+assistant going with us. At the cemetery the urn was brought forth and
+its contents spread out on a clean marble slab. It was not difficult to
+discern that a human being had been cremated."
+
+"Why was it not difficult?"
+
+"When one hears of the ashes of the dead, perhaps it is not unnatural to
+think of these human ashes as similar to cigar ashes, or the ashes of a
+wood fire. Where complete combustion occurs the residue is but an
+impalpable powder. But this is not commonly the result in the cremation
+of the dead, or at least it does not invariably occur. It did not in
+this instance, and that is the main point for us. On the contrary, some
+of the bones, and parts of others, sufficiently retained their form to
+be readily distinguishable as having come from the human skeleton."
+
+"As I have never examined a cremated body," said Mr. Barnes, "I must
+admit that your statement surprises me. I had supposed that all parts of
+the body would be brought to a similar state. But even if what you say
+is true, and granting that from pieces of charred bone it could be
+demonstrated that a human being had been burned, still I would like you
+to explain how you could differentiate between man and woman."
+
+"Perhaps it would be difficult, or even impossible, judging from the
+charred bits of skeleton alone. But if we remember that a woman's garb
+is different from the dress of a man, we might find a clue. For example,
+if you saw what could unmistakably be recognized as parts of corset
+steels, what would you think?"
+
+"Of course the deduction would be that the body had been that of a
+woman, but I should think it an odd circumstance to find that a body
+prepared for burial had been corseted."
+
+"The same thought occurred to me, and from it I drew an important
+deduction, since substantiated by facts. I concluded from the corset
+steels that the body had not been prepared for burial."
+
+"I follow you," said Mr. Barnes, now thoroughly interested in Mr.
+Mitchel's analytical method. "You mean that this woman was placed in the
+coffin clothed as she had died?"
+
+"Practically so, but I did not decide that she had necessarily died
+clothed as she was when placed in the coffin. My conclusion was that it
+must have been as essential to dispose of the clothing as of the body.
+Thus the clothing would have been placed in the coffin with her, even
+though perhaps not on her."
+
+"A good point! A good point!" nodded the detective, approvingly.
+
+"So, you see, the ashes of the dead had already revealed two clues. We
+knew that a human being had been cremated, and we could feel reasonably
+sure, though not absolutely positive, that it had been a woman. Next,
+the question arose as to the identity. If cremation would hide that,
+then the criminal might hope to escape justice by this means."
+
+"It seems incredible that the ashes could be identified, unless indeed
+some object, provably connected with a certain person, and which would
+resist fire, had been placed in the coffin."
+
+"No, that would not satisfy me. A false identification could thus be
+planned by your thoughtful murderer. What I sought was some means of
+identifying the actual remains of a cremated body. I have succeeded."
+
+"You have succeeded?"
+
+"Yes. I had a theory which has proven to be a good one. If some of the
+bones of the body resist cremation, or at least retain their form though
+calcined, it should follow that the teeth, being the most resistant
+bones, and, moreover, protected by being imbedded in other bones, might
+well be expected to remain intact. If not all, at least a sufficient
+number of them might be found to serve the ends of justice."
+
+"Even if you could find the teeth with shape undisturbed, I fail to see
+how you could identify the remains by them."
+
+"The method is as reliable as it is unique. In these days of advanced
+dentistry, the people of this country have been educated up to such an
+appreciation of their dental organs that, from the highest to the
+lowliest, we find the people habitually saving their teeth by having
+them filled. I knew by personal experience that it is a common practice
+among dentists to register in a book of record all work done for a
+patient. In these records they have blank charts of the teeth, and on
+the diagram of each tooth, as it is filled, they mark in ink the size
+and position of the filling inserted. Now while the teeth themselves
+might resist the heat of the furnace, retaining their shapes, we would
+not expect the fillings, whether of gold or other material, to do so.
+Thus, I expected to find the teeth with cavities in them. I did find
+fourteen of the teeth fairly whole, sufficiently so that we might
+identify them, and know what position in the mouth they had occupied. No
+less than ten of these teeth had cavities, which, from the regularity of
+their outline, it was fair to assume had been filled. These I took to my
+dentist for an opinion. He was at once interested, because it seems
+that members of the dental profession have long urged upon the police
+the reliance that may be placed upon the dentist in identifying living
+criminals or unknown dead bodies. He examined the charred teeth, and
+taking a blank chart of the mouth, he plotted out the size and positions
+of the fillings which once had been present. Another very interesting
+point was that we found two teeth, known as the central incisor and the
+cuspid (the latter commonly called the eye-tooth), united together by a
+staple of platinum. This staple had of course resisted the heat because
+platinum melts at so high a temperature. My dentist pointed out to me
+that this staple had been a foundation for what he called a bridge. One
+end of the staple had been forced into the root of one tooth, the other
+end passing similarly into the other. Thus the space was spanned, and an
+artificial tooth had been attached to the bar, thus filling the space.
+He also pointed out that the bar was covered with a mass which was
+evidently the porcelain of the tooth which had melted in the furnace."
+
+"This is very interesting," said Mr. Barnes, "but unless you could find
+the man who did that work, you still could not identify the person
+cremated."
+
+"My dentist, as I have said, made out for me a chart of the person's
+mouth, which you may examine. You will see that it is quite specific.
+With that number of fillings, occupying definite positions in special
+teeth, and coupled with the presence of the tooth bridged in and the
+manner of making the bridge, it would be an unexampled coincidence to
+find that two persons had obtained exactly similar dental services.
+Would it not?"
+
+[Illustration: Missing teeth marked with X--Of 14 teeth examined 10
+contain cavities--16 in all.--Central incisor and cuspid united with
+platinum bar, originally held by fillings.--Remains of porcelain
+material fused on the bar.
+
+CHART FURNISHED BY MR. MITCHEL'S DENTIST.]
+
+"That is sound reasoning," said Mr. Barnes.
+
+"Very well. I had a statement published in the four leading dental
+magazines, accompanied by a _facsimile_ of the chart made by my dentist,
+and I solicited correspondence with any dentist who could show a similar
+chart in his records."
+
+"That was a good method, provided, of course, the dentist who did the
+work subscribed to one of these magazines."
+
+"Of course the advertisement might not meet the eye of the dentist who
+treated the dead woman, but even though he were not a subscriber he
+might hear of this matter through some acquaintance, because, as I have
+said, this subject of identification through dental work is one that
+widely interests the dentists. However, success rewarded us. I received
+a letter from a dentist in one of the New Jersey towns, stating that he
+believed he could match my chart. I lost no time in visiting him, and,
+after examining his book, was satisfied that the person who had been
+cremated that day was an elderly, eccentric woman, named Miss Lederle,
+Miss Martha Lederle."
+
+"Mr. Mitchel, you have done a remarkably clever bit of work, and though
+you have succeeded where I have failed, I must congratulate you. But
+tell me, after learning the name of the woman how did you trace her to
+this city?"
+
+"I deserve no credit for that. It seems that Miss Lederle had long had
+a little fleshy tumor on the inside of her cheek, which had had an
+opportunity to grow because of the loss of a tooth. Her dentist often
+advised her to have it removed, lest it might become cancerous. She put
+it off from time to time, but recently it had grown more rapidly, and at
+last she called on the dentist and asked him to recommend a surgeon. He
+tells me that he gave her the names of three, one residing in Newark,
+and two in this city. Of the New York men, one was Dr. Mortimer."
+
+"By Jove! Doctor Mortimer!" exclaimed Mr. Barnes. "I begin to see
+daylight. It was he who supplied the morphine powders, then?"
+
+"Ah, then you know so much? Yes, Dr. Mortimer instigated the transfer of
+bodies. As soon as I charged him with murder, he thought it safest to
+tell me the truth and throw himself upon my mercy."
+
+"Upon your mercy?" said Mr. Barnes, mystified.
+
+"Yes; the man has not committed a crime, at least not the crime of
+murder. It seems that on the afternoon of the day before that fixed for
+the funeral of Mr. Quadrant, this Miss Lederle called at his office and
+requested him to remove the tumor from her cheek. He consented, and
+suggested the use of cocaine to deaden the parts. The woman insisted
+that she must have chloroform, and the doctor explained that in the
+absence of his assistant he would not care to undertake the
+administration of an anaesthetic. But the woman was persistent; she
+offered a liberal fee if the operation could be done immediately, since
+it had required so much time for her to bring her courage to the point
+of having the tumor removed; then the operation itself seemed so simple
+that at last the surgeon was overruled, and proceeded. He did cause the
+patient to remove her corset, and, her garments thoroughly loosened, she
+was placed on the operating-table. He says he administered very little
+chloroform, and had not yet attempted to operate when the patient
+exhibited dangerous symptoms. In spite of his most untiring efforts she
+succumbed, and he found himself in the dreadful position of having a
+patient die under an operation, with no witnesses present. He closed and
+locked his office and walked from the house in great mental agitation.
+He called at the Quadrants', and heard there that the coffin would not
+again be opened. Then a great temptation came to him. The woman had not
+given him her address, nor had she stated who had sent her to Dr.
+Mortimer, merely declaring that she knew him by reputation. There was no
+way to communicate with the woman's relatives except by making the
+affair public. He recalled that a similar accident to an old surgeon of
+long-established reputation, where several assistants had been present,
+had nevertheless ruined the man's practice. He himself was innocent of
+wrong-doing, except, perhaps, that the law forbade him to operate alone,
+and he saw ruin staring him in the face, just at a time, too, when great
+prosperity had appeared to be within his grasp. The undertaker, Berial,
+was an old acquaintance, indebted to him for many recommendations.
+
+"The plan seemed more and more feasible as he thought of it, and finally
+he sought out Berial, and confided to him his secret. For a liberal fee
+the undertaker agreed to dispose of the body. Dr. Mortimer supplied him
+with a drug with which to overcome the watchman at the stables, so that
+the wagon could be taken out unknown. He himself visited the Quadrant
+house, and, under the plea of relieving Mark Quadrant of a headache,
+gave him also a dose of morphine. At the appointed time Berial arrived
+at the doctor's office and took away the woman's body, first replacing
+the corset, which, of course, they were bound to dispose of. Together
+they went to the Quadrants', and there exchanged the bodies. Subsequent
+events are known to you. Thus the truth has arisen, Phoenix-like, from
+the ashes of the dead. The question remaining is, what claim has Justice
+upon the doctor? Gentlemen, is it needful to disgrace that man, who
+really is a victim of circumstances rather than a wrong-doer? He tells
+me, Mr. Barnes, that he has not had a moment of mental rest since you
+asked him whether ashes could be proven to be the residue of a human
+body."
+
+"I recall now that he started violently when I spoke to him. Perhaps,
+had I been more shrewd, I might have suspected the truth then. The
+difficulty of hushing this matter up, Mr. Mitchel, seems to be the
+friends and relatives of the dead woman. How can they be appeased?"
+
+"I will undertake that. I think the real estate which she leaves behind
+will satisfy the one relative. I have already communicated with this
+man, a hard, money-grubbing old skinflint, and I think that with the
+assistance of Mr. Berial we can have one more funeral that will satisfy
+the curiosity of the few neighbors."
+
+And thus the matter was permitted to rest. There was yet one point which
+puzzled Mr. Barnes, and which never was made clear to him.
+
+"What of the scar that I could not find on Rufus Quadrant's foot?" he
+often asked himself. But as he could not ask either of the brothers, he
+never got a reply. Yet the explanation was simple. Mark Quadrant told
+Mr. Barnes that his brother had such a scar, his object being to baffle
+the detective by suggesting to him a flaw in the identification. The
+idea occurred to him because his brother Amos really had such a scarred
+foot, and he so worded his remark that he literally told the truth,
+though he deceived Mr. Barnes. When the detective repeated this
+statement to Amos, he noticed the care with which his brother had
+spoken, and, in turn, he truthfully said that his brother had spoken
+truthfully.
+
+
+
+
+                                   II
+
+                          THE MISSING LINK
+
+
+"The object of my visit," began Mr. Barnes, "is of such grave importance
+that I approach it with hesitation, and I may even say reluctance. Will
+you give me your closest attention?"
+
+"I understood from your note," replied Mr. Mitchel, "that you wished to
+consult me in regard to some case which you are investigating. As you
+are well aware, I take the keenest interest in the solving of criminal
+problems. Therefore proceed. But first let me light a Havana. A good
+cigar always aids my perception."
+
+The two men were in the sumptuous library of Mr. Mitchel's new house,
+which he had bought for his wife shortly after their marriage. It was
+ten in the morning, and Mr. Mitchel, just from his breakfast-room, was
+comfortably attired in a smoking-jacket. After lighting his cigar, he
+threw himself into a large Turkish chair, rested his head upon the
+soft-cushioned back, and extended his slippered feet towards the grate
+fire, his legs crossed. As he blew little rings of smoke towards the
+detective, he seemed absolutely unsuspicious of the story about to be
+told.
+
+Mr. Barnes, on the contrary, appeared ill at ease. He declined a cigar,
+and, without removing his overcoat, he leaned his left arm on the low
+marble mantel as he stood talking, his right being free for gestures
+when he wished to emphasize a point.
+
+After a brief pause he began:
+
+"Whilst I am not officially connected with the regular police, my young
+friend Burrows is, and is highly esteemed by the Chief. You will
+remember him in connection with the Quadrant case. He called upon me
+about noon on last Sunday. The story which he had to tell was the most
+remarkable in some respects that I have heard. Briefly, it is as
+follows: As you know, it is common practice among speculating builders
+to erect a row of houses, finishing them at one end first, so that, not
+infrequently, one or two of the row may be sold while the mechanics are
+still at work on the other end. In this manner ten houses have been
+built in this immediate vicinity."
+
+"In the street just back of me," said Mr. Mitchel.
+
+Mr. Barnes watched him closely at this moment, but he seemed entirely
+composed and merely attentive. The detective proceeded.
+
+"It appears that two of these houses have been sold and are already
+occupied. The next four are completed, and the sign "For Sale" appears
+in the windows. The others are still in the hands of the workmen. The
+four which are for sale are in the care of a watchman. They are open for
+inspection during the day, but he is supposed to lock all the doors
+before going to his home in the evening, and to open them to the public
+again on the following day. According to this man, he locked all the
+doors of these four houses on Saturday night at six o'clock, and opened
+them again at eight on Sunday morning. Between eight and nine he showed
+two parties through one of the houses and, after dismissing the last,
+was sitting on the stoop reading the morning paper, when he was startled
+by hearing a scream. A moment later he saw two women rush out of the
+house next to where he sat, and from their actions it was evident that
+they were terribly frightened. It was some time before he could get any
+lucid explanation from either, and when he did he understood them to
+intimate that some one had been murdered in the house. He asked them to
+show him to the spot, but they most positively declined. He therefore,
+with unusual display of common sense, summoned a policeman, and with him
+visited the room indicated by the frightened women, who made no attempt
+to run away, though they again refused to go into the house, even with
+the officer. What the two men found was horrible enough to account for
+the women's actions. In the bathtub lay the body of a woman, the head,
+hands, and feet having been cut off and removed."
+
+"I should say that, under these circumstances, identification would be
+most difficult," said Mr. Mitchel, "unless, indeed, the clothing might
+afford some clue."
+
+"The body was nude," said the detective.
+
+"In that case, you have to deal with a man who has brains."
+
+"Yes; the murderer has adopted just such methods as I imagine you would
+pursue, Mr. Mitchel, were you in his predicament."
+
+Mr. Mitchel frowned very slightly, and said:
+
+"You offer me a doubtful compliment, Mr. Barnes. Proceed with your case.
+It is interesting, to say the least."
+
+"It grows more so as we proceed, for we have once more an evidence of
+the futility of planning a crime which shall leave no clue behind."
+
+"Ah, then you have found a clue?" Mr. Mitchel removed his cigar to
+speak, and did not resume his smoking, but seemed more attentive.
+
+"Listen," said the detective. "The policeman immediately notified his
+superiors, and by ten o'clock Burrows was at the house, having been
+detailed to make an examination. Having done so, and recognizing that he
+was face to face with a crime of unusual importance, he hastened to
+solicit my assistance, that I might be early upon the scene. I am
+satisfied that I reached the house before any material alteration had
+been made in any of those small and minute details which are overlooked
+by the careless eye, but which speak volumes to one with experience."
+
+"I suppose, then, that you can describe what existed, from your personal
+investigation. That is more interesting than a report at second hand."
+
+"I went over the ground thoroughly, as I think you will admit when I
+have told you all. Here was one of those wonderful cases where the
+criminal exercised extreme caution to obliterate all traces of the
+crime. His actions could only be surmised through analytical and
+deductive methods. There are some facts which cannot be hidden, and from
+these a keen mind may trace backwards. For example, the head and
+extremities had been removed, and a minute scrutiny of the remaining
+parts might disclose many things."
+
+"Ah, here we note the triumph of mind over matter." There was just a
+slight sneer, which nettled the detective.
+
+Mr. Barnes proceeded with some asperity. Indeed, he spoke more like
+himself; that is, with less hesitancy, as though heretofore he had found
+the story hard to tell, but that now his scruples had vanished.
+
+"An examination of the stumps of the arms proved conclusively that a
+sharp knife had been used, for not only had the tendons and vessels been
+cleanly severed, but in two places the cartilage capping the ends of the
+bone had been shaved off smoothly."
+
+"Come, Mr. Barnes," said Mr. Mitchel, "do not dwell so upon unimportant
+details."
+
+"The weapon is always counted as a very important detail," said Mr.
+Barnes, sharply.
+
+"Yes, yes, I know," said Mr. Mitchel. "But you are above the ordinary
+detective, and you surely perceive that it is a matter of no consequence
+whether the knife used was sharp or dull. In either case it could be
+hidden or destroyed, so that it could not be found to serve in
+evidence."
+
+"Oh, very well," said Mr. Barnes, testily. "I will come to the
+deductions concerning the neck. Here there were several points of
+interest. Again it was evident that a sharp knife was used, and in this
+instance the condition of the edge of the knife becomes important."
+
+"Indeed! How so?"
+
+"The most minute scrutiny of the body disclosed no wound which could
+have been the cause of death. Unless poison had been administered, there
+are but three ways by which death could have been effected."
+
+"And those are?"
+
+"Suffocation, either by choking or otherwise; drowning, by holding the
+head under water in the bathtub; or by some mortal wound inflicted about
+the head, either by a blow, the use of a knife, or a pistol shot. I
+doubted the pistol, because so careful a man as the assassin evidently
+was, would have avoided the noise. A stab with a knife was possible, but
+unlikely because of the scream which would surely result. A blow was
+improbable, unless the man brought the weapon with him, as the house was
+empty, and nothing would accidentally be found at hand. To drown the
+woman, it would have been necessary to half fill the tub with water
+before thrusting the victim in it, and such an action would have aroused
+her suspicion. Besides, the clothes would have been wet, and this would
+have interfered with burning them. Thus by exclusion I arrived at the
+belief that the woman had been choked to death, a method offering the
+least risk, being noiseless and bloodless."
+
+"What has the sharpness of the knife to do with this?"
+
+"It was, in my mind, important to decide whether the head had been
+removed before or after death. A dull knife would not have aided me as a
+sharp one did. With a sharp knife a severing of the carotid artery
+before death would have resulted in a spurting of blood, which would
+have stained the walls or floor, so that it would have been difficult,
+or impossible, to wash away the telltale marks. But after death, or even
+while the victim was unconscious, a cool hand, with a sharp blade, could
+cut down upon the artery in such a way that the blood would flow
+regularly, and, the body being in the bathtub, and water flowing from
+the faucets, no stains would be left."
+
+"Then you think that the woman was choked to death?"
+
+"I have not a doubt of it. There was a terrible struggle, too, though in
+an empty house we could find no such signs as would inevitably have been
+made in a furnished apartment. But the woman fought for her life and
+died hard. This I know because, despite the precaution of the assassin
+in removing the head, there are two or three distinct marks on the neck,
+made by the ends of his fingers and nails."
+
+"Well, having discovered so much, you are as far as ever from the
+identity of the criminal, or of the woman."
+
+"Every point unravelled is so much gain," said Mr. Barnes, evasively.
+"My next deduction was more important. Let us picture the scene of the
+crime. For causes as yet unknown, this man wished to kill this woman. He
+lures her into this empty house, and, choosing a favorable moment,
+seizes her by the throat and strangles her to death. To prevent the
+identification of the corpse, he decides to remove the head, hands, and
+feet, parts which are characteristic. He takes off the clothes and burns
+them. We found the ashes in the kitchen stove. He takes the body to the
+bathroom, and, placing it in the porcelain tub, turns on the water, and
+then proceeds with his diabolical scheme. Even though we suppose that he
+first filled the tub with water, the better to avoid stains, when we
+remember that he took away the severed parts it is inconceivable that
+not a stain of blood, not a smudge of pinkish tint, would be left
+anywhere. Granting that he might have endeavored to wash away any such
+drippings, still it would be marvellous that not one stain should be
+left."
+
+"Yet you found none?" Mr. Mitchel smiled, and resumed his smoking.
+
+"Yet I found none," said Mr. Barnes. "But this was a most significant
+fact to me. It led me to a suspicion which I proceeded to verify. The
+plumbing in this house is of the most approved pattern. Under the
+porcelain bathtub there is a patent trap for the exclusion of
+sewer-gas. This is so fashioned that some water always remains.
+Supposing that bloody water had passed through it, I should find this
+trap partly filled with water tinted in color. I removed the screw,
+which enabled me to catch the water from the trap in a bowl. It was
+perfectly clear. Not a trace of color."
+
+"From which you deduced?" asked Mr. Mitchel.
+
+"From which I deduced," said the detective, "that the woman had not been
+killed, or dismembered, in the house where her body was found. By
+examining the other houses and emptying the traps, I found one which
+yielded water plainly colored with blood, and I also found a few smudges
+about the bathtub; places where blood had splashed and been washed off.
+The assassin thought that he had made all clean, but as so often happens
+with porcelain, when dried there still remained a slight stain, which
+even showed the direction in which it had been wiped."
+
+"Very good! Very good indeed!" Mr. Mitchel yawned slightly. "Let me see.
+You have discovered--what? That the knife was sharp. And that the woman
+was killed in one house and carried to another. How does that help you?"
+
+At this point Mr. Barnes gave Mr. Mitchel a distinct surprise. Instead
+of answering the question, he asked suddenly:
+
+"Mr. Mitchel, will you permit me to examine that watch-chain which you
+are wearing?"
+
+Mr. Mitchel sat straight up in his chair, and looked sharply at the
+detective, as though trying to read his innermost thoughts. The
+detective stared back at him, and both were silent a moment. Then
+without speaking, Mr. Mitchel removed the chain, and handed it to Mr.
+Barnes, who took it with him to the window, and there examined it
+closely through a lens. Mr. Mitchel threw the remains of his cigar into
+the fire, and, placing both hands behind his head as he lay back in his
+chair, awaited developments. Presently Mr. Barnes returned to his place
+by the mantel, and in resuming his narrative it was noticeable from his
+tone of voice that he was more than ever troubled.
+
+"You asked me," said he, "how my discoveries helped me. I say from the
+bottom of my soul that they have helped me only too well. That I proceed
+in this matter is due to the fact that I must follow the dictates of my
+conscience rather than my heart."
+
+"Brutus yielded up his son," suggested Mr. Mitchel.
+
+"Yes. Well, to resume my story. The point of importance was this.
+Imagine the assassin with both hands at the woman's throat--two things
+were inevitable. The woman would surely struggle, with arms and legs,
+and the murderer would be unable to resist, his own hands being
+occupied. What more natural than that the arms of the dying woman should
+be wrapped about the body of her assailant? That the hands should grasp
+and rend the clothing? Might perhaps come into contact with a
+watch-chain and tear it off, or break it?"
+
+"And you are intending to examine all the watch-chains in the
+neighborhood upon such a chance as that?" Mr. Mitchel laughed, but Mr.
+Barnes took no notice of the intended taunt.
+
+"I have examined the only chain I wished to look at. Deducing the
+struggle, and the possible tearing off of some part of the assassin's
+attire, I was glad to know which house was the scene of the crime.
+Having satisfied myself in this direction, I proceeded to search for the
+missing link in the chain of evidence, though I must confess that I did
+not expect it to be truly a link, a part of a real chain. The idea that
+a watch-chain might have been broken in the struggle did not occur to me
+until I held the evidence in my hand."
+
+"Oh; then you did find your missing link?"
+
+"Yes. I personally swept every room, and the staircase, and at last I
+found the link. But it would be more correct to say _your_ missing link,
+than mine, Mr. Mitchel, for it was from this chain that it was broken."
+
+"Indeed!"
+
+Mr. Barnes was amazed at the imperturbable manner in which this
+statement was received. Becoming slightly agitated himself, he
+continued:
+
+"As soon as I picked up that link, I was shocked at my discovery, for,
+from its peculiar shape, I recognized it as similar to your chain, which
+I had often observed. Still, I hoped that there might be some mistake;
+that it might have fallen from some other man. But you permitted me to
+examine this chain, and the last doubt is swept away. I note that every
+alternate link is solid, the intermediate ones having a slit, by which
+the links are joined into a chain. The wrench given by the dying woman
+strained one of these links so that it opened, allowing the chain to
+part, and later this particular link dropped off. Either you did not
+observe it at once, or else, being small, you could not find it. If this
+occurred as I have described, what would be the result? Your chain,
+where parted, would terminate at each end with a solid link. Thus, to
+unite the chain again, my lens shows me that you have sawed through one
+link, and so rejoined your chain. And not only do I see the freshly
+sawed link, but, as must necessarily be the case, we have two links
+adjacent, each of which can be opened."
+
+"And your next move will be?" asked Mr. Mitchel, still apparently
+undisturbed.
+
+"I have no recourse open to me except to arrest you. That is why I have
+found this whole interview so painful."
+
+"I understand your position, and sympathize with you thoroughly," said
+Mr. Mitchel. "And yet, see how easily you might dismiss this whole
+theory of yours. These houses are in my neighborhood, immediately back
+of me, in fact. I am a householder. What more natural than my taking an
+interest in property so near me? Why may I not have visited the houses
+to examine them? Then what more possible than the chance that in passing
+from one room to another, my chain should have caught on a door-knob,
+and have been broken, the link dropping as you have suggested? My
+repairing the damage would be but a natural sequence, and the subsequent
+murder and your train of reasoning is resolved into a mere coincidence."
+
+"That is ingenious, Mr. Mitchel. But some instinct tells me that I am
+right, and that you did commit this crime."
+
+"Intuition, which I suppose is what you mean by instinct, is not always
+reliable, but, oddly enough, in this instance you are correct. I did
+kill that creature. Moreover, the sequence of events was as you have
+deduced. I commend you for your skill, for, believe me, I used every
+precaution to prevent detection."
+
+"Then you confess? My God! This is horrible!"
+
+At the prospect of arresting Mr. Mitchel, a man who had won his most
+ardent admiration, Mr. Barnes was so overcome that he sank into a chair
+and stared blankly at his companion.
+
+"Come! come!" said Mr. Mitchel. "Don't break down like that. The affair
+is bad enough, I admit, but it might be worse."
+
+"Might be worse!" ejaculated Mr. Barnes, amazed at the words as well as
+the half-jocular tone.
+
+"Why yes. Much worse. Why, Mr. Barnes, have you not had evidence of my
+ability to thwart detectives before to-day? Do you suppose that I shall
+permit myself to be detected, arrested, imprisoned in this affair?
+Nothing is further from my mind, I assure you. True, you have, with
+your uncommon skill, discovered a part of the truth. But that need not
+trouble me, for no other detective will be so shrewd."
+
+"Do you mean to suggest that I should shield you in this matter?"
+
+"Well, yes. That is about what I expect from your friendship."
+
+"Impossible! Impossible! I wish that I could do what you ask! But no! It
+is impossible!"
+
+"There. I have tried your patience long enough. Let me tell you the
+whole story, and then you may decide as you please. A few years ago, in
+Paris, a friend presented me with a poodle. French poodles, as you know,
+are considered the most intelligent of all dogs, and this one seemed to
+be the wisest of his species. My friend had already trained him to
+perform many tricks, and these were done at command, without special
+signals, so that I could but believe what my friend claimed, that the
+dog actually understood what was said to him. Thinking this matter over
+one day, it presented itself to me in a singular light.
+
+"In the training of animals, man has always aimed to make the dumb brute
+understand, and carry out, the master's wishes. No one, so far as I then
+knew, had ever trained a dog to express his own wishes, in any way
+intelligible to the master. This I undertook to do, and was fairly
+successful. I printed words on cards, such as 'food,' 'drink,' 'yard,'
+etc., and, by means which I need not recapitulate, I taught my dog to
+bring me the special card which would represent his wishes. Thus, when
+he was thirsty, he could ask for 'water,' or when he wished to leave the
+house, he brought the card marked 'yard.' Imagine my astonishment when
+one day a little sky-terrier, belonging to another lodger in the house,
+came to me with the 'food' card in his mouth. At first I supposed it to
+be merely an accident, but I soon discovered that the terrier understood
+the cards as well as did the poodle. How, unless the poodle had taught
+him? Do dogs, then, have a language by which they may communicate with
+each other?
+
+"This was a new thought, which attracted me more and more as I revolved
+it in my mind. Then it occurred to me that if animals have a language,
+monkeys would offer the best field for study, and I began investigating.
+The discovery that the apes do have a language has been made by Mr.
+Garner, and by him the fact has been published to the world. But I made
+the discovery several years ago, though I kept it to myself, for reasons
+which you shall hear.
+
+"I practised upon the monkeys in the Zoological Gardens in Paris and
+London, until I was a veritable crank on the subject of monkey language.
+Nothing would satisfy me but a trip to Africa. Thither I went, and made
+great progress, so that by the time I captured a fine chimpanzee on the
+Congo, I was able to readily make him understand that I meant him no
+harm. At first he received my overtures with hesitation, his previous
+experience with my race rendering him skeptical as to my good
+qualities. But after a time, we became good friends; I might even say
+chums. After that I gave him his liberty, and we took strolls together.
+He was a very sociable fellow when one really got to know him well, but
+we found the resources of the monkey language inadequate to our needs.
+The experiment with my dog recurred to me, and I undertook to teach him
+a human tongue. I chose German as the best adapted to his limitations,
+and he made such progress that in a few months we could converse with
+tolerable ease.
+
+"I decided to tell him something of the world of civilization, and one
+day it occurred to me to expound to him the Darwinian theory. He
+listened with an expression of learned thought upon his face which would
+have well suited the countenance of a philosopher, but when I had
+finished, he astounded me by announcing that he thought he could show me
+that higher race of apes, which, being more humanly developed than any
+species now known, might well be designated 'the missing link' which
+connects the Simian race with man. I begged him to do so, and he
+undertook the task, though he said that it involved a long journey. I
+urged him to go, and he left me.
+
+"A month had passed, and I had begun to think that my new-found friend
+had deserted me, when one day he walked into camp, accompanied by the
+most human-like ape I had ever seen. It was neither chimpanzee nor
+gorilla, but a combination of both in those characteristics which were
+most manlike. The most conspicuous advance beyond the anthropoid apes
+now known, was the hairless skin. The hands and feet, too, were more
+human in shape, though on the latter the hallux still retained its
+prehensile character, which perhaps is necessary to a tree dweller. The
+face was peculiarly human, though the jaws retained certain
+distinguishing attributes of the ape, as, for example, the space between
+the anterior and posterior teeth, and the fang-like canine teeth.
+
+"As you must already suspect the sequel, I may hurry on to the end. The
+creature was a female, and in the trip to our camp my chimpanzee friend
+had become much attached to her; indeed, I may say he had fallen in love
+with her. He had also begun her higher education, so that when we met
+she was able to address a few words to me in German. As you may well
+imagine, I was greatly interested in this animal, and did all in my
+power to teach her. She made even more rapid progress than the
+chimpanzee had, and I was thinking of the sensation I could produce in
+Paris by sending cards of invitation to the nuptials of my monkey
+friends, which I determined should occur in the great metropolis.
+
+"Imagine my horror one morning, upon finding the chimpanzee dead. I did
+not immediately comprehend the full significance of this, but upon
+questioning the ape a few days later, she candidly confessed to me that
+she had strangled the chimpanzee, her only reason being, that having
+decided for the future to live as a human being, she deemed it wise to
+destroy her companion, that he might not be able to divulge the secret
+of her origin.
+
+"Instantly my mind was awakened to a danger which menaced myself. I too
+knew the secret of her savage ancestry, and the fact that she had not
+slain me also was probably due to her hope that I would fulfil my
+promise and take her with me to more civilized parts. Indeed, so certain
+was I of this, that I took the first opportunity to foster that ambition
+in her bosom. At the same time I carefully planned a secret departure,
+and a few nights later succeeded in getting away unobserved, while the
+ape slept. Throughout the journey to the coast I constantly feared
+pursuit, but was fortunate enough to get safely on shipboard without
+hearing more of the savage creature.
+
+"At dusk on last Saturday, I was strolling through the next street,
+when, to my amazement, I saw coming towards me what appeared to be a
+woman, whose face however was so startlingly like the ape which I had
+left in Africa that for a moment I was dazed. In the next instant,
+realizing that if my suspicion was true, I might be in danger even after
+the lapse of time, and hoping that it was merely a chance resemblance, I
+quickly turned into one of the new houses still open for inspection. I
+did not dare to look behind me, and even thought it a trick of my
+excited imagination when I fancied that I heard steps following me as I
+ascended to the second floor. I turned upon reaching the floor above,
+and instantly with a savage cry the brute was upon me, her hands upon
+my throat, making a desperate effort to strangle me. I gripped her neck
+in a similar manner, scarcely hoping to save my life. Fortune favored
+me, however, and, after a lengthy struggle, the ape lay dead at my feet.
+I suppose that several years of life in civilization had sapped her
+savage strength.
+
+"My subsequent proceedings were actuated by two motives. In the first
+place any public connection of my name with such a horrible encounter
+would naturally have greatly annoyed my wife, and secondly I could not
+resist my innate fondness for contending with detectives. I removed the
+head, hands, and feet, to prevent identification, and also because with
+them I can convince you that the animal was an ape, and not a woman. As
+there is no law against the killing of an ape, you must see, Mr. Barnes,
+that it would be futile to arrest me."
+
+"You are right," replied Mr. Barnes, "and I am truly glad that your
+explanation places you beyond the law. You must forgive me for my
+suspicion."
+
+The two men joined hands in a firm clasp, which cemented their
+friendship, and guaranteed that the secret which they shared would never
+be divulged by either.
+
+
+
+
+                                  III
+
+                            THE NAMELESS MAN
+
+
+Mr. Barnes was sitting in his private room, with nothing of special
+importance to occupy his thoughts, when his office boy announced a
+visitor.
+
+"What name?" asked Mr. Barnes.
+
+"None," was the reply.
+
+"You mean," said the detective, "that the man did not give you his name.
+He must have one, of course. Show him in."
+
+A minute later the stranger entered, and, bowing courteously, began the
+conversation at once.
+
+"Mr. Barnes, the famous detective, I believe?" said he.
+
+"My name is Barnes," replied the detective. "May I have the pleasure of
+knowing yours?"
+
+"I sincerely hope so," continued the stranger. "The fact is, I suppose I
+have forgotten it."
+
+"Forgotten your name?" Mr. Barnes scented an interesting case, and
+became doubly attentive.
+
+"Yes," said the visitor; "that is precisely my singular predicament. I
+seem to have lost my identity. That is the object of my call. I wish you
+to discover who I am. As I am evidently a full-grown man, I can
+certainly claim that I have a past history, but to me that past is
+entirely blank. I awoke this morning in this condition, yet apparently
+in possession of all my faculties, so much so, that I at once saw the
+advisability of consulting a first-class detective, and, upon inquiry, I
+was directed to you."
+
+"Your case is most interesting--from my point of view, I mean. To you,
+of course, it must seem unfortunate. Yet it is not unparalleled. There
+have been many such cases recorded, and, for your temporary relief, I
+may say that, sooner or later, complete restoration of memory usually
+occurs. But now, let us try to unravel your mystery as soon as possible,
+that you may suffer as little inconvenience as there need be. I would
+like to ask you a few questions."
+
+"As many as you like, and I will do my best to answer."
+
+"Do you think that you are a New Yorker?"
+
+"I have not the least idea whether I am or not."
+
+"You say you were advised to consult me. By whom?"
+
+"The clerk at the Waldorf Hotel, where I slept last night."
+
+"Then, of course, he gave you my address. Did you find it necessary to
+ask him how to find my offices?"
+
+"Well, no, I did not. That seems strange, does it not? I certainly had
+no difficulty in coming here. I suppose that must be a significant fact,
+Mr. Barnes?"
+
+"It tends to show that you have been familiar with New York, but we must
+still find out whether you live here or not. How did you register at the
+hotel?"
+
+"M. J. G. Remington, City."
+
+"You are quite sure that Remington is not your name?"
+
+"Quite sure. After breakfast this morning I was passing through the
+lobby when the clerk called me twice by that name. Finally, one of the
+hall-boys touched me on the shoulder and explained that I was wanted at
+the desk. I was very much confused to find myself called 'Mr.
+Remington,' a name which certainly is not my own. Before I fully
+realized my position, I said to the clerk, 'Why do you call me
+Remington?' and he replied, 'Because you registered under that name.' I
+tried to pass it off, but I am sure that the clerk looks upon me as a
+suspicious character."
+
+"What baggage have you with you at the hotel?"
+
+"None. Not even a satchel."
+
+"May there not be something in your pockets that would help us; letters,
+for example?"
+
+"I am sorry to say that I have made a search in that direction, but
+found nothing. Luckily I did have a pocketbook, though."
+
+"Much money in it?"
+
+"In the neighborhood of five hundred dollars."
+
+Mr. Barnes turned to his table and made a few notes on a pad of paper.
+While so engaged his visitor took out a fine gold watch, and, after a
+glance at the face, was about to return it to his pocket, when Mr.
+Barnes wheeled around in his chair, and said:
+
+"That is a handsome watch you have there. Of a curious pattern, too. I
+am rather interested in old watches."
+
+The stranger seemed confused for an instant, and quickly put up his
+watch, saying:
+
+"There is nothing remarkable about it. Merely an old family relic. I
+value it more for that than anything else. But about my case, Mr.
+Barnes; how long do you think it will take to restore my identity to me?
+It is rather awkward to go about under a false name."
+
+"I should think so," said the detective. "I will do my best for you, but
+you have given me absolutely no clue to work upon, so that it is
+impossible to say what my success will be. Still I think forty-eight
+hours should suffice. At least in that time I ought to make some
+discoveries for you. Suppose you call again on the day after to-morrow,
+at noon precisely. Will that suit you?"
+
+"Very well, indeed. If you can tell me who I am at that time I shall be
+more than convinced that you are a great detective, as I have been
+told."
+
+He arose and prepared to go, and upon the instant Mr. Barnes touched a
+button under his table with his foot, which caused a bell to ring in a
+distant part of the building, no sound of which penetrated the private
+office. Thus any one could visit Mr. Barnes in his den, and might leave,
+unsuspicious of the fact that a spy would be awaiting him out in the
+street who would shadow him persistently day and night until recalled by
+his chief. After giving the signal, Mr. Barnes held his strange visitor
+in conversation a few moments longer to allow his spy opportunity to get
+to his post.
+
+"How will you pass the time away, Mr. Remington?" said he. "We may as
+well call you by that name, until I find your true one."
+
+"Yes, I suppose so. As to what I shall do during the next forty-eight
+hours, why, I think I may as well devote myself to seeing the sights. It
+is a remarkably pleasant day for a stroll, and I think I will visit your
+beautiful Central Park."
+
+"A capital idea. By all means, I would advise occupation of that kind.
+It would be best not to do any business until your memory is restored to
+you."
+
+"Business? Why, of course, I can do no business."
+
+"No. If you were to order any goods, for example, under the name of
+Remington, later on when you resume your proper identity you might be
+arrested as an impostor."
+
+"By George! I had not thought of that. My position is more serious than
+I had realized. I thank you for the warning. Sight-seeing will assuredly
+be my safest plan for the next two days."
+
+"I think so. Call at the time agreed upon, and hope for the best. If I
+should need you before then, I will send to your hotel."
+
+Then, saying "Good morning," Mr. Barnes turned to his desk again, and,
+as the stranger looked at him before stepping out of the room, the
+detective seemed engrossed with some papers before him. Yet scarcely had
+the door closed upon the retreating form of his recent visitor, when Mr.
+Barnes looked up, with an air of expectancy. A moment later a very tiny
+bell in a drawer of his desk rang, indicating that the man had left the
+building, the signal having been sent to him by one of his employees,
+whose business it was to watch all departures and notify his chief. A
+few moments later Mr. Barnes himself emerged, clad in an entirely
+different suit of clothing, and with such alteration in the color of his
+hair that more than a casual glance would have been required to
+recognize him.
+
+When he reached the street the stranger was nowhere in sight, but Mr.
+Barnes went to a doorway opposite, and there he found, written in blue
+pencil, the word "up," whereupon he walked rapidly uptown as far as the
+next corner, where once more he examined a door-post, upon which he
+found the word "right," which indicated the way the men ahead of him had
+turned. Beyond this he could expect no signals, for the spy shadowing
+the stranger did not know positively that his chief would take part in
+the game. The two signals which he had written on the doors were merely
+a part of a routine, and intended to aid Mr. Barnes should he follow;
+but if he did so, he would be expected to be in sight of the spy by the
+time the second signal was reached. And so it proved in this instance,
+for as Mr. Barnes turned the corner to the right, he easily discerned
+his man about two blocks ahead, and presently was near enough to see
+"Remington" also.
+
+The pursuit continued until Mr. Barnes was surprised to see him enter
+the Park, thus carrying out his intention as stated in his interview
+with the detective. Entering at the Fifth Avenue gate he made his way
+towards the menagerie, and here a curious incident occurred. The
+stranger had mingled with the crowd in the monkey-house, and was
+enjoying the antics of the mischievous little animals, when Mr. Barnes,
+getting close behind him, deftly removed a pocket-handkerchief from the
+tail of his coat and swiftly transferred it to his own.
+
+On the day following, shortly before noon, Mr. Barnes walked quickly
+into the reading-room of the Fifth Avenue Hotel. In one corner there is
+a handsome mahogany cabinet, containing three compartments, each of
+which is entered through double doors, having glass panels in the upper
+half. About these panels are draped yellow silk curtains, and in the
+centre of each appears a white porcelain numeral. These compartments are
+used as public telephone stations, the applicant being shut in, so as to
+be free from the noise of the outer room.
+
+Mr. Barnes spoke to the girl in charge, and then passed into the
+compartment numbered "2." Less than five minutes later Mr. Leroy Mitchel
+came into the reading-room. His keen eyes peered about him, scanning
+the countenances of those busy with the papers or writing, and then he
+gave the telephone girl a number, and went into the compartment numbered
+"1." About ten minutes elapsed before Mr. Mitchel came out again, and,
+having paid the toll, he left the hotel. When Mr. Barnes emerged, there
+was an expression of extreme satisfaction upon his face. Without
+lingering, he also went out. But instead of following Mr. Mitchel
+through the main lobby to Broadway, he crossed the reading-room and
+reached Twenty-third Street through the side door. Thence he proceeded
+to the station of the elevated railroad, and went uptown. Twenty minutes
+later he was ringing the bell of Mr. Mitchel's residence. The "buttons"
+who answered his summons informed him that his master was not at home.
+
+"He usually comes in to luncheon, however, does he not?" asked the
+detective.
+
+"Yes, sir," responded the boy.
+
+"Is Mrs. Mitchel at home?"
+
+"No, sir."
+
+"Miss Rose?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"Ah; then I'll wait. Take my card to her."
+
+Mr. Barnes passed into the luxurious drawing-room, and was soon joined
+by Rose, Mr. Mitchel's adopted daughter.
+
+"I am sorry papa is not at home, Mr. Barnes," said the little lady, "but
+he will surely be in to luncheon, if you will wait."
+
+"Yes, thank you, I think I will. It is quite a trip up, and, being here,
+I may as well wait a while and see your father, though the matter is not
+of any great importance."
+
+"Some interesting case, Mr. Barnes? If so, do tell me about it. You know
+I am almost as interested in your cases as papa is."
+
+"Yes, I know you are, and my vanity is flattered. But I am sorry to say
+that I have nothing on hand at present worth relating. My errand is a
+very simple one. Your father was saying, a few days ago, that he was
+thinking of buying a bicycle, and yesterday, by accident, I came across
+a machine of an entirely new make, which seems to me superior to
+anything yet produced. I thought he might be interested to see it,
+before deciding what kind to buy."
+
+"I am afraid you are too late, Mr. Barnes. Papa has bought a bicycle
+already."
+
+"Indeed! What style did he choose?"
+
+"I really do not know, but it is down in the lower hall, if you care to
+look at it."
+
+"It is hardly worth while, Miss Rose. After all, I have no interest in
+the new model, and if your father has found something that he likes, I
+won't even mention the other to him. It might only make him regret his
+bargain. Still, on second thoughts, I will go down with you, if you will
+take me into the dining-room and show me the head of that moose which
+your father has been bragging about killing. I believe it has come back
+from the taxidermist's?"
+
+"Oh, yes. He is just a monster. Come on."
+
+They went down to the dining-room, and Mr. Barnes expressed great
+admiration for the moose's head, and praised Mr. Mitchel's skill as a
+marksman. But he had taken a moment to scrutinize the bicycle which
+stood in the hallway, while Rose was opening the blinds in the
+dining-room. Then they returned to the drawing-room, and after a little
+more conversation Mr. Barnes departed, saying that he could not wait any
+longer, but he charged Rose to tell her father that he particularly
+desired him to call at noon on the following day.
+
+Promptly at the time appointed, "Remington" walked into the office of
+Mr. Barnes, and was announced. The detective was in his private room.
+Mr. Leroy Mitchel had been admitted but a few moments before.
+
+"Ask Mr. Remington in," said Mr. Barnes to his boy, and when that
+gentleman entered, before he could show surprise at finding a third
+party present, the detective said:
+
+"Mr. Mitchel, this is the gentleman whom I wish you to meet. Permit me
+to introduce to you Mr. Mortimer J. Goldie, better known to the sporting
+fraternity as G. J. Mortimer, the champion short-distance bicycle rider,
+who recently rode a mile in the phenomenal time of 1.36, on a three-lap
+track."
+
+As Mr. Barnes spoke, he gazed from one to the other of his companions,
+with a half-quizzical and wholly pleased expression on his face. Mr.
+Mitchel appeared much interested, but the newcomer was evidently
+greatly astonished. He looked blankly at Mr. Barnes a moment, then
+dropped into a chair with the query:
+
+"How in the name of conscience did you find that out?"
+
+"That much was not very difficult," replied the detective. "I can tell
+you much more; indeed, I can supply your whole past history, provided
+your memory has been sufficiently restored for you to recognize my facts
+as true."
+
+Mr. Barnes looked at Mr. Mitchel, and winked one eye in a most
+suggestive manner, at which that gentleman burst out into hearty
+laughter, finally saying:
+
+"We may as well admit that we are beaten, Goldie. Mr. Barnes has been
+too much for us."
+
+"But I want to know how he has done it," persisted Mr. Goldie.
+
+"I have no doubt that Mr. Barnes will gratify you. Indeed, I am as
+curious as you are to know by what means he has arrived at his quick
+solution of the problem which we set for him."
+
+"I will enlighten you as to detective methods with pleasure," said Mr.
+Barnes. "Let me begin with the visit made to me by this gentleman two
+days ago. At the very outset his statement aroused my suspicion, though
+I did my best not to let him think so. He announced to me that he had
+lost his identity, and I promptly told him that his case was not
+uncommon. I said that in order that he might feel sure that I did not
+doubt his tale. But truly, his case, if he was telling the truth, was
+absolutely unique. Men have lost recollection of their past, and even
+have forgotten their names. But I have never before heard of a man who
+had forgotten his name, _and at the same time knew that he had done
+so_."
+
+"A capital point, Mr. Barnes," said Mr. Mitchel. "You were certainly
+shrewd to suspect fraud so early."
+
+"Well, I cannot say that I suspected fraud so soon, but the story was so
+improbable that I could not believe it immediately. I therefore was what
+I might call 'analytically attentive' during the rest of the interview.
+The next point worth noting which came out was that, although he had
+forgotten himself, he had not forgotten New York, for he admitted having
+come to me without special guidance."
+
+"I remember that," interrupted Mr. Goldie, "and I think I even said to
+you at the time that it was significant."
+
+"And I told you that it at least showed that you had been familiar with
+New York. This was better proven when you said that you would spend the
+day at Central Park, and when, after leaving here, you had no difficulty
+in finding your way thither."
+
+"Do you mean to say that you had me followed? I made sure that no one
+was after me."
+
+"Well, yes, you were followed," said Mr. Barnes, with a smile. "I had a
+spy after you, and I followed you as far as the Park myself. But let me
+come to the other points in your interview and my deductions. You told
+me that you had registered as 'M. J. G. Remington.' This helped me
+considerably, as we shall see presently. A few minutes later you took
+out your watch, and in that little mirror over my desk, which I use
+occasionally when I turn my back upon a visitor, I noted that there was
+an inscription on the outside of the case. I turned and asked you
+something about the watch, when you hastily returned it to your pocket,
+with the remark that it was 'an old family relic.' Now can you explain
+how you could have known that, supposing that you had forgotten who you
+were?"
+
+"Neatly caught, Goldie," laughed Mr. Mitchel. "You certainly made a mess
+of it there."
+
+"It was an asinine slip," said Mr. Goldie, laughing also.
+
+"Now, then," continued Mr. Barnes, "you readily see that I had good
+reason for believing that you had not forgotten your name. On the
+contrary, I was positive that your name was a part of the inscription on
+the watch. What, then, could be your purpose in pretending otherwise? I
+did not discover that for some time. However, I decided to go ahead, and
+find you out if I could. Next I noted two things. Your coat opened once,
+so that I saw, pinned to your vest, a bicycle badge, which I recognized
+as the emblem of the League of American Wheelmen."
+
+"Oh! Oh!" cried Mr. Mitchel. "Shame on you, Goldie, for a blunderer."
+
+"I had entirely forgotten the badge," said Mr. Goldie.
+
+"I also observed," the detective went on, "little indentations on the
+sole of your shoe, as you had your legs crossed, which satisfied me that
+you were a rider even before I observed the badge. Now then, we come to
+the name, and the significance thereof. Had you really lost your memory,
+the choosing of a name when you registered at a hotel would have been a
+haphazard matter of no importance to me. But as soon as I decided that
+you were imposing upon me, I knew that your choice of a name had been a
+deliberate act of the mind; one from which deductions could be drawn."
+
+"Ah; now we come to the interesting part," said Mr. Mitchel. "I love to
+follow a detective when he uses his brains."
+
+"The name as registered, and I examined the registry to make sure, was
+odd. Three initials are unusual. A man without memory, and therefore not
+quite sound mentally, would hardly have chosen so many. Then why had it
+been done in this instance? What more natural than that these initials
+represented the true name? In assuming an alias, it is the most common
+method to transpose the real name in some way. At least it was a working
+hypothesis. Then the last name might be very significant. 'Remington.'
+The Remingtons make guns, sewing-machines, typewriters, and bicycles.
+Now, this man was a bicycle rider, I was sure. If he chose his own
+initials as a part of the alias, it was possible that he selected
+'Remington' because it was familiar to him. I even imagined that he
+might be an agent for Remington bicycles, and I had arrived at that
+point during our interview, when I advised him not to buy anything until
+his identity was restored. But I was sure of my quarry when I stole a
+handkerchief from him at the park, and found the initials 'M. J. G.'
+upon the same."
+
+"Marked linen on your person!" exclaimed Mr. Mitchel. "Worse and worse!
+We'll never make a successful criminal of you, Goldie."
+
+"Perhaps not. I shan't cry over it."
+
+"I felt sure of my success by this time," continued Mr. Barnes, "yet at
+the very next step I was balked. I looked over a list of L. A. W.
+members and could not find a name to fit my initials, which shows, as
+you will see presently, that, as I may say, 'too many clues spoil the
+broth.' Without the handkerchief I would have done better. Next I
+secured a catalogue of the Remingtons, which gave a list of their
+authorized agents, and again I failed. Returning to my office I received
+information from my spy, sent in by messenger, which promised to open a
+way for me. He had followed you about, Mr. Goldie, and I must say you
+played your part very well, so far as avoiding acquaintances is
+concerned. But at last you went to a public telephone, and called up
+some one. My man saw the importance of discovering to whom you had
+spoken, and bribed the telephone attendant to give him the information.
+All that he learned, however, was that you had spoken to the public
+station at the Fifth Avenue Hotel. My spy thought that this was
+inconsequent, but it proved to me at once that there was collusion, and
+that your man must have been at the other station by previous
+appointment. As that was at noon, a few minutes before the same hour on
+the following day, that is to say, yesterday, I went to the Fifth Avenue
+Hotel telephone and secreted myself in the middle compartment, hoping to
+hear what your partner might say to you. I failed in this, as the boxes
+are too well made to permit sound to pass from one to the other; but
+imagine my gratification to see Mr. Mitchel himself go into the box."
+
+"And why?" asked Mr. Mitchel.
+
+"Why, as soon as I saw you, I comprehended the whole scheme. It was you
+who had concocted the little diversion to test my ability. Thus, at
+last, I understood the reason for the pretended loss of identity. With
+the knowledge that you were in it, I was more than ever determined to
+get at the facts. Knowing that you were out, I hastened to your house,
+hoping for a chat with little Miss Rose, as the most likely member of
+your family to get information from."
+
+"Oh, fie! Mr. Barnes," said Mr. Mitchel; "to play upon the innocence of
+childhood! I am ashamed of you!"
+
+"'All's fair,' etc. Well, I succeeded. I found Mr. Goldie's bicycle in
+your hallway, and, as I suspected, it was a Remington. I took the number
+and hurried down to the agency, where I readily discovered that wheel
+No. 5086 is ridden by G. J. Mortimer, one of their regular racing team.
+I also learned that Mortimer's private name is Mortimer J. Goldie. I was
+much pleased at this, because it showed how good my reasoning had been
+about the alias, for you observe that the racing name is merely a
+transposition of the family name. The watch, of course, is a prize, and
+the inscription would have proved that you were imposing upon me, Mr.
+Goldie, had you permitted me to see it."
+
+"Of course; that was why I put it back in my pocket."
+
+"I said just now," said Mr. Barnes, "that without the stolen
+handkerchief I would have done better. Having it, when I looked over the
+L. A. W. list I went through the 'G's' only. Without it, I should have
+looked through the 'G's,' 'J's,' and 'M's,' not knowing how the letters
+may have been transposed. In that case I should have found 'G. J.
+Mortimer,' and the initials would have proved that I was on the right
+track."
+
+"You have done well, Mr. Barnes," said Mr. Mitchel. "I asked Goldie to
+play the part of a nameless man for a few days, to have some fun with
+you. But you have had fun with us, it seems. Though, I am conceited
+enough to say, that had it been possible for me to play the principal
+part, you would not have pierced my identity so soon."
+
+"Oh, I don't know," said Mr. Barnes. "We are both of us a little
+egotistical, I fear."
+
+"Undoubtedly. Still, if I ever set another trap for you, I will assign
+myself the chief _role_."
+
+"Nothing would please me better," said Mr. Barnes. "But, gentlemen, as
+you have lost in this little game, it seems to me that some one owes me
+a dinner, at least."
+
+"I'll stand the expense with pleasure," said Mr. Mitchel.
+
+"Not at all," interrupted Mr. Goldie. "It was through my blundering that
+we lost, and I'll pay the piper."
+
+"Settle it between you," cried Mr. Barnes. "But let us walk on. I am
+getting hungry."
+
+Whereupon they adjourned to Delmonico's.
+
+
+
+
+                                   IV
+
+                         THE MONTEZUMA EMERALD
+
+
+"Is the Inspector in?"
+
+Mr. Barnes immediately recognized the voice, and turned to greet the
+speaker. The man was Mr. Leroy Mitchel's English valet. Contrary to all
+precedent and tradition, he did not speak in cockney dialect, not even
+stumbling over the proper distribution of the letter "h" throughout his
+vocabulary. That he was English, however, was apparent to the ear,
+because of a certain rather attractive accent, peculiar to his native
+island, and to the eye because of a deferential politeness of manner,
+too seldom observed in American servants. He also always called Mr.
+Barnes "Inspector," oblivious of the fact that he was not a member of
+the regular police, and mindful only of the English application of the
+word to detectives.
+
+"Step right in, Williams," said Mr. Barnes. "What is the trouble?"
+
+"I don't rightly know, Inspector," said Williams. "Won't you let me
+speak to you alone? It's about the master."
+
+"Certainly. Come into my private room." He led the way and Williams
+followed, remaining standing, although Mr. Barnes waved his hand towards
+a chair as he seated himself in his usual place at his desk. "Now then,"
+continued the detective, "what's wrong? Nothing serious I hope?"
+
+"I hope not, sir, indeed. But the master's disappeared."
+
+"Disappeared, has he." Mr. Barnes smiled slightly. "Now Williams, what
+do you mean by that? You did not see him vanish, eh?"
+
+"No, sir, of course not. If you'll excuse my presumption, Inspector, I
+don't think this is a joke, sir, and you're laughing."
+
+"All right, Williams," answered Mr. Barnes, assuming a more serious
+tone. "I will give your tale my sober consideration. Proceed."
+
+"Well, I hardly know where to begin, Inspector. But I'll just give you
+the facts, without any unnecessary opinions of my own."
+
+Williams rather prided himself upon his ability to tell what he called
+"a straight story." He placed his hat on a chair, and, standing behind
+it, with one foot resting on a rung, checked off the points of his
+narrative, as he made them, by tapping the palm of one hand with the
+index finger of the other.
+
+"To begin then," said he. "Mrs. Mitchel and Miss Rose sailed for
+England, Wednesday morning of last week. That same night, quite
+unexpected, the master says to me, says he, 'Williams, I think you have
+a young woman you're sweet on down at Newport?' 'Well, sir,' says I, 'I
+do know a person as answers that description,' though I must say to you,
+Inspector, that how he ever came to know it beats me. But that's aside,
+and digression is not my habit. 'Well, Williams,' the master went on, 'I
+shan't need you for the rest of this week, and if you'd like to take a
+trip to the seashore, I shan't mind standing the expense, and letting
+you go.' Of course, I thanked him very much, and I went, promising to be
+back on Monday morning as directed. And I kept my word, Inspector;
+though it was a hard wrench to leave the young person last Sunday in
+time to catch the boat; the moon being bright and everything most
+propitious for a stroll, it being her Sunday off, and all that. But, as
+I said, I kept my word, and was up to the house Monday morning only a
+little after seven, the boat having got in at six. I was a little
+surprised to find that the master was not at home, but then it struck me
+as how he must have gone out of town over Sunday, and I looked for him
+to be in for dinner. But he did not come to dinner, nor at all that
+night. Still, I did not worry about it. It was the master's privilege to
+stay away as long as he liked. Only I could not help thinking I might
+just as well have had that stroll in the moonlight, Sunday night. But
+when all Tuesday and Tuesday night went by, and no word from the master,
+I must confess that I got uneasy; and now here's Wednesday noon, and no
+news; so I just took the liberty to come down and ask your opinion in
+the matter, seeing as how you are a particular friend of the family,
+and an Inspector to boot."
+
+"Really, Williams," said Mr. Barnes, "all I see in your story is that
+Mr. Mitchel, contemplating a little trip off somewhere with friends, let
+you go away. He expected to be back by Monday, but, enjoying himself,
+has remained longer."
+
+"I hope that's all, sir, and I've tried to think so. But this morning I
+made a few investigations of my own, and I'm bound to say what I found
+don't fit that theory."
+
+"Ah, you have some more facts. What are they?"
+
+"One of them is this cablegram that I found only this morning under a
+book on the table in the library." He handed a blue paper to Mr. Barnes,
+who took it and read the following, on a cable blank:
+
+        "Emerald. Danger. Await letter."
+
+For the first time during the interview Mr. Barnes's face assumed a
+really serious expression. He studied the despatch silently for a full
+minute, and then, without raising his eyes, said:
+
+"What else?"
+
+"Well, Inspector, I don't know that this has anything to do with the
+affair, but the master had a curious sort of jacket, made of steel
+links, so tight and so closely put together, that I've often wondered
+what it was for. Once I made so bold as to ask him, and he said, said
+he, 'Williams, if I had an enemy, it would be a good idea to wear that,
+because it would stop a bullet or a knife.' Then he laughed, and went
+on: 'Of course, I shan't need it for myself. I bought it when I was
+abroad once, merely as a curiosity.' Now, Inspector, that jacket's
+disappeared also."
+
+"Are you quite sure?"
+
+"I've looked from dining-room to garret for it. The master's derringer
+is missing, too. It's a mighty small affair. Could be held in the hand
+without being noticed, but it carries a nasty-looking ball."
+
+"Very well, Williams, there may be something in your story. I'll look
+into the matter at once. Meanwhile, go home, and stay there so that I
+may find you if I want you."
+
+"Yes, sir; I thank you for taking it up. It takes a load off my mind to
+know you're in charge, Inspector. If there's harm come to the master,
+I'm sure you'll track the party down. Good morning, sir."
+
+"Good morning, Williams."
+
+After the departure of Williams, the detective sat still for several
+minutes, lost in thought. He was weighing two ideas. He seemed still to
+hear the words which Mr. Mitchel had uttered after his success in
+unravelling the mystery of Mr. Goldie's lost identity. "Next time I will
+assign myself the chief _role_," or words to that effect, Mr. Mitchel
+had said. Was this disappearance a new riddle for Mr. Barnes to solve?
+If so, of course he would undertake it, as a sort of challenge which his
+professional pride could not reject. On the other hand, the cable
+despatch and the missing coat of mail might portend ominously. The
+detective felt that Mr. Mitchel was somewhat in the position of the
+fabled boy who cried "Wolf!" so often that, when at last the wolf really
+appeared, no assistance was sent to him. Only Mr. Barnes decided that he
+must chase the "wolf," whether it be real or imaginary. He wished,
+though, that he knew which.
+
+Ten minutes later he decided upon a course of action, and proceeded to a
+telegraph office, where he found that, as he had supposed, the despatch
+had come from the Paris firm of jewellers from which Mr. Mitchel had
+frequently bought gems. He sent a lengthy message to them, asking for an
+immediate reply.
+
+While waiting for the answer, the detective was not inactive. He went
+direct to Mr. Mitchel's house, and once more questioned the valet, from
+whom he obtained an accurate description of the clothes which his master
+must have worn, only one suit being absent. This fact alone, seemed
+significantly against the theory of a visit to friends out of town.
+Next, Mr. Barnes interviewed the neighbors, none of whom remembered to
+have seen Mr. Mitchel during the week. At the sixth house below,
+however, he learned something definite. Here he found Mr. Mordaunt, a
+personal acquaintance, and member of one of Mr. Mitchel's clubs. This
+gentleman stated that he had dined at the club with Mr. Mitchel on the
+previous Thursday, and had accompanied him home, in the neighborhood of
+eleven o'clock, parting with him at the door of his own residence. Since
+then he had neither seen nor heard from him. This proved that Mr.
+Mitchel was at home one day after Williams went to Newport.
+
+Leaving the house, Mr. Barnes called at the nearest telegraph office and
+asked whether a messenger summons had reached them during the week, from
+Mr. Mitchel's house. The record slips showed that the last call had been
+received at 12.30 A.M., on Friday. A cab had been demanded, and was
+sent, reaching the house at one o'clock. At the stables, Mr. Barnes
+questioned the cab-driver, and learned that Mr. Mitchel had alighted at
+Madison Square.
+
+"But he got right into another cab," added the driver. "It was just a
+chance I seen him, 'cause he made as if he was goin' into the Fifth
+Avenoo; but luck was agin' him, for I'd scarcely gone two blocks back,
+when I had to get down to fix my harness, and while I was doin' that,
+who should I see but my fare go by in another cab."
+
+"You did not happen to know the driver of that vehicle?" suggested Mr.
+Barnes.
+
+"That's just what I did happen to know. He's always by the Square, along
+the curb by the Park. His name's Jerry. You'll find him easy enough, and
+he'll tell you where he took that fly bird."
+
+Mr. Barnes went down town again, and did find Jerry, who remembered
+driving a man at the stated time, as far as the Imperial Hotel; but
+beyond that the detective learned nothing, for at the hotel no one knew
+Mr. Mitchel, and none recollected his arrival early Friday morning.
+
+From the fact that Mr. Mitchel had changed cabs, and doubled on his
+track, Mr. Barnes concluded that he was after all merely hiding away for
+the pleasure of baffling him, and he felt much relieved to divest the
+case of its alarming aspect. However, he was not long permitted to hold
+this opinion. At the telegraph office he found a cable despatch awaiting
+him, which read as follows:
+
+    "Montezuma Emerald forwarded Mitchel tenth. Previous owner
+    murdered London eleventh. Mexican suspected. Warned
+    Mitchel."
+
+This assuredly looked very serious. Casting aside all thought of a
+practical joke, Mr. Barnes now threw himself heart and soul into the
+task of finding Mitchel, dead or alive. From the telegraph office he
+hastened to the Custom-House, where he learned that an emerald, the
+invoiced value of which was no less than twenty thousand dollars, had
+been delivered to Mr. Mitchel in person, upon payment of the custom
+duties, at noon of the previous Thursday. Mr. Barnes, with this
+knowledge, thought he knew why Mr. Mitchel had been careful to have a
+friend accompany him to his home on that night. But why had he gone out
+again? Perhaps he felt safer at a hotel than at home, and, having
+reached the Imperial, taking two cabs to mystify the villain who might
+be tracking him, he might have registered under an alias. What a fool he
+had been not to examine the registry, as he could certainly recognize
+Mr. Mitchel's handwriting, though the name signed would of course be a
+false one.
+
+Back, therefore, he hastened to the Imperial, where, however, his search
+for familiar chirography was fruitless. Then an idea occurred to him.
+Mr. Mitchel was so shrewd that it would not be unlikely that, meditating
+a disappearance to baffle the men on his track, he had registered at the
+hotel several days prior to his permanently stopping there. Turning the
+page over, Mr. Barnes still failed to find what he sought, but a curious
+name caught his eye.
+
+"Miguel Palma--City of Mexico."
+
+Could this be the London murderer? Was this the suspected Mexican? If
+so, here was a bold and therefore dangerous criminal who openly put up
+at one of the most prominent hostelries. Mr. Barnes was turning this
+over in his mind, when a diminutive newsboy rushed into the corridor,
+shouting:
+
+"Extra _Sun_! Extra _Sun_! All about the horrible murder. Extra!"
+
+Mr. Barnes purchased a paper and was stupefied at the headlines:
+
+                      ROBERT LEROY MITCHEL DROWNED!
+
+              _His Body Found Floating in the East River._
+
+                         A DAGGER IN HIS BACK.
+
+                          _Indicates Murder._
+
+Mr. Barnes rushed out of the hotel, and, quickly finding a cab,
+instructed the man to drive rapidly to the Morgue. On the way, he read
+the details of the crime as recounted in the newspaper. From this he
+gathered that the body had been discovered early in the morning by two
+boatmen, who towed it to shore and handed it over to the police. An
+examination at the Morgue had established the identity by letters found
+on the corpse and the initials marked on the clothing. Mr. Barnes was
+sad at heart, and inwardly fretted because his friend had not asked his
+aid when in danger.
+
+Jumping from the cab almost before it had fully stopped in front of the
+Morgue, he stumbled and nearly fell over a decrepit-looking beggar, upon
+whose breast was a printed card soliciting alms for the blind. Mr.
+Barnes dropped a coin, a silver quarter, into his outstretched palm, and
+hurried into the building. As he did so he was jostled by a tall man who
+was coming out, and who seemed to have lost his temper, as he muttered
+an imprecation under his breath in Spanish. As the detective's keen ear
+noted the foreign tongue an idea occurred to him which made him turn and
+follow the stranger. When he reached the street again he received a
+double surprise. The stranger had already signalled the cab which Mr.
+Barnes had just left, and was entering it, so that he had only a moment
+in which to observe him. Then the door was slammed, and the driver
+whipped up his horses and drove rapidly away. At the same moment the
+blind beggar jumped up, and ran in the direction taken by the cab. Mr.
+Barnes watched them till both cab and beggar disappeared around the next
+corner, and then he went into the building again, deeply thinking over
+the episode.
+
+He found the Morgue-keeper, and was taken to the corpse. He recognized
+the clothing at once, both from the description given by Williams, and
+because he now remembered to have seen Mr. Mitchel so dressed. It was
+evident that the body had been in the water for several days, and the
+marks of violence plainly pointed to murder. Still sticking in the back
+was a curious dagger of foreign make, the handle projecting between the
+shoulders. The blow must have been a powerful stroke, for the blade was
+so tightly wedged in the bones of the spine that it resisted ordinary
+efforts to withdraw it. Moreover, the condition of the head showed that
+a crime had been committed, for the skull and face had been beaten into
+a pulpy mass with some heavy instrument. Mr. Barnes turned away from the
+sickening sight to examine the letters found upon the corpse. One of
+these bore the Paris postmark, and he was allowed to read it. It was
+from the jewellers, and was the letter alluded to in the warning cable.
+Its contents were:
+
+    "DEAR SIR:--
+
+    "As we have previously advised you the Montezuma Emerald was
+    shipped to you on the tenth instant. On the following day
+    the man from whom we had bought it was found dead in Dover
+    Street, London, killed by a dagger-thrust between the
+    shoulders. The meagre accounts telegraphed to the papers
+    here, state that there is no clue to the assassin. We were
+    struck by the name, and remembered that the deceased had
+    urged us to buy the emerald, because, as he declared, he
+    feared that a man had followed him from Mexico, intending to
+    murder him to get possession of it. Within an hour of
+    reading the newspaper story, a gentlemanly looking man,
+    giving the name of Miguel Palma, entered our store, and
+    asked if we had purchased the Montezuma Emerald. We replied
+    negatively, and he smiled and left. We notified the police,
+    but they have not yet been able to find this man. We deemed
+    it our duty to warn you, and did so by cable."
+
+The signature was that of the firm from which Mr. Barnes had received
+the cable in the morning. The plot seemed plain enough now. After the
+fruitless murder of the man in London, the Mexican had traced the
+emerald to Mr. Mitchel, and had followed it across the water. Had he
+succeeded in obtaining it? Among the things found on the corpse was an
+empty jewel-case, bearing the name of the Paris firm. It seemed from
+this that the gem had been stolen. But, if so, this man, Miguel Palma,
+must be made to explain his knowledge of the affair.
+
+Once more visiting the Imperial, Mr. Barnes made inquiry, and was told
+that Mr. Palma had left the hotel on the night of the previous Thursday,
+which was just a few hours before Mr. Mitchel had undoubtedly reached
+there alive. Could it be that the man at the Morgue had been he? If so,
+why was he visiting that place to view the body of his victim? This was
+a problem over which Mr. Barnes puzzled, as he was driven up to the
+residence of Mr. Mitchel. Here he found Williams, and imparted to that
+faithful servant the news of his master's death, and then inquired for
+the address of the family abroad, that he might notify them by cable,
+before they could read the bald statement in a newspaper.
+
+"As they only sailed a week ago to-day," said Williams, "they're hardly
+more than due in London. I'll go up to the master's desk and get the
+address of his London bankers."
+
+As Williams turned to leave the room, he started back amazed at the
+sound of a bell.
+
+"That's the master's bell, Inspector! Some one is in his room! Come with
+me!"
+
+The two men bounded up-stairs, two steps at a time, and Williams threw
+open the door of Mr. Mitchel's boudoir, and then fell back against Mr.
+Barnes, crying:
+
+"The master himself!"
+
+Mr. Barnes looked over the man's shoulder, and could scarcely believe
+his eyes when he observed Mr. Mitchel, alive and well, brushing his hair
+before a mirror.
+
+"I've rung for you twice, Williams," said Mr. Mitchel, and then, seeing
+Mr. Barnes, he added, "Ah, Mr. Barnes. You are very welcome. Come in.
+Why, what is the matter, man? You are as white as though you had seen a
+ghost."
+
+"Thank God, you are safe!" fervently ejaculated the detective, going
+forward and grasping Mr. Mitchel's hand. "Here, read this, and you will
+understand." He drew out the afternoon paper and handed it to him.
+
+"Oh, that," said Mr. Mitchel, carelessly. "I've read that. Merely a
+sensational lie, worked off upon a guileless public. Not a word of truth
+in it, I assure you."
+
+"Of course not, since you are alive; but there is a mystery about this
+which is yet to be explained."
+
+"What! A mystery, and the great Mr. Barnes has not solved it? I am
+surprised. I am, indeed. But then, you know, I told you after Goldie
+made a fizzle of our little joke that if I should choose to play the
+principal part you would not catch me. You see I have beaten you this
+time. Confess. You thought that was my corpse which you gazed upon at
+the Morgue?"
+
+"Well," said Mr. Barnes, reluctantly, "the identification certainly
+seemed complete, in spite of the condition of the face, which made
+recognition impossible."
+
+"Yes; I flatter myself the whole affair was artistic."
+
+"Do you mean that this whole thing is nothing but a joke? That you went
+so far as to invent cables and letters from Paris just for the trifling
+amusement of making a fool of me?"
+
+Mr. Barnes was evidently slightly angry, and Mr. Mitchel, noting this
+fact, hastened to mollify him.
+
+"No, no; it is not quite so bad as that," he said. "I must tell you the
+whole story, for there is yet important work to do, and you must help
+me. No, Williams, you need not go out. Your anxiety over my absence
+entitles you to a knowledge of the truth. A short time ago I heard that
+a very rare gem was in the market, no less a stone than the original
+emerald which Cortez stole from the crown of Montezuma. The emerald was
+offered in Paris, and I was notified at once by the dealer, and
+authorized the purchase by cable. A few days later I received a despatch
+warning me that there was danger. I understood at once, for similar
+danger had lurked about other large stones which are now in my
+collection. The warning meant that I should not attempt to get the
+emerald from the Custom-House until further advices reached me, which
+would indicate the exact nature of the danger. Later, I received the
+letter which was found on the body now at the Morgue, and which I
+suppose you have read?"
+
+Mr. Barnes nodded assent.
+
+"I readily located the man Palma at the Imperial, and from his openly
+using his name I knew that I had a dangerous adversary. Criminals who
+disdain aliases have brains, and use them. I kept away from the
+Custom-House until I had satisfied myself that I was being dogged by a
+veritable cutthroat, who, of course, was the tool hired by Palma to
+rob, perhaps to kill me. Thus acquainted with my adversaries, I was
+ready for the enterprise."
+
+"Why did you not solicit my assistance?" asked Mr. Barnes.
+
+"Partly because I wanted all the glory, and partly because I saw a
+chance to make you admit that I am still the champion detective-baffler.
+I sent my wife and daughter to Europe that I might have time for my
+scheme. On the day after their departure I boldly went to the
+Custom-House and obtained the emerald. Of course I was dogged by the
+hireling, but I had arranged a plan which gave him no advantage over me.
+I had constructed a pair of goggles which looked like simple smoked
+glasses, but in one of these I had a little mirror so arranged that I
+could easily watch the man behind me, should he approach too near.
+However, I was sure that he would not attack me in a crowded
+thoroughfare, and I kept in crowds until time for dinner, when, by
+appointment, I met my neighbor Mordaunt, and remained in his company
+until I reached my own doorway late at night. Here he left me, and I
+stood on the stoop until he disappeared into his own house. Then I
+turned, and apparently had much trouble to place my latch-key in the
+lock. This offered the assassin the chance he had hoped for, and,
+gliding stealthily forward, he made a vicious stab at me. But, in the
+first place, I had put on a chain-armor vest, and, in the second,
+expecting the attack to occur just as it did, I turned swiftly and with
+one blow with a club I knocked the weapon from the fellow's hand, and
+with another I struck him over the head so that he fell senseless at my
+feet."
+
+"Bravo!" cried Mr. Barnes. "You have a cool nerve."
+
+"I don't know. I think I was very much excited at the crucial moment,
+but with my chain armor, a stout loaded club in one hand and a derringer
+in the other, I never was in any real danger. I took the man down to the
+wine-cellar and locked him in one of the vaults. Then I called a cab,
+and went down to the Imperial, in search of Palma; but I was too late.
+He had vanished."
+
+"So I discovered," interjected Mr. Barnes.
+
+"I could get nothing out of the fellow in the cellar. Either he cannot
+or he will not speak English. So I have merely kept him a prisoner,
+visiting him at midnight only, to avoid Williams, and giving him rations
+for another day. Meanwhile, I disguised myself and looked for Palma. I
+could not find him. I had another card, however, and the time came at
+last to play it. I deduced from Palma's leaving the hotel on the very
+day when I took the emerald from the Custom-House, that it was
+prearranged that his hireling should stick to me until he obtained the
+gem, and then meet him at some rendezvous, previously appointed. Hearing
+nothing during the past few days, he has perhaps thought that I had left
+the city, and that his man was still upon my track. Meanwhile I was
+perfecting my grand _coup_. With the aid of a physician, who is a
+confidential friend, I obtained a corpse from one of the hospitals, a
+man about my size, whose face we battered beyond description. We dressed
+him in my clothing, and fixed the dagger which I had taken from my
+would-be assassin so tightly in the backbone that it would not drop out.
+Then one night we took our dummy to the river and securely anchored it
+in the water. Last night I simply cut it loose and let it drift down the
+river."
+
+"You knew of course that it would be taken to the Morgue," said Mr.
+Barnes.
+
+"Precisely. Then I dressed myself as a blind beggar, posted myself in
+front of the Morgue, and waited."
+
+"You were the beggar?" ejaculated the detective.
+
+"Yes. I have your quarter, and shall prize it as a souvenir. Indeed, I
+made nearly four dollars during the day. Begging seems to be lucrative.
+After the newspapers got on the street with the account of my death, I
+looked for developments. Palma came in due time, and went in. I presume
+that he saw the dagger, which was placed there for his special benefit,
+as well as the empty jewel-case, and at once concluded that his man had
+stolen the gem and meant to keep it for himself. Under these
+circumstances he would naturally be angry, and therefore less cautious
+and more easily shadowed. Before he came out, you turned up and stupidly
+brought a cab, which allowed my man to get a start of me. However, I am
+a good runner, and as he only rode as far as Third Avenue, and then took
+the elevated railroad, I easily followed him to his lair. Now I will
+explain to you what I wish you to do, if I may count on you?"
+
+"Assuredly."
+
+"You must go into the street, and when I release the man in the cellar,
+you must track him. I will go to the other place, and we will see what
+happens when the men meet. We will both be there to see the fun."
+
+An hour later, Mr. Barnes was skilfully dogging a sneaking Mexican, who
+walked rapidly through one of the lowest streets on the East Side, until
+finally he dodged into a blind alley, and before the detective could
+make sure which of the many doors had allowed him ingress he had
+disappeared. A moment later a low whistle attracted his attention, and
+across in a doorway he saw a figure which beckoned to him. He went over
+and found Mr. Mitchel.
+
+"Palma is here. I have seen him. You see I was right. This is the place
+of appointment, and the cutthroat has come here straight. Hush! What was
+that?"
+
+There was a shriek, followed by another, and then silence.
+
+"Let us go up," said Mr. Barnes. "Do you know which door?"
+
+"Yes; follow me."
+
+Mr. Mitchel started across, but, just as they reached the door,
+footsteps were heard rapidly descending the stairs. Both men stood aside
+and waited. A minute later a cloaked figure bounded out, only to be
+gripped instantly by those in hiding. It was Palma, and he fought like a
+demon, but the long, powerful arms of Mr. Barnes encircled him, and,
+with a hug that would have made a bear envious, the scoundrel was soon
+subdued. Mr. Barnes then manacled him, while Mr. Mitchel ascended the
+stairs to see about the other man. He lay sprawling on the floor, face
+downward, stabbed in the heart.
+
+
+
+
+                                   V
+
+                          A SINGULAR ABDUCTION
+
+
+Mr. Barnes was alone in his sanctum when an elderly gentleman of
+cultured manners was ushered in. The visitor sank into a seat and began
+his appeal at once.
+
+"Oh, Mr. Barnes," said he, "I am in great distress. I hardly dared to
+hope that assistance was possible until I met my friend, Mr. Leroy
+Mitchel. You know him?" Mr. Barnes assented with a smile. "Well,"
+continued the old gentleman, "Mr. Mitchel said that you could surely
+assist me."
+
+"Certainly. I will do all that is in my power," said the detective.
+
+"You are very kind. I hope you can aid me. But let me tell you the
+story. I am Richard Gedney, the broker. Perhaps you have heard the
+name?" Mr. Barnes nodded. "I thought so. 'Old Dick,' they call me on the
+street, and sometimes 'Old Nick,' but that is only their joke. I do not
+believe they really dislike me, though I have grown rich. I have never
+cheated any one, nor wronged a friend in my life. But that is
+immaterial, except that it makes it hard to understand how any one
+could have done me the great injury of stealing my daughter."
+
+"Stealing your daughter?" interrupted the detective. "Abduction?"
+
+"Abduction I suppose is your technical term. I call it plain stealing.
+To take a girl of fourteen away from her father's home is stealing,
+plain and simple."
+
+"When did this occur?"
+
+"Two days ago. Tuesday morning we missed her, though she may have been
+taken in the night. She was slightly ill on Monday evening, and her maid
+sent for our doctor, who ordered her to be put to bed and kept there.
+Next morning, that is, Tuesday, he called early, as he was going out on
+his rounds. He was admitted by the butler and went straight up to her
+room. He came down a few minutes later, rang the door-bell to call a
+servant, and reported that the child was not in her room. He left word
+that she must be put back to bed and that he would return in an hour.
+The butler gave the message to her maid, who became alarmed, as she
+supposed her mistress to be in bed. A search was begun, but the child
+had vanished."
+
+"How is it, Mr. Gedney, that the doctor did not speak to you personally
+instead of to the servant?"
+
+"I cannot too much condemn myself. You see, I am an old whist player,
+and the temptation to play made me linger so late with some friends on
+Monday night that I preferred to remain in Newark where I was, and so
+did not reach home till ten o'clock Tuesday morning. By that time the
+misfortune had occurred."
+
+"Have you made no discoveries as to what has become of her?"
+
+"None. We have sent to all of our friends in the vain hope that she
+might have arisen early and gone out, but no one has seen her. She has
+disappeared as thoroughly as though she had been swallowed by an
+earthquake. Here, however, is a letter which reached me this morning. I
+cannot tell whether there is anything in it, or whether it is merely a
+cruel joke perpetrated by some crank who has heard of my loss." He
+handed the letter to the detective, who read as follows:
+
+"Your daughter is safe if you are sensible. If you want her back all you
+have to do is to state your figures. Make them high enough, and she'll
+be with you. Put a 'Personal' in the _Herald_ for D. M., and I will
+answer."
+
+"Mr. Gedney," said Mr. Barnes, "I am afraid this is a serious case. What
+has been done has been so thoroughly well accomplished that I believe we
+have no fool to deal with. His is a master hand. We must begin our work
+at once. I will take this up personally. Come, we must go out."
+
+They proceeded first to the _Herald_ uptown office, and Mr. Barnes
+inserted the following advertisement:
+
+    "D. M. Communicate at once, stating lowest terms. GEDNEY."
+
+"Now we will go to your home, Mr. Gedney," said Mr. Barnes, and thither
+they went.
+
+Seating himself in a comfortable leather chair in the library, Mr.
+Barnes asked that the butler should be called. The man entered the room,
+and it was apparent at once that here was a good servant of the English
+type.
+
+"Moulton," began Mr. Barnes, "I am a detective. I am going to find out
+where your young mistress has been taken."
+
+"I hope so, sir," said the butler.
+
+"Very well," said the detective. "Now answer a few questions explicitly,
+and you may give me great assistance. On Tuesday morning you admitted
+the doctor. At what time was it?"
+
+"It was about eight o'clock, sir. We had just taken our seats at
+breakfast in the servants' hall, when the bell rang. That is how I know
+the hour. We are regular about meals in this house. We eat at eight and
+the master at nine."
+
+"What happened when you admitted the doctor?"
+
+"He asked for Miss Nora, and I told him she was not down yet. He said he
+supposed he could go up, and I said I supposed so, and he went."
+
+"What did you do next?"
+
+"I went back to my breakfast."
+
+"Did you tell the maid that the doctor had called?"
+
+"Not just then, sir, for she had not come into the breakfast-room."
+
+"When did you tell her?"
+
+"After I saw the doctor the second time. I heard the door-bell again and
+went up, when, to my surprise, there was the doctor. He said he rang
+because he did not know how else to call me. Then he said that Miss Nora
+had left her room, which was against the orders he gave the night
+before, and that I was to tell the maid to have her back to bed, and he
+would call again. I went back to the breakfast-room. This time the maid
+was there, and frightened she was when I gave her the message."
+
+"How long was it after you admitted the doctor the first time, when you
+answered his second ring?"
+
+"I should think five minutes, sir; though it might have been ten."
+
+"And during this five or ten minutes the maid was not in the
+breakfast-room?"
+
+"No, sir."
+
+"Send her to me." The butler left the room, and, whilst waiting for the
+maid, Mr. Barnes addressed Mr. Gedney.
+
+"Mr. Gedney," said he, "you have not told me the name of the doctor."
+
+"His name is Donaldson. Everybody knows Dr. Donaldson."
+
+"Has he served you long?"
+
+"Ever since I came to live in this neighborhood. About two years, I
+should say. He has seemed to be very fond of Elinora. Why, he has been
+here a half-dozen times asking for news of her since her disappearance.
+He has a curious theory which I can hardly credit. He thinks she may
+have wandered off in the night, asleep. But then he has not seen this
+letter from 'D. M.' yet."
+
+"I would like to speak to him about his somnambulistic idea. Do you
+think he will drop in to-day?"
+
+"He may be in at any moment, as he has not called yet this morning. Here
+is my daughter's maid."
+
+This directed the attention of Mr. Barnes to a young woman who at that
+moment entered. She was evidently dreadfully alarmed at being summoned
+to meet a detective, and her eyes showed that she had been weeping.
+
+"Come, my girl," said Mr. Barnes, reassuringly, "you need not be
+frightened. I am not an ogre. I only wish to ask you a few questions.
+You are willing to help me find your mistress, are you not?"
+
+"Oh, indeed, indeed yes, sir!"
+
+"Then begin by telling me how she was on Monday night when you sent for
+the doctor."
+
+The girl composed herself with an effort, evidently satisfied that a
+detective was just like any ordinary man, and replied:
+
+"Miss Nora acted rather odd all Monday, and was melancholy like. She
+would sit and stare out of the window and not answer when she was spoken
+to. I thought perhaps something had bothered her, and so I left her
+alone, meaning to speak to her father at dinner-time. But he sent a
+telegram saying he had to go out of town. So when Miss Nora wouldn't
+come down to dinner, and wouldn't answer me, but just kept staring out
+of the window, I got scared a little, and thought it best to send for
+Dr. Donaldson."
+
+"What did he say when he came?"
+
+"He talked to her, but she wouldn't answer him either. He patted her on
+the head, and said she was sulky. Then he told me perhaps she was angry
+because her father hadn't come home, but that she must not be allowed to
+brood over trifles. He said I must put her to bed, and he gave her some
+medicine that he said would put her to sleep."
+
+"Did you have any trouble to get her to bed?"
+
+"No, sir, though that was strange. She just stood still and let me do
+everything. She did not help me or prevent me."
+
+"When did you see her after that?"
+
+"I never saw her after that," and she began to cry softly.
+
+"Come, come, don't cry. Your mistress is all right. I will bring her
+back. Now tell me why you did not see her again. Is it not your business
+to attend her in the morning?"
+
+"Yes, sir, but she only gets up about eight o'clock, and the doctor told
+me he would call the first thing in the morning, and that I must not
+disturb her till he came. He said he wanted to wake her himself and see
+how she acted."
+
+"You were not in the breakfast-room at eight o'clock," said the
+detective, watching her closely; "where were you?"
+
+The girl turned crimson, and stammered a few words inaudibly.
+
+"Come, tell me where you were. You were somewhere, you know. Where were
+you?"
+
+"I was in the downstairs hallway," she said, slowly.
+
+"Doing what?"
+
+"I was talking to the policeman," she replied, more reluctantly.
+
+"Your beau?" asked Mr. Barnes, significantly.
+
+"No, sir. He is my husband." She tossed her head defiantly, now that her
+secret was divulged.
+
+"Your husband?" said Mr. Barnes, slightly surprised. "Why, then, did you
+hesitate to tell me of him?"
+
+"Because--because,"--she stammered, again much troubled,--"because,
+maybe, if I hadn't been talking to him, Miss Nora wouldn't have been
+carried off. He might have seen the thief."
+
+"Just so," said Mr. Barnes. "Well, that will do." The girl retired only
+too gladly.
+
+Mr. Barnes asked to be shown the room where the missing girl had slept,
+and made minute examinations of everything. Up in the room a thought
+occurred to him, and he once more asked for the maid.
+
+"Can you tell me," he asked, "whether your mistress took any of her
+clothing with her?"
+
+"Well, sir," she replied, "I miss the whole suit that she wore on
+Monday. It looks as though she must have dressed herself."
+
+Mr. Barnes made a few notes in his memorandum-book, and then with Mr.
+Gedney returned to the library. Here they found Dr. Donaldson, who had
+arrived whilst they were upstairs. Mr. Gedney introduced the doctor, a
+genial, pleasant man, who shook Mr. Barnes cordially by the hand,
+saying:
+
+"I am delighted, Mr. Barnes, that my old friend Gedney has been sensible
+enough to engage you to unravel this affair rather than call in the
+police. The police are bunglers anyway, and only make scandal and
+publicity. You have looked into the matter, eh? What do you think?"
+
+"That is precisely the question, Doctor, which I wish to ask you. What
+do you think? Mr. Gedney says you suggest somnambulism."
+
+"I only said it might be that. I would not like to be too positive. You
+know that I called to see the dear girl Monday night. Well, I found her
+in a strange mood. In fact, thinking it over, I have almost convinced
+myself that what we took for stubbornness--sulks, I think I called
+it--was somnambulism. That, in fact, she was asleep when I saw her. That
+would account for her not replying to questions, and offering no
+resistance when her maid removed her clothing to put her to bed. Still
+it is merely a guess. It is possible that she got up in the night and
+wandered out of the house. I only venture it as a possibility, a chance
+clue for you to work on."
+
+"What do you think of this letter?" asked Mr. Barnes, handing the doctor
+the anonymous communication from "D. M."
+
+The doctor read it over twice, and then said:
+
+"Looks more like somnambulism than ever. Don't you see? She dressed
+herself in the night, and wandered off. Some scoundrel has found her and
+taken her to his home. Knowing that her father has money, he holds her
+for ransom."
+
+"How do you know, Doctor," said Mr. Barnes, quietly, "that 'D. M.' is a
+he? The communication is in typewriting, so that nothing can be learned
+from the chirography."
+
+"Of course I don't know it," said the doctor, testily. "Still I'll wager
+that no woman ever concocted this scheme."
+
+"Again, how should her abductor know that her father is rich?"
+
+"Why, I suppose her name may be on her clothing, and once he discovered
+her parentage, he would know that. However he found it out, it is plain
+that he does know, or how could they, or he, or she, if you wish me to
+be so particular, have written this letter?"
+
+This was unanswerable, so Mr. Barnes remained silent.
+
+"What move will you make first?" asked the doctor.
+
+Mr. Barnes told him of the advertisement which he had inserted, and took
+his departure, requesting that if Mr. Gedney received any answer he
+should be notified at once.
+
+About half-past ten the next morning, Mr. Gedney presented himself to
+the detective and handed him the following letter:
+
+    "I am glad you are sensible. Saw your advertisement, and I
+    answer at once. I want twenty thousand dollars. That is my
+    price. Now note what I have to say, and let me emphasize
+    the fact that I mean every word. This is my first offer.
+    Any dickering will make me increase my price, and I will
+    never decrease it. To save time, let me tell you something
+    else. I have no partner in this, so there is no one to
+    squeal on me. No one on earth but myself knows where the
+    girl is. Now for future arrangements. You will want to
+    communicate with me. I don't mean you to have any chance to
+    catch me with decoy letters or anything of that sort. I
+    know already that you have that keen devil Barnes helping
+    you. But he'll meet his match this time. Here is my plan.
+    You, or your detective, I don't care which, must go to the
+    public telephone station in the Hoffman House at two
+    o'clock sharp. I will go to another, never mind where, and
+    will ring you up. When you answer, I will simply say, 'D.
+    M.' You will recognize the signal and can do the talking. I
+    will not answer except by letter, because I won't even run
+    the risk of that detective's hearing my voice, and some
+    time in the future recognizing it. You see, I may need
+    Barnes myself some day and wouldn't like to be deprived of
+    his valuable services. I enclose a piece of the girl's
+    cloth dress and a lock of her hair to show that I am
+    dealing square.
+                                                     "D. M."
+
+"Mr. Gedney," said Mr. Barnes, "make your mind easy. Your daughter is
+safe, at all events. I suppose this bit of cloth and the hair satisfy
+you that the scoundrel really has her?"
+
+"Yes, I am convinced of that. But how does that make the girl safe?"
+
+"The fellow wants the money. It is to his interest to be able to restore
+your daughter. My business shall be to get her without payment of
+ransom, and to catch the abductor. I'll meet you at the Hoffman House at
+two o'clock."
+
+As soon as Mr. Gedney had gone, Mr. Barnes wrote the following note:
+
+    "DR. DONALDSON:--
+
+    "Dear Sir--I believe that I am on the right track, and all
+    through the clue supplied by yourself. Please aid me a
+    little further. I would like to know the exact size of the
+    missing girl. As a physician, you will supply this even
+    better than the father. Also inform me of any mark or
+    peculiarity by which I might recognize her, alive or dead.
+    Please answer at once.
+                             "Yours truly,
+                                                 "J. BARNES."
+
+This he sent by a messenger, and received the following in reply:
+
+    "MR. BARNES:--
+
+    "Dear Sir--I hope you will succeed. Elinora is small and
+    slim, being rather undersized for her age. I should say
+    about four feet ten inches, or thereabout. I know of no
+    distinctive mark whereby her body could be recognized, and
+    hope that nothing of the sort seemingly suggested may be
+    necessary.
+                             "Yours truly,
+                                     "ROBERT DONALDSON, M.D."
+
+Mr. Barnes read this, and appeared more pleased than its contents seemed
+to authorize. At the appointed time he went to the Hoffman House. He
+found Mr. Gedney impatiently walking up and down the lobby.
+
+"Mr. Gedney," said he, "at the beginning of this case you offered me my
+own price for recovering your daughter. Now, supposing that you pay this
+ransom, it would appear that you would have had little need of my
+services. If, however, I get your daughter, and save you the necessity
+of paying any ransom at all, I suppose you will admit that I have earned
+my reward?"
+
+"Most assuredly."
+
+After this, Mr. Gedney was rather startled when he heard what the
+detective said to "D. M." through the telephone. They shut themselves up
+in the little box, and very soon received the call and then the signal
+"D. M." as agreed. Mr. Barnes spoke to the abductor, who presumably was
+listening.
+
+"We agree to your terms," said he. "That is, we will pay twenty thousand
+dollars for the return of the girl unharmed. You are so shrewd that we
+suppose you will invent some scheme for receiving the money which will
+protect you from arrest, but at the same time we must be assured that
+the girl will be returned to us unharmed. In fact, she must be given to
+us as soon as the money is paid. Notify us immediately, as the father is
+in a hurry."
+
+Mr. Barnes put up the instrument and "rang off." Then he turned to Mr.
+Gedney and said:
+
+"That may surprise you. But what may astonish you more is that you must
+obtain twenty thousand dollars in cash at once. We will need it. Ask no
+questions, but depend upon me and trust me."
+
+On the next day Mr. Gedney received the following letter:
+
+    "You have more sense than I gave you credit for. So has
+    that Barnes fellow, for it was his voice I heard through
+    the 'phone. You accept my terms. Very well. I'll deal
+    square and not raise you, though I ought to have made it
+    twenty-five thousand at least. Come to the 'phone to-day,
+    same hour, and I'll ring you up, from a different station.
+    Then you can tell me if you will be ready to-night, or
+    to-morrow night. Either will suit me. Then here is the
+    plan. You want to be sure the girl is all right. Then let
+    the ambassador be your friend, Doctor Donaldson. He knows
+    the girl and can tell that she is all right. Let him start
+    from his house at midnight, and drive from his office up
+    Madison Avenue rapidly till hailed by the signal 'D. M.' He
+    must go fast enough to prevent being followed on foot. If
+    there is no detective with him or following him, he will be
+    hailed. Otherwise he will be allowed to pass. I will be in
+    hiding with the girl. Warn the doctor that I will be armed,
+    and will have a bead on him all the time. Any treachery
+    will mean death. I will take the cash, give up the girl,
+    and the transaction will be ended."
+
+When this was shown to the detective, he proposed that he and Mr. Gedney
+should call upon the doctor. This they did, and, after some argument,
+persuaded him to undertake the recovery of the girl that same night.
+
+"Mr. Gedney has decided to obtain his child at any sacrifice," said Mr.
+Barnes, "and this scoundrel is so shrewd that there seems to be no way
+to entrap him. No effort will be made to follow you, so you need have no
+fear of any trouble from the thief. Only be sure that you obtain the
+right girl. It would be just possible that a wrong one might be given to
+you, and a new ransom demanded."
+
+"Oh, I shall know Elinora," said the doctor. "I will do this, but I
+think we ought to arrest the villain, if possible."
+
+"I do not despair of doing so," said Mr. Barnes. "Get a glimpse of his
+face if you can, and be sure to note where you receive the girl. When we
+get her she may give me a clue upon which an arrest may be made. We will
+wait for you at Mr. Gedney's house."
+
+After midnight that night, Mr. Gedney paced the floor anxiously, while
+Mr. Barnes sat at a desk looking over some memoranda. Presently he went
+into the hall and had a long talk with the butler. One o'clock passed,
+and still no news. At half-past, however, horses' hoofs sounded upon the
+asphalt pavement, and a few minutes later the door-bell jingled. The
+door was quickly opened, and the doctor entered, bearing little Elinora
+asleep in his arms.
+
+"My daughter!" exclaimed the excited father. "Thank God, she is restored
+to me!"
+
+"Yes," said the doctor, "here she is, safe and sound. I think, though,
+that she has been drugged, for she has slept ever since I received her."
+
+"Did you have any trouble?" asked Mr. Barnes, entering at this moment.
+He had lingered outside in the hall long enough to exchange a word with
+the butler.
+
+"None," said the doctor. "At One Hundred and Second Street I heard the
+signal and stopped. A man came out of the shadow of a building, looked
+into the carriage, said 'All right,' and asked if I had the cash. I
+replied affirmatively. He went back to the sidewalk and returned with
+the child in his arms, but with a pistol pointed at me. Then he said,
+'Pass out the money.' I did so, and he seemed satisfied, for he gave me
+the child, took the package, and ran off. I saw his face, but I fear my
+description will not avail you, for I am sure he was disguised."
+
+"Very possibly your description will be useless," said Mr. Barnes; "but
+I have discovered the identity of the abductor."
+
+"Impossible!" cried the doctor, amazed.
+
+"Let me prove that I am right," said Mr. Barnes. He went to the door and
+admitted the butler, accompanied by the policeman who had been off his
+beat talking with the maid. Before his companions understood what was
+about to happen, Mr. Barnes said:
+
+"Officer, arrest that man!" Whereupon the policeman seized the doctor
+and held him as though in a vise.
+
+"What does this outrage mean?" screamed the doctor, after ineffectually
+endeavoring to release himself.
+
+"Put on the manacles, officer," said Mr. Barnes; "then we can talk. He
+is armed, and might become dangerous." With the assistance of the
+detective this was accomplished, and then Mr. Barnes addressed himself
+to Mr. Gedney.
+
+"Mr. Gedney, I had some slight suspicion of the truth after questioning
+the butler and the maid, but the first real clue came with the answer to
+the 'Personal.' You brought that to me in the morning, and I noted that
+it was postmarked at the main office downtown at six A.M. Of course, it
+was possible that it might have been written after the appearance of the
+newspaper, but if so, the thief was up very early. The doctor, however,
+knew of the 'Personal' on the day previous, as I told him of it in your
+presence. That letter was written in typewriting, and I observed a
+curious error in the spelling of three words. I found the words
+'emphasize,' 'recognize,' and 'recognizing.' In each, instead of the
+'z,' we have a repetition of the 'i,' that letter being doubled. I
+happen to know something about writing-machines. I felt certain that
+this letter had been written upon a Caligraph. In that machine the bar
+which carries the letter 'i' is next to that which carries the letter
+'z.' It is not an uncommon thing when a typewriter is out of order for
+two bars to fail to pass one another. Thus, in writing 'emphasize' the
+rapid writer would strike the 'z' key before the 'i' had fully
+descended. The result would be that the 'z,' rising, would strike the
+'i' bar and carry it up again, thus doubling the 'i,' instead of writing
+'iz.' The repetition of the mistake was evidence that it was a faulty
+machine. I also noted that this anonymous letter was upon paper from
+which the top had been torn away. I wrote to the doctor here, asking
+about the 'size' of the girl, and for any marks whereby we might be able
+to 'recognize' the body. I used the words 'size' and 'recognize,' hoping
+to tempt him to use them also in reply. In his answer I find the word
+'recognized' and also a similar word, 'undersized.' In both we have a
+repetition of the double 'i' error. Moreover, the paper of this letter
+from the doctor matched that upon which the anonymous communication had
+been written, provided I tore off the top, which bore his letterhead.
+This satisfied me that the doctor was our man. When the last letter
+came, proposing that he should be the ambassador, the trick was doubly
+sure. It was ingenious, for the abductor of course assured himself that
+he was not followed, and simply brought the girl home. But I set another
+trap. I secretly placed a cyclometer upon the doctor's carriage. He says
+that to-night he drove to One Hundred and Second Street, and back here,
+a total of ten miles. The cyclometer, which the butler obtained for me
+when the doctor arrived a while ago, shows that he drove less than a
+mile. He simply waited at his house until the proper time to come, and
+then drove here, bringing the girl with him."
+
+The doctor remained silent, but glared venomously at the man who had
+outwitted him.
+
+"But how did he get Elinora?" asked Mr. Gedney.
+
+"That queer yarn which he told us about somnambulism first suggested to
+me that he was possibly less ignorant than he pretended to be. I fear,
+Mr. Gedney, that your daughter is ill. I judge from the description of
+her condition, given by her maid, and admitted by this man, that she was
+suffering from an attack of catalepsy when he was summoned. When he
+called the next day, finding the girl still in a trance, he quickly
+dressed her and took her out to his carriage. Then he coolly returned,
+announced that she was not in her room, and drove away with her."
+
+"It seems incredible!" exclaimed Mr. Gedney. "I have known the doctor so
+long that it is hard to believe that he is a criminal."
+
+"Criminals," said Mr. Barnes, "are often created by opportunity. That
+was probably the case here. The case is most peculiar. It is a crime
+which none but a physician could have conceived, and that one fact makes
+possible what to a casual observer might seem most improbable. An
+abduction is rarely successful, because of the difficulties which attend
+the crime, not the least of which are the struggles of the victim, and
+the story which will be told after the return of the child. Here all
+this was obviated. The doctor recognized catalepsy at the first visit.
+Perhaps during the night the possibility of readily compelling you to
+pay him a large sum of money grew into a tremendous temptation. With the
+project half formed, he called the next morning. Circumstances favored
+the design. He found the girl unattended, and unresistant because of her
+condition. He likewise knew that when he should have returned her, she
+could tell nothing of where she had been, because of her trance. He
+started downstairs with her. There was no risk. If he had met any one,
+any excuse for bringing her from her room would have been accepted,
+because uttered by the family physician. He placed her in the carriage
+unobserved, and the most difficult part of the affair was accomplished.
+Many men of high degree are at heart rascals; but through fear, either
+of law or loss of position, they lead fairly virtuous lives. Temptation,
+accompanied by opportunity, coming to one of these, compasses his
+downfall, as has occurred in this instance. Criminals are recruited from
+all classes."
+
+The ransom money was recovered by searching the apartments of the
+doctor, and his guilt was thus indubitably proven. Mr. Mitchel,
+commenting upon the affair, simply said:
+
+"I sent you to him, Mr. Gedney, because Mr. Barnes is above his kind. He
+is no ordinary detective."
+
+
+
+
+                                   VI
+
+                              THE AZTEC OPAL
+
+
+"Mr. Mitchel," began Mr. Barnes, after exchanging greetings, "I have
+called to see you upon a subject which I am sure will enlist your
+keenest interest, for several reasons. It relates to a magnificent
+jewel; it concerns your intimate friends; and it is a problem requiring
+the most analytical qualities of the mind in its solution."
+
+"Ah, then you have solved it?" asked Mr. Mitchel.
+
+"I think so. You shall judge. I have to-day been called in to
+investigate one of the most singular cases that has fallen in my way. It
+is one in which the usual detective methods would be utterly valueless.
+The facts were presented to me, and the solution of the mystery could
+only be reached by analytical deductions."
+
+"That is to say, by using your brains?"
+
+"Precisely. Now, as you have admitted that you consider yourself more
+expert in this direction than the ordinary detective, I wish to place
+you for once in the position of a detective, and then see you prove your
+ability."
+
+"Early this morning I was summoned, by a messenger, to go aboard of the
+steam yacht _Idler_ which lay at anchor in the lower bay."
+
+"Why, the _Idler_ belongs to my friend, Mortimer Gray!" exclaimed Mr.
+Mitchel.
+
+"Yes," replied Mr. Barnes; "I told you that your friends are interested.
+I went immediately with the man who had come to my office, and in due
+season I was aboard of the yacht. Mr. Gray received me very politely,
+and took me to his private room adjoining the cabin. Here he explained
+to me that he had been off on a cruise for a few weeks, and was
+approaching the harbor last night, when, in accordance with his plans, a
+sumptuous dinner was served, as a sort of farewell feast, the party
+expecting to separate to-day."
+
+"What guests were on the yacht?"
+
+"I will tell you everything in order, as the facts were presented to me.
+Mr. Gray enumerated the party as follows: besides himself and his wife,
+there were his wife's sister, Mrs. Eugene Cortlandt, and her husband, a
+Wall Street broker; also, Mr. Arthur Livingstone and his sister, and a
+Mr. Dennett Moore, a young man supposed to be devoting himself to Miss
+Livingstone."
+
+"That makes seven persons, three of whom are women. I ought to say, Mr.
+Barnes, that, though Mr. Gray is a club friend, I am not personally
+acquainted with his wife, nor with the others. So I have no advantage
+over you."
+
+"I will come at once to the curious incident which made my presence
+desirable. According to Mr. Gray's story, the dinner had proceeded as
+far as the roast, when suddenly there was a slight shock as the yacht
+touched a bar, and at the same time the lamps spluttered and then went
+out, leaving the room totally dark. A second later the vessel righted
+herself and sped on, so that, before any panic ensued, it was evident to
+all that the danger had passed. The gentlemen begged the ladies to
+resume their seats, and remain quiet till the lamps were lighted; this,
+however, the attendants were unable to do, and they were ordered to
+bring fresh lamps. Thus there was almost total darkness for several
+minutes."
+
+"During which, I presume, the person who planned the affair readily
+consummated his design?"
+
+"So you think that the whole series of events was prearranged? Be that
+as it may, something did happen in that dark room. The women had started
+from their seats when the yacht touched, and when they groped their way
+back in the darkness some of them found the wrong places, as was seen
+when the fresh lamps were brought. This was considered a good joke, and
+there was some laughter, which was suddenly checked by an exclamation
+from Mr. Gray, who quickly asked his wife, 'Where is your opal?'"
+
+"Her opal?" asked Mr. Mitchel, in tones which showed that his greatest
+interest was now aroused. "Do you mean, Mr. Barnes, that she was wearing
+the Aztec Opal?"
+
+"Oh, you know the gem?"
+
+"I know nearly all gems of great value; but what of this one?"
+
+"Mrs. Gray and her sister, Mrs. Cortlandt, had both donned _decollete_
+costumes for this occasion, and Mrs. Gray had worn this opal as a
+pendant to a thin gold chain which hung around her neck. At Mr. Gray's
+question, all looked towards his wife, and it was noted that the clasp
+was open, and the opal missing. Of course it was supposed that it had
+merely fallen to the floor, and a search was immediately instituted. But
+the opal could not be found."
+
+"That is certainly a very significant fact," said Mr. Mitchel. "But was
+the search thorough?"
+
+"I should say extremely thorough, when we consider it was not conducted
+by a detective, who is supposed to be an expert in such matters. Mr.
+Gray described to me what was done, and he seems to have taken every
+precaution. He sent the attendants out of the _salon_, and he and his
+guests systematically examined every part of the room."
+
+"Except the place where the opal really was concealed, you mean."
+
+"With that exception, of course, since they did not find the jewel. Not
+satisfied with this search by lamplight, Mr. Gray locked the _salon_, so
+that no one could enter it during the night, and another investigation
+was made in the morning."
+
+"The pockets of the seven persons present were not examined, I presume?"
+
+"No. I asked Mr. Gray why this had been omitted, and he said it was an
+indignity which he could not possibly show to a guest. As you have
+asked this question, Mr. Mitchel, it is only fair for me to tell you
+that when I spoke to Mr. Gray on the subject he seemed very much
+confused. Nevertheless, however unwilling he may have been to search
+those of his guests who are innocent, he emphatically told me that if I
+had reasonable proof that any one present had purloined the opal, he
+wished that individual to be treated as any other thief, without regard
+to sex or social position."
+
+"One can scarcely blame him, because that opal is worth a fabulous sum.
+I have myself offered Gray twenty thousand dollars for it, which was
+refused. This opal is one of the eyes of an Aztec idol, and if the other
+could be found, the two would be as interesting as any jewels in the
+world."
+
+"That is the story which I was asked to unravel," continued Mr. Barnes,
+"and I must now relate to you what steps I have taken towards that end.
+It appears that, because of the loss of the jewel, no person has left
+the yacht, although no restraint was placed upon anyone by Mr. Gray. All
+knew, however, that he had sent for a detective, and it was natural that
+no one should offer to go until formally dismissed by the host. My plan,
+then, was to have a private interview with each of the seven persons who
+had been present at the dinner."
+
+"Then you exempted the attendants from your suspicions?"
+
+"I did. There was but one way by which one of the servants could have
+stolen the opal, and this was prevented by Mr. Gray. It was possible
+that the opal had fallen on the floor, and, though not found at night, a
+servant might have discovered and have appropriated it on the following
+morning, had he been able to enter the _salon_. But Mr. Gray had locked
+the doors. No servant, however bold, would have been able to take the
+opal from the lady's neck."
+
+"I think your reasoning is good, and we will confine ourselves to the
+original seven."
+
+"After my interview with Mr. Gray, I asked to have Mrs. Gray sent in to
+me. She came in, and at once I noted that she placed herself on the
+defensive. Women frequently adopt that manner with a detective. Her
+story was very brief. The main point was that she was aware of the theft
+before the lamps were relighted. In fact, she felt some one's arms steal
+around her neck, and knew when the opal was taken. I asked why she had
+made no outcry, and whether she suspected any special person. To these
+questions she replied that she supposed it was merely a joke perpetrated
+in the darkness, and therefore had made no resistance. She would not
+name anyone as suspected by her, but she was willing to tell me that the
+arms were bare, as she detected when they touched her neck. I must say
+here, that although Miss Livingstone's dress was not cut low in the
+neck, it was, practically, sleeveless; and Mrs. Cortlandt's dress had no
+sleeves at all. One other significant statement made by this lady was
+that her husband had mentioned to her your offer of twenty thousand
+dollars for the opal, and had urged her to permit him to sell it, but
+she had refused."
+
+"So it was madame who would not sell? The plot thickens."
+
+"You will observe, of course, the point about the naked arms of the
+thief. I therefore sent for Mrs. Cortlandt next. She had a curious story
+to tell. Unlike her sister, she was quite willing to express her
+suspicions. Indeed, she plainly intimated that she supposed that Mr.
+Gray himself had taken the jewel. I will endeavor to repeat her words.
+
+"'Mr. Barnes,' said she, 'the affair is very simple. Gray is a miserable
+old skinflint. A Mr. Mitchel, a crank who collects gems, offered to buy
+that opal, and he has been bothering my sister for it ever since. When
+the lamps went out, he took the opportunity to steal it. I do not think
+this--I know it. How? Well, on account of the confusion and darkness, I
+sat in my sister's seat when I returned to the table; this explains his
+mistake. He put his arms around my neck, and deliberately felt for the
+opal. I did not understand his purpose at the time, but now it is very
+evident.'
+
+"'Yes, madame,' said I, 'but how do you know it was Mr. Gray?'
+
+"'Why, I grabbed his hand, and before he could pull it away I felt the
+large cameo ring on his little finger. Oh, there is no doubt whatever.'
+
+"I asked her whether Mr. Gray had his sleeves rolled up, and, though she
+could not understand the purport of the question, she said 'No.' Next I
+had Miss Livingstone come in. She is a slight, tremulous young lady,
+who cries at the slightest provocation. During the interview, brief as
+it was, it was only by the greatest diplomacy that I avoided a scene of
+hysterics. She tried very hard to convince me that she knew absolutely
+nothing. She had not left her seat during the disturbance; of that she
+was sure. So how could she know anything about it? I asked her to name
+the one who she thought might have taken the opal, and at this her
+agitation reached such a climax that I was obliged to let her go."
+
+"You gained very little from her, I should say."
+
+"In a case of this kind, Mr. Mitchel, where the criminal is surely one
+of a very few persons, we cannot fail to gain something from each
+person's story. A significant feature here was that though Miss
+Livingstone assures us that she did not leave her seat, she was sitting
+in a different place when the lamps were lighted again."
+
+"That might mean anything or nothing."
+
+"Exactly. But we are not deducing values yet. Mr. Dennett Moore came to
+me next, and he is a straightforward, honest man if I ever saw one. He
+declared that the whole affair was a great mystery to him, and that,
+while ordinarily he would not care anything about it, he could not but
+be somewhat interested, because he thought that one of the ladies, he
+would not say which one, suspected him. Mr. Livingstone also impressed
+me favorably, in spite of the fact that he did not remove his cigarette
+from his mouth throughout the whole of my interview with him. He
+declined to name the person suspected by him, though he admitted that he
+could do so. He made this significant remark:
+
+"'You are a detective of experience, Mr. Barnes, and ought to be able to
+decide which man amongst us could place his arms around Mrs. Gray's neck
+without causing her to cry out. But if your imagination fails you,
+suppose you inquire into the financial standing of all of us, and see
+which one would be most likely to profit by thieving? Ask Mr.
+Cortlandt.'"
+
+"Evidently Mr. Livingstone knows more than he tells."
+
+"Yet he told enough for one to guess his suspicions, and to understand
+the delicacy which prompted him to say no more. He, however, gave me a
+good point upon which to question Mr. Cortlandt. When I asked that
+gentleman if any of the men happened to be in pecuniary difficulties, he
+became grave at once. I will give you his answer.
+
+"'Mr. Livingstone and Mr. Moore are both exceedingly wealthy men, and I
+am a millionaire, in very satisfactory business circumstances at
+present. But I am very sorry to say that though our host, Mr. Gray, is
+also a distinctly rich man, he has met with some reverses recently, and
+I can conceive that ready money would be useful to him. But for all
+that, it is preposterous to believe what your question evidently
+indicates. None of the persons in this party is a thief, and least of
+all could we suspect Mr. Gray. I am sure that if he wished his wife's
+opal, she would give it to him cheerfully. No, Mr. Barnes, the opal is
+in some crack or crevice which we have overlooked. It is lost, not
+stolen.'
+
+"That ended the interview with the several persons present, but I made
+one or two other inquiries, from which I elicited at least two
+significant facts. First, it was Mr. Gray himself who had indicated the
+course by which the yacht was steered last night, and which ran her over
+a sand-bar. Second, some one had nearly emptied the oil from the lamps,
+so that they would have burned out in a short time, even though the
+yacht had not touched."
+
+"These, then, are your facts. And from these you have solved the
+problem. Well, Mr. Barnes, who stole the opal?"
+
+"Mr. Mitchel, I have told you all I know, but I wish you to work out a
+solution before I reveal my own opinion."
+
+"I have already done so, Mr. Barnes. Here; I will write my suspicion on
+a bit of paper. So. Now tell me yours, and you shall know mine
+afterwards."
+
+"Why, to my mind it is very simple. Mr. Gray, failing to obtain the opal
+from his wife by fair means, resorted to a trick. He removed the oil
+from the lamps, and charted out a course for his yacht which would take
+her over a sand-bar, and when the opportune moment came he stole the
+jewel. His actions since then have been merely to cover his crime by
+shrouding the affair with mystery. By insisting upon a thorough search,
+and even sending for a detective, he makes it impossible for those who
+were present to accuse him hereafter. Undoubtedly Mr. Cortlandt's
+opinion will be the one generally adopted. Now what do you think?"
+
+"I think I will go with you at once, and board the yacht _Idler_."
+
+"But you have not told me whom you suspect," said Mr. Barnes, somewhat
+irritated.
+
+"Oh, that is immaterial," said Mr. Mitchel, calmly preparing for the
+street. "I do not suspect Mr. Gray, so if you are correct you will have
+shown better ability than I. Come, let us hurry."
+
+On their way to the dock from which they were to take the little steam
+launch which was waiting to carry the detective back to the yacht, Mr.
+Barnes asked Mr. Mitchel the following question:
+
+"Mr. Mitchel," said he, "you will note that Mrs. Cortlandt alluded to
+you as a 'crank who collects gems.' I must admit that I have myself
+harbored a great curiosity as to your reasons for purchasing jewels
+which are valued beyond a mere conservative commercial price. Would you
+mind explaining why you began your collection?"
+
+"I seldom explain my motives to others, especially when they relate to
+my more important pursuits in life. But in view of all that has passed
+between us, I think your curiosity justifiable, and I will gratify it.
+To begin with, I am a very wealthy man. I inherited great riches, and I
+have made a fortune myself. Have you any conception of the difficulties
+which harass a man of means?"
+
+"Perhaps not in minute detail, though I can guess that the lot of the
+rich is not as free from care as the pauper thinks it is."
+
+"The point is this: the difficulty with a poor man is to get rich, while
+with the rich man the greatest trouble is to prevent the increase of his
+wealth. Some men, of course, make no effort in that direction, and those
+men are a menace to society. My own idea of the proper use of a fortune
+is to manage it for the benefit of others, as well as one's self, and
+especially to prevent its increase."
+
+"And is it so difficult to do this? Cannot money be spent without
+limit?"
+
+"Yes; but unlimited evil follows such a course. This is sufficient to
+indicate to you that I am ever in search of a legitimate means of
+spending my income, provided that I may do good thereby. If I can do
+this, and at the same time afford myself pleasure, I claim that I am
+making the best use of my money. Now, I happen to be so constituted that
+the most interesting studies to me are social problems, and of these I
+am most entertained with the causes and environments of crime. Such a
+problem as the one you have brought to me to-day is of immense
+attractiveness to me, because the environment is one which is commonly
+supposed to preclude rather than to invite crime. Yet we have seen that
+despite the wealth of all concerned, some one has stooped to the
+commonest of crimes,--theft."
+
+"But what has this to do with your collection of jewels?"
+
+"Everything. Jewels--especially those of great magnitude--seem to be a
+special cause of crime. A hundred-carat diamond will tempt a man to
+theft as surely as the false beacon on a rocky shore entices the mariner
+to wreck and ruin. All the great jewels of the world have murder and
+other crimes woven in their histories. My attention was first called to
+this by accidentally hearing a plot at a ball to rob the lady of the
+house of a large ruby which she wore on her breast. I went to her, and
+told her enough to persuade her to sell the stone to me. I fastened it
+into my scarf, where the plotters might see it if they remained at the
+ball. By my act I prevented a crime that night."
+
+"Then am I to understand that you buy jewels with that end in view?"
+
+"After that night I conceived this idea. If all the great jewels in the
+world could be collected together, and put in a place of safety,
+hundreds of crimes would be prevented, even before they had been
+conceived. Moreover, the search for, and acquirement of, these jewels
+would necessarily afford me abundant opportunity for studying the crimes
+which are perpetrated in order to gain possession of them. Thus you
+understand more thoroughly why I am anxious to pursue this problem of
+the Aztec Opal."
+
+Several hours later Mr. Mitchel and Mr. Barnes were sitting at a quiet
+table in the corner of the dining-room at Mr. Mitchel's club. On board
+the yacht Mr. Mitchel had acted rather mysteriously. He had been
+closeted a while with Mr. Gray, after which he had had an interview with
+two or three of the others. Then, when Mr. Barnes had begun to feel
+neglected, and tired of waiting alone on the deck, Mr. Mitchel had come
+towards him, arm in arm with Mr. Gray, and the latter had said:
+
+"I am very much obliged to you, Mr. Barnes, for your services in this
+affair, and I trust the enclosed check will remunerate you for your
+trouble."
+
+Mr. Barnes, not quite comprehending it all, had attempted to protest,
+but Mr. Mitchel had taken him by the arm, and hurried him off. In the
+cab which bore them to the club the detective asked for an explanation,
+but Mr. Mitchel only replied:
+
+"I am too hungry to talk now. We will have dinner first."
+
+The dinner was over at last, and nuts and coffee were before them, when
+Mr. Mitchel took a small parcel from his pocket, and handed it to Mr.
+Barnes, saying:
+
+"It is a beauty, is it not?"
+
+Mr. Barnes removed the tissue paper, and a large opal fell on the
+table-cloth, where it sparkled with a thousand colors under the electric
+lamps.
+
+"Do you mean that this is----" cried the detective.
+
+"The Aztec Opal, and the finest harlequin I ever saw," interrupted Mr.
+Mitchel. "But you wish to know how it came into my possession?
+Principally so that it may join the collection and cease to be a
+temptation in this world of wickedness."
+
+"Then Mr. Gray did not steal it?" asked Mr. Barnes, with a touch of
+chagrin in his voice.
+
+"No, Mr. Barnes. Mr. Gray did not steal it. But you are not to consider
+yourself very much at fault. Mr. Gray tried to steal it, only he failed.
+That was not your fault, of course. You read his actions aright, but you
+did not give enough weight to the stories of the others."
+
+"What important point did I omit from my calculations?"
+
+"I might mention the bare arms which Mrs. Gray said she felt around her
+neck. It was evidently Mr. Gray who looked for the opal on the neck of
+his sister-in-law, but as he did not bare his arms before approaching
+her, he would not have done so later."
+
+"Do you mean that Miss Livingstone was the thief?"
+
+"No. Being hysterical, Miss Livingstone changed her seat without
+realizing it, but that does not make her a thief. Her excitement when
+with you was due to her suspicions, which, by the way, were correct. But
+let us return for a moment to the bare arms. That was the clue from
+which I worked. It was evident to me that the thief was a man, and it
+was equally plain that, in the hurry of the few moments of darkness, no
+man would have rolled up his sleeves, risking the return of the
+attendants with lamps, and the consequent discovery of himself in such a
+singular disarrangement of costume."
+
+"How do you account for the bare arms?"
+
+"The lady did not tell the truth, that is all. The arms which encircled
+her neck were not bare. Neither were they unknown to her. She told you
+that lie to shield the thief. She also told you that her husband wished
+to sell the Aztec Opal to me, but that she had refused. Thus she deftly
+led you to suspect him. Now, if she wished to shield the thief, yet was
+willing to accuse her husband, it followed that the husband was not the
+thief."
+
+"Very well reasoned, Mr. Mitchel. I see now where you are tending, but I
+shall not get ahead of your story."
+
+"So much I had deduced before we went on board the yacht. When I found
+myself alone with Gray I candidly told him of your suspicions, and your
+reasons for harboring them. He was very much disturbed, and pleadingly
+asked me what I thought. As frankly, I told him that I believed that he
+had tried to take the opal from his wife,--we can scarcely call it
+stealing since the law does not,--but that I believed he had failed. He
+then confessed; admitted emptying the lamps, though he denied running
+the boat on the sand-bar. But he assured me that he had not reached his
+wife's chair when the lamps were brought in. He was, therefore, much
+astonished at missing the gem. I promised him to find the jewel upon
+condition that he would sell it to me. To this he most willingly
+acceded."
+
+"But how could you be sure that you would recover the opal?"
+
+"Partly by my knowledge of human nature, and partly because of my
+inherent faith in my own abilities. I sent for Mrs. Gray, and noted her
+attitude of defense, which, however, only satisfied me the more that I
+was right in my suspicions. I began by asking her if she knew the origin
+of the superstition that an opal brings bad luck to its owner. She did
+not, of course, comprehend my tactics, but she added that she 'had heard
+the stupid superstition, but took no interest in such nonsense.' I then
+gravely explained to her that the opal is the engagement stone of the
+Orient. The lover gives it to his sweetheart, and the belief is, that
+should she deceive him even in the most trifling manner, the opal will
+lose its brilliancy and become cloudy. I then suddenly asked her if she
+had ever noted a change in her opal. 'What do you mean to insinuate?'
+she cried out angrily. 'I mean,' said I, sternly, 'that if any opal has
+ever changed color in accordance with the superstition, this one should
+have done so. I mean that though your husband greatly needs the money
+which I have offered him, you have refused to allow him to sell it, and
+yet you permitted another to take it from you last night. By this act
+you might have seriously injured if not ruined Mr. Gray. Why have you
+done it?'"
+
+"How did she receive it?" asked Mr. Barnes, admiring the ingenuity of
+Mr. Mitchel.
+
+"She began to sob, and between her tears she admitted that the opal had
+been taken by the man whom I suspected, but she earnestly declared that
+she had harbored no idea of injuring her husband. Indeed, she was so
+agitated in speaking upon this point, that I believe that Gray never
+thoroughly explained to her why he wished to sell the gem. She urged me
+to recover the opal if possible, and purchase it, so that her husband
+might be relieved from his pecuniary embarrassment. I then sent for the
+thief, Mrs. Gray having told me his name; but would you not like to hear
+how I had picked him out before he went aboard? I still have that bit of
+paper upon which I wrote his name, in confirmation of what I say."
+
+"Of course I know that you mean Mr. Livingstone, but I would like to
+hear your reasons for suspecting him."
+
+"From your account Miss Livingstone suspected some one, and this caused
+her to be so agitated that she was unaware of the fact that she had
+changed her seat. Women are shrewd in these affairs, and I was confident
+that the girl had good reasons for her conduct. It was evident that the
+person in her mind was either her brother or her sweetheart. I decided
+between these two men from your account of your interviews with them.
+Moore impressed you as being honest, and he told you that one of the
+ladies suspected him. In this he was mistaken, but his speaking to you
+of it was not the act of a thief. Mr. Livingstone, on the other hand,
+tried to throw suspicion upon Mr. Gray."
+
+"Of course that was sound reasoning after you had concluded that Mrs.
+Gray was lying. Now tell me how you recovered the jewel."
+
+"That was easier than I expected. When I got him alone, I simply told
+Mr. Livingstone what I knew, and asked him to hand me the opal. With a
+perfectly imperturbable manner, understanding that I promised secrecy,
+he quietly took it from his pocket and gave it to me, saying:
+
+"Women are very poor conspirators. They are too weak."
+
+"What story did you tell Mr. Gray?"
+
+"Oh, he would not be likely to inquire too closely into what I should
+tell him. My check was what he most cared for. I told him nothing
+definitely, but I hinted that his wife had secreted the gem during the
+darkness, that he might not ask her for it again; and that she had
+intended to find it again at a future time, just as he had meant to pawn
+it and then pretend to recover it from the thief by offering a reward."
+
+"One more question. Why did Mr. Livingstone steal it?"
+
+"Ah; the truth about that is another mystery worth probing, and one
+which I shall make it my business to unravel. I will venture a prophecy.
+Mr. Livingstone did not steal it at all. Mrs. Gray simply handed it to
+him in the darkness. There must have been some powerful motive to lead
+her to such an act; something which she was weighing, and decided
+impulsively. This brings me to a second point. Livingstone used the word
+conspirators; that is a clue. You will recall that I told you that this
+gem is one of a pair of opals, and that with the other, the two would
+be as interesting as any jewels in the world. If anyone ever owns both
+it shall be your humble servant, Leroy Mitchel, Jewel Collector."
+
+
+
+
+                                  VII
+
+                        THE DUPLICATE HARLEQUIN
+
+
+One day about two weeks after the unravelling of the mystery of the opal
+lost on board the yacht _Idler_, Mr. Barnes called upon Mr. Mitchel and
+was cordially received.
+
+"Glad to see you, Mr. Barnes. Anything stirring in the realm of crime?"
+
+"'Stirring' would be a fitting adjective, I think, Mr. Mitchel. Ever
+since the _Idler_ affair I have occupied myself with a study of the
+problem, which I am convinced we have but partially solved. You may
+recall that you gave me a clue."
+
+"You mean that Livingstone, when he gave me the opal, remarked, 'Women
+are poor conspirators.' Yes, I remember calling your attention to that.
+Has your clue led to any solution?"
+
+"Oh, I am not out of the maze yet; more likely just entering the most
+intricate depths. Still, I flatter myself that I have accomplished
+something; enough to satisfy me that 'mischief is brewing,' and that the
+conspirators are still conspiring. Moreover, there is little doubt that
+you are deeply concerned in the new plot."
+
+"What! You insinuate that I am in this conspiracy?"
+
+"Only as a possible victim. You are the object of the plot."
+
+"Perhaps you think that I am in danger?" Mr. Mitchel smiled as though
+the idea of danger were a pleasurable one.
+
+"Were you any other man than yourself, I should say most decidedly that
+you are in danger."
+
+"But, being myself, you fancy that the danger will pass from me?"
+
+"Being yourself, I anticipate that you will compel the danger to pass
+from you."
+
+"Mr. Barnes, you flatter me. Perhaps I may be able to thwart the
+conspirators, now that you warn me; if I do, however, I must admit my
+great indebtedness to you. To be forewarned is to have the fight half
+won, and I candidly say that I was entirely unsuspicious of any lurking
+danger."
+
+"Exactly. With all your acumen, I was sure that your suspicions had not
+been aroused. The conspirators are wary, and, I assure you, unusually
+skilful. So, under all the circumstances, I felt it my duty to be on the
+alert."
+
+"Ah, I see," said Mr. Mitchel, in that tone peculiar to him, which made
+it doubtful whether he spoke in earnest, or whether his words hid keen
+satire. "The old cat being asleep, the kitten watches. That is very nice
+of you. Really, it is quite a comforting thought that so skilful a
+detective is ever guarding my person. Especially as I am the owner of
+so many gems to which the covetous must ever look longingly."
+
+"That is just how I reasoned it," said Mr. Barnes, eagerly, wishing to
+justify his actions, which he began to suspect Mr. Mitchel might resent.
+"You explained to me your reasons why you have purchased so many
+valuable jewels. You claimed that almost every large gem has been the
+cause, or rather the object, of crime. The Aztec Opal came into your
+possession under most peculiar circumstances. In fact, you thwarted a
+criminal just as he had come into possession of it. But this criminal is
+a wealthy man. Not perhaps as rich as yourself, but rich enough to be
+above stealing even such a valuable bauble. It could not have been the
+intrinsic value of the opal which tempted him; it must have been that
+some special reason existed; some reason, I mean, for his acquiring
+possession of this particular opal. All this being true, it would be a
+natural sequence that his efforts to get the opal would not cease merely
+because it had changed hands."
+
+"Your argument is most interesting, Mr. Barnes, especially as it is
+without a flaw. As you say, from all this reasoning it was a natural
+sequence that Mr. Livingstone would continue his quest for the opal.
+This being so obvious, did you imagine that it had escaped me?"
+
+Mr. Barnes was confused by the question. He really admired Mr. Mitchel
+very much, and though he considered him quite conceited, he also
+admitted that he had great analytical powers and remarkable acumen. He
+also, more than anything else, desired a perpetuation of his friendship;
+indeed, it had been with an idea of increasing the bond between them
+that he had called. He had spent much of his time, time which could have
+been occupied with other matters to better financial advantage, and all
+with the purpose of warding off from his friend a danger which he had at
+first considered as a distant possibility, but which later he looked
+upon as certain, if nothing intervened to hinder the plot, which he knew
+was rapidly approaching the moment of execution. He therefore hastened
+to make further explanation:
+
+"Not at all--not at all. I am merely indicating the steps by which I
+reached my conclusions. I am giving you my reasons for what I fear you
+now may consider my interference in your affairs. Yet I assure you I
+meant it all----"
+
+"For the best. Why, of course, my friend; did you suppose that I doubted
+your good intent, merely because I spoke brusquely?" Mr. Mitchel held
+out his hand cordially, and Mr. Barnes grasped it, glad to note the
+altered demeanor of his companion. Mr. Mitchel continued: "Will you
+never learn that my weakness is for antagonizing detectives? When you
+come here to tell me that you have been 'investigating' my private
+affairs, how could I resist telling you that I knew all about it, or
+that I could take care of myself? I would not be Leroy Mitchel were it
+otherwise."
+
+"How do you mean that you know all about it?"
+
+"Well, perhaps not all. I am not exactly omniscient. Still, I know
+something. Let me see, now. How much do I know? First, then, you have
+had this Livingstone watched. Second, you have introduced one of your
+spies, a young woman, into the home of Mrs. Gray. In spite of your
+alleged faith in Dennett Moore, you had him watched also, though for
+only two or three days. Lastly, you have discovered Pedro Domingo,
+and----"
+
+"In Heaven's name, Mr. Mitchel, how do you know all this?" Mr. Barnes
+was utterly dumbfounded by what he had heard.
+
+"All this?" said Mr. Mitchel, with a suave smile; "why, I have mentioned
+only four small facts."
+
+"Small facts?"
+
+"Yes, quite small. Let us run them over again. First, I stated that you
+had Mr. Livingstone watched. That was not hard to know, because I also
+had a spy upon his track."
+
+"You?"
+
+"Yes, I. Why not? Did you not just now agree that it was obvious that he
+would continue his efforts to get the opal? Being determined that I
+should never part with it whilst alive, it likewise followed that he
+must kill me, or have me killed, in order to obtain it. Under these
+circumstances it was only common caution to have the man watched.
+Indeed, the method was altogether too common. It was _bizarre_. Still,
+my spy was no common spy. In that, at least, my method was unique.
+Secondly, I claimed that you had introduced a woman spy into the home of
+Mrs. Gray. To learn this was even easier. I deduced it from what I know
+of your methods. You played the same trick on my wife once, I think you
+will recall. Supposing Mrs. Gray to be a conspirator (that was your
+clue, I think), you would hardly watch Livingstone and neglect the
+woman. Yet the actual knowledge came to me in a very simple manner."
+
+"How was that?"
+
+"Why, Mr. Gray told me."
+
+"Mr. Gray told you?"
+
+"Mr. Gray himself. You see, your assistants are not all so clever as
+yourself, though I doubt not this girl may think that she is a genius.
+You told her to seek a position in the house, and what does she do? She
+goes straight to Mr. Gray and tells him her purpose; hints that it might
+be well for him to know just what really actuated Mrs. Gray in the
+curious affair on the yacht, and agrees to 'discover everything'--those
+were her words--if he would give her the opportunity. Poor man, she
+filled his mind with dire suspicions and he managed it so that she was
+taken into service. Up to the present time she has discovered nothing.
+At least, so she tells him."
+
+"The little she-devil! You said that she explained her whole purpose. Do
+you mean----"
+
+"Oh, no. She did not implicate you, nor divulge her true mission. The
+fun of the thing is that she claimed to be a 'private detective' and
+that this venture was entirely her own idea. In fact, she is working
+for Mr. Gray. Is not that droll?" Mr. Mitchel threw back his head and
+laughed heartily. Mr. Barnes did not quite see the fun, and looked grim.
+All he said was:
+
+"She acted beyond her instructions, yet it seems that she has not done
+any harm; and though she is like an untamed colt, apt to take the bit
+between her teeth, still she is shrewd. But I'll curb her yet. Now as to
+your third fact. How did you know that I had Mr. Moore watched, and only
+for two or three days?"
+
+"Why, I recognized one of your spies following him one day down
+Broadway, and as Moore sailed for Europe two days after, I made the
+deduction that you had withdrawn your watch-dog."
+
+"Well, then," said Mr. Barnes, testily, "how did you know that I had, as
+you declare, 'discovered Pedro Domingo'?"
+
+"How did I know that? Why--but that can wait. You certainly did not call
+this morning to ask me all these questions. You came, as I presume, to
+convey information."
+
+"Oh, you know so much, it is evidently unnecessary for me to tell you of
+my trifling discoveries." Mr. Barnes was suffering from wounded pride.
+
+"Come, come," exclaimed Mr. Mitchel, cheerily, "be a man; don't be
+downcast and fall into the dumps merely because I surprised a few
+trifling facts in your game, and could not resist the fun of guying you
+a little. You see, I still admit that what I know are but trifling
+facts; what you know, on the contrary, is perhaps of great importance.
+Indeed, I am assured that without your information, without a full
+knowledge of all that you have discovered, my own plans may go awry, and
+then the danger at which you hint might be all too real. Do you not see
+that, knowing that you are interested in this case, I have been only too
+willing to let half the burden of the investigation fall upon you? That
+to your skill I have intrusted all of that work which I knew you could
+do so well? That in the most literal sense we have been silent partners,
+and that I depended upon your friendship to bring you to me with your
+news, just as it has brought you?"
+
+This speech entirely mollified Mr. Barnes, and, with a brightening
+countenance, he exclaimed:
+
+"Mr. Mitchel, I'm an ass. You are right to laugh at me."
+
+"Nonsense! I defy all other detectives, because Mr. Barnes works with
+me."
+
+"Bosh!" said the detective, deprecatingly, but pleased nevertheless by
+the words of flattery. "Well, then, suppose I tell you my story from the
+beginning?"
+
+"From the beginning, by all means."
+
+"In speaking of the woman whom I set to spy upon Mrs. Gray, you just now
+mentioned that I had once played the same trick upon your wife. Very
+true, and not only is this the same trick, but it is the same girl."
+
+"What! Lucette?"
+
+"The same. This is not the first time that she has chosen to resort to
+her own devices rather than to follow strictly the orders given to her.
+In this case, however, as I said before, she has done no harm, and on
+the contrary, I think you would find her report, which I received an
+hour ago, quite interesting."
+
+"Ah, you have brought it with you?"
+
+"Yes. I will read it to you. Of course it is not addressed to me,
+neither is there any signature. No names are mentioned except by
+initial. All this is the girl's own devising, so you see she is not
+entirely stupid. She writes:
+
+"'At last I have discovered everything.' You observe that she is not
+unappreciative of her own ability. 'Mr. L. was right. Women are bad
+conspirators. At least he is right as to Mrs. G. She has dropped the
+conspiracy entirely, if she ever was a real conspirator, which I doubt,
+for, though you may not suspect it, she loves her husband. How do I
+know? Well, a woman has instincts about love. A man may swear eternal
+devotion to a woman eight hours a day for a year, without convincing
+her, when she would detect the true lover by the way he ties her
+shoe-string, unasked. So here. I have not heard madame talking in her
+sleep, neither has she taken her maid for a confidante, though I think
+she might find a worse adviser. Still I say she loves her husband. How
+do I know? When a woman is constantly doing things which add to the
+comfort of a man, and for which she never receives thanks, because they
+are such trifles, you may be sure the woman loves the man, and by
+hundreds of such tokens I know that Mrs. G. is in love with her husband.
+To reach the next point I must give you an axiom. A woman never loves
+more than one man at a time. She may have many lovers in the course of a
+lifetime, but in each instance she imagines that all previous affairs
+were delusions, and that at last the divine fire consumes her. To this
+last love she is constant until he proves unworthy, and ofttimes even
+after. No, a man may be able to love two persons, but a woman's
+affections are ever centred in a single idol. From which it is a logical
+deduction that Mrs. G. does not and did not love Mr. L. Then why did she
+give him the opal? A question which will puzzle you, and for which you
+are at a loss for an answer.'"
+
+"She is not complimentary," interrupted Mr. Mitchel.
+
+"Not very," said Mr. Barnes, and then he continued reading:
+
+"'This is a question at which I arrived, as you see, by logical mental
+stages. This is the question to which I have found the reply. This is
+what I mean when I say I have discovered all: Yesterday afternoon Mr. L.
+called. Madame hesitated, but finally decided to see him. From her
+glances in my direction, I was sure she feared I might accidentally find
+it convenient to be near enough to a keyhole to overhear the
+conversation which was about to ensue, and, as I did not wish her to
+make such an "accident" impossible, I innocently suggested that if she
+intended to receive a visitor, I should be glad to have permission to
+leave the house for an hour. The trick worked to a charm. Madame seemed
+only too glad to get rid of me. I hurried downstairs into the back
+parlor, where, by secreting myself between the heavy portieres and the
+closed folding-doors, my sharp ears readily followed the conversation,
+except such few passages as were spoken in very low tones, but which I
+am sure were unimportant. The details I will give you when I see you.
+Suffice it to say that I discovered that madame's reason for refusing to
+let her husband sell the jewel to that crank Mr. M. ----'"
+
+"Ah; I see she remembers me," said Mr. Mitchel, with a smile.
+
+"How could she forget your locking her in a room when she was most
+anxious to be elsewhere? But let me finish this:
+
+"'--to that crank Mr. M. was because Mr. L. was telling her how to make
+a deal more money out of the jewel. It seems that he has the mate to it,
+and that the two were stolen from an idol somewhere in Mexico, and that
+a fabulous sum could be obtained by returning the two gems to the native
+priests. Just how, I do not know.'"
+
+"So she did not discover everything, after all," said Mr. Mitchel.
+
+"No; but she is right in the main. Her report continues:
+
+"'Madame, however, hesitated to go into the venture, partly because Mr.
+L. insisted that the matter be kept secret from her husband, and more
+particularly because the money in exchange was not to be forthcoming
+immediately. On the yacht she changed her mind impulsively. The result
+of that you know.'
+
+"That is all," said Mr. Barnes, folding the paper and returning it to
+his pocket.
+
+"That is all you know?" asked Mr. Mitchel.
+
+"No; that is all that Lucette knows. I know how the fabulous sum of
+money was to be had in exchange for the two opals."
+
+"Ah; that is more to our immediate purpose. How have you made this
+discovery?"
+
+"My spies learned practically nothing by shadowing Livingstone, except
+that he has had several meetings with a half-breed Mexican who calls
+himself Pedro Domingo. I decided that it would be best for me to
+interview Senor Domingo myself, rather than to entrust him to a second
+man."
+
+"What a compliment to our friend Livingstone!" said Mr. Mitchel, with a
+laugh.
+
+"I found the Mexican suspicious and difficult to approach at first. So I
+quickly decided that only a bold play would be successful. I told him
+that I was a detective, and related the incident of the stealing of the
+opal. At this his eyes glistened, but when I told him that the gem had
+been sold to a man of enormous wealth who would never again part with
+it, his eyes glared."
+
+"Yes, Domingo's eyes are glary at times. Go on."
+
+"I explained to him that by this I meant that it would now be impossible
+for Mr. Livingstone to get the opal, and then I boldly asked him what
+reward I might expect if I could get it."
+
+"How much did he offer?"
+
+"At first he merely laughed at me, but then I explained that you are my
+friend, and that you merely buy such things to satisfy a hobby, and
+that, having no especial desire for this particular jewel, I had little
+doubt that I could obtain it, provided it would be of great financial
+advantage to myself. In short, that you would sell to a friend what none
+other could buy."
+
+"Not bad, Mr. Barnes. What did Domingo say to that?"
+
+"He asked for a day to think it over."
+
+"Which, of course, you granted. What, then, is his final answer?"
+
+"He told me to get the opal first, and then he would talk business."
+
+"Bravo! Domingo is becoming quite a Yankee."
+
+"Of course I watched the man during the interval, in order to learn
+whether or not he would consult with Mr. L., or any other adviser."
+
+"What did this lead to?"
+
+"It led to Pasquale Sanchez."
+
+"What! More Mexicans?"
+
+"One more only. Sanchez lives in a house near where Domingo has his
+room. He tells me that he comes from the same district as Domingo.
+Although Domingo did not make a confidant of him, or even ask his
+advice, his visit to his friend cleared up some things for me, for by
+following Domingo I came upon Sanchez."
+
+"What could he know, if, as you say, he was not in the confidence of
+Domingo?"
+
+"He knew some things which seem to be common knowledge in his native
+land. He is even more Americanized than his friend, for he fully
+appreciates a glass of whiskey, though I doubt not the habit was first
+acquired at home. I should think it would take many years to acquire
+such a--let me call it--capacity. I never saw a man who could swallow
+such powerful doses without a change of expression. The only effect
+seemed to be to loosen his tongue. It is needless to repeat all the
+stages by which I approached my subject. He knew all about the Aztec
+opals,--for really there are two of them,--except of course their
+present whereabouts. I asked him if they would be valuable, supposing
+that I could get possession of them. He was interested at once. 'You get
+them, and I show you million dollars.' I explained to him that I might
+see a million dollars any day by visiting the United States Treasury,
+upon which, with many imprecations and useless interpolations of bad
+Spanish, he finally made it clear to me that the priests who have the
+idol from which the opals were obtained, have practically little power
+over their tribe while the 'god is in heaven,' as has been explained to
+the faithful, the priests not caring to exhibit the image without its
+glowing eyes. These priests, it seems, know where the mine is from which
+these opals were taken, and they would reveal this secret in exchange
+for the lost opals, because, though this mine is said to be very rich,
+they have been unable themselves to find any pieces sufficiently large
+and brilliant from which to duplicate the lost gems."
+
+"Then you think it was to obtain possession of this opal mine that Mr.
+Livingstone sought to obtain Mrs. Gray's opal?"
+
+"Undoubtedly. So certain am I of this that I would wager that he will
+endeavor to get the opal from you."
+
+"Let me read a letter to you, Mr. Barnes."
+
+Mr. Mitchel took out a letter and read as follows:
+
+    "'LEROY MITCHEL, Esq.:--
+
+    "'Dear Sir--In my letter of recent date I offered to you the
+    duplicate of the Aztec Opal which you recently purchased
+    from Mr. Gray. You paid Gray twenty thousand dollars, and I
+    expressed my willingness to sell you mine for five thousand
+    dollars in advance of this sum. In your letter just
+    received, you agree to pay this amount, naming two
+    conditions. First, you ask why I consider my opal worth more
+    than the other, if it is an exact duplicate. Secondly, you
+    wish me to explain what I meant by saying on the yacht that
+    "women are poor conspirators."
+
+    "'In reply to your first question, my answer is, that
+    however wealthy I may be I usually do business strictly on
+    business principles. These opals separately are worth in the
+    open market twenty thousand dollars each, which sum you paid
+    to Gray. But considering the history of the gems, and the
+    fact that they are absolute duplicates the one of the other,
+    it is not too much to declare that as soon as one person
+    owns both gems, the value is enhanced twofold. That is to
+    say, that the pair of opals together would be worth seventy
+    or eighty thousand dollars. This being true, I consider it
+    fair to argue that whilst I should not expect more than
+    twenty thousand dollars from any other person in the world,
+    twenty-five thousand is a low sum for me to ask of the man
+    who has the duplicate of this magnificent harlequin opal.
+
+    "'In regard to my remark about the "conspirators," the
+    conspiracy in which I had induced Mrs. Gray to take part was
+    entirely honorable, I assure you. I knew of Gray's financial
+    embarrassments and wished to aid him, without, however,
+    permitting him to suspect my hand in the affair. He is so
+    sensitive, you know. I therefore suggested to Mrs. Gray that
+    she entrust her jewel to me, and promised to dispose of the
+    two jewels together, thus realizing the enhanced value. I
+    pointed out that in this manner she would be able to give
+    her husband much more than he could possibly secure by the
+    sale of the one stone.
+
+    "'Trusting that I have fully complied with your conditions,
+    I will call upon you at noon to-day, and will bring the opal
+    with me. We can then complete the transaction, unless you
+    change your mind in the interval. Cordially yours, etc.'
+
+"So you see," said Mr. Mitchel, "he offers to sell me his opal, rather
+than to purchase mine."
+
+"It is strange," said Mr. Barnes, musingly. "Why should he relinquish
+his hope of getting possession of that mine? I do not believe it. There
+is some devilish trickery at work. But let me tell you the rest of my
+story."
+
+"Oh, is there more?"
+
+"Why, certainly. I have not yet explained my reason for thinking you
+might be in danger."
+
+"Ah, to be sure. My danger. I had forgotten all about it. Pardon my
+stupidity."
+
+"In further conversation with this Sanchez I put this proposition to
+him. 'Suppose,' said I, 'that your friend Domingo had one of these
+opals, and knew the man who had the other. What would he do?' His answer
+was short, but to the point. 'He get it, even if he kill.'"
+
+"So you think that Domingo might try murder?"
+
+"It is not impossible."
+
+"But, Mr. Barnes, he does not want my life. He wants the opal, and as
+that is, or rather has been until to-day, in the safety-vaults, how
+could he get it, even by killing me?"
+
+"You have just admitted that it is not in the vaults at present."
+
+"But it is quite as much out of his reach in my safe here in this
+room."
+
+"But you might take it out of the safe. You might, in some manner, be
+persuaded to do so, to show it to some one."
+
+"Very true. In fact, that is why it is here. I must compare my opal with
+the one which Mr. Livingstone offers for sale, before I part with
+twenty-five thousand dollars. For you must remember that such a sum is a
+fabulous price for an opal, even though, as you know, these are the
+largest in the world."
+
+"From a money standpoint, of course, your precaution is proper. But do
+you not see that you are really making possible the very danger of which
+I came to warn you?"
+
+"You mean----"
+
+"Murder in order to get possession of that accursed ill-luck stone. But
+I fear my warning is not appreciated."
+
+"Indeed, my friend, it is, and I am glad that you have come in person to
+acquaint me with your anxiety in my behalf. This I will more thoroughly
+explain to you later. For the present, I may say that I am glad to have
+you here as a possible witness, in case murder, or any other crime,
+should be attempted."
+
+"What other crime do you anticipate as possible? Surely not theft?"
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"What! Steal that opal from you, while you are present to see the deed
+committed? That is a joke." Mr. Barnes laughed heartily.
+
+"Your laugh is a compliment," said Mr. Mitchel. "Yet that is exactly
+what I most anticipate--theft. I am not sure that it may not be
+undertaken before my very eyes. Especially as the thief did not hesitate
+at a table filled with men and women. Sh! He is here."
+
+The electric street-door bell had sounded. Mr. Mitchel arose, and spoke
+hurriedly in a low tone.
+
+"That is probably Mr. Livingstone come to sell his opal, or to steal
+mine. We shall see. Especially I desire that you should see.
+Consequently I have arranged matters in advance. Slip behind this
+bookcase, which I have placed across the corner that you may have room
+to breathe. The books on the top shelf have been removed, and the tinted
+glass of the doors will not obstruct your view. From behind you will be
+able to see through quite readily."
+
+"Why, you seem to have expected me," said Mr. Barnes, getting into the
+hiding-place.
+
+"Yes, I expected you," said Mr. Mitchel, vouchsafing no further
+explanation. "Remember now, Mr. Barnes, you are not to interfere,
+whatever happens, unless I call you. All I ask is that you use your
+eyes, and that good eyes will be required be sure, or I never should
+have arranged to have an extra pair to aid me on this occasion."
+
+A moment later Williams announced Mr. Livingstone.
+
+"Ask Mr. Livingstone to come up here to the library," said Mr. Mitchel,
+and a little later he greeted his guest.
+
+"Ah, glad to see you, Mr. Livingstone. Take a seat here by my desk, and
+we can get right to business. First, though, let me offer you a cigar."
+
+Mr. Livingstone chose one from the box which Mr. Mitchel offered to him,
+and lighted it as he sat down.
+
+"What a companionable feeling steals over one as he puffs a fine cigar,
+Mr. Mitchel! Who would accept such an offering as this and betray the
+confidence of his host?"
+
+"Who, indeed?" said Mr. Mitchel. "But why do you say that?"
+
+"Why, I am not entirely a fool. You do not trust me. You are not sure in
+your own mind whether or not I committed a theft on board of the yacht."
+
+"Am I not?" Mr. Mitchel asked this in a tone that made Mr. Livingstone
+look upon it in the light of a question, whereas Mr. Barnes, behind the
+bookcase, considered it as an answer.
+
+"Why, no," said Mr. Livingstone, replying. "Had you believed that the
+opal changed hands honorably, even though secretly, under cover of the
+darkness, you would not have asked me to explain my allusion to
+'conspirators.' I trust, however, that my letter made it all clear to
+you."
+
+"Quite clear."
+
+"Then you are still willing to make the purchase?"
+
+"If you still desire to sell. A certified check for the amount is ready
+for you. Have you brought the opal?"
+
+"Yes. Have you the duplicate? It would be well to compare them before
+you purchase."
+
+"If you do not mind, I will do so."
+
+Mr. Mitchel turned to his safe and brought out a box which Mr. Barnes
+thought he recognized. Opening it he drew out a marvellous string of
+pearls, which he laid aside, while he took from beneath, a velvet case
+which contained the opal. Returning the pearls to the box he restored
+that to the safe, which he locked.
+
+"Now, if you will let me see your opal," said Mr. Mitchel, "I will
+compare the gems."
+
+"Here it is," said Mr. Livingstone, handing Mr. Mitchel his opal.
+
+Mr. Mitchel took the two opals in his hand, and, as they lay side by
+side, he examined them closely, observing the play of light as he turned
+them in various positions. To his critical eye they were marvellously
+beautiful; matchless, though matched. None could see these two and
+wonder that the old priests in Mexico had searched in vain for a second
+pair like them.
+
+"Do you know why these opals are so exactly alike?" asked Mr.
+Livingstone.
+
+"I am not sure," said Mr. Mitchel, apparently absorbed in his scrutiny
+of the opals. "I have heard many reasons suggested. If you know the true
+explanation, suppose you tell me."
+
+"Willingly. You will observe that in each opal red lights seem to
+predominate on one side, while the blue and green are reflected from the
+other. Originally, this was one great egg-shaped opal, and it was cut
+in that shape, and then poised in the forehead of a single-eyed idol by
+the priests of a thousand years ago. By an ingenious mechanism the eye
+could be made to revolve in its socket, so that either the red or the
+blue-green side would be visible, as it suited the purpose of the
+priests, when overawing the tribesmen by pretended prophecies and other
+miraculous performances. In more recent times, since the advent of the
+Christians, one-eyed idols are not so plausible, and the priests cut the
+opal in half, thus making it serve in what may be termed a modernized
+idol."
+
+"Yes, I have heard that tale before. In fact, I have a metal ring which
+I was told would exactly encircle the two opals, if placed together to
+form an egg."
+
+"How could you have such a thing?" asked Mr. Livingstone, with genuine
+surprise.
+
+"The man who stole the jewels, so the story goes, wishing to enhance
+their value as much as possible, arranged this as a scheme by which the
+genuineness of the opals could be tested. He placed the opals together,
+as before they were cut, and had a silver band made which would exactly
+clasp them in that position. This band opens and shuts with a spring
+catch, like a bracelet, and as, when closed, it exactly fits the opals,
+holding the two firmly together, the owner of the band could easily tell
+whether the true opals were before him, or not. In some way the opals
+were next stolen without the band, and their whereabouts was unknown
+when a dealer in Naples told me the story of the silver band, which he
+offered to sell me. I scarcely credited his tale, but as all large
+jewels might in time be offered to me, I thought it well to purchase the
+band."
+
+"Why, then, if you still have it, it would be interesting to make the
+test, would it not?"
+
+"Yes, I think so. I will get the band."
+
+Mr. Mitchel placed the two opals on the desk before him and went over to
+the safe, where he was occupied some time opening the combination lock.
+While he was thus busy a strange thing seemed to occur. At least it
+seemed strange to Mr. Barnes. He had marvelled to see Mr. Mitchel place
+the two opals within easy reach of Mr. Livingstone, and then
+deliberately turn his back while he opened the safe. But what seemed
+more mysterious was Mr. Livingstone's action. Mr. Mitchel had scarcely
+stooped before the safe when his guest leaned forward, with both arms
+outstretched simultaneously; his two hands grasped the opals, the hands
+then swiftly sought his vest pockets, after which he calmly puffed his
+cigar. Thus he seemed to have taken the opals from the table and to have
+placed them in his pockets. Yet how could he hope to explain their
+absence to Mr. Mitchel? This thought flashed through Mr. Barnes's mind
+as his eyes instinctively turned again to the desk, when, to his utter
+astonishment, he saw the opals exactly where Mr. Mitchel had placed
+them. Had the thought that he could not explain away the disappearance
+caused the man to change his mind at the very moment when he had
+impulsively clutched the treasures? Mr. Barnes was puzzled, and somewhat
+worried too, for he began to fear that more had happened, or was
+happening, than he comprehended.
+
+"Here is the band," said Mr. Mitchel, returning to the desk, and
+resuming his seat. "Let us see how it fits the opals. First, let me ask
+you, are you confident that you are selling me one of the genuine Aztec
+opals?"
+
+"I am. I have a history which makes its authenticity indubitable."
+
+"Then we will try our little test. There; the band clamps the two
+perfectly. Look for yourself."
+
+"Certainly; the test is complete. These are undoubtedly the Aztec opals.
+Mr. Mitchel, you are to be congratulated upon gaining possession of such
+unique gems."
+
+Mr. Livingstone arose as though about to leave.
+
+"One moment, Mr. Livingstone; the jewels are not mine, yet. I have not
+paid you for yours."
+
+"Oh, between gentlemen there is no hurry about such matters."
+
+"Between gentlemen it may be as you say. But you said this was to be
+strictly in accordance with business methods. I prefer to pay at once.
+Here is my certified check. I will also ask you to sign this receipt."
+
+Mr. Livingstone seemed to hesitate for a moment. Mr. Barnes wondered
+why? He sat at the desk, however, and, after reading the receipt, he
+signed it, and took the check, which he placed in his pocketbook,
+saying:
+
+"Of course we will be businesslike, if you insist, though I did not
+anticipate that you would take me so literally. That being over, Mr.
+Mitchel, I will bid you good morning."
+
+"You may go, Mr. Livingstone, when the transaction is over, but not
+before."
+
+"What do you mean?" demanded Mr. Livingstone aggressively, as he turned
+and faced Mr. Mitchel, who now stood close beside him.
+
+"I mean that you have accepted my money. Now I wish you to give me the
+opal."
+
+"I do not understand. There are your opals, just where you placed them
+on the table."
+
+"We will have no quibbling, Mr. Livingstone. You have taken twenty-five
+thousand dollars of my money, and you have given me in exchange a
+worthless imitation. Not satisfied with that, you have stolen my genuine
+opal."
+
+"Damn you----"
+
+Mr. Livingstone made a movement as though to strike, but Mr. Mitchel
+stepped quickly back, and, quietly bringing forward his right arm, which
+had been held behind his back, it became evident that he held in his
+hand a revolver of large calibre. He did not raise the weapon, however,
+but merely remarked:
+
+"I am armed. Think before you act."
+
+"Your infernal accusation astounds me," growled Mr. Livingstone. "I
+hardly know what to say to you."
+
+"There is nothing to say, sir. You have no alternative but to give me my
+property. Yes, you have an alternative,--you may go to prison."
+
+"To prison!" The man laughed, but it was not a hearty laugh.
+
+"Yes, to prison. I believe that is the proper lodging-place for a
+thief."
+
+"Take care!" cried Mr. Livingstone, advancing upon Mr. Mitchel.
+
+"Mr. Barnes," said Mr. Mitchel, still without raising his weapon. At
+this the man stopped as quickly as he had when the weapon was first
+shown. He seemed confounded when the detective stepped into view.
+
+"Ah," he sneered; "so you have spies upon your guests?"
+
+"Always, when my guests are thieves."
+
+Again the words enraged him, and, starting forward, Mr. Livingstone
+exclaimed:
+
+"If you repeat those words, I'll strangle you in spite of your weapon
+and your spy."
+
+"I have no wish to use harsh language, Mr. Livingstone. All I want is my
+property. Give me the two opals."
+
+"Again I tell you they are on your desk."
+
+"Where are the genuine opals, Mr. Barnes? Of course you saw him commit
+the--that is, you saw the act."
+
+"They are in his vest pocket, one in each," said the detective.
+
+"Since you will not give them to me, I must take them," said Mr.
+Mitchel, advancing towards Mr. Livingstone. That gentleman stood
+transfixed, livid with rage. As his antagonist was about to touch his
+vest pocket, his hand arose swiftly and he aimed a deadly blow at Mr.
+Mitchel, but not only did Mr. Mitchel as swiftly lower his head, thus
+avoiding the blow, but before another could be struck, Mr. Barnes had
+jumped forward and grasped Mr. Livingstone from behind, pinioning his
+arms and holding him fast by placing his own knee in his adversary's
+back. Mr. Livingstone struggled fiercely, but almost instantly Mr.
+Mitchel took the opals from his pockets, and then quietly remarked:
+
+"Release him, Mr. Barnes. I have my property."
+
+Mr. Barnes obeyed, and for an instant Mr. Livingstone seemed weighing
+his chances, but evidently deciding that the odds were in all ways
+against him, he rushed from the apartment and out of the house.
+
+"Well, Mr. Mitchel," said Mr. Barnes, "now that the danger has passed,
+an explanation seems to be in order. You seem to have four opals."
+
+"Yes; but that is merely seeming. You will readily understand why I
+wished your eyes, for without them I could not have taken my own off of
+the opals even for an instant."
+
+"Then you purposely turned your back when you went to get the silver
+band?"
+
+"Assuredly. Why could I not have taken out the band in the first
+instance, and why did I lock the safe, making it necessary for me to
+take time with the combination? Simply to give my man the opportunity
+to do his trick. You see, I knew before he came here exactly what he
+would do."
+
+"How did you know?"
+
+"You will recall that in his letter he offers to sell me the duplicate
+opal. That made me smile when I read it, for I already had been notified
+that he had had duplicates of his opal made."
+
+"You had been notified?"
+
+"Yes. This whole affair flatters my vanity, for I anticipated the event
+in its minutest detail, and all by analytical deduction. You quite
+correctly argued that Livingstone would not abandon his quest of the
+opal. I also reached that point, and then I asked myself, 'How will he
+get it, knowing that I would not sell?' I could find but one way. He
+would offer to sell his, and during the transaction try to steal mine.
+As he would need both opals in his Mexican mining venture, his only
+chance of carrying both away with him would be to have two others to
+leave in their stead. Thus I argued that he would endeavor to have two
+duplicates of his opal made. Ordinarily, opals are not sufficiently
+expensive to make it pay to produce spurious specimens. Consequently, it
+has been little done; indeed, I doubt that the members of the trade in
+this city have any idea that doublet opals have been made and sold in
+this city. But I know it, and I know the man who made the doublets.
+These were common opals, faced with thin layers of a fine quality of
+'harlequin' which often comes in such thin layers that it is
+practically useless for cutting into stones, though it has been utilized
+for cameos and intaglios. This lapidary does his work admirably, and his
+cement is practically invisible. I went to this man and warned him that
+he might be called upon to duplicate a large and valuable opal, and I
+arranged that he should fill the order, but that he should notify me of
+the fact."
+
+"Ah, now I understand. The genuine opals lay on the desk, and when you
+turned to the safe Livingstone merely exchanged them for the spurious
+doublets. But tell me why did he risk bringing the real opal here at
+all? Why not offer you one of the doublets, and then merely have one
+exchange to make?"
+
+"He was too shrewd to risk that. In the first place, he knows I am an
+expert, and that I would compare the two jewels before making the
+purchase; he feared that under such close scrutiny I would discover the
+deception. Secondly, the two genuine opals absolutely match each other.
+So also the two doublets are actual mates. But the doublets only
+approximately resemble the real opals."
+
+"Mr. Mitchel, you have managed Livingstone admirably, but there still
+remains the man Domingo. Until he is disposed of I still think there is
+danger. Pardon my pertinacity."
+
+"I told you at the beginning of this incident that I had a spy upon
+Livingstone, but that though the method was commonplace, my choice of a
+spy was unique. My spy was Livingstone's partner, Domingo."
+
+"What! You were on intimate terms with Domingo?"
+
+"Was not that my best course? I found the man, and at once explained to
+him that as Livingstone never could get my opal, it would be best to
+shift the partnership and aid me to get Livingstone's. Thus you see,
+having, as it were, conceived the logical course for Livingstone to
+pursue, I had his partner Domingo suggest it to him."
+
+"Even the idea of the doublets?"
+
+"Certainly. I gave Domingo the address of the lapidary, and Domingo
+supplied it to Livingstone."
+
+"Mr. Mitchel, you are a wonder as a schemer. But now you have Domingo on
+your hands?"
+
+"Only for a short time. Domingo is not such a bloodthirsty cutthroat as
+your friend Sanchez made you believe. He readily admitted that the game
+was up when I explained to him that I had one of the opals, a fact which
+Livingstone had not communicated to him. I had little difficulty in
+persuading him to become my assistant; money liberally applied often
+proving a salve for blasted hopes. Besides, I have raised his hopes
+again, and in a way by which he may yet become possessed of that opal
+mine, and without a partner."
+
+"Why, how do you mean?"
+
+"I shall give him the doublets, and I have no doubt he can palm them off
+on the old priests, who will not examine too closely, so anxious are
+they to see the eyes of the idol restored."
+
+"There is yet one thing that I do not fully understand. Sanchez told
+me----"
+
+"Sanchez told you nothing, except what he was instructed to tell you."
+
+"Do you mean to say----"
+
+"I mean that Sanchez's story of my danger was told to you so that you
+would come here this morning. You noted yourself that I must have
+expected you, when you found the bookcase arranged for you. I had an
+idea that I might need a strong and faithful arm, and I had both. Mr.
+Barnes, without your assistance, I must have failed."
+
+
+
+
+                                  VIII
+
+                           THE PEARLS OF ISIS
+
+
+Mr. Barnes sat for a while in silence, gazing at Mr. Mitchel. The
+masterly manner in which that gentleman had managed the affair
+throughout won his admiration and elevated him more than ever in his
+esteem. The denouement was admirable. Before handing over the check Mr.
+Mitchel had led Mr. Livingstone to state in the presence of a concealed
+witness that the opal about to be sold was genuine, whereas, as a matter
+of fact, the one on the desk at that moment was spurious. Then the
+payment with a check and the exacting of a receipt furnished tangible
+proofs of the nature of the transaction. Thus, even eliminating the
+theft of the other opal, Mr. Mitchel was in the position to prove that
+the man had obtained a large sum of money by false pretenses. The
+recovery of the stolen opal practically convicted Mr. Livingstone of a
+still greater crime, and with a witness to the various details of the
+occurrence Mr. Mitchel had so great a hold upon him that it would be
+most improbable that Mr. Livingstone would pursue his scheme further.
+The second conspirator, Domingo, was equally well disposed of, for if
+he returned to Mexico with the imitation opals, either the priests would
+discover the fraud and deal with the man themselves, or, by their
+failing to do so, he would gain possession of the opal mine.
+
+In either event there would be no reason for him to return to trouble
+Mr. Mitchel.
+
+"I see the whole scheme," said Mr. Barnes at length, "and I must
+congratulate you upon the conception and conduct of the affair. You have
+courteously said that I have been of some assistance, and though I doubt
+it, I would like to exact a price for my services."
+
+"Certainly," said Mr. Mitchel. "Every man is worthy of his hire, even
+when he is not aware of the fact that he has been hired, I presume. Name
+your reward. What shall it be?"
+
+"From my place of concealment, a while ago, I observed that before you
+took out the opal, you removed from the box a magnificent string of
+pearls. As you have claimed that all valuable jewels have some story of
+crime, or attempted crime, attached to them, I fancy you could tell an
+interesting tale about those pearls."
+
+"Ah; and you would like to hear the story?"
+
+"Yes; very much!"
+
+"Well, it is a pretty old one now, and no harm can come, especially if
+you receive the tale in confidence."
+
+"Assuredly."
+
+"They are beautiful, are they not?" said Mr. Mitchel, taking them up
+almost affectionately, and handing them to Mr. Barnes. "I call them the
+Pearls of Isis."
+
+"The Pearls of Isis?" said Mr. Barnes, taking them. "An odd name,
+considering that the goddess is a myth. How could she wear jewelry?"
+
+"Oh, the name originated with myself. I will explain that in a moment.
+First let me say a few words in a general way. You ask me for the story
+of that string of pearls. If what is told of them in Mexico is true,
+there is a pathetic tale for each particular pearl, aside from the many
+legends that are related of the entire string."
+
+"And do you know all of these histories?"
+
+"No, indeed. I wish that I did. But I can tell you some of the legendry.
+In Humboldt's _American Researches_ you will find an illustration
+showing the figure of what he calls 'The Statue of an Aztec Priestess.'
+The original had been discovered by M. Dupe. The statue was cut from
+basalt, and the point of chief interest in it is the head-dress, which
+resembles the calantica, or veil of Isis, the Sphinxes, and other
+Egyptian statues. On the forehead of this stone priestess was found a
+string of pearls, of which Humboldt says: 'The pearls have never been
+found on any Egyptian statue, and indicate a communication between the
+city of Tenochtitlan, ancient Mexico, and the coast of California, where
+pearls are found in great numbers.' Humboldt himself found a similar
+statue decorated with pearls in the ruins of Tezcuco, and this is still
+in the museum at Berlin, where I have seen it. Humboldt doubted that
+these statues represented priestesses, but thought rather that they were
+merely figures of ordinary women, and he bases this view on the fact
+that the statues have long hair, whereas it was the custom of the
+tepanteohuatzin, a dignitary controlling the priestesses, to cut off the
+tresses of these virgins when they devoted themselves to the services of
+the temple. M. Dupe thought that this statue represented one of the
+temple virgins, while, as I have said, Humboldt concluded that they had
+no religious connection. My own view is that both of these gentlemen
+were wrong, and that these and similar statues were images of the
+goddess Isis."
+
+"But I thought that Isis was an Old World goddess?"
+
+"So she was, and the oldest world is this continent. We need not now
+enter upon a discussion of the reasons upon which I base my belief.
+Suffice it to say that I think I can prove to the satisfaction of any
+good archaeologist that both Isis and Osiris belong to Central America.
+And as those pearls in your hand once adorned an Aztec basaltic statue
+similar to those of Dupe and Humboldt, I have chosen to call them the
+'Pearls of Isis.'"
+
+"Ah; then it is from their origin that you imagine that so many stories
+are connected with them. I have always heard that the priests of ancient
+Mexico were a bloodthirsty lot, and as pearls are supposed by the
+superstitious to symbolize tears, I can imagine the romances that might
+be built around these, especially if they were guarded by virgin
+priestesses."
+
+"Now you are utilizing your detective instinct to guess my tale before
+it is told. You are partly right. Many curious legends are to be heard
+from the natives in Mexico, explanatory of these pearl-bedecked idols.
+Two are particularly interesting, though you are not bound to accept
+them as strictly true. The first was related to me personally by an old
+man, who claimed a connection with the priesthood through a lineage of
+priestly ancestors covering two thousand generations. This you will
+admit is a long service for a single family in worshipful care of a lot
+of idols, and it would at least be discourteous to doubt the word of
+such a truly holy man."
+
+"Oh, I shall not attempt to discredit or disprove the old fellow's
+story, whatever it may be."
+
+"That is very generous of you, considering your profession, and I am
+sure the old Aztec would feel duly honored. However, here is his story.
+According to him, there were many beautiful women among the Aztecs, but
+only the most beautiful of these were acceptable to the gods as
+priestesses. Their entrance into the service of the temple, I imagine,
+must have been most trying, for he stated that it was only when the
+women came before the priests with their chosen lovers to be married
+that the priests were permitted to examine their faces in order to
+determine whether they were beautiful enough to become temple virgins.
+If, on such an occasion, the bride seemed sufficiently beautiful, the
+priest, instead of uniting her to her lover, declared that the gods
+demanded her as their own, and she was forthwith consecrated to the
+service of the temple. They were then compelled to forswear the world,
+and, under threats of mysterious and direful punishments, they promised
+to guard their chastity, and devote their virgin lives to the gods. The
+mysterious punishment meted out to transgressors the old priest
+explained to me. Usually in such instances the girl would elope, most
+often with the lover of whom she had been deprived at the altar. No
+effort was made to recapture her. Such was the power of the priests, and
+such the superstitious dread of the anger of the gods, that none would
+hold communication of any kind with the erring couple. Thus isolated and
+compelled to hide away in the forests, the unfortunate lovers would
+eventually live in hourly dread of disaster, until either the girl would
+voluntarily return to the priests to save her lover from the imagined
+fury of the gods, or else to save himself he would take the girl back.
+In either case the result would be the same. None ever saw her again.
+But, shortly after, a new pearl would appear upon the forehead of the
+idol."
+
+"A new pearl? How?"
+
+"The old priest, whose word you have promised not to doubt, claimed that
+beneath the temple there was a dark, bottomless pool of water in which
+abounded the shell-fish from which pearls were taken. These molluscs
+were sacred, and to them were fed the bodies of all the human beings
+sacrificed on their altars. Whenever one of the temple virgins broke her
+oath of fidelity to the gods, upon her return she was dropped alive into
+this pool, and, curious to relate, at the appearance of the next new
+moon the tepanteohuatzin would invariably discover a pearl of marvellous
+size."
+
+"Why, then, each pearl would represent a temple virgin reincarnated, as
+it were?"
+
+"Yes; one might almost imagine that in misery and grief over her unhappy
+love affair, she had wept until she had dissolved, and that then she had
+been precipitated, to use a chemical term, in the form of a pearl.
+Altogether the legend is not a bad one, and if we recall the connection
+between Isis and the crescent moon, you must admit my right to call
+these the Pearls of Isis."
+
+"Oh, I promised to dispute nothing. But did you not say that there was
+another legend?"
+
+"Yes, and I am glad to say it has a much more fortuitous finale and is
+altogether more believable, though this one was not told to me by a man
+of God, or perhaps to be more accurate I should say a 'man of the gods.'
+According to this rendition the temple virgins were chosen exactly as
+related in the other narrative, but before actually entering upon their
+duties there was a period of probation, a period of time covering 'one
+moon.' You see we cannot escape the moon in this connection. During this
+probationary period it was possible for the lover to regain his
+sweetheart by paying a ransom, and this ransom was invariably a pearl
+of a certain weight and quality. By placing these pearls on the forehead
+of the goddess she was supposed to be repaid for the loss of one of her
+virgin attendants. All of which shows that her ladyship, Isis, in her
+love for finery, was peculiarly human and not unlike her sisters of
+to-day."
+
+"This second story is very easy to believe, if one could understand
+where the pearls were to be found."
+
+"Oh, that is easily explained. Humboldt was right in supposing that
+there was a communication with the Californian coast. There was a
+regular yearly journey to and from that place for the purposes of trade,
+and many of the Aztecs travelled thither purposely to engage in fishing
+for pearls. Whenever one of these fishers was fortunate enough to find a
+pearl of the kind demanded by the priests, he would hoard it up, and
+keep his good luck a secret. For with such a pearl could he not woo and
+win one of the fairest daughters of his tribe? We can well imagine that
+without such a pearl the more cautious of the beauties would turn a deaf
+ear to lovers' pleadings, fearing to attract the eyes of the priests at
+the altar. Verily, in those days beauty was a doubtful advantage."
+
+"Yes, indeed. Now I understand what you meant when you said that each of
+these pearls might have its own romance. For, according to the legends,
+they are either the penalty or the price of love. But you have not told
+me the particular story of these pearls."
+
+"There may be as many as there are pearls, but I can tell you but one;
+though as that involves a story of crime, it will interest you I am
+sure. You will remember that when we were going to the yacht on that day
+when we solved the first opal mystery, I explained to you my reasons for
+buying up large gems. I think I told you of my first venture?"
+
+"Yes; you overheard a plot to steal a ruby, and you went to the hostess
+and bought the jewel, which you then stuck in your scarf, where the
+plotters could see it and know that it had changed hands."
+
+"That is the tale exactly. You will consider it a curious coincidence
+when I tell you that these pearls came into my possession in an almost
+similar manner."
+
+"That is remarkable, I must say."
+
+"And yet not so remarkable, either, all things considered. Crime, or
+rather the method of committing a crime, is often suggested by previous
+occurrences. A body is found in the river dismembered, and is a nine
+days' wonder. Yet, even though the mystery may be solved, and the
+murderer brought to justice, the police may scarcely have finished with
+the case before another dismembered body is discovered. Often, too, the
+second criminal goes unpunished; in imitating his predecessor he avoids,
+or attempts to avoid, his mistakes. I suppose that is easier than
+formulating an entirely new plan. So I imagine that the attempt to steal
+the ruby, which I frustrated, and the stealing of the pearls, which was
+successfully managed, may have some connection, more especially as both
+affairs occurred in the same house."
+
+"In the same house?"
+
+"Yes, and within a month, or, to follow the legend, I might say in the
+same 'moon.' I was in New Orleans at the time, and as it was in the
+Mardi Gras season, masked balls were common occurrences. One who was
+especially fond of this class of entertainment was Madame Damien. She
+was a widow, not yet thirty, and as her husband, Maurice Damien, had
+belonged to one of the wealthiest and most distinguished of the old
+Creole families, there was no apparently good reason for denying her the
+rightful privilege of mixing with and receiving the best people of the
+city. Nevertheless, there were a few who declined to associate with her,
+or to allow the younger members of their households to do so."
+
+"What were their reasons?"
+
+"Reasons there were, but of such an impalpable nature that even
+those who most rigorously shunned her, ventured not to speak openly
+against her. For reasons, it might have been said that she smoked
+cigarettes--but other good women did likewise; she entertained often,
+and served wine intemperately--others did the same; she permitted
+card-playing in her rooms, even for money stakes,--but the same thing
+occurred in other houses, though perhaps not so openly. Thus none of
+these reasons, you see, was sufficiently potent. But there were others,
+less easily discussed and more difficult to prove. It was whispered,
+very low and only in the ears of most trustworthy intimates, that
+Madame Damien permitted, nay, encouraged, young men to pay court to her.
+If true, she managed her courtiers most admirably, for openly she was
+most impartial in distributing her favors, while secretly--well, none
+penetrated the secrets of Madame Damien. One thing was certainly in her
+favor; there were no duels about her, and duelling was not uncommon in
+those days."
+
+"I should say she was a clever woman."
+
+"Just the word. Some, who could say nothing more, said she was
+altogether too clever. It was this woman who sold me the ruby."
+
+"The first acquisition to your collection?"
+
+"Yes. I may as well briefly give you the facts, for thus you may see the
+connection between the two affairs. Land is not so valuable in our
+southern country as it is here in New York, and the houses of the
+wealthy are often in the midst of extensive gardens. Some of these not
+only have beautiful flower-beds, but likewise palms, cacti, oleanders,
+azaleas, and other tropical plants. Madame Damien's residence was in a
+garden which might almost be called a miniature park. The paths were of
+snow-white oyster shells, rolled and beaten until they resembled smooth
+white marble. The hedges were of arbor vitae cut with square top, except
+here and there where the trees were trained to form arched gateways
+through which the flower-beds could be reached. In places, often nearly
+concealed by flowering plants, were little houses,--lovers' nooks they
+are called,--made also of trained arbor vitae. Of larger trees there
+were the palmetto, the orange, and the magnolia. On fete nights these
+beautiful grounds would be illuminated with Chinese lanterns,
+sufficiently numerous to make the scene a veritable fairy picture, but
+not shedding enough light to interfere with the walks of lovers who
+sought the garden paths between the dances."
+
+"Your description reminds one of Eden."
+
+"The similarity is greater than you imagine, for the serpent lurked in
+the rose bowers. At one of Madame Damien's masquerade fetes I had left
+the warm rooms for a breath of the perfume-laden air without, and was
+walking along a path which led to the farthest end of the garden, when I
+was attracted by a stifled cry. I stopped and listened, and as it was
+not repeated I was just thinking that I had heard the mournful cry of a
+dove, when a tug at my sleeve caused me to turn quickly. At my side was
+a little creature in a green domino scarcely distinguishable from the
+shrubbery that lined the walk. The girl stood on her toes, drew my head
+down to hers, and in a frightened tone whispered:
+
+"'The men. They mean mischief--to them--in there.'
+
+"She pointed to one of the little arbor-vitae houses near us, and turning
+fled back along the path before I could restrain her.
+
+"Much mystified, I stepped softly toward the little house, intending to
+discover if possible who might be within, when I seemed to hear voices
+behind me. Listening intently, I traced the sounds to the opposite side
+of the hedge, and therefore I crept cautiously in that direction,
+satisfied that here were the men to whom the girl had made allusion.
+Here is what I heard:
+
+"'As they come out, we must follow them. When I whistle, you jump on
+madame; I will take care of him. I will undertake to hurt him enough to
+make him squeal. That will alarm Madame, who will be so fearful lest her
+precious lover be hurt that you will have no difficulty in getting the
+ruby.'"
+
+"Quite a neat little plot; only needs the detail of garroting to afford
+us a perfect picture of the Spanish brigand," said Mr. Barnes.
+
+"The men were undoubtedly professional thieves who considered the
+masquerade a good opportunity. As soon as they mentioned the ruby, I
+knew that the woman was none other than Madame Damien, who possessed a
+stone of rare beauty which she frequently wore. The point of greatest
+interest was that Madame seemed about to lose her usual good luck by
+having one of her love affairs discovered. How could I warn her without
+myself learning who was with her? Strange though it may seem, I had no
+wish to know the name of her companion, so I hit upon an expedient.
+Going to the door of the little house I called aloud:
+
+"'Madame Damien! Will you allow me to speak to you a moment?' Of course
+she did not reply. From the deathlike stillness of the place one might
+have thought it empty. I was too sure, however, that she was there, so I
+spoke again.
+
+"'Madame, your very life is in danger, if you do not come out and speak
+to me.' In an instant she was at my side, talking in a quick whisper.
+
+"'Who are you? What do you mean?'
+
+"'Pardon my intruding, but I was obliged to adopt this course, I assure
+you.'
+
+"I was speaking loudly enough to be heard by the men on the other side
+of the hedge. 'I was passing here just now, with no suspicion that you
+were here, alone,'--I purposely used the word, so that she might feel
+easy about her companion,--'when I chanced to overhear the plotting of
+two ruffians who are even now hidden in the hedge. They are lying in
+wait for you, intending to rob you of your ruby.'
+
+"'Steal my ruby? I don't understand.'
+
+"'Had I not heard their plan, they would undoubtedly have partly
+strangled you while they stole the jewel. It was to save you from the
+danger of this encounter and the loss that I felt it my duty to call you
+out to speak with me.'
+
+"'What shall I do?'
+
+"'I advise you to sell the stone to me.'
+
+"'Sell it to you? How would that help matters?'
+
+"'I have my check-book with me. You know who I am,--Leroy Mitchel. There
+is light enough by this lantern to write, and I have a fountain-pen. If
+you sell me the ruby, and take the check, you may safely go to the
+house. The would-be thieves are listening and perhaps watching us.
+Consequently, they will know of this transaction and will have no reason
+to follow you.'
+
+"'But yourself?'
+
+"'I can take care of myself, especially as I am armed. I shall follow
+you in a few moments, and I am sure no attack will be made upon me.'
+
+"She hesitated a moment. She did not really wish to sell the stone, yet
+her only other alternative was to inform me that as another man was
+present we might go to the house together without fear. But not wishing
+to disclose the presence of this other man, she decided to sell me the
+stone, or rather to appear to do so, for her plan was to return my check
+later and recover the ruby. This offer she made to me on the following
+day, but I declined because the idea of forming my collection of rare
+gems had entered my mind when I heard the plotters talking. Before
+finally yielding she made one effort, being a plucky woman.
+
+"'I need not sell you the ruby, Mr. Mitchel, for if, as you say, you are
+armed, I have no fear of accepting your escort to the house.'
+
+"This of course would have defeated my purpose, so I hastily explained
+to her that I wished to stay behind because I intended to attempt to
+capture one or both of the ruffians. Whether or not she might have found
+some other means of avoiding my offer, she did not think of one then, so
+she handed me the ruby and I gave her the check. After she had left me,
+I cautiously searched the hedges but met no one. I was satisfied,
+however, that the men had heard all that had passed, and I also believed
+that they might still imagine that there would be a chance to get the
+ruby, under the supposition that my purchase was but a pretense, and
+that as soon as I should return to the parlors I would restore the
+jewel. It was for this reason that I wore it conspicuously in my scarf."
+
+"What of the little woman in the green domino? Did you see her again?"
+
+"I caught a glimpse of her only, though I am sure she got a better view
+of me. It was in the house. Here, also, there was a profusion of green,
+the place being literally strewn with potted plants. I was standing near
+a group of palms when I caught sight of my lady of the green domino,
+gazing intently at me. As she saw that I had detected her presence, she
+swiftly glided away, and I lost her in the throng. I was certain,
+however, that she saw the ruby in my scarf, and so knew that I had
+prevented the mischief of which she had warned me."
+
+"It would have been interesting to discover her identity."
+
+"All in good time, Mr. Detective. We come now to the story of the string
+of pearls. It was just three weeks later. Madame was holding another
+fete. Once more I was destined to play eavesdropper, though this time
+with even still more startling results. I had been dancing a quadrille,
+my unknown partner being charmingly dressed in a costume which at the
+time I did not understand. I had noticed her several times during the
+evening, standing always alone, apparently neglected by the young men.
+So I asked her to be my partner, rather in the spirit of giving her
+some of the pleasures of the evening, though you must understand that I
+was at that time young myself and quite susceptible to the charms of the
+opposite sex. She had seemed reluctant at first to dance with me, and
+then, as though impulsively altering her mind, she had expressed her
+willingness more in act than by any word, for she had not spoken.
+Clutching my arm nervously, she had led me a little way across the
+floor, and stopped where a couple was needed to fill a quadrille. _En
+vis-a-vis_ was a couple who attracted her attention to such an extent
+that I almost imagined that my partner had brought me into this set with
+the purpose of watching them. The man was unmistakably dressed as Romeo,
+while the costume of his partner was as mystifying to me as that of the
+girl beside me. I afterwards learned that she was assuming the guise of
+Helen of Troy."
+
+"Your hostess, Madame Damien, I'll be bound."
+
+"You make a good guesser, Mr. Barnes. Madame Damien it was, though,
+truth to tell, I was so much interested in the silent, watchful girl
+beside me that I paid little attention to the others. The quadrille had
+just ended and I was wondering how best to make my little sphinx talk,
+when a strange thing happened. The couple opposite to us crossed toward
+us, and as they approached my partner swayed as though about to fall,
+and then suddenly toppled over against me, and in a whisper she said:
+
+"'I am dizzy. Take me out in the air.'
+
+"Just then, 'Helen of Troy,' hanging on the arm of her 'Romeo,' passed
+so close to us that the women's costumes touched. She looked
+scrutinizingly at the girl with me, and I heard her say to her
+companion,--
+
+"'That girl is a sphinx.'
+
+"Then they passed on. Her words startled me, for I had just used the
+epithet in my own mind in connection with my partner. I thought of her
+as a sphinx because of her silence. But now that some one else called
+her a sphinx, I observed that she wore a curious head-dress which
+reminded one of the great monument of the Eastern desert. Perhaps, then,
+she was but playing the part which she had assumed with her costume. At
+all events there seemed to be a mystery worthy of the effort at
+penetration. So I hurried out into the air with my little sphinx, and
+soon we were walking up one of the snow-white walks. I tried to induce
+her to talk, but though she seemed willing to remain in my
+companionship, she trembled a good deal but kept as mum as the stone
+image to which I now likened her. I was wondering by what device I might
+make her talk, when she utterly startled me by crying out:
+
+"'I wish I dared to tell you everything. Perhaps you might help me.'
+
+"'Tell me what you will, little one,' said I, 'and I will help you if I
+can, and keep your secret besides.'
+
+"'Oh, there is no secret,' she exclaimed; 'I am not so wicked as that.
+But we cannot talk here. Come, I know a place.'
+
+"I followed her as she hurried me on, more mystified than before. She
+tells me 'there is no secret,' and that she is 'not as wicked as that.'
+Why need she be wicked, to have a secret? I could not fathom it, but as
+I was to know all, even though it were no secret, I was able to await
+the telling. Oddly enough, as it seemed to me then, she led me to the
+very lovers' nook in which I had found Madame Damien when I purchased
+the ruby. Before entering, my little sphinx took the precaution to
+extinguish the lanterns at the doorway, so that when we passed inside we
+were in gloom as impenetrable as that of one of the passageways in the
+pyramids. She seemed familiar with the place, for she took my hand and
+led me away to one side, where there was a rustic bench. Here we sat
+down, and after a few minutes she began.
+
+"'You do not know me, of course,' said she.
+
+"'Why, no,' I replied; 'how should I?'
+
+"'I was afraid you might have recognized my voice. But then I haven't
+spoken much to you, have I?'
+
+"'No; but now I do recognize your voice at least. It was you who warned
+me, here at this very spot, at the last fete. Was it not?'
+
+"'Yes; I heard the men talking and I was afraid they might hurt--might
+hurt some one. Then you came along, and so I told you. I recognized you
+to-night because you have the same dress.'
+
+"I began to suspect that the 'some one' whom she had shielded that night
+was not our fair hostess, but rather the man who had been with her. I
+was wondering whether it would be wise to ask her this question, or
+whether to wait for her to tell her story in her own way, when I was
+startled at feeling the softest of hands pressed tightly over my lips,
+and to hear a whisper close to my ear.
+
+"'Don't speak,' she said; 'they are coming--they are coming here.'
+
+"I strained my ears and at first heard nothing, but love sharpens the
+ears I suppose, for presently I did hear footsteps, and then low voices,
+growing louder as though approaching, and finally the persons, evidently
+a man and woman, actually entered our place of concealment. The
+situation was embarrassing, especially as that little hand still rested
+over my mouth as though warning me to do nothing. Luckily, the intruders
+did not come to our side of the place, but took seats apparently
+opposite. They were talking in earnest tones, the woman finishing a
+sentence as they came in.
+
+"'--my mind, whether to release you or not. At all events, I must know
+more about this somewhat curious proposition of yours.'
+
+"I recognized at once the voice of Madame Damien. It was evident,
+therefore, that the man was her partner of the dance, and that it was he
+who had been with her in this place on the other occasion seemed a
+probability. He answered her as follows:
+
+"'I do not think the proposition is a curious one. I only do what women
+always do. Certainly my sex should have the same privileges in an
+affair of this character.'
+
+"'That is a question that philosophers might discuss,' said Madame
+Damien, 'but we need not. Whether you have the right or not it is
+evident that you choose to exercise it. And what is this right?'
+
+"'The right to tell you the truth. The right to tell you that I do not
+love you, that I have made a terrible blunder.'
+
+"The little hand over my mouth trembled violently, and slipped away. I
+could hear the girl next to me breathing so distinctly that it seemed
+odd that the others did not hear also. Perhaps they were too much
+occupied with their own affair.
+
+"'The right to tell me that you do not love me,' repeated Madame; 'but
+you have so often told me that you do love me, and you have told me of
+your love so eloquently, that now when you come to me and say that you
+have made a blunder, naturally I have the right to question you. Here
+are two opposite statements. How am I to know which to believe?'
+
+"'I am telling you the truth, now.'
+
+"'Perhaps; you may be right. You may know your heart at last, and if
+what you say is really true, of course I have no desire to try to keep
+what you only supposed to be love, however eloquently you told about it,
+however well you played the part. The awkward thing is that to-morrow,
+next week, by the new moon perhaps, you may be at my feet again singing
+the same old songs, old love songs. You will tell me that what you say
+then is truth, but that what you are telling me now is false. How, then,
+shall I know what to think?'
+
+"'What I tell you now is true. I shall not tell you otherwise at any
+time in the future.'
+
+"'Of this you are quite sure?'
+
+"'Quite sure!'
+
+"Up to this point the woman had spoken softly, almost with love in her
+voice. It sounded like a mother talking with her son who was confessing
+a change of heart, or rather a change of sweethearts. Now, suddenly, all
+was changed. When she spoke again it was in the voice of rage, almost of
+hate. It was the woman spurned; more than that,--it was the woman
+jealous of the rival who had replaced her in her lover's heart.
+
+"'So you are quite sure that you will not make love to me again!' she
+cried, with such ferocity that the girl beside me moved closer to me as
+though seeking protection; 'you are sure of that? Then you love another.
+There is no other test by which you could be so sure. Answer me, is it
+true? Is it true, I say? Answer me at once; I want no lies.'
+
+"'Well, and what if it is true,' said the man, angered by her speech.
+
+"'What if it is true? You ask me that? Well, I'll answer. If it is true,
+then the other girl is welcome to you. She may have you, with your
+second-hand love. May she be happy in the love that changes with the
+moon. So much for her. But with you. Ah, that must be different. You
+wish to be released? Well, you shall pay for your liberty, my fickle
+lover; you shall pay!'
+
+"'I will pay you whatever you demand. What is it?'
+
+"'So. You value your liberty so much that you promise before you know my
+terms! Very well, then. You will bring me to-night, before an hour has
+passed, the string of pearls that your mother wore on her wedding-day.'
+
+"'My God, no! Not that! It is impossible!'
+
+"'How quickly you make and break promises! Your ideas of honor are as
+slim as your notions of love. And why is it impossible to give me the
+pearls?'
+
+"'They are not mine. Anything that is mine I will give. But the pearls
+are not mine.'
+
+"'If not yours whose are they, pray?'
+
+"'Let me explain. They have been in my family for generations. They were
+taken from an idol in Mexico by one of my ancestors who was with Cortez.
+He gave them to his bride, and declared that they should descend to the
+eldest sons for all time, to be given as a bridal present to their
+wives. Moreover he declared that so long as this behest was strictly
+followed, no dishonor should come to our house and name.'
+
+"'What you tell me makes me only more determined to have the pearls.
+Your ancestor was a good prophet. You dishonor your house when you offer
+me your love and then withdraw from your contract. You asked me to be
+your wife, and according to your ancestor's will the pearls should be
+my bridal decoration. I could claim them in that manner, did I choose.'
+
+"'What do you mean?'
+
+"'I mean to have those pearls. No other woman shall wear them. If the
+loss brings dishonor to your house, yours is the fault. But I have
+talked long enough. I loathe myself for bartering with you. Now I give
+you my command. Bring me those pearls within an hour.'
+
+"She rose and started to leave the place. The man jumped up and called
+after her:
+
+"'What if I should refuse?'
+
+"She paused for a moment to reply, and her words reminded me of the hiss
+of a serpent.
+
+"'If you do not obey, when my guests unmask to-night I will announce my
+engagement, our engagement, and introduce you as my Romeo.'
+
+"She laughed mockingly, and hurried away. The man did not wait, but went
+out immediately. I felt about for my companion, but she seemed not to be
+near me. I took out a match and struck it, only to find myself alone.
+Seated nearer to the door than I, she must have slipped out without my
+knowledge."
+
+"Then you did not learn the secret of your sphinx maiden after all,"
+said Mr. Barnes.
+
+"Not immediately. But hear the sequel. You may be sure I was near our
+hostess when midnight arrived and the moment came to unmask. Madame
+Damien herself gave the signal, and then, standing at the end of the
+room, she slowly unwound a thread-lace scarf which covered her head and
+face, serving in place of a mask, and draped about her shoulders. The
+shawl thrown aside revealed her bare neck, around which hung resplendent
+the pearls in your hand. Madame made a sensation with her pearls. Though
+she owned many jewels of rare price she often wore them, and her guests
+were quite familiar with her usual display; but pearls she had never
+worn before. And such pearls! What wonder there were whisperings and
+guessings! I looked around for the other two actors in the romantic
+drama, but neither Romeo nor my sphinx maiden was to be seen.
+
+"Refreshments were served in several small rooms, and it was from one of
+these that presently a cry was heard that startled all of the guests, so
+that they rushed back into the main ballroom. There we found Madame
+Damien, pale with rage, calling for her servants, who rushed from all
+directions.
+
+"'I have been robbed,' she cried; 'robbed of my pearls! They have been
+taken from me within a minute! Let no one leave the house! Close and
+lock the doors! No one shall leave this house, until my pearls are
+restored!'
+
+"Imagine the consternation and indignation which this aroused. Madame
+was so enraged at the loss, and so wildly determined to recover the
+jewels, her jealous fear lest her rival might obtain them so intense,
+that she had entirely forgotten all the courtesy and duties of a hostess
+to her guests. All that she knew, all that she cared for, was that the
+person who had robbed her was still in the house, and she wished to
+prevent escape.
+
+"You may guess the hubbub that followed. Women and men congregated in
+groups asking each other what it all meant. Some demanded their wraps
+and the opportunity to leave instantly. Others declared that they were
+quite willing, nay, anxious, to await the denouement, which would
+certainly prove interesting. 'At least it was well to know who of their
+number might be a thief,' etc.
+
+"In these circumstances, I undertook to relieve the tension and restore
+tranquillity. I went up to Madame Damien, and said to her in a low tone:
+
+"'If you will let me speak to you alone for two minutes I will recover
+the lost pearls.'
+
+"'What do you know? What can you do?' she asked eagerly. 'Come into this
+room; we will be alone.'
+
+"I followed her into an anteroom, and we stood as we talked. She was
+laboring under such excitement that it was impossible for her to sit
+quietly.
+
+"'Tell me first just how the pearls were taken, Madame.'
+
+"'That is the miserable part of it. To think that a thief could take
+them from my neck! It is mortifying. All I know is that I was in one of
+the refreshment-rooms, standing near the window that opens into the
+ballroom. I knew nothing, felt nothing, until like a flash they were
+twitched from my neck. I clutched at them, but too late. The thief had
+stood in the ballroom, and passed her arm through the window, till she
+reached and unlocked the clasp of the necklace. Then with one quick tug,
+she had the pearls. I cried out, and the stupid people crowded about me
+so that it was a whole minute, a precious minute, before I could get out
+into the ballroom. It was empty, of course. The woman had hurried into
+one of the small rooms. But she has not left the house and she shall
+not, until the pearls are in my possession again.'
+
+"'You allude to the thief as a woman. How did you discover that, since
+from your account you could hardly have seen her?'
+
+"'No; I saw no one. But I know it was a woman. Never mind how I know.
+What, though, if it were--no! no! Impossible. He is not here; besides,
+he would not dare.'
+
+"Of course I understood that she referred to our friend Romeo, and I
+might also have thought of him, had I not made sure that he was not
+present after the unmasking.
+
+"'If you did not see the thief, you cannot be sure it was a woman,' I
+continued. 'Now, Madame, I have a proposal to make. I will purchase your
+pearls.'
+
+"'You will do nothing of the sort, Mr. Mitchel. You got my ruby, but you
+will not get the pearls. Besides, I have not them to deliver, even if I
+were willing to sell them to you.'
+
+"'That is the attractive feature of my proposition. I will pay for the
+pearls, their full value, and I will undertake to recover them.'
+
+"'But I tell you I won't sell them. And besides, how could you recover
+them?'
+
+"'I will tell you nothing in advance, except that I guarantee to recover
+them, and that, I imagine, is the main object with you.'
+
+"'What do you mean? You talk in riddles.'
+
+"'Listen. I will make my purpose clear to you. You obtained those pearls
+to-night, and----'
+
+"'How do you know that?'
+
+"'And you obtained them for a purpose,' I went on, ignoring her
+interruption. 'You made a man give them to you, because you were
+determined that another woman should not have them.'
+
+"'You are a magician,' she cried in wonder.
+
+"'You are angry at the loss of the pearls, not so much because of their
+value, as because you fear they may be restored to that other woman. You
+even think that she herself is the thief.'
+
+"'You are right; I do think that. What other woman would do such a thing
+as to steal a string of pearls from a woman's very person?'
+
+"'What if I tell you that she is not in the house?'
+
+"'Ah, then you know her? Who is she? Tell me who she is and you may have
+the pearls.' Madame spoke eagerly.
+
+"'I will only tell you enough to convince you that she is not the thief.
+You remember after one of the quadrilles passing a girl and saying,
+"That girl is a sphinx"?'
+
+"'Yes; was she----'
+
+"'Yes. Now if you search your rooms you will not find her. I know this
+because I have looked for her for half an hour.'
+
+"'If not she, then the thief was some emissary of hers. Those pearls
+shall never reach her. Never! never! never! I'll search every person in
+this house first.'
+
+"'And accomplish what? Nothing, except to ruin yourself before the
+world. Remember, your guests have rights. Already you have insulted them
+by having the doors locked. Come, we are wasting time. Sell me the
+pearls, and I will promise you two things. First, I will satisfy your
+guests and restore you to their good opinion. Secondly, I will recover
+and keep those pearls. Your rival shall never wear them.'
+
+"'My rival?'
+
+"'Your rival. Why mince matters? Is it not evident to you that I know
+all the details of this affair?'
+
+"'You are a devil! Have your own way then. Take the pearls at your own
+price, and pay for them when you like. All I demand is that you fulfil
+your agreement. She must not have them. Good night. I cannot meet my
+guests again. Explain things for me, will you?'
+
+"She was nothing but a woman again--a conquered woman, relying upon the
+chivalry of her conqueror.
+
+"'Trust me,' I replied. 'Lean on me and I will escort you to the
+stairway.'
+
+"All eyes followed us as we crossed the ballroom, and Madame looked ill
+enough to evoke pity. At any rate, my explanation was accepted
+generously, and Madame was forgiven."
+
+"I am curious to know," said Mr. Barnes, "how you recovered or expected
+to recover those pearls?"
+
+"It certainly was a unique bargain, to purchase stolen property while
+yet in the possession of the thief. I will tell you what I did. After
+leaving Madame in the care of her maids at the foot of the stairway, I
+returned to the ballroom, and made a little speech. Addressing the
+throng that crowded about me, I said:
+
+"'Friends, I beg that you will forgive Madame Damien's hasty words. She
+was overwrought, and spoke irresponsibly. She had just met with a
+serious loss under most peculiar circumstances. Imagine her standing at
+the refreshment table, while one of her guests intrudes an arm through
+the window behind her, unclasps and removes from her neck a string of
+pearls worth a fabulous sum of money. Naturally her first thought was to
+recover the pearls, and to her distracted mind the only way seemed to be
+to demand that no one should leave the house. Of course she now regrets
+her words, for no loss can excuse such treatment of guests. But I am
+sure you will forgive her, especially the ladies, who will appreciate
+her feelings. Now, in regard to the pearls I may state that I have
+undertaken to recover them. Fortunately I witnessed the theft, though
+from a distance, so that I could not prevent it. But I know who took
+the pearls, and who has them. Consequently it is unnecessary to cause
+anyone any further annoyance in the matter. To the thief, I will say
+that I understand the motive of the theft, and that I am in a position
+to promise that that motive can be consummated if the pearls are
+returned to me within three days. If they are not returned, it will be
+necessary to have the person arrested and imprisoned.'"
+
+"A bold stroke, and ingenious too," exclaimed Mr. Barnes. "The thief, of
+course, could not know whether you saw the act or not, and if a person
+of high social position it would be too great a risk not to return the
+pearls."
+
+"So I argued. Of course, had it been a man, he might have taken even
+that risk, believing that my threat was a 'bluff,' as we say in poker.
+But a woman--a woman would not take such a risk, especially as I
+promised that her purpose could still be fulfilled."
+
+"Now it is my turn to be mystified. Did you not say that your sphinx
+maiden was absent? Who else could steal the pearls? What other woman, I
+mean?"
+
+"Why, no other woman, of course. Therefore it followed that my little
+mysterious maiden must have been present, which merely means that as
+soon as she found that Madame would insist upon having the pearls, she
+boldly plotted to recover them. Her first move was to rush off and
+change her costume. You see, I was the one she most feared. Others
+might know her face, but they would not know her reasons for committing
+such an act. I could do that but I could recognize her by her costume
+only. Thus I was sure that she was still in the house, though
+differently attired."
+
+"How did your plan result?"
+
+"Of course she brought me the pearls, though not until the third day.
+She delayed action as long as she dared. Then she came to me openly and
+confessed everything. It was really a pitiful tale. She was an orphan,
+living with an aged aunt. She met the young man, and at once they loved.
+After a time she began to suspect that he was not absolutely true to
+her, and she followed him to the first masquerade to spy upon him. She
+overheard enough that night to make her believe that the young man was
+making a dupe of her. Then she also heard the men plotting the robbery,
+and feared that he might be hurt. Seeing me she told me enough to
+prevent that. Then she went home, and brooded over her sorrow until she
+decided to go into a convent. Then came the second fete, and the
+temptation once more to watch her fickle swain. This time what she heard
+brought her happiness, for did he not give up the other woman for her?
+Did he not even yield up his greatest family treasure, the pearls?
+
+"She decided to recover the pearls, and she had the courage to carry out
+her purpose. When compelled through fear of arrest to bring them to me,
+she was delighted to know that they would not be restored to Madame
+Damien. It was when I told her this, that she drew from her bosom the
+pink pearl which is now in the centre of the string, but which does not
+belong to the set as they came from the brow of the idol.
+
+"'There is a story,' said she, 'that these pearls each represent the
+price of a maiden's honor; the price of withdrawing from the service of
+God's temple. So I will add this pearl to the string, for I had promised
+to devote myself to God's work, and now I am going to my lover. This
+pearl was worn by my mother, and it is said that her mother also wore
+it, and that her blood stained it the color that it is. Her stupid
+husband, my grandfather, doubted her wrongfully and stabbed her with a
+dagger, so that she died. I think the pearl is worthy of a place among
+the others.'
+
+"I took the pink pearl, agreeing with her that it might better be with
+the others. Then, as she turned to go, I asked her:
+
+"'Why did you choose the costume of the Sphinx for the ball?'
+
+"Her reply astonished me, as it will you. She said:
+
+"'Why, I did not represent the Sphinx. I was dressed as Isis.'
+
+"A strange coincidence, was it not?"
+
+
+
+
+                                   IX
+
+                           A PROMISSORY NOTE
+
+
+Mr. Mitchel walked into the office of Mr. Barnes one afternoon as the
+clock struck two.
+
+"Here I am, Mr. Barnes," said he. "Your note asked me to be here at two,
+sharp. If your clock is right, I have answered your summons to the
+second."
+
+"You are punctuality itself, Mr. Mitchel. Sit down. I am in a good
+humor. I flatter myself that I have done a clever thing, and we are
+going to celebrate. See, there is a cold bottle, and a couple of glasses
+waiting your arrival."
+
+"You have done something clever, you say? Some bright detective work, I
+suppose. And you did not honor me this time by consulting me?"
+
+"Oh, well," said the detective, apologetically, "I should not be always
+bothering you with my affairs. It's business with me, and only amusement
+with you. When I have a matter of grave importance I like to have your
+assistance, of course. But this case, though interesting, very
+interesting, in fact, was really quite simple."
+
+"And you have solved it?"
+
+"Oh, yes; it is completed. Wound it up at noon to-day; ended happily,
+too. Let me fill your glass, and I'll tell you all about it."
+
+"We will drink to your success. 'All's well that ends well,' you know,
+and this case you say is ended?"
+
+"Oh, yes; the tale is complete down to the word 'finis.' Let me see,
+where shall I begin?"
+
+"Why, at the beginning, of course. Where else?"
+
+"Sounds like a reasonable suggestion, yet it is not always so easy to
+tell just where a story does begin. I often wonder how the romance
+writers get their stories started. Does a love story, for example, begin
+with the birth of the lovers, with their meeting, with their
+love-making, or with their marriage?"
+
+"I am afraid that love stories too often end with the marriage. If yours
+is a love story, perhaps you may as well begin with the meeting of the
+lovers. We will take it for granted that they were born."
+
+"So be it. I will transpose events slightly. Here is a document which
+was forwarded to me by mail, and evidently the sender expected me to
+receive it before the visit of a man who intended to consult me in a
+serious case. Oddly enough, the man called before the package reached
+me. Thus I had his story soonest; but perhaps it will be better for you
+to read this first, after which you will better comprehend the purpose
+of my client."
+
+Mr. Mitchel took the type-written pages and read as follows:
+
+    "MY DEAR MR. BARNES:--
+
+    "Within a few hours after reading this statement you will
+    receive a visit from a man who will introduce himself as
+    William Odell, which is not his true name, a circumstance
+    which, however, is of no consequence. He will ask you to
+    interpose your reputed skill to save him from fate. I am
+    ready to admit that you have great skill and experience, but
+    it will be utterly useless for you to interfere in this
+    matter, for, as I have said, the man is seeking to escape
+    from a doom which is his fate. Who ever altered what was
+    fated to be? We may philosophize a little and ask what it is
+    that we mean, when we speak of 'fate'? My view is that fate,
+    so called by men, is naught but the logical and necessary
+    effect of a cause. Thus if the cause exists, the effect must
+    follow. So it is with this man, whom we will call Odell. The
+    cause exists, has existed for a number of years. The time
+    for the effect is now approaching; he knows this; he knows
+    that it is fate,--that he cannot escape. Yet, with the hope
+    of a hopeless man, in his last extremity he will ask you to
+    turn aside, or at least to defer, this fate. This you cannot
+    do, and that you may understand the utter futility of
+    wasting your time, which I presume is valuable, I send you
+    this statement of the facts. Thus comprehending the
+    incidents precedent to the present situation, you will
+    appreciate the inevitable nature of the occurrence which
+    this miserable man seeks with your aid to set aside."
+
+                   *       *       *       *       *
+
+"I thought you said this was a simple case, Mr. Barnes," said Mr.
+Mitchel, interrupting his reading.
+
+"I found it so," replied Mr. Barnes, sipping his wine.
+
+"The writer says that the 'occurrence' was 'inevitable,' yet am I to
+understand that you prevented it?"
+
+"He thought it to be inevitable. I disagreed with him, and prevented
+it."
+
+"I hope you have not been over-confident."
+
+"There is no danger. Did I not tell you that the affair ended?"
+
+"So you did. I forgot that. This paper is entertaining. I will read on."
+
+The statement went on as follows:
+
+    "I was born and reared and spent all my life in Texas. In fact,
+    you may consider me a cowboy, though it is long since I have
+    thrown a lariat, and one would hardly count me a boy now. What a
+    life do we lead down there on the Texas plains! Miles and miles
+    of country stretching in easy undulations from the rising-place
+    to the set of the sun. Day after day in the saddle, till one
+    imagines himself a part of the animal which he bestrides. How
+    often in play have I dropped a red bandana, and then picked it
+    from the grass as I galloped my horse by at top speed!
+
+    "One day I was riding along, free from all worldly care, happy,
+    contented. My horse was going easily, though we had several
+    miles yet to cover. Glancing carelessly ahead, neither seeking
+    nor expecting adventure of any kind, I thought I saw, a hundred
+    yards or more ahead of me, the bright red of a handkerchief in
+    the grass. A bandana dropped by a cowboy perhaps. With nothing
+    better to do, I touched my horse's flank, and with instant
+    response his head was down and we charged the spot. Leaning so
+    low on one side that I could have touched the ground easily with
+    my hand, we rapidly neared that bit of color, and I was almost
+    upon it before I realized that it was something more than a lost
+    handkerchief,--that it was really a bundle of some sort. Yet in
+    time I noted this, and therefore exerted enough strength when I
+    clutched it to lift it firmly from the ground, though the weight
+    of it astonished me. Swinging myself back upon my horse, I
+    brought him to a walk, that I might better examine my prize.
+    Imagine my feelings when I found that the little bundle
+    contained a thing of life--a baby girl!
+
+    "There is no need to extend this part of my tale. How the child
+    got there I never learned. Whether it was dropped from a wagon
+    travelling along the trail, or deposited there purposely by one
+    of those fiends who accept the pleasures of life and shirk its
+    responsibilities, I do not know. Indeed, at the time I took but
+    a passing interest in the affair. I had picked up a baby on the
+    plains. What of it? How could a cowboy like myself be expected
+    to evince any great interest in a baby? My father was rich, and
+    I had always been indulged in all things, though always held
+    rigidly by what I was taught to consider the rules of honor. I
+    had had a taste of the big world too, for I had been first at a
+    military academy, and afterwards had graduated from Harvard.
+    Then I had gone back to Texas, back to the life on horseback in
+    the open air, the life that I loved best. So you can understand
+    that women and babies had not yet come into my mind as necessary
+    adjuncts to life.
+
+    "The child was given into the care of the very negro mammy who
+    had practically reared me, my mother having died when I was yet
+    a boy. Thus it was not until Juanita--I forget how she got the
+    name, but so she was called--was twelve, that I began to feel
+    some personal responsibility in relation to her future. My
+    father meantime had died, and I was master of the old home, the
+    ranch and all the stock. Thus there was no lack of money to
+    carry out whatever plan might seem best. I took counsel with
+    some women of our town, and the end of it was that Juanita was
+    sent as far north as Atlanta to boarding-school. Here she
+    remained until she was sixteen, but she never really enjoyed
+    herself. A child of the plains almost literally, one might say,
+    living through her earlier girlhood with little if any
+    restraint, the duties of the school-room were irksome to her,
+    and she longed to be back in Texas. This yearning grew upon her
+    so that at length she began to make references to her feelings
+    in her letters. I had missed her from about the place more than
+    I should have imagined possible, and the strong inclination was
+    to grant her wishes and bring her back; but I knew the value of
+    education, and felt in duty bound to urge her continuance of her
+    studies. When first she went, it had been arranged that she
+    should remain in Atlanta studying for eight years, but finally I
+    offered as a compromise that she might come home at the end of
+    six, at which time she would have been eighteen. You may guess
+    my surprise when one morning on my return from a long ride after
+    the cattle, I saw a horse dashing swiftly towards me, and when
+    close enough, recognized Juanita on his back. Breathless she
+    pulled up beside me, and before I could speak cried out:
+
+    "'Now don't say you are going to send me back. Don't say it!
+    Don't! Don't! Don't! It would break my heart!'
+
+    "What could I do? There she was, exuberant in her happiness, all
+    the wild energy of her animal spirits aroused by the
+    exhilaration of that liberty for which she had so long yearned.
+    Of course I thought a good deal, but I said nothing.
+
+    "'Watch me!' she exclaimed. 'I haven't forgotten how to ride.
+    See!'
+
+    "Like a flash she was off towards a clump of bushes fifty yards
+    away. I called after her, fearing that four years of school life
+    would have left her less of a horsewoman than she imagined. But
+    she only laughed, and when near the hedge raised her horse with
+    the skill of an adept and cleared it by a foot.
+
+    "During the next two years the whole tenor of my life was
+    changed. Juanita went with me everywhere. Like myself she lived
+    in the saddle, and soon she could throw a lariat or round up a
+    herd of cattle as well as almost any of my men.
+
+    "What wonder that I learned to love the girl? Philosophers tell
+    us that two may meet, exchange glances, and love. Madness! That
+    is admiration, magnetic attraction, passionate desire,--what you
+    please,--it is not love. Love may spring from such beginning,
+    but not in an instant, a day, an hour. Too many have been
+    wrecked by that delusion, wedding while intoxicated with this
+    momentary delirium, and awaking later to a realization of a
+    dread future. For what can be worse misery than to be married
+    and not mated? No, love thrives on what it feeds on. Daily
+    companionship, hourly contact breeds a habit in a man's life,
+    creates a need that can but be filled by the presence of the one
+    who excites such heart longings. Thus we learn to love our horse
+    or dog, and the possession of the animal satisfies us. So when
+    we come to love a woman, to love her with that love which once
+    born never dies, so, too, possession is the only salve, the only
+    solution. After two years I realized this, and began to think of
+    marrying my little one. 'Why not?' I asked myself. True, I was
+    forty, while she was but eighteen. But I was young in heart,
+    energy, and vitality. And who had a greater right to possess her
+    than myself? None. Then a dreadful thought came to me. What if
+    she did not love me in return? My heart turned cold, but I never
+    dreamed of coercing her. I would tell her my wish, my hope, and
+    as she should answer so should it be.
+
+    "This was my determination. You will admit that I was honorable.
+    Having formed my conclusion I sought a favorable moment for its
+    execution. At this you may wonder. Were we not together daily,
+    riding side by side, often alone with God and Nature for hours
+    together? True! But I dreaded a mistake. Should I speak when her
+    heart was not ready, the answer might blight my life.
+
+    "So I waited day after day, no moment seeming more propitious
+    than another. Yet when I did speak, it was all so simple, that I
+    wondered at myself for my long anxiety. We had been riding
+    together for three or four hours, when, reaching a shaded knoll
+    in which I knew there was a cold spring where we might refresh
+    ourselves and our horses, we stopped. As she jumped from her
+    horse, Juanita stood a moment looking back and forth across the
+    plains, and then, in full enjoyment of the scene, she exclaimed:
+
+    "'Isn't it all grand! I could live here forever!'
+
+    "My heart leaped, and my tongue moved unbidden:
+
+    "'With me?' I cried. 'With me, Juanita?'
+
+    "'Why, yes; with you, of course. With whom else?'
+
+    "She turned and gazed into my eyes frankly, wondering at my
+    question, and my hand burned as with a fever as I took hers in
+    mine, and almost whispered:
+
+    "'But with me, little one, as my own? As my very own? As my
+    little wife, I mean?'
+
+    "A dainty blush beautified her cheek, but she did not turn away
+    her eyes as she answered:
+
+    "'Why, yes. As your wife, of course. I have always thought you
+    meant it should be. Always lately, I mean.'
+
+    "So she had understood before I had known myself. She had been
+    simply waiting, while I had been worrying. I had but to reach
+    forth my hand and grasp my happiness. Well, I had been an ass
+    not to know, but at last the joy was mine.
+
+    "Be sure there was little further delay. The wedding was simple
+    yet impressive. Cowboys came from miles around, and one and all
+    they kissed the bride. We had a feast on the grass, the tables
+    extending a quarter of a mile, and all were welcome. There were
+    no cards of invitation; all within fifty miles were my
+    neighbors, and all neighbors were expected at the cowboy's
+    wedding. The ceremony was held out in the open air, and five
+    hundred men stood with bared heads as the worthy father gave me
+    my treasure and declared her mine before God and them.
+
+    "Thus Juanita came to be mine own. First given to me by that
+    Providence who rules the Universe, when the unguided steps of my
+    horse carried me to the tiny bundle lying on a boundless plain,
+    and lastly given to me with her own consent by the worthy man
+    who united us in the name of the Father of us all. Was she not
+    mine then, and thenceforward forever? Could any man rightly take
+    her from me? You shall hear.
+
+    "A year passed. A year of happiness such as poets prate of and
+    ardent men and maids hope for, but rarely realize. Then the
+    serpent entered my Eden. The tempter came, in the form of this
+    man who tells you that his name is Odell, but who lies when he
+    tells you so. He was from the North, and he had a fine form and
+    a fair face. Fair, I mean, in the sense that it was attractive
+    to women. He soon had the few young women of our neighborhood
+    dangling after him, like captured fish on a blade of palmetto. I
+    saw all this, and, seeing, had no suspicion that with the chance
+    to choose from so many who were still unclaimed, he would seek
+    to win my own dear one.
+
+    "I cannot dwell on this. Indeed, I never knew the details, only
+    the finale. The blow came as unsuspected as might an earthquake
+    in a land where tranquillity had reigned for centuries. I had
+    been away all day, and for once my wife had not ridden with me.
+    I had myself bidden her remain at home, because of the intense
+    heat of an August sun. She had begged to go with me, perhaps
+    fearing to be left alone. But I knew nothing, suspected nothing
+    of the ache and terror in her heart. When I got back, it was
+    already dark, and having been away from Juanita all day, I
+    called for her at once. The empty echoes of my voice coming back
+    as the only answer to my cry struck my heart with a chill, and a
+    nameless, hideous dread seized me. Had anything happened? Was
+    she ill, or dead? Dead it must be, I thought, or she would have
+    answered. I wandered through the house; I searched the whole
+    place; I sprang back upon my horse and rode from house to house
+    throughout that whole awful night. I discovered nothing. No one
+    could tell me aught. At daybreak I returned fagged out, with a
+    vague hope that perhaps I had made some blunder and that she was
+    still at home. At last, in the room where I kept my accounts and
+    transacted business, I found a note upon my desk which explained
+    the horrible truth. Here is a copy of it. Note the hideous
+    braggadocio. It read:
+
+    "'I. O. U. One wife. (Signed) L---- R----.'
+
+    "That you may fully appreciate how this taunt stung, I must
+    remind you that, as I have said, my father had taught me to
+    follow most rigidly the rules of honor. In transactions
+    involving even very great sums of money, it was not uncommon
+    amongst us cattlemen to acknowledge an indebtedness in this
+    primitive, informal way,--simply writing upon a slip of paper,
+    perhaps torn from the edge of a newspaper, 'I. O. U.', giving
+    the amount, and adding the signature. No dates were really
+    necessary, though sometimes added, because the possession of the
+    paper proved the debt, the cancellation by payment always
+    leading to the destruction of the I. O. U.
+
+    "Thus this heartless young brute from the North had not only
+    stolen from me my chief treasure, but he had left behind an
+    acknowledgment of his debt in that form which was most binding
+    among us.
+
+    "Does it cause you surprise to have me say that I carefully
+    preserved that bit of paper, and swore to make him meet the
+    obligation when the day of reckoning might come? This explains
+    to you that cause, which at the outset I said brings with it a
+    result which now is, and always has been, inevitable.
+
+    "Of course it is certain that had I been able to find my
+    betrayer while my anger still raged, and my anguish yet at its
+    most acute point, I would simply have shot the man on sight,
+    recklessly, thoughtlessly. But I could not get trace of him, and
+    so had time to think.
+
+    "Too late I learned that I had made one dreadful error. I have
+    told you my views of love, how engendered and how nourished. My
+    mistake was in thinking that such a love is the necessary rather
+    than merely the possible result of constant companionship
+    between congenial spirits. In my own heart the fire of true love
+    burned only too brightly, but with Juanita, poor child, it was
+    but the glow reflected from my own inward fires that warmed her
+    heart. She was happy with me, sharing my life, and when I asked
+    her to marry me, mistook her calm friendship for what she had
+    heard called love. Love she had never experienced. When later
+    the younger man devoted himself to her, she was probably first
+    merely intoxicated by an overpowering animal magnetism, which
+    was nothing but passion. But even as I have admitted that this
+    impulsive desire may drift into the truer, nobler quality of
+    love, so, later, I found, must have been the case with my
+    cherished one.
+
+    "A full year passed before I had the least idea of the
+    whereabouts of the elopers. Then one day the mail brought me a
+    brief, plaintive note from her. All she wrote was, 'Dear one,
+    forgive me. Juanita.' The date showed that it had been written
+    on the anniversary of our wedding, and from this I knew that the
+    day had brought to her remorseful memories of me. But the
+    envelope bore a postmark, and I knew at last that they were in a
+    suburb of the great metropolis.
+
+    "I started for New York that very night, bent on vengeance. But
+    one approaches a revengeful deed in a different spirit a year
+    after the infliction of the wrong, and so by the time I reached
+    my destination, my mind had attained a judicial attitude, and my
+    purpose was tempered by the evident wisdom of investigating
+    before acting. I had little difficulty in finding the nest to
+    which my bird had flown, and a happy nest it appeared to be. It
+    seems like yesterday, and the picture is distinct before my
+    vision. I came cautiously towards the cottage, which was
+    surrounded by a grassy lawn, and my heart came into my throat
+    with a choking sensation as suddenly I saw her there, my little
+    Juanita, lazily swinging in a hammock under a great elm,
+    singing! Singing so merrily that I could not doubt that she was,
+    for the moment at least, happy. So, then, she was happy--happy
+    with him. The thought affected me in a twofold manner. I
+    resented her happiness for myself, and gloried in it for her own
+    sake. I did not venture to interrupt her life by intruding
+    myself into it. I quietly prosecuted my inquiries, and learned
+    that she was known as his wife, indeed that a regular marriage
+    had taken place. Thus at least he gave her the apparent
+    protection of his name. Moreover, I found that he was still kind
+    to her, and that the two were counted a happy couple.
+
+    "Therefore I returned to Texas, and never again set eyes upon my
+    dear one, in life. But before leaving I perfected arrangements
+    whereby I might receive regular communications, and so be in the
+    position to know how it fared with Juanita, and I am bound to
+    admit that the reports were ever favorable. So far as I know, he
+    always treated her with loving kindness. In exchange for this,
+    he must count that he has been left undisturbed by me. On that
+    score, then, we are quits. But the paper on which he wrote that
+    infamous I. O. U. remained, and so long as it was in my
+    possession it was an obligation still to be met.
+
+    "Five years elapsed, and then one day suddenly I was summoned by
+    telegraph. Juanita was ill--was likely to die. I sped North as
+    fast as the swiftest express train could travel, but I arrived
+    three hours after her sweet spirit had flown. He did not
+    recognize me as I mingled with the crowd in the house at the
+    funeral, and so got a last glimpse of her face. But after the
+    grave was filled, and the little mound was covered with flowers,
+    the mound which held all that had stood between him and fate, I
+    stepped forward and stood where his eyes must meet mine.
+
+    "At first he did not recognize me, but presently he knew me, and
+    the abject terror that came into his face brought to me the
+    first sensation of pleasure that I had experienced since that
+    hour in which I had found my home deserted. I stepped back into
+    the crowd, and I saw him look about eagerly, and pass his hand
+    across his eyes, as though brushing aside some horrible vision.
+    But he was soon to learn that it was no spectral fancy, but
+    myself with whom he had to deal.
+
+    "I waited till nightfall and then sought him at his house, and
+    told him my purpose. I showed him that bit of paper on which he
+    had scrawled the words 'I. O. U. One wife,' and I told him that
+    in exacting a settlement we would change the letter 'w' to the
+    letter 'l.' That for my wife, I would expect his life, in
+    return. I gave him a respite of a few days, but this he will
+    explain to you. I know this, for twice have I seen him approach
+    your offices, and then alter his mind and depart without going
+    in. But his fate is now so near that by to-morrow, at the
+    latest, he will no longer have the courage to delay. He will go
+    to you. He will lie to you. He will endeavor to obtain your aid.
+    Fool! Of what avail? He cannot escape even if you undertake to
+    assist him. But after reading the truth, as here written, will
+    you?"
+
+Mr. Mitchel put down the last page of the statement, and, turning to Mr.
+Barnes, he said:
+
+"And you say you have thwarted this man's purpose?"
+
+"Yes; absolutely. Of course, that tale of his makes me sympathize with
+him, but the law does not grant a man the right to murder even when a
+wife is stolen. Certainly not after the lapse of five years."
+
+"I should think that the author of that document would be a man who
+would carefully plan whatever scheme he might have decided upon, and if
+you have really thwarted him, then you have been very clever. Very
+clever, indeed. How was it?"
+
+"To explain that," replied Mr. Barnes, "I must begin by telling you of
+the visit of this man who calls himself Odell. You will note that the
+Texan says that his adversary 'will explain,' etc. Thus he evidently
+intended his communication to reach me before the visit of my client.
+But it was otherwise. Mr. Odell, as we must call him, came here two days
+ago, whereas that communication did not reach me until yesterday
+morning."
+
+"Did this man Odell tell you the same story as that sent to you by the
+Texan?"
+
+"Essentially the same, yet differing materially in some of the details.
+He came into my office in a very nervous, excited frame of mind, and
+even after I had asked him to be seated and to state his business he
+seemed half inclined to go away. However, he finally concluded to
+confide his trouble to me, though he began the conversation in a
+singular manner.
+
+"'I hardly know,' said he, 'whether you can help me or not. Your
+business is to detect crimes after they have been committed, is it not?'
+
+"'It is,' said I.
+
+"'I wonder,' said he, 'whether you could prevent a crime?'
+
+"'That would depend much upon the circumstances and the nature of the
+crime.'
+
+"'Let us say that a murder was contemplated. Do you think you might be
+able to prevent it?'
+
+"'Do you know who is threatened? Who is the person to be murdered?'
+
+"'Myself.'
+
+"'Yourself? Tell me the circumstances which lead you to believe that
+such a danger threatens you.'
+
+"'The circumstances are peculiar. I suppose I must tell you the whole
+miserable story. Well, so be it. Some years ago I went into one of the
+southern states, it matters not which, and there I met a young girl with
+whom I fell madly in love. There is nothing out of the common about the
+story except as regards her guardian. I suppose that is what he would be
+called. This man was quite a wealthy ranchman, and it seems that he had
+found the girl when an infant, on the open plains. He took her home, and
+raised her. Of course he grew fond of her, but the fool forgot that he
+was twenty years older than herself and fell in love with her.
+Consequently I knew that it would be useless to ask his consent to our
+marriage, so we eloped.'"
+
+"That is a different version," interrupted Mr. Mitchel.
+
+"Very different," said Mr. Barnes. "But when I heard it, it was the only
+version known to me. I asked him how long a time had passed since the
+elopement, and he replied:
+
+"'Five years. I married the girl of course, and we have been living
+until recently up the Hudson. A month ago she died, and in grief I
+followed her body to the grave. The last sod had just been placed on the
+mound, when looking up I saw the man, the guardian, let us call him,
+standing glaring at me in a threatening manner. I was startled, and as a
+moment later he seemingly disappeared, I was inclined to believe that it
+had been merely a trick of the mind. This seemed not improbable, for if
+the man harbored any ill-will, why had he not sought me out before?'
+
+"'Perhaps he did not know where to find you,' I suggested.
+
+"'Yes, he did. I know that, because my wife told me that she wrote to
+him once. But it was not imagination, for that same night he came to my
+house, and coolly informed me that now that the girl was dead, there was
+nothing to delay longer his purpose to take my life.'
+
+"'He told you this openly?'
+
+"'He made the announcement as calmly as though he were talking of
+slaying one of his steers. I don't know why, for I am not a coward, but
+a terrible fear seized me. I seemed to realize that it would be useless
+for me to make any resistance; whether he chose to take my life at that
+moment or later, it seemed to me that I could and would make no effort
+to save myself. In fact, I imagine I felt like a man in a trance, or it
+might be in a dream-disturbed sleep wherein, while passing through
+dreadful experiences, and wishing that some one might arouse me, yet I
+myself was powerless to awaken.'
+
+"'Perhaps the man had hypnotized you.'
+
+"'Oh, no. I don't make any such nonsensical claim as that. I was simply
+terrified, that is all,--I who have never known fear before. Worse than
+all, I have not for an instant since been able to escape from my feeling
+of helpless terror. He talked to me in the quietest tone of voice. He
+told me that he had known of my whereabouts all the time, and that he
+had spared me just so long as the girl was happy; that so long as her
+happiness depended upon my living, just so long had he permitted me to
+live. Throughout the interview he spoke of my life as though it belonged
+to him; just as though, as I said before, I might have been one of his
+cattle. It was awful.'
+
+"'Did he say when or how he would murder you?'
+
+"'He did worse than that. He did the most diabolical thing that the mind
+of man could conceive. He explained to me that he considered me in his
+debt, and that the debt could only be cancelled with my life. And then
+he had the horrible audacity to ask me to give him a written
+acknowledgment to that effect.'
+
+"'How? I do not understand.'
+
+"'He drew out a large sheet of paper on which were some written words,
+and handed me the paper to read. This is what I saw: "On or before the
+thirtieth day from this date I promise to pay my debt to the holder of
+this paper."'
+
+"'How very extraordinary!'
+
+"'Extraordinary! Nothing like this has ever occurred in all the world.
+The man asked me practically to give him a thirty-day note to be paid
+with my life. Worse than that, I gave it to him.'
+
+"'You gave it to him! What do you mean?'
+
+"'At his dictation I copied those words on a similar sheet that he
+furnished, and I signed the hellish document. Don't ask me why I did it.
+I don't know, unless in my terror and despair I thought at the moment
+only of getting rid of my visitor, and of gaining even the short respite
+that here seemed held out to me. At all events I wrote the thing, and he
+folded it carefully and put it in his pocket with a satanic smile. Then
+he rose to go, but further explained to me that as the note said "on or
+before" thirty days, he would feel at liberty to conclude the matter at
+his own pleasure. This doubled the horror of the situation. What he said
+next, however, seemed to offer a ray of hope, if hope might be sought
+under such circumstances. He told me that if I could by any means manage
+to live beyond the limitations of the note, he would return the paper to
+me to be burned, and in that case I might consider the matter
+terminated.'
+
+"'Why, then, he did give you one chance of living.'
+
+"'I have tried to make myself think so. But as I have thought it over,
+sometimes I imagine that there is merely an added deviltry in
+this,--that he held out this hope only to intensify my sufferings; for
+total despair might have led me to suicide, thus shortening the period
+of my mental agony. If this was his purpose, he succeeded only too well.
+A dozen times I have been on the verge of blowing my brains out to
+abbreviate the torture, when the thought has come to me that as another
+day had passed finding me still alive, so might the remaining ones; that
+I might escape after all. So I have lived and entered another day of
+torment.'
+
+"'But why have you allowed this affair to so prey upon your mind?'
+
+"'Allowed it? How could I have escaped from it? You do not know the
+expedients of that fiend. I will tell you a few of the things that have
+made it impossible for me to forget. In the first place, every morning I
+have received a postal-card on which would appear some figures,--"30
+minus 1 equals 29,"--"30 minus 2 equals 28,"--"30 minus 3 equals 27,"
+and so on. Can you imagine my feelings this morning when the card was
+placed in my hand on which I found "30 minus 28 equals 2"?'
+
+"'But why have you read these cards?'
+
+"'Why? Why does the bird go to the snake that devours it? The cards have
+exerted a fascination for me. In my mail I would look first to see if
+one were there. Finding it, I would read it over and over, though of
+course I would know in advance the ghoulish calculation that would be
+there. But this is not all. On the third day I was about to smoke a
+cigar, when its peculiar shape attracted my attention. I looked at it a
+long time stupidly, and then broke it in half. Inside I found a slender
+metal tube, which later I discovered was filled with some horribly
+explosive preparation. I do not think that any other cigar of that
+nature has reached me. But, my suspicions once aroused, I began opening
+my cigars, to make sure, and in this manner, of course, they were
+rendered useless. Why, I have been suspicious even of cigars offered to
+me by some of my best friends. The more cordial the presentation, the
+more certain I have felt that the man might be in the plot against me.
+So I have been obliged to forego smoking, a great trial, as you may
+imagine, in such a condition of mind as I have been in, when a sedative
+would have been so acceptable.'
+
+"'You might have used cigarettes,' suggested the detective.
+
+"'Cigarettes? It seemed so at first. Of course not those ready-made, but
+I might make them for myself. I made one. Just one! I rolled it, using
+paper and tobacco that had been in my own room for over a month. When I
+applied a match the thing sizzled like a firecracker. Whether or not
+some powder had been dropped into my tobacco, I do not know. Undoubtedly
+I could have obtained fresh tobacco and fresh paper, and thus have
+enjoyed the longed-for smoke. But I tell you I have been unable to
+think these things out. I have been as feeble-minded as any imbecile.
+For a few days I obtained a little consolation out of liquor, but one
+night after taking a drink I thought I noticed a sediment in the bottom
+of the glass. I looked at it closer, and there it was. A whitish powder.
+Undoubtedly arsenic.'
+
+"'Why not sugar?' said Mr. Barnes.
+
+"'I don't know. That never occurred to me. Perhaps it was. At all events
+I have not had a drop of anything since, except water. No tea, no
+coffee, no liquor that might hide a poison. Only clear water, drawn from
+the hydrant with my own hands, into a cup that I carried about my
+person, and washed out before every draught. I was determined that he
+should not poison me except by poisoning the reservoir. This
+necessitated adopting a plan for eating that would be equally safe. So I
+have taken to eating at restaurants, a different one for every meal.'
+
+"'You have allowed yourself to become morbid on this subject. I should
+not be surprised if this man really has no intention of committing this
+murder, but has taken this means of having revenge, by causing you a
+month of mental suffering.'
+
+"'I hardly think that. He has made several efforts to kill me already.'
+
+"'In what manner?'
+
+"'Well, twice, in my own house, I was shot at from without. I heard the
+report of a pistol each time, and a ball passed close to me and entered
+the wall at my side. After the second attempt I decided to change my
+place of abode, and took a room at my club. The room had but one window,
+and that opened on the interior court. I was particular that it should
+not be exposed to the street. For several days nothing happened; then
+one night, just as I was putting out my gas, and consequently standing
+by the window, again I heard a pistol shot, and another bullet whistled
+past me, all too close. The odd thing was that though I had an immediate
+investigation made, it is certain that my enemy was not in the
+building.'
+
+"'In that case, the shot must have come in accidentally. Some one
+opposite was probably handling his pistol and carelessly touched the
+trigger, causing the explosion. Naturally, when he found that you had
+nearly been shot, he chose not to make any explanations.'
+
+"'However that may be, I thought it best to move again. This time I
+found a room in a hotel, where the only ventilation is from a skylight
+opening upon the roof. In there at least I have felt safe from intruding
+bullets. But I am disturbed by the regularity with which those
+postal-cards come to me. The address has always been changed as I have
+moved from one place to another.'
+
+"'Evidently your man keeps an eye upon you.'
+
+"'Very evidently, though I have never set eyes upon him since his visit
+on the night when he made me give him that diabolically conceived
+promissory note. Now that is the story. Can you do anything for me?'
+
+"'Let me see; according to the calculation on the card that reached you
+this morning there are still two days of respite?'
+
+"'Not of respite. There is no respite from my torture till the end
+comes, be that what it may. But there are two days remaining of the
+thirty.'
+
+"That was the problem, Mr. Mitchel," said Mr. Barnes, "which I was
+called upon to solve. Bearing in mind that I had not yet received the
+other man's communication, you will, of course, concede that it was my
+duty to endeavor to save this man?"
+
+"Undoubtedly. It was your duty to save the man under any circumstances.
+We should always prevent crime where we can. The question here was
+rather _how_ you might be able to accomplish this."
+
+"How would you have proceeded, had the case been in your care?"
+
+"Oh, no, Mr. Barnes," said Mr. Mitchel, laughing. "You cannot be allowed
+to get my advice after the affair is over. I must come in as principal
+or spectator. In this instance I am merely a spectator."
+
+"Very well. As you please. My plan, I think, was as ingenious as it was
+simple. It was evident to me either that we had to deal with a man who
+did not intend to kill his victim, in which case any course would save
+him; or else the affair might be serious. If the man really was plotting
+murder, the affair occupying so long a time was unquestionably
+premeditated and thoroughly well planned. Whatever the scheme, it was
+equally obvious that we could not hope to fathom it. The blow, if it
+should come, would be swift and sure. Consequently but one course lay
+before us."
+
+"And that was?"
+
+"To remove our man to such a place of safety that the blow, however well
+conceived, could not by any possibility reach him."
+
+"Ah, well argued! And could you find such a place?"
+
+"Yes. A private room in a safe-deposit vault."
+
+"Not bad. Not half bad. And you did this?"
+
+"Without delay. I explained my purpose to the officers of one of these
+institutions, and before another hour had passed I had Mr. Odell 'safely
+deposited,' where none could reach him except myself."
+
+"Of course you supplied him with eatables?"
+
+"Yes, indeed, and liquor and cigars beside. Poor fellow! How he must
+have enjoyed his cigars! When I visited him yesterday, on opening the
+door of his room he looked like a spectre in a fog. Now I must further
+remind you that I put Mr. Odell in this safety-vault before receiving
+the letter from the Texan, firmly believing at the time that we were
+taking unnecessary precautions. After reading the Texan's story I
+altered my mind, becoming convinced that any other course would have
+been fatal. Indeed so impressed was I with the determination of this man
+to have Mr. Odell's life, that though I had the intended victim
+absolutely safe, still I felt it my duty to make assurance doubly sure,
+by remaining at the vault myself throughout the rest of the final
+twenty-four hours, which terminated at noon to-day."
+
+"Then you released your prisoner?"
+
+"I did, and a happier man than he you never saw. He stood out in the
+open air and took a long breath as eagerly as a drunkard drinks his
+tipple."
+
+"And then what?"
+
+"Why, then we separated. He said he would go to his hotel for a good
+sleep, for he had little rest in that vault."
+
+"And that, you think, ends the case?"
+
+A quizzical tone in Mr. Mitchel's voice attracted Mr. Barnes's keen
+sense of hearing, and, slightly disturbed, he said:
+
+"Why, yes. What do you think?"
+
+"I think I would like to go to that man's hotel, and I think we cannot
+get there too quickly."
+
+"Why, what do you mean? Explain."
+
+"I cannot explain. There is no time. Do not waste another minute, but
+let us go at once and call on your client."
+
+Mystified, Mr. Barnes jumped up, and the two men hurried out of the
+building and up Broadway. They had only a few blocks to walk, and were
+soon in the elevator of the hotel ascending to the top floor where was
+that room whose only communication with the outer world was a skylight.
+Reaching the door, Mr. Barnes tried the knob, but the door was locked.
+He knocked first lightly and then more violently, but there was no
+response.
+
+"It is useless, Mr. Barnes," said Mr. Mitchel. "We must break in the
+door, and I fear we may be too late."
+
+"Too late?" said Mr. Barnes, wonderingly; but without losing more time
+throwing his weight against the door it yielded and flew in. The two men
+and the hall-boy entered, and pointing to the floor where lay the body
+of a man, Mr. Mitchel said:
+
+"See! we are too late."
+
+They lifted the man to the bed, and hastily summoned medical aid, but he
+was dead. While the hall-boy was gone to call the doctor, Mr. Barnes
+ruefully said:
+
+"This is incomprehensible to me. After reading that Texan's letter, I
+was so assured that however vengeful he might be, still he was an
+honorable man, that I felt positive he would keep his word, and that
+this man would be safe at the expiration of the note."
+
+"You were entirely right in your estimate of the Texan's character, Mr.
+Barnes. Your fatal error was in regard to the expiration of the note."
+
+"Why, the thirty days expired at noon to-day."
+
+"Very true. But you have overlooked the usual three days' grace!"
+
+"The devil."
+
+"Just so; the devil,--in this instance the devil being the Texan.
+Ordinarily the extra three days is an extension demanded by the maker of
+the note, but in this instance it has been utilized by the deviser of
+the scheme, who, knowing that his man would be on guard during the
+thirty days, misled him by a promise of safety thereafter. But he did
+more than that."
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+"Why, how has he accomplished his purpose? How has he killed this man up
+here in a locked room, which has no window through which a bullet might
+be fired?"
+
+"I do not know; that is another puzzle to be solved."
+
+"I have already solved it. The promissory note is the vehicle of his
+vengeance,--the means by which the opportunity was obtained, and the
+means by which the end has been consummated. You will recall that Odell
+told you that the Texan promised that if he should live beyond the
+limitation of the note it would be returned so that he might burn it,
+and he might then consider the matter terminated. These were very
+suggestive words, and have wrought this man ruin. Evidently soon after
+he reached this hotel, feeling that at last he had escaped his
+threatened doom, an envelope was sent up to him, which contained the
+so-called promissory note. It being too dark in here to read, he lighted
+his gas. The reception of this paper caused him satisfaction because it
+seemed to show that his adversary was keeping faith. It had been
+suggested to him that he might 'burn' the note, and so 'terminate' the
+affair. Therefore he set fire to the paper, which evidently had been
+charged with an explosive substance. The explosion not only stunned if
+it did not kill the man, but it extinguished the gas, leaving the jet
+open, so that if not destroyed by the explosive he certainly must have
+been asphyxiated by the escaping gas. Here on the floor is a bit of the
+paper, and we can still see a few of the words which we know were
+contained in the promissory note. Then there is the gas turned on, while
+it is still daylight without. Am I right?"
+
+"Unquestionably," said Mr. Barnes. "What a diabolical scheme from
+conception to the final act! But suppose that Mr. Odell had not burned
+that paper? Then the scheme must have failed."
+
+"Not at all. You still overlook the three days of grace, of which but a
+few hours have yet expired."
+
+
+
+
+                                   X
+
+                            A NOVEL FORGERY
+
+
+Mr. Barnes was wondering whether he would soon have a case which would
+require special mental effort in its solution. "Something that will make
+me think," was the way he phrased it to himself. The same idea had
+occupied him for some time. Not that he had been idle, but his "cases"
+had all been of such a nature that with a little supervision it had been
+safe to intrust them entirely to his subordinates. Nothing had occurred
+to compel his personal investigation. On this morning, however, fate had
+something peculiarly attractive for him. His office-boy announced a
+visitor, who, when shown into the detective's sanctum, introduced
+himself thus:
+
+"I am Stephen West, cashier of the Fulton National Bank. Is this Mr.
+Barnes?"
+
+"Yes, sir," replied the detective. "Is your business important?"
+
+"It is very important to me," said Mr. West. "I am interested to the
+extent of forty thousand dollars."
+
+"Forty thousand dollars! Forgery?" Receiving an assenting nod, Mr.
+Barnes arose and closed the door of the office after instructing the boy
+to prevent his being disturbed. Returning to his seat, he said: "Now
+then, Mr. West, tell me the story. All of it, as far as you know it.
+Omit no detail, however unimportant it may seem to you."
+
+"Very good. My bank has been swindled out of forty thousand dollars in
+the most mysterious manner. We have received four checks, each for ten
+thousand dollars. These were signed with the name John Wood, one of our
+best customers. In making up his monthly balance these checks were sent
+to his house in the usual order of business. To-day Mr. Wood came to the
+bank, and declared them to be forgeries."
+
+"Were these checks paid by you personally?"
+
+"Oh, no. We received them through the Clearing-House. They had been
+deposited at the Harlem National Bank, and reached us in the routine
+way. They were taken on four different days."
+
+"Who was the depositor at the Harlem Bank?"
+
+"There is a mystery there. His name is Carl Grasse. Inquiry at the
+Harlem Bank shows that he has been a depositor for about a year. He had
+a seemingly flourishing business, a beer-garden and concert place.
+Recently he sold out and returned to his home in Germany. Before doing
+so he drew out his deposits and closed his account."
+
+"How is it that you did not yourself detect the forgeries? I supposed
+you bank people were so expert nowadays that the cashing of a worthless
+check would be impossible."
+
+"Here are the forged checks, and here is one cashed by us since the
+accounting, which is genuine. Compare them, and perhaps you will admit
+that anyone might have been deceived."
+
+Mr. Barnes examined the checks very closely, using a lens to assist his
+eyes. Presently he laid them down without comment, and said:
+
+"What do you wish me to do, Mr. West?"
+
+"To me it seems like a hopeless task, but at least I should like to have
+the forger arrested. I will gladly pay five hundred dollars as a
+reward."
+
+Mr. Barnes took up the checks again, examined them most carefully with
+the lens, and once more laid them down. He strummed on his desk a moment
+and then said suddenly:
+
+"Mr. West, suppose that I not only arrest the guilty man, but recover
+the forty thousand dollars?"
+
+"You don't mean to say----" began Mr. West, rather astonished.
+
+"I said 'suppose,'" interrupted Mr. Barnes.
+
+"Why, in that case," said Mr. West, "I would gladly give a thousand
+more."
+
+"The terms suit me," said the detective. "I'll do my best. Leave these
+checks with me, and I'll report to you as promptly as possible. One
+moment," as Mr. West was about to depart; "I will make a memorandum of
+something you must do yourself." He wrote a few lines on a sheet of
+paper and handed it to Mr. West, saying, "Let me have those to-day, if
+possible."
+
+One week later Mr. West received the following note:
+
+    "STEPHEN WEST, Esq.:--
+
+    "Dear Sir--I have completed my investigation of your case.
+    Please call at my office at four o'clock. If convenient, you
+    may as well bring with you a check for fifteen hundred
+    dollars, made payable to
+
+                                              "JOHN BARNES."
+
+"Great heavens!" ejaculated the cashier upon reading the above, "he
+tells me to bring fifteen hundred dollars. That means he has recovered
+the money. Thank God!" He dropped into his chair, overcome at the sudden
+release from the suspense of the previous week, and a few tears trickled
+down his cheek as he thought of his wife and little one who would not
+now be obliged to give up their pretty little home to make good his
+loss.
+
+Promptly at four he was ushered into the presence of Mr. Barnes.
+Impatient to have his hopes confirmed, he exclaimed at once:
+
+"Am I right? You have succeeded?"
+
+"Most thoroughly," said the detective. "I have discovered the thief, and
+have him in prison. I also have his written confession."
+
+"But the forty thousand dollars?"
+
+"All safe and sound. Your bank does not lose a dollar--except the
+reward." Mr. Barnes added the last after a pause and with a twinkle of
+his eye.
+
+"Oh, Mr. Barnes, that is a trifle compared to what I expected. But tell
+me, how was this trick played on us? Who did it?"
+
+"Suppose I give you a detailed account of my work in solving the riddle?
+I am just in the humor for telling it, and besides you will be more
+appreciative."
+
+"That is just what I should most desire."
+
+"Very well," began Mr. Barnes. "We will go back to the moment when,
+after scrutinizing the checks, I asked what you would give for the
+recovery of the money. I asked that because a suspicion had entered my
+mind, and I knew that if it should prove to be correct, the arrest of
+the criminal and the recovery of the money would be simultaneous. I will
+not explain now why that should be a necessary sequence, as you will see
+that I was right. But I will tell you what made me entertain the
+suspicion. In the first place, as you know, of course, John Wood uses a
+private special check. The forgeries were upon blanks which had been
+stolen from his check-book. Thus the thief seemingly had access to it.
+Next, as is commonly done nowadays, the amount of the check was not only
+written, but also punched out, with the additional precaution of
+punching a dollar mark before and after the figures. It would seem
+therefore almost impossible that any alterations had been made after the
+check was originally drawn. Such things have been done, the holes being
+filled up with paper pulp, and new ones punched afterwards. But in this
+case nothing of the sort had been attempted, nor indeed was any such
+procedure necessary, for the checks were not raised from genuine ones,
+but had been declared by Wood to be forgeries outright. That is, he
+denied the signatures."
+
+"Certainly. They were declared to be spurious."
+
+"Exactly. Now that was all that I knew when you were here last except
+that the signatures seemed to be very similar. It was possible that they
+were tracings. The plain deduction from this was that the forger was
+some one in John Wood's establishment; some one who could have access to
+the checkbook, to the punch, and also have a chance to copy the
+signature, if it was copied."
+
+"All that is quite clear, but how to proceed?"
+
+"I instructed you to send me a list of all the checks which had been
+paid out on John Wood's account, giving their dates, numbers, and
+amounts. I also asked you to procure for me from the Harlem National
+Bank a similar list of checks paid on order of Carl Grasse. These two
+lists you sent to me, and they have been very useful. As soon as you
+left me, and whilst awaiting your lists, I tried some experiments with
+the forged checks. First I argued that if the signatures were traced,
+having been made, as it were, from a model, it would follow necessarily
+that they would exactly coincide if superimposed the one upon the other.
+Now whilst a man from habit will write his name very similarly a
+thousand times, I doubt if in a million times he would, or could,
+exactly reproduce his signature. The test of placing one over the other
+and examining with transmitted light satisfied me that they were not
+tracings. I compared each check with each of the others, and with the
+genuine one which you also left with me. No two were exact counterparts
+of one another. Still this did not completely prove that they were not
+tracings, for an artistic criminal might have gone so far as to trace
+each check from a different model, thus avoiding identity whilst
+preserving similarity."
+
+"Mr. Barnes," said Mr. West, admiringly, "you delight me with your care
+in reasoning out your point."
+
+"Mr. West, in speculating upon circumstantial evidence the most thorough
+care must be used, if one would avoid arresting the innocent. Nothing,
+to my mind, is stronger proof against a criminal than a complete chain
+of circumstantial evidence, but again, nothing is so misleading if at
+any stage a mistake, an omission, or a misconstruction be allowed to
+occur. In this case, then, as I was starting out to prove what was
+merely a suspicion, I determined to be most careful, for indeed I
+dislike following up suspicion at any time. A suspicion is a
+prejudgment, and may prove a hindrance to correct reasoning. Not
+entirely satisfied, therefore, I took the next step. A tracing can be
+made in either of two ways: with a lead-pencil, or with a stylus of
+glass or agate. The former leaves a deposit of the lead, whilst the
+latter makes an indentation upon the paper. In the first case the forger
+will attempt to remove the lead with an erasing rubber, but will not
+succeed thoroughly, because some of it will be covered by the ink, and
+because of the danger of injuring the surface of the paper. In the
+latter instance, if he be a very thoughtful man, he might undertake to
+remove the indentation by rubbing the opposite side with the end of his
+knife or with an ivory paper-cutter. In either case a careful scrutiny
+with a strong glass would show the burnishing upon the reverse side. I
+could find nothing of the sort. Taking one of the checks I applied a
+solution to remove the ink. A thorough examination disclosed that there
+was no sign either of the graphite, or of the indentation from the
+stylus. In fact, I became satisfied that the signatures had not been
+traced."
+
+"But what did that prove? They might have been imitations made by a
+clever penman."
+
+"They might have been, but I doubted it; and since you ask, I will give
+my reasons. In the first place, the signatures were accepted at your
+bank not once, but four times. It would be a remarkably clever man to
+deceive experts so well. However, I did not abandon this possibility
+until further developments showed conclusively to my mind that it would
+be a waste of time to follow up that line of research. Had it been
+necessary to do so, I should have discovered who in the place had the
+opportunity to do the work, and by examining their past I should have
+received a hint as to which of these was most likely to be my man. For
+any man who could have the ability to commit such a clever forgery must
+have acquired it as a sequence of special skill and aptitude with his
+pen of which his friends would be cognizant. Once I looked up such a
+man, and found that as a boy he had forged his parents' names to excuses
+for absences from school. Later he turned to higher things. In this
+instance I was satisfied that the only person having the access to
+materials, the knowledge of the financial condition of the concern, and
+the ability to write the checks, was Mr. John Wood himself."
+
+"John Wood!" exclaimed the cashier. "Impossible! Why, that would mean
+that----"
+
+"Nothing is impossible, Mr. West. I know what you would say. That it
+involved his having an accomplice in this Carl Grasse? Well, that is
+what I suspected, and that is why I asked for an additional reward for
+the recovery of the funds. If I could prove that John Wood made the
+checks himself, they ceased to be forgeries in one sense, and the bank
+could rightfully charge the amounts against his account. But let me tell
+you why I abandoned your theory that an expert penman was at work.
+Observe that though you would have honored a check for forty thousand
+dollars drawn by John Wood, yet the forgeries were four in number. That
+showed that the man was not afraid of arousing your suspicion. The only
+man who could feel absolutely sure upon that point was John Wood. But
+there is another pretty point. These checks being spurious, and yet
+being numbered, could arouse your suspicion in two ways. If the numbers
+upon them greatly varied from those upon genuine checks coming in at the
+same time, the fraud would have been detected quickly. On the other
+hand, he could not give you correct numbers without being either in
+collusion with his bookkeeper or else duplicating the numbering of other
+checks. That the latter course was pursued, exempted the bookkeeper. All
+the numbers on the forged checks were duplicates of those on genuine
+ones."
+
+"But, Mr. Barnes, that did not arouse our suspicion, because----"
+
+"Just so," interrupted Mr. Barnes, "but let me tell you why, as the
+_why_ is a very significant link in our chain. Your list of this man's
+checks helped me there. About a year ago Carl Grasse appeared upon the
+scene in Harlem, buying out a beer-garden, and starting an account in
+the Harlem National Bank. Now observe that prior to that time, from the
+first check sent to you by Wood, the strictest regularity as to
+numbering obtained. There is not a break or a skip anywhere. But in
+February, the month after Carl Grasse moved to Harlem, there is a
+duplication in Wood's checks. Two have the same numbering, but both are
+for trifling amounts, sixteen dollars in one instance and forty in the
+other. You possibly passed it over. Next month, I find two duplications,
+and from then on this apparent mistake happens no less than ten times."
+
+"Mr. Barnes, the bookkeepers did notice this, and we spoke to Mr. Wood,
+but he said it was simply a clerical error of his own due to haste in
+business hours."
+
+"Exactly, but he was paving the way for his big coup. He was disarming
+you of suspicion. This one fact satisfied me that I was on the right
+track, but your list gave me even better corroboration. On February 1st
+I find that Wood cashed a check payable to himself for ten thousand and
+fifty-nine dollars. On February 2d, Carl Grasse opened an account with
+the Harlem Bank, depositing ten thousand dollars, paying in the amount,
+in cash. This might seem but a coincidence, but by looking over the
+books of the beer-garden, which is still in existence, Grasse having
+sold it out, I find that on February 2d, Grasse paid his employees just
+fifty-nine dollars. The difference, you see, between Wood's draft and
+Grasse's deposit."
+
+"It certainly seems to connect the two, when we remember that the final
+forgeries were checks signed by Wood in favor of Grasse."
+
+"Precisely, but follow this a little further. For several months there
+is nothing to connect the two so far as their banking goes, but note
+that during this lapse Grasse does not draw a single check in favor of
+himself, nor does he deposit any checks from others. His transactions
+with his customers are strictly cash, and his checks are all to dealers,
+who supply him with his stock. None of these are for large amounts, and
+his balance does not exceed twelve thousand dollars at any time. On
+October 1st he deposited five thousand dollars in cash. On the day
+before that, Wood drew that amount out of your bank. On the 12th, this
+is repeated by both, and on the 14th, Grasse cashes a check for twelve
+thousand dollars, taking cash. This goes through successfully, and the
+Harlem Bank is made to see that Grasse commands large amounts and uses
+large amounts. This is repeated in varying amounts in November, and
+again in December, the bank by this time being quite ready to pay out
+money to Grasse. On January 2d, Wood has his check account balanced. On
+the 3d, Grasse deposits Wood's check for ten thousand dollars. This goes
+through the Clearing-House, and is accepted by your bank. The Harlem
+Bank is therefore satisfied of its authenticity. On the 5th, Grasse
+deposits check number two, and at the same time cashes a check for ten
+thousand dollars. The second spurious check goes through all right, and
+on the 10th and 15th, the transactions are repeated. On the 20th, Grasse
+explains to the Harlem Bank that he has sold his business, and is going
+home to Germany. He closes his account, taking out his money, and
+disappears from the scene. You are forty thousand dollars out by a
+clever swindle, with nothing to prove your suspicions save a few
+coincidences in the banking records of the two men."
+
+"But assuredly, Mr. Barnes, enough evidence upon which to arrest Mr.
+Wood?"
+
+"To arrest him, yes. But to convict him? That is another affair. Without
+conviction you do not recover your money. No, my work was by no means
+finished. I first sought to follow Grasse. I did not have far to go. At
+the Hamburg-American line I found him booked, but investigation showed
+that he never sailed. The ticket which he bought has never been taken
+up."
+
+"Then the accomplice is still in this country?"
+
+"No; the accomplice is not in this country," said Mr. Barnes, dryly.
+"Don't get ahead of the story. At this stage of the game I made some
+singular discoveries. I found, for example, that Carl Grasse slept over
+his saloon, but that he frequently would be absent all night. I also
+learned that when he did sleep there, he would leave about nine o'clock
+in the morning for that mysterious realm, 'down-town.' When he slept
+elsewhere, he usually reached the saloon at eight, and still went
+'down-town' at nine. It was his general custom to get back about five in
+the afternoon. Extending my researches in the direction of John Wood, I
+learned that he was customarily at his office at ten o'clock, seldom
+leaving before four. Moreover, at his apartment the janitor told me that
+he frequently slept elsewhere, and that when he passed the night at that
+place, he would leave about seven in the morning. Do you follow me?"
+
+"Do you mean that John Wood and Carl Grasse are one and the same
+person?"
+
+"That idea entered my mind about this time. Up at the saloon I found
+some other small evidences that this was a probability. You see, a man
+may disguise his personal appearance, but it is difficult for him to
+change his habits with his clothing. For example, I found that Mr. Wood
+always uses Carter's writing fluid, and Mr. Grasse had the same
+predilection, as the empty bottles attest. Moreover, the bottles are of
+the same size in both places. Next I observe that both men used the same
+make of stub pens. Again note that though Carl Grasse is a German name
+and the man was keeping a beer saloon, he was never seen to drink beer
+himself. John Wood has the same antipathy to malt. But most singular is
+the fact that this man, who so carefully laid his plans, should have
+actually bought a check-punching stamp of the same make and style of
+figures as that used in the Wood establishment."
+
+"Perhaps he did that so that he could make the spurious checks up-town
+instead of down-town, where he might be discovered."
+
+"More than likely, but he should have taken it away with him. There is
+always some little detail of this kind that even the most skilful
+overlooks. He probably thought that the similarity of the instruments
+would never be detected, or made to count against him. It is nothing in
+itself, but as a link in a chain it mends a break. There was one fact,
+however, at wide variance with the theory of the identity of the two
+men. Wood is of ordinary build, with black hair and smooth-shaven face.
+Grasse is described as very stout, with red hair and whiskers. Of
+course, following the theory of impersonation, if Wood transformed
+himself into a stout man, totally different clothing would be needed
+for the two parts which he played. I found that Wood always dressed in
+the finest broadcloth, whilst Grasse wore conspicuous plaids. Supposing
+that he wore a red wig and false whiskers, I determined to find the man
+from whom he had procured them. I guessed that he would avoid any
+well-known place, and I began my hunt in the costumers' shops on Third
+Avenue. I went to several without obtaining any clue, when at last
+fortune favored me. I found a place where, upon their books, in last
+January was a record of 'red wig and whiskers' for the same customer.
+Moreover, they had furnished this person with a 'make-up' for a fat
+German, giving him the necessary 'pads,' as they are called, a suit of
+underwear wadded so as to increase the proportion of the body. Can you
+guess what I did next?"
+
+"I think not."
+
+"It was an inspiration. I ordered a similar outfit for myself, including
+the plaid suit. This morning they were delivered to me, and, dressed in
+them, I induced the costumer to go with me to Wood's place. As soon as I
+was shown into his presence, I began to talk in a most excited, angry
+tone. I said 'Mr. Wood, I come for satisfaction. I am Carl Grasse, the
+man you have been personating up-town. I am the man whose name you
+forged to the back of your own checks. And this is the costumer who sold
+you the disguise. Am I not right?' This last speech I addressed to the
+costumer, who, to my intense satisfaction, said, 'Yes, that is the
+gentleman; but I did not know he was going to impersonate anybody.'"
+
+"What happened then?" asked the cashier.
+
+"Well," said Mr. Barnes, "I had better luck than I had expected, though,
+in line with my hopes. You see, my sudden appearance before him, my
+words, and my rapid speech, all tended to confuse him. He suddenly heard
+himself accused of forging the name of 'Carl Grasse,' and for the moment
+thought only of defending himself from that charge. He was utterly taken
+back, and stammered out, 'I did not forge anybody's name. The checks had
+my own signature, and the endorsement--that was "Carl Grasse." There is
+no such person.' Then suddenly seeing that he was making a mistake and
+incriminating himself, he exclaimed, 'Who the devil are you?'
+
+"'I am a detective,' I answered, quickly seizing his arms and putting on
+a pair of manacles, 'and I arrest you for swindling the Fulton Bank,
+whether your offense be forgery or not.' That settled him. He wilted and
+began to cry for mercy. He even offered me money to let him escape. I
+delivered him to the Central Office officials, and since then the
+Inspector has obtained a voluntary confession from him. Are you
+satisfied, Mr. West?"
+
+"I am more than satisfied. I am amazed. Mr. Barnes, you are a genius."
+
+"Not at all, Mr. West, I am a detective."
+
+
+
+
+                                   XI
+
+                          A FROSTY MORNING.[A]
+
+    [A] Copyright by Short Story Publishing Company. Republished
+        from the _Black Cat_, by permission.
+
+
+"Thank heaven, you have come," exclaimed Mr. Van Rawlston, as Mr.
+Mitchel entered. "I have a thousand pounds on my mind, and----"
+
+"Never heard of the disease," interrupted Mr. Mitchel. "If you consider
+mind and brain to be synonymous, the locality is popularly supposed to
+be inundated with water occasionally--but then, you mentioned a thousand
+pounds, and, a pound being a pint, we would have a thousand pints, or
+five hundred quarts, and--well, really, your head seems hardly large
+enough, so----"
+
+"I am talking of money," ejaculated Mr. Van Rawlston, sharply; "English
+money. Pounds sterling."
+
+"The deuce you are! Money, eh? Money on the brain! Oh, I've heard of
+that. It is a very common disorder."
+
+"Mitchel, I sent for you to help me. I am up to my ears in a mystery.
+I've been in this room nearly all day trying to solve it. I've had your
+friend Barnes working on it for several hours, yet we have made no
+progress. In despair I thought of you; of your cool, keen, analytical
+brain, and I decided that you could discover the truth, if any man can.
+But if you are in a jesting humor, why----"
+
+"A thousand pardons, old friend. That is one pardon for each of your
+pounds. But, there, forgive me, and I will be serious. I received your
+note late, because I did not reach home until dinner time. You asked me
+to call here as soon as possible, and here I am within half an hour of
+reading your message. Now, then, about this thousand pounds sterling.
+Where are they, or is it, as you are most accustomed to speaking. The
+plural or singular verb seems to be a matter of choice with large
+amounts."
+
+"The money is in this room."
+
+"In this room? You know that, and yet cannot find it?"
+
+"Therein lies the mystery. I had it in my hands this morning, and within
+a few minutes it had vanished."
+
+"Now, Mr. Van Rawlston, if you are presenting a problem for me to solve,
+I beg of you to be minutely accurate in your statements. You say 'had
+vanished.' That is manifestly an impossibility. I presume you mean
+'seemed to have vanished.'"
+
+"There was no seeming about it. It was a single bank-note, and I placed
+it on this table. Five minutes later it had disappeared."
+
+"'Disappeared' is a better word, by long odds. It passed out of your
+sight, you mean. That I can believe. The question then arises, how was
+this disappearance managed. I say managed, which is an intimation of my
+belief that the note did not hide itself, but rather that it was hidden.
+From this postulate I deduce that two or more persons, besides yourself,
+were present at the time of said disappearance of said bank-note. Am I
+correct?"
+
+"You are, but really I can't see how you have guessed that there was
+more than one person with me!"
+
+"It could not be otherwise. Had there been but one person in this room
+with you, you would not think, you would know absolutely that he took
+the note. That you have a doubt as to the identity of the culprit, shows
+that you suspect one of two or more persons."
+
+"Mitchel, I am delighted that I sent for you. You are exactly the man to
+recover this money."
+
+"What about Barnes? I think you mentioned his name?"
+
+"Yes. Naturally my first thought was to send for a detective, and I
+remembered him in connection with that ruby robbery of yours, which
+occurred at my house. He is now following a clue which he considers a
+good one, and will report during the evening. But perhaps I should
+relate the exact circumstances of this affair. The details are
+strikingly curious, I assure you."
+
+"Now that I know that Barnes is on the scent, I may say that I am eager
+for the fray. Nothing would please me better than to succeed where he
+fails. Every time I outwit him, it is a feather in my cap, and another
+argument in favor of my theory that the professional detective is a much
+over-rated genius. Allow me to light a cigar, and make myself
+comfortable, in exchange for which privilege I will devote my undivided
+attention to your tale of woe."
+
+Mr. Mitchel drew forth a handsome gold case, which bore his monogram in
+diamonds, and selected a choice Havana, which he puffed complacently as
+Mr. Van Rawlston proceeded.
+
+"Some thirty years ago, or more," began Mr. Van Rawlston, "there came
+into my office a young Englishman, who introduced himself as Thomas
+Eggleston. The object of his visit was curious. He wished to borrow four
+thousand dollars upon collateral. Imagine my surprise when the security
+offered proved to be an English bank-note for one thousand pounds. It
+seemed odd that he should wish to borrow, when he could readily have
+exchanged his note for American currency, but he explained that for
+sentimental reasons he wished not to part with this note permanently. He
+desired to redeem it in the future, and keep it as a memento--the
+foundation of the fortune which he hoped to earn in this new land."
+
+"A singular wish," interposed Mr. Mitchel.
+
+"Singular indeed. So much so that my interest was keenly aroused. I
+agreed to advance the sum demanded without charge. Moreover, I put him
+in the way of some good speculations which paved his way to success at
+the outset. It was not long before his thousand-pound note was back in
+his possession. Since then we have been close friends, and I was not
+surprised, when he died a few days ago, to find that I had been named as
+executor of his estates. Now I must speak of three other persons. When
+Eggleston came to this country he brought with him a sister. A few years
+later she married a man named Hetheridge, a worthless scamp, who
+supposed he was marrying money, and who soon abandoned his wife when he
+learned that she was poor. I think he drank himself to death. Mrs.
+Hetheridge did not survive him very long, but she left a little girl,
+now grown to womanhood. Alice Hetheridge is one of the persons who was
+present when the bank-note disappeared. A second was Arthur Lumley, of
+whom I know little, except that he is in love with Alice, and that he
+was here to-day. Robert Eggleston was also present. He is the nephew of
+the deceased, and proved to be the heir to the bulk of the estate. He
+has only been in this country a few months, and has lived in this house
+during that time. Now I come to the events of to-day."
+
+"Kindly be as explicit as possible," said Mr. Mitchel. "Omit no detail,
+however trifling."
+
+"My friend died very unexpectedly," continued Mr. Van Rawlston. "On
+Saturday he was well, and on Monday dead. On Wednesday morning, the day
+of the funeral, his man of business brought me his client's will. I
+learned by it that I was chosen an executor, and I undertook to make its
+contents known to the family. I appointed this morning for that purpose,
+and when I came, I was surprised to find young Lumley present. Alice
+took me aside, and explained that she had invited him, and so I was
+silenced. I asked her to bring me a certain box described in the will,
+which she did. It was locked, the key having been brought to me with the
+will. I took from it a packet which contained a bank-note for a thousand
+pounds; the same upon which I had once loaned Eggleston money. There
+were also some government bonds, and railroad securities. Having
+compared these with the list attached to the will, I then read aloud the
+testament of my dear friend. A part of this I will read to you, as
+possibly shedding some light upon the situation."
+
+"One moment," interposed Mr. Mitchel. "You said that the packet taken
+from the box contained the bank-note as well as the bonds and other
+securities. Are you sure that the note was there?"
+
+"Oh, yes. I found it first, and placed it on the table in front of me,
+while I went through the other papers. When I looked for it again, it
+had vanished. I say vanished, though you do not like the word, because
+it seems incredible that one would dare to steal in the presence of
+three others. But listen to an extract from the will. After bequeathing
+all of his property to his nephew, Eggleston inserted this paragraph:
+
+"'To my dear niece I must explain why she is not named as my heiress. My
+father married twice. By his first wife he had a son, William, and by my
+own mother, my sister and myself. When he died, my half-brother,
+William, was ten years my senior, and had amassed a considerable
+fortune, whereas I found myself penniless and dependent upon his bounty.
+He was not a generous man, but he presented me a bank-note for a
+thousand pounds, and paid my passage to this country. My first impulse,
+after my arrival, was to make my way as rapidly as I could, and then to
+return to William the identical bank-note which he had given me. For
+this reason I used it as collateral, and borrowed money, instead of
+changing it for American currency. By the time the note was again in my
+possession my brother had given me another proof of his recognition of
+our consanguinity, and I decided that it would be churlish to carry out
+my intention. Recently William lost his entire fortune in unfortunate
+speculations, and the shock killed him. Before he died he gave his son
+Robert a letter to me, reminding me that all that I owned had been the
+fruit of his bounty, and claiming from me a share of my fortune for his
+son. I took Robert into my house, and I am bound to say that I have not
+learned to love him. This, however, may be a prejudice, due to the fact
+that he had come between me and my wish to make Alice my heiress. It may
+be in recognition of the possibility of this prejudice that I feel
+compelled to ease my conscience by bequeathing to William's son the
+fortune which grew out of William's bounty. The original bank-note,
+however, was a free gift to me, and I certainly may dispose of it as I
+please. I ask my niece Alice to accept it from me, as all that my
+conscience permits me to call my own.'"
+
+"An interesting and curious statement," commented Mr. Mitchel. "Now tell
+me about the vanishment of the note."
+
+"There is my difficulty. I have so little to tell. After reading the
+will, I laid it down, and reached out my hand, intending to give the
+bank-note to Alice, whereupon I discovered that it had disappeared."
+
+"Tell me exactly where each person was seated."
+
+"We were all at this table, which, you see, is small. I sat at this end,
+Alice at my right hand, young Eggleston at my left, and Lumley opposite
+to me."
+
+"So that all three were easily within reach of the bank-note when you
+placed it upon the table? That complicates matters. Well, when you
+discovered that you could not find the note, who spoke first, and what
+comment was made?"
+
+"I cannot be certain. I was stunned, and the others seemed as much
+surprised as I was. I remember that Eggleston asked Alice whether she
+had picked it up, adding, 'It is yours, you know.' But she made an
+indignant denial. Lumley said nothing, but sat looking at us as though
+seeking an explanation. Then I recall that Eggleston made a very
+practical suggestion."
+
+"Ah, what was that?"
+
+"He laughed as he did so, but what he said was reasonable enough. In
+substance it was, that if each person in the room were searched, and the
+note not found, it would thus be proven that it had merely been blown
+from the table by some draught, in which case a thorough search should
+find it."
+
+"Was his suggestion acted upon?"
+
+"You may be sure of that. I declined once to allow my guests to be
+searched when that fellow Thauret suggested it, at the time of the ruby
+robbery. And you will remember that the scoundrel himself had the jewel.
+That taught me a lesson. Therefore when Eggleston made his suggestion, I
+began with him. The search was thorough, I assure you, but I found
+nothing. I had as little success with Lumley, and I even examined my own
+pockets, with the vague hope that I might have inadvertently put the
+note in one of them. But all my looking was in vain."
+
+"Might not one of these men have secreted the bank-note elsewhere, and
+then have possessed himself of it after your search?"
+
+"I took care to prevent that. As soon as I had gone through Eggleston, I
+unceremoniously bundled him out of the room. I did the same with Lumley,
+and neither has been allowed in here since."
+
+"What about the young lady?"
+
+"It would be absurd to suspect her. The note was her property. Still she
+insisted upon my searching her, and I examined her pocket. Of course, I
+found nothing."
+
+"Ah, you only examined her pocket. Well, under the circumstances, I
+suppose that was all you could do. Thus, having sent the three persons
+out of the room, you think that the bank-note is still here. A natural
+deduction, only I wish that the woman might have been more thoroughly
+searched. I suppose you have looked about the room?"
+
+"I sent for Mr. Barnes, and he and I made a most careful search."
+
+"What view does he take of the case?"
+
+Before Mr. Van Rawlston could reply there was a sharp ring at the
+door-bell, and a moment later Mr. Barnes himself was ushered in.
+
+"Speak of the Devil, and his imps appear," said Mr. Mitchel, jocularly.
+"Well, Mr. Imp of Satan, what luck? Has your patron assisted you? Have
+you had the Devil's own luck, and solved this problem before I fairly
+got my wits upon it? You look flushed with victory."
+
+"I did not know you were to be called in, Mr. Mitchel," replied Mr.
+Barnes, "and I am sorry if you shall be disappointed, but really, I
+think I can explain this affair. The truth is, it did not strike me as
+very complex."
+
+"Hear that," exclaimed Mr. Mitchel. "Not complex! The sudden vanishing
+of a thousand-pound note, before the very eyes, and under the very
+noses, as it were, of four persons, not complex! The Devil certainly
+has sharpened your wits; eh, Mr. Barnes?"
+
+"Oh, I don't mind your chaffing. Let me explain why I considered this
+case simple. You will agree that the note was either mislaid or stolen?"
+
+"Logical deduction number one," cried Mr. Mitchel, turning down a finger
+of the right hand.
+
+"It was not mislaid, or we would have found it. Therefore it was
+stolen."
+
+"A doubtful point, Mr. Barnes," said Mr. Mitchel, "but we will give you
+the benefit of the doubt, and call it logical deduction number two." He
+turned down another finger.
+
+"If stolen the note was taken by one of three persons," pursued the
+detective.
+
+"He leaves you out of it, Van Rawlston. Well, I suppose I must give you
+the benefit of the doubt this time. So there goes L. D. number three."
+He dropped another finger.
+
+"Of these three, one actually owned the note, and another had just heard
+of the inheritance of a large fortune. The third, therefore, comes under
+suspicion."
+
+"Illogical deduction number one," said Mr. Mitchel, sharply, as he
+turned down a finger of the left hand.
+
+"Why illogical?" asked the detective.
+
+"First, people have been known to steal their own goods; second, rich
+men are often thieves. Mr. Lumley, being in love with the owner of the
+note, was as unlikely to steal it as she was herself."
+
+"Suppose that he had stolen it before he heard that his sweetheart was
+to inherit it?"
+
+"In that case, of course, he may have desired to return it, and yet not
+have had the opportunity."
+
+"Such was probably the fact. That he stole the note I am reasonably
+certain."
+
+"How did he get it out of this room?" asked Mr. Van Rawlston.
+
+"He must have hidden it elsewhere than in his pockets," said Mr. Barnes.
+"You overlooked the fact, Mr. Van Rawlston, that you cannot thoroughly
+search a man in the presence of a lady."
+
+"Good point," exclaimed Mr. Mitchel. "You have your wits about you
+to-day, Mr. Barnes. Now tell us what you have learned in corroboration
+of your theory."
+
+"Lumley is in love with Miss Hetheridge. Up to a few hours ago, he was a
+clerk, upon a salary not sufficient to permit him to marry. Curiously
+enough, for one would hardly have thought him so foolish, when he left
+this house he went direct to his employer and resigned his position.
+Next, I traced him to a business agency, where he obtained an option to
+purchase a partnership in a good concern, agreeing to pay five thousand
+dollars for the same."
+
+"Five thousand dollars! About one thousand pounds," said Mr. Mitchel,
+thoughtfully.
+
+"The scoundrel!" cried Mr. Van Rawlston. "Undoubtedly he is the thief. I
+trust you have arrested him, Mr. Barnes?"
+
+"No. He left the city by a train leaving the Grand Central an hour ago."
+
+"Track him, Mr. Barnes. Track him to the end of the earth if necessary.
+Spare no money. I'll pay the expense." Mr. Van Rawlston was excited.
+
+"I do not know his destination," said the detective, "but, fortunately,
+the train is a 'local,' and he cannot go far on it. I will do my best to
+catch up with him. But no time is to be lost."
+
+As he hurried out, Mr. Mitchel shouted after him:
+
+"Luck, and the Devil go with you, Mr. Barnes." Then, turning to Mr. Van
+Rawlston, he continued: "After all, shrewd detective though he be, Mr.
+Barnes may be on the wrong scent. The note may still be in this house. I
+do not like to say in this room, after your thorough search. Still, if
+it could be managed, without the knowledge of Eggleston and Miss
+Hetheridge, I would like to remain here to-night."
+
+"You wish to make a search yourself, eh? Very good. I will arrange it.
+By the way, I should tell you that there is to be an auction here
+to-morrow. Eggleston had arranged a sale of his library before his
+sudden death, and as the date was fixed and the catalogues sent to all
+possible buyers, we have thought best to allow the sale to proceed. This
+being the library, you will see the necessity for settling this mystery
+before to-morrow, if possible."
+
+"A crowd coming here to-morrow? Excellent. Nothing could be better. Rest
+easy, Van Rawlston. If Barnes does not recover the bank-note, I will."
+
+It was already nine o'clock in the evening, and Mr. Van Rawlston decided
+to go to his own home. Upon inquiry he learned that Eggleston was not in
+the house, and that Miss Hetheridge was in her room. He dismissed the
+servant, and locked Mr. Mitchel in the library. Next he went up-stairs
+to Miss Hetheridge, told her that he had thought best to lock the
+library door, and bade her good-night. Passing out to the street, he
+handed the door-key to Mr. Mitchel through the front window.
+
+Left thus alone in a strange house, Mr. Mitchel dropped into an easy
+chair and began to analyze the situation. He did not light the gas, as
+that would have betrayed his presence, but the glowing grate-fire shed
+light enough for him to see about him.
+
+Mr. Eggleston had amassed a great collection of books, for the library
+was a long room occupying the whole of one side of the house, the
+parlors being on the opposite side of the hallway. Windows in front
+overlooked the street, and at the back opened upon a small yard. Just
+below these back windows extended a shed, the roof of an extension,
+which served as a laundry.
+
+Mr. Mitchel went over in his mind the incidents which had been related
+to him, and two of his conclusions are worthy of note here:
+
+"Barnes argues," thought he, "that Lumley may have taken the bank-note
+before he knew that it had been bequeathed to his sweetheart. But the
+same holds good with the girl herself, and might well explain her
+stealing what was really her own property. That is one point worth
+bearing in mind, but the best of all is my scheme for finding the note
+itself. Why should I trouble myself with a search which might occupy me
+all night, when by waiting I may see the thief take the note from its
+present hiding-place, always supposing that it is in this room?
+Decidedly, patience is a virtue in this instance, and I have only to
+wait."
+
+A couple of hours later, Mr. Mitchel started up from a slight doze, and
+realized that he had been disturbed, though at first he could not tell
+by what.
+
+Then he heard a sound which indicated that someone was fitting a key
+into the lock. Perhaps the thief was coming! This thought awakened him
+to his full faculties, and he quickly hid among the folds of some heavy
+draperies which served upon occasion to divide the room into two
+apartments. The door opened, and he heard the stealthy tread of soft
+footsteps, though at first the figure of the intruder was hidden from
+his view by the draperies which surrounded him. In a few moments his
+suspense was at an end. A young woman, of girlish figure, passed by him
+and went over to the fireplace. She was in a dainty night-robe, her long
+black hair hanging in rich profusion down her back. She leaned against
+the mantel, and gazed into the fire without moving, for some minutes,
+and then turning suddenly, crossed the room, going directly to one of
+the book-shelves. Here she paused, then took down several books which
+she placed upon a chair near by. Her back was towards Mr. Mitchel, but
+he could see her reach into the recess with her arm, which was bared by
+the act, the loose sleeve of her gown falling aside. Then there was a
+clicking sound just perceptible to the ear, and Mr. Mitchel muttered to
+himself:
+
+"A secret closet, with a spring catch."
+
+In another moment, the girl was replacing the books, and, this done, she
+hurried from the library, locking the door after her. Mr. Mitchel
+emerged from his hiding-place, and, going to the shelf where the girl
+had been, removed the books and searched for the spring which would
+unlock the secret compartment. It was not easily found, but Mr. Mitchel
+was a patient and persistent man, and after nearly an hour discovered
+the way of removing a sliding panel, and took an envelope from the
+recess behind. Carrying this to the fireplace, he dropped to his knees,
+and withdrawing its contents, held in his hand a Bank of England note
+for one thousand pounds. He looked at it, smiled, and said in a low
+tone:
+
+"And Mr. Barnes was so certain that he would catch the thief!" Then he
+smiled again, replaced the books on the shelf, decided that the large
+sofa might serve as a comfortable bed, and so went to sleep.
+
+He was awakened early, by a sense of cold. Starting up, for a moment
+dazed by his unfamiliar surroundings, he gazed first at the gray ashes
+of the dead fire in the grate, and then looked towards the windows
+thickly covered with frost, and shivered. Remembering where he was, he
+threw his arms about, and walked up and down the long room to start his
+blood moving, and induce a little warmth. Presently he went to the back
+windows and looked at the beautiful frosting, which resembled long fern
+leaves. Suddenly he seemed unusually interested, and especially
+attracted to one of the panes. He examined this closely, and taking a
+note-book from his pocket made a rapid sketch of the pattern on the
+glass. Then he raised the sash, looked out upon the shed, and emitted a
+low whistle. Next he stepped out through the window, went down on his
+hands and knees upon the tinned roof, and looked closely at something
+which he saw there. Returning to the room, one would have said that his
+next act was the most curious of all. He again opened the secret panel,
+and replaced the envelope containing the bank-note. Then he went to the
+table where Mr. Van Rawlston claimed that the note had vanished, and he
+sat in the chair where Mr. Van Rawlston had been when he read the will.
+
+Several hours later when Mr. Van Rawlston came in, Mr. Mitchel was
+sitting in the same chair looking through a Bible.
+
+"Well," said Mr. Van Rawlston. "How did you pass the night? Did the
+thief pay you a visit?"
+
+"I think so," replied Mr. Mitchel.
+
+"Then you know who took the note?" asked Mr. Van Rawlston, eagerly.
+
+"Perhaps; I do not like to jump to conclusions. This is a magnificent
+Bible, Mr. Van Rawlston. Is it in the sale to-day? If so, I think I will
+bid on it."
+
+"Oh, yes; it is to be sold," replied Mr. Van Rawlston, testily. He
+thought Mr. Mitchel merely wished to change the subject, and at that
+moment he was more interested in bank-notes than in Bibles. He had no
+idea that Mr. Mitchel really coveted the Bible. But then he did not know
+that Mr. Mitchel collected books as well as gems. He was therefore much
+astonished, some hours later, when the auction was in progress, to find
+Mr. Mitchel not only bidding on the Bible, but bidding heavily.
+
+At first the bidding was spiritless, and the price rose slowly until Mr.
+Mitchel made an offer of five hundred dollars. After a moment's
+hesitation young Eggleston bid fifty dollars more, and it was seen that
+the contest was now between him and Mr. Mitchel. Bidding fifty dollars
+at a time the price rose to nine hundred dollars, when Eggleston
+remarked:
+
+"I bid nine-fifty," then turned to Mr. Mitchel and added, "This is a
+family relic, sir, and I hope you will not raise me again."
+
+"This is an open sale, I believe," said Mr. Mitchel, bowing coldly. "I
+offer a thousand dollars."
+
+"One thousand and fifty," added Eggleston, quickly.
+
+At this moment Mr. Barnes entered the room, accompanied by a short,
+young man, and Mr. Mitchel's attention seemed attracted away from the
+Bible. The auctioneer noticing this, called him by name, and asked if he
+wished to bid again.
+
+"One moment, please," said Mr. Mitchel. "May I look again at the
+volume?"
+
+It was passed to him, and he appeared to scrutinize it closely, started
+slightly as though making a discovery, and handed it back, saying:
+
+"I have made a mistake. I supposed that this was a genuine Soncino, but
+I find that it is only a reprint." Then he turned to Eggleston with a
+curious smile, and said, "You may have the family relic. I shall not bid
+against you."
+
+The auction over, the crowd dispersed, and when all strangers had
+departed, Mr. Mitchel nodded meaningly to Mr. Barnes, and approached
+young Eggleston, who was tying up the Bible in paper. Touching him upon
+the arm, he said very quietly:
+
+"Mr. Eggleston, I must ask the officer here to arrest you!"
+
+Eggleston's hands quivered over the knot, and he seemed too agitated to
+speak. The detective realizing that Mr. Mitchel had solved the problem,
+quickly stepped closer to Eggleston.
+
+"What does this mean?" asked Mr. Van Rawlston.
+
+"Call Miss Hetheridge, and I will explain," said Mr. Mitchel.
+
+"No, no! Not before her!" cried Eggleston, breaking down completely. "I
+confess! I loved Alice, and wished to make it impossible for her to
+marry Lumley. The note is here! Here, in the Bible. I stole it, and hid
+it there!" With nervous fingers he tore off the wrappings, and rapidly
+turning the pages searched for the note. "Heavens! It is not here!" He
+looked at Mr. Mitchel inquiringly.
+
+"No; it is not there. You paid too much for that Bible. Mr. Van
+Rawlston, I prefer to have the lady called, if you please."
+
+Mr. Van Rawlston left the room, and Mr. Mitchel addressed Mr. Barnes.
+
+"By the way, Barnes, have you abandoned your theory?"
+
+"I suppose I must now, though I had not up to a moment ago. I found Mr.
+Lumley, and accused him of the theft. He would offer no explanation, but
+willingly agreed to return with me."
+
+"We seem to have arrived just in time," said Mr. Lumley, quietly.
+
+"In the very nick of time, as you shall hear," said Mr. Mitchel. "Ah,
+here is Miss Hetheridge. Will you be seated, please, Miss Hetheridge."
+He bowed courteously as the young woman sat down, and then proceeded.
+
+"I did not think that the bank-note had been removed from this room.
+Why? Because I argued that the theft and the hiding must have
+necessarily occupied but a moment; a chosen moment when the attention of
+all three others was attracted away from the table where it lay. The one
+chance was that Miss Hetheridge may have hidden it in the folds of her
+gown. The men's pockets seemed too inaccessible. I agreed with Mr.
+Barnes, that the lady would scarcely steal what was her own, though even
+that was possible if she did not know that it was to be hers. For a
+similar reason, I did not suspect Mr. Lumley, and thus by elimination
+there was but one person left upon whom to fasten suspicion. I supposed
+he would return here during the night to recover the bank-note, and I
+remained in this room to watch for him."
+
+At this Miss Hetheridge made a movement of her lips as though about to
+speak, but no words escaped, and she shrank back in her chair.
+
+"During the night," proceeded Mr. Mitchel, "Miss Hetheridge came into
+this room, and hid something. After she had left the room, relocking the
+door with a duplicate key, I found what she had hidden. It was a one
+thousand-pound note."
+
+There was silence for a moment, then Miss Hetheridge cried out:
+
+"I can explain!"
+
+"That is why I sent for you," said Mr. Mitchel.
+
+"The note was my own," said the girl, speaking rapidly, "but after the
+disappearance of the other, I was afraid to have it in my room lest it
+be found, and seem to inculpate me. I only received it a few days before
+my dear uncle died. He told me that his brother William had sent it as a
+present to my mother upon her marriage, but as he had doubted the good
+intentions of my father, he had kept the matter a secret. As both my
+parents died, he had held the note in trust for me. He did not invest
+it, because he thought that his own fortune would be an ample legacy to
+leave me. A short time before he died, I passed my twenty-first
+birthday, and he gave me the note. That is the whole truth."
+
+"To which I can testify," interjected Mr. Lumley. "And I may now add
+that Miss Hetheridge had not only promised to be my wife, but she
+offered me the use of her money to buy the partnership, which to Mr.
+Barnes seemed such a suspicious act."
+
+"I have only to explain then," continued Mr. Mitchel, "how it was that I
+decided that Miss Hetheridge was not the thief. This morning I found
+heavy frost on the window-panes. Upon one, however, I noticed a
+circular, transparent spot, where the pattern of the frosting had been
+obliterated. Instantly I comprehended what had occurred. The thief, the
+real thief, had come in the night, or rather in the morning, for I know
+almost the hour. He stood upon the shed outside, and melted the frost by
+breathing upon the pane, with his mouth close to the glass. Thus making
+a peep-hole, he must have seen me asleep on the sofa, and so knew that
+it would be useless for him to attempt an entrance. As the person who
+did this trick stood upon the shed, I had but to measure the distance
+from the shed to his peep-hole to be able to guess his height, which I
+estimated to be more than six feet. Next, there was some very
+interesting evidence in the frost on the tin roof. The marks made by the
+man's feet, or his heels rather, for the frost was so light that only
+the impressions of the nails in the heels would show. My own made
+complete little horseshoe-shaped marks composed of dots. But those of my
+predecessor were scarcely more than half a curve, which proved that he
+walks on the side of his foot, thus slightly lifting the opposite side
+from the ground, or roof, as it was in this instance. This much decided
+me that Miss Hetheridge was not the thief, and I returned her bank-note
+to the place where she had hidden it. Then I sat at the table where the
+will was read, and studied the situation. The easiest way to hide the
+note quickly seemed to be to slip it into the Bible which stood on the
+table. Therefore I was not surprised when I found the bank-note which I
+have here."
+
+He drew forth the bank-note from his pocket and handed it to Mr. Van
+Rawlston, who asked:
+
+"But why, then, did you try to buy the Bible?"
+
+"I had no idea of doing so. You forget that I had not seen Mr. Lumley.
+He, too, might have been six feet high, and he, too, might have had the
+habit of walking on the side of his heel, as I quickly observed that Mr.
+Eggleston does. With only one of the men before me I decided to run up
+the price of the Bible, knowing that if he were guilty he would bid over
+me. Mr. Eggleston followed my lead, and I was almost sure of his guilt,
+when he made the remark that he was buying a family relic. It was a
+possible truth, and I was obliged to go on bidding, to see how anxious
+he was to possess the volume. Then, as I said awhile ago, Mr. Lumley
+arrived in the nick of time. One glance at his short stature, and I was
+ready to let the Bible go."
+
+"You said you could almost tell the hour at which this man peeped
+through the window," said Mr. Barnes.
+
+"Ah, I see! You wish me to teach you tricks in your own trade, eh? Well,
+frost forms on a window-pane when the thermometer is near or below
+thirty-two. On the wall here I found a recording thermometer, which
+discloses the fact that at three o'clock this morning the temperature
+was as high as forty-five, while at four it was below thirty. Frost
+began to form between those hours. At five it was so cold, twenty
+degrees, that I awoke. Our man must have come between half-past four and
+five. Had he come before then, his peep-hole would have been fully
+covered again with frost, whereas it was but thinly iced over, the mere
+freezing of the water of the melted frost, there being no design, or
+pattern, as there was over every other part of the window-pane. So I may
+offer you a new version of an old saw, and say that, 'Frost shows which
+way a thief goes.'"
+
+
+
+
+                                  XII
+
+                           A SHADOW OF PROOF
+
+               (_Letter from Mr. Barnes to Mr. Mitchel_)
+
+
+"MY DEAR MR. MITCHEL:--
+
+"I am leaving town in connection with a matter of considerable
+importance, and am thus compelled to abandon a little mystery unsolved.
+It is not a very serious case, yet it presents certain unique features
+which I fancy would make it attractive to you. I therefore take the
+liberty of relating to you the occurrence as it was told to me by the
+person who sought my aid, as well as such steps as have been taken by me
+towards its elucidation. I must confess, however, at the outset, that
+though I have learned some things, the knowledge thus gained appears to
+me to complicate the affair, rather than otherwise.
+
+"Two days ago a district messenger boy brought me a summons, on scented
+paper. The writer was a woman, who explained that she wished to intrust
+to me the investigation of 'a great mystery involving the honesty of one
+or two of our society leaders.' I was urged to call without loss of
+time, and was at the Madison Avenue mansion within an hour.
+
+"In response to my card, I was shown up to the lady's boudoir, where I
+found Mrs. Upton eager to unfold her story, which evidently to her mind
+was of paramount consequence. I accepted an invitation to be seated, and
+she began at once, assuming a low tone, which was almost a whisper, as
+though she imagined that when talking with a detective the utmost
+stealth and secrecy were essential.
+
+"'Mr. Barnes' she began, 'this affair is simply awful. I have been
+robbed, and the thief is a woman of my own social status. I am horrified
+to discover that one of my set could stoop so low as to steal. And then
+the thing itself was such a trifle. A diamond stud, worth two hundred
+dollars at the outside valuation. What do you think of it?'
+
+"Observe that she had told me little enough before asking for an
+opinion. She seemed to be a woman of mediocre mental grasp, though
+perhaps as bright as most of the butterflies that flit about the
+fashionable ballrooms. I decided to treat her as though she were really
+very shrewd, and by a little flattery I hoped perhaps to learn more than
+she might otherwise be willing to confide to a detective, a class of
+beings whom she too evidently looked upon as necessary evils. I answered
+her in about these words:
+
+"'Why, Mrs. Upton' said I,'if you really know the thief, and if, as you
+say, she is a society woman and rich, it would seem to be possibly a
+case of kleptomania.'
+
+"'Kleptomania?' she exclaimed. 'Kleptomania? Rubbish! That is the
+excuse all rich women give for what I call plain stealing. But your idea
+is not new to me. I believe in being perfectly just in these matters. I
+would not harm a flea, unless he had bitten me; but when he does bite
+me, I kill him. There are no half-way measures that will suit me. No,
+Mr. Barnes, there is to be no compromise in this case. I will not
+condone theft, even if the thief be respectable and rich. And as for
+kleptomania, as I've said before, I've looked that up. I find it is a
+sort of insanity. Now there is no insanity in this case. Quite the
+contrary, I assure you.'
+
+"'You are very keen in your perceptions, Mrs. Upton,' I ventured. 'If we
+set aside the kleptomania idea, why, then, do you imagine a rich woman
+would steal a thing of such little value?'
+
+"'Spite!' she snapped back without a moment's hesitation. 'Spite, Mr.
+Barnes. Let that be your cue. But I must tell you just how this
+happened. You see, I hold a somewhat influential position in the society
+of "The Daughters of the Revolution," and because I do have some
+influence, I am constantly bothered by people who could not become
+members rightfully, if their titles were closely scrutinized; so they
+undertake to gain their end through me. They grow suddenly attentive,
+effusive, gushing. I am their "dearest friend," they think me "so
+charming," "so beautiful," "so delightfully cosmopolitan and yet so
+exclusive." To hear them talk you would be persuaded that I belong to
+both Belgravia and Bohemia in the same moment. But I usually see
+through their wiles, and long before they broach the subject I say to
+myself, "My dear madame, you want one of our society badges to pin on
+your breast; that is what _you_ are after." Then at last comes the note
+asking for a "confidential interview," and when I grant it a lot of
+documents are shown to me which are meant to uphold the candidate's
+claim to membership. But there is always the little flaw, the bar
+sinister as it were, which they hope to override through influence;
+through my influence, which I may state, they never get.'
+
+"'Ah, then, this lady, whom you suspect of taking your stud, had hoped
+to join your society?'
+
+"'I cannot answer that with a single word. I cannot say either yes or
+no. You see, there are two women.'
+
+"'Oh, I thought you knew the thief?'
+
+"'So I do. I know it is one of two women. If I knew exactly which, of
+course I should not need your help. But you have interrupted my story.
+Where was I?'
+
+"She evidently thought me an ass.
+
+"'Oh, yes,' she resumed. 'I was telling you how people bother me to get
+into our society. Well, a woman of that kind has been fairly running
+after me all winter. She is a Mrs. Merivale. She was born an Ogden, and
+some of the Ogden branch are fully entitled to membership. But,
+unfortunately for her, she traces back to the brother of the
+Revolutionary Ogden, and _her_ ancestor, far from fighting for our
+independence, is said to have made quite a tidy fortune by observing a
+shrewd neutrality; sometimes crying for England and sometimes the
+reverse, according to the company present. Of course, that is not Mrs.
+Merivale's fault; it all happened too long ago for her to have had any
+influence. But, you see, she is not in the direct line, and we only
+recognize the direct line. Heavens! if we did not, who knows where we
+would end? No, collateral branches are out of it, so far as our society
+is concerned, and I told her so plainly this morning. Of course, you can
+see how she might be spiteful about it. It was a great disappointment to
+her.'
+
+"'Then you think this Mrs. Merivale took your stud just to annoy you?'
+
+"'Dear me; how stupid you are! Did I not tell you there were two women?
+The other is Mrs. Ogden Beaumont. You see she clings to the family name.
+She also was an Ogden, and in the line. She is a member, and she had
+considerable influence in our society at one time. But she lost it by
+just such schemes as she is trying to persuade me into. She manoeuvred
+till she had two or three of her friends elected, who have even less
+claim than her cousin, Mrs. Merivale. Finally, it got so that if she
+were to propose a name, the Membership Committee would be suspicious at
+once. Now she wants Mrs. Merivale elected, and according to her little
+plan I was to be the cat's paw. The scheming of those two women to get
+into my good graces has been a source of amusement to me all winter,
+and the climax came this morning, when I told them both very frankly
+that I had seen through them from the start. Mrs. Merivale was horribly
+disappointed, but she behaved like a lady. I must admit that, though she
+said some bitter things, things she will be sorry for, I assure you. But
+Mrs. Beaumont just lost all control of her temper. She stormed and
+raged, and said vile things, all of which had as little effect on me as
+a pea-shooter would against the rock of Gibraltar. So the two women went
+off, and in less than five minutes I discovered that my diamond stud had
+gone with them.'
+
+"'Gone with them? Of that you are sure?'
+
+"'Of course I am sure. Do you suppose I would make such a charge without
+knowing that I am in the right? Come with me, and I will convince you.'
+
+"She led the way into a little anteroom next to her boudoir. It was not
+more than eight feet square, and not crowded with furniture. The floor
+of hardwood, covered by one large silk rug, afforded little opportunity
+to lose anything by dropping it. There were four chairs, a small
+reading-lounge, a revolving case filled with novels, a handsome
+piano-lamp, and a little tea-table with all requisites for making tea.
+
+"'This is my little den where I retire when I am wearied by people and
+things,' continued Mrs. Upton. 'Here I am surrounded by my friends, the
+people that our best writers have created. I love my books, and I get as
+fond of the characters as though they were all living; more, I think,
+because I do not come into actual contact with them. I can admire the
+nice people, and the mean ones may be as mean as they like without
+affecting me. Well, I was lying here reading when these women were
+announced, and as I was too comfortable to get up and dress, I thought I
+would have them up and excuse my toilet on the plea of indisposition.
+"Indisposed" is always a useful word; indisposed to be bothered by the
+visitors, you know,--the nicest of all the white lies. So they came up
+here and sat around my lounge and began to bring their all-winter's
+scheme to a climax. After awhile, when I saw that the time had arrived
+to disillusionize these women, I dismissed my headache and got up to
+have a frank talk with them. As I arose my diamond stud dropped from the
+collar of my waist which I had opened, and I picked it up and placed it
+on that little tea-table. Then we had our little scene. It was as good
+as a play. I kept my temper, as a hostess always must, but my guests
+were not so self-possessed, and, as I have said, Mrs. Merivale said a
+few things, and Mrs. Beaumont a great many more, that would not sound
+pretty coming out of a phonograph. Then they left, and I walked to my
+window and saw them jump into their carriage, Mrs. Beaumont slamming the
+door herself with a bang that must have weakened the hinges. That is
+all, except that I immediately remembered my stud and came here for it.
+It was gone.'
+
+"'I suppose, of course, you have searched this room, under the
+possibility of its having dropped to the floor?' I inquired.
+
+"'Yes, indeed,' she answered. 'I had my own maid up, and superintended
+the search myself. But I took the precaution to see that nothing should
+be removed from the room. I had the door closed, and then we took up the
+rug carefully and shook it. Nothing fell from it, and the stud was not
+on the floor or elsewhere. You can see yourself that it cannot be a
+difficult matter to search this little room thoroughly. It has been done
+without success, but if you like you may search again. I assure you that
+nothing has been taken from the room. If one of those two women has not
+taken that stud, you may count me an idiot.'
+
+"'You have admitted that your maid was in this room, and that brings
+another possibility into the case,' I said.
+
+"'You mean that Janet might have taken it? Not at all a possibility. In
+the first place she is devoted to me, as my people adopted her when she
+was but a child, and she has been personally in my service for more than
+ten years. No, Janet would not do such a thing, but even if she would,
+she could not have done so. I took precautions.'
+
+"'What precautions?' I asked.
+
+"'Why, she would need one hand to pick it up, and I not only kept both
+of her hands occupied, but I did not permit her to stoop to the floor.'
+
+"'How could you keep her hands always occupied?' said I.
+
+"'Why, most of the time she was handling the broom, and that requires
+two hands. It was only when she shook the rug and moved the sofa that
+her hands were otherwise occupied. I myself did the searching, and I am
+absolutely certain that Janet had not the least opportunity to pick up
+so much as a pin.'
+
+"'And you think that one of your friends would do what you would not
+attribute to your maid?'
+
+"'Assuredly. In the first place these women are not friends of mine;
+after to-day, I should rather say enemies. Moreover, I would trust Janet
+as I would few of my real friends. You see I have not tested all my
+friends, and I have tested Janet. She has had temptation enough and
+opportunity enough to rob me a thousand times over, were she so
+disposed. No, I tell you one of those two women has that diamond stud.'
+
+"'Would you mind saying which one you are the more inclined to suspect?'
+I asked.
+
+"'Why, that is a hard question. Sometimes I think one, and then again
+the other. Mrs. Beaumont showed so much venom that I can see more reason
+to suspect her if I decide from motive alone. It is really her scheme to
+get her cousin into the society. It is she who feels most thwarted,
+because of her lost influence. On the other hand, I cannot remember
+seeing her within reach of the tea-table, while Mrs. Merivale was near
+it all the time. So Mrs. Merivale had the opportunity, while the
+incentive through temper was with Mrs. Beaumont.'
+
+"This was the little problem which I was asked to solve, and I think
+that you will comprehend my meaning when I say that it was intricate
+because of its very simplicity. Let me enumerate the facts so as to get
+a sort of bird's-eye view of the situation.
+
+"First, we have two women present when the missing property is placed on
+a table accessible to at least one, and possibly to both. Second, a
+small room, with floor devoid of cracks, and covered by a rug easily
+moved and shaken. Third, only a few pieces of simple furniture in the
+room. Fourth, the visitors depart, and the property is missed. Fifth, a
+search without discovery, a third possible thief entering upon the
+scene.
+
+"We have apparently but four solutions; either one of the three women
+took the stud, or else the alleged loser lies. I omit the possibility
+that the stud was merely mislaid or accidentally out of sight in the
+room; this, because I personally conducted a search, which was so
+systematic as to make it absolutely assured that the stud was not in the
+room when I looked for it.
+
+"Of the four theories, then, I preferred first to consider that one
+which the mistress declared to be ridiculous. I insisted upon seeing and
+catechising the maid Janet, thereby deepening madame's doubts as to my
+ability. After talking with this girl for half an hour, I felt so
+convinced of her integrity that I mentally eliminated her from the case.
+Next in order we had the two visitors, one of whom, according to Mrs.
+Upton, had a motive while the other had the opportunity. The first
+postulate always is that the guilty person must have both opportunity
+and motive, unless indeed we are dealing with an insane person, when
+motive may be eliminated, though frequently the insane are actuated by
+quite intelligible motives. Thus we seemed obliged either to discover
+that Mrs. Beaumont had an opportunity to obtain possession of the stud,
+or else that Mrs. Merivale had a motive, except that the latter may have
+simply acted upon the opportunity without motive, in which case we would
+be dealing with the kleptomaniac. After due consideration I decided to
+call separately upon these two ladies, and went to Mrs. Merivale first.
+
+"She courteously received me, and as soon as I met her I was pleasantly
+impressed by her personality. After five minutes' talk I was certain
+that if she took the stud, it was, after all, the act of a kleptomaniac,
+and that no petty motive of revenge would have tempted this high-born,
+beautiful gentlewoman to descend to theft. She asked me the object of my
+call, and looked at me so frankly that there was no chance for
+subterfuge. Consequently I openly declared the purpose of my visit.
+
+"'Madame,' said I, 'I regret very much the embarrassing nature of my
+errand. But you visited Mrs. Upton this morning, I believe?'
+
+"'I did, in company with my cousin, Mrs. Beaumont.'
+
+"'Did you happen to notice that while you were there she placed a
+diamond stud on the tea-table?'
+
+"'Yes; I remember the circumstance perfectly, because of the impression
+which it made upon me.'
+
+"'Would you mind telling me what that impression was?'
+
+"'Why, simply that it was very discourteous, or at least very untidy.
+When we were shown to her room, she was lying down, with the collar of
+her waist open. After a while she arose, the stud dropped to the floor,
+and she picked it up and placed it on the little tea-table. I thought
+that it would have shown a greater sense of propriety if she had
+replaced it and fastened her collar.'
+
+"'Do you recall whether the stud was still on the table when you left?'
+
+"'Why, no! How should I? I paid no further attention to it whatever.'
+Then as a new idea entered her mind, her eyes flashed, and the color
+rose in her cheeks as she said to me sharply:
+
+"'You cannot mean that Mrs. Upton dares to intimate----'
+
+"'She intimated nothing,' I hastened to interject. 'Immediately after
+your departure the stud was missed, and the most thorough search has
+failed to discover it. In these circumstances Mrs. Upton sought my aid,
+and I drew from her the details of her morning's experiences.'
+
+"'I imagine you had little difficulty in drawing forth the details.' She
+said this with a sneer, which made me understand how this woman could
+say unpleasant things without forgetting her dignity.
+
+"'I assure you,' I hastened to add, 'Mrs. Upton knows nothing of my
+visit here. I have on my own responsibility called with the idea that if
+I could obtain an account of your visit from yourself, there might be
+some slight difference in the two stories which would show me how to
+proceed.'
+
+"'I know no more than I have told you, and as I am far from being
+interested in Mrs. Upton's lost baubles, I must beg you to excuse me
+from further discussion of the subject.'
+
+"I was dismissed. It was courteously done, but done nevertheless. I
+could do nothing but take leave. Still I made one venture,--
+
+"'I must ask your pardon for intruding, but, as I have said, I thought
+you might be able to supply a missing detail. For example, do you recall
+whether Mrs. Upton's maid entered the room while you were there?'
+
+"'I am sorry, Mr. Barnes,' said she in courteous but firm tones, 'but I
+must decline to pursue this conversation further.'
+
+"That was all. I had seen one of the suspected persons, and learned
+nothing. Still an interview of this character is bound to leave an
+impression, and in this case the impression was very strongly in favor
+of Mrs. Merivale. Without irrefutable proof I could not believe that
+this dignified, frank woman had stolen the stud. For the time at least I
+also dismissed all theories of kleptomania.
+
+"Thus my attention was directed toward the woman who had a motive, but
+was reported to have lacked the opportunity. I called at once upon Mrs.
+Beaumont.
+
+"This lady is of quite a different mould from her cousin. Older by at
+least ten years, she is still handsome, her beauty being, however,
+physical in character only. She lacks the self-poise and dignity which
+renders Mrs. Merivale's beauty so much more attractive. Moreover, she is
+voluble, where the other is reserved, a trait which I welcomed as
+affording me more opportunity to gain some possible clue to truth.
+
+"She came into her reception-room where I awaited her, evidently brimful
+of curiosity. I had sent in my card, and it seems she had heard of me in
+connection with that somewhat famous wager of yours.
+
+"'Mr. Barnes, the detective, I believe,' she said as she entered.
+
+"'At your service, Madame,' I replied. 'May I have a few minutes'
+conversation with you upon a trifling, yet quite puzzling matter?'
+
+"'Why, certainly,' said she, 'but don't keep me in suspense. I am
+burning with curiosity to know why a detective should call on me.'
+
+"I thought that this woman might be caught by a sudden attack, and made
+the venture.
+
+"'A diamond stud was stolen from Mrs. Upton this morning, while you were
+there!' I said, watching her closely. She did not flinch, but seemed
+honestly not to comprehend the suggestiveness of my words.
+
+"'I do not understand you,' said she.
+
+"'It is not a serious matter, Madame, but Mrs. Upton placed a diamond
+stud on her tea-table while you and Mrs. Merivale were with her, and
+missed it a moment after you had left. Therefore----'
+
+"This was plain enough, and she grasped the truth at a flash. In an
+instant she gave me evidence of that temper against which I had been
+warned by Mrs. Upton.
+
+"'You dare to insinuate that I took her miserable little stud? I wish
+my husband were at home; I would have you horsewhipped. No, I wouldn't
+either. It is not you who suspect me, it is that self-sufficient
+she-devil, Mrs. Upton. So she accuses me of being a thief, does she?
+Well, mark me well, Mr. Detective, I shall make her pay dearly for
+that insult. I have stood enough of that woman's impertinent
+superciliousness. This is going too far. If she has a shadow of proof
+against me, she can meet me in open court. Do you understand me? Go back
+and tell Mrs. Upton, with my compliments, that she must either prove
+that I stole her stud, or else I will sue her for libel. I'll let her
+see with whom she is fooling.'
+
+"'Really, Mrs. Beaumont,' said I as soon as I found a chance to speak,
+'you have rather gotten ahead of my intentions. I assure you that no
+accusation has been made against you.'
+
+"'Indeed!' said she, scornfully uplifting her nose. 'And pray, then, why
+have you called? Certainly Mrs. Upton cannot imagine that I would be
+interested in the petty thieving that goes on in her house.'
+
+"'The point is just this, Madame,' said I. 'The stud was placed on a
+tea-table while you were present. Mrs. Merivale has told me that she
+remembers this distinctly. When you had left, the stud was missed, and
+the most thorough search has been made, not once but twice, without
+finding it. Indeed, there is no place in the room where it could have
+been lost. According to the story of Mrs. Upton, the affair, trifling as
+it is, is a really puzzling problem. But I ventured to hope that either
+Mrs. Merivale or yourself might remember some incident which might give
+me a clue; such, for example, as the entrance of one of the house
+servants.'
+
+"'That is nothing but a smooth story invented by yourself,' said she,
+'in order to pacify my righteous indignation. But you cannot deceive me.
+Mrs. Upton has told you that I stole her stud, and you have come here to
+endeavor to prove it.'
+
+"'In justice to Mrs. Upton,' said I, 'I must state, on the contrary,
+that she very distinctly told me that you could have had no opportunity
+to take the stud, as you were not at any time near enough to the
+tea-table to touch it.'
+
+"'If she told you that, it shows how little observation she has. I don't
+at all object to admitting that I had the thing in my hand.'
+
+"'You had it in your hand!' I exclaimed, surprised.
+
+"'Yes. It happened in this way, Mrs. Upton received us with her collar
+unbuttoned, in the most slovenly fashion. After a while she got up from
+the lounge, where she was feigning a headache because too lazy to
+arrange her toilet before receiving guests. It was then that the stud
+fell to the floor. She picked it up and placed it on the table. When we
+were leaving she led the way out of the room, Mrs. Merivale following,
+and I leaving the room last. As I passed, I thoughtlessly picked up the
+stud and looked at it. I then put it back. I have a vague idea that it
+rolled off and fell to the floor, but I can't be sure.'
+
+"'That is singular,' said I; 'for if it fell to the floor it should have
+been found.'
+
+"'Undoubtedly. Very likely it has been found; I should say, by one of
+the servants. You will never induce me to believe that Mrs. Upton took
+the trouble to search for that stud without help. She is too lazy by
+far.'
+
+"I thought it best to keep discreetly silent, preferring not to mention
+the fact that the maid had been in the room. It being evident to my mind
+that this woman would adhere to this story, true or false, I deemed it
+prudent to at least appear to believe her.
+
+"'I am much indebted to you, Madame,' said I. 'You see that, after all,
+my visit has led me to the truth, for we know that the stud probably
+fell to the floor, and is therefore either still in the room, or else,
+as you suggest, one of the servants may have picked it up.'
+
+"'All that is very well, Mr. Barnes,' said she; 'and you are very clever
+in shielding Mrs. Upton. But, as I said before, you do not deceive me.
+This matter is more serious than you imagine. That woman has worked
+systematically for two years to supplant me in our society, "The
+Daughters of the Revolution." Just now she fancies that she has
+triumphed over me; but in spite of that, she is jealous of my influence
+with the members, and would go to any extreme to injure me socially. She
+well knows that I did not take her stud, but she is quite willing to
+allow this suspicion to drift out to the world, knowing that it would be
+difficult to prove my innocence of a charge so vaguely circulated, and
+that there might be some who would turn aside from me because of this
+shadow. Now this I shall not permit. If she does not prove her charge, I
+shall certainly sue her for libel, and have the whole matter cleared up
+in the open tribunal of the law. You may tell her this from me. There
+shall be no half-way measures. One thing more before you go. I must call
+my maid.'
+
+"She rang a bell, and a moment later her maid responded, and at her
+mistress's orders went upstairs and brought down a jewel-case of large
+size. This, Mrs. Beaumont opened, and taking out the contents strewed
+them on the table.
+
+"'There, do you see these?' said she with pride in her voice. 'These are
+my jewels. Mrs. Upton perhaps is richer than I am, but I defy her to
+show such jewelry as I have. Some of these things are two hundred years
+old. Here is a necklace which one of my ancestors wore at the first
+inauguration of Washington. Here is another which my grandmother wore at
+the coronation of Queen Victoria. Here is an emerald ring, presented to
+my own mother by Napoleon. And you see what the others are. Nearly all
+have some history which adds to their intrinsic value. And with these in
+my possession, to think that that woman would accuse me of stealing a
+common little diamond stud! It makes my blood boil. But I have told you
+what course I shall pursue, and you may warn Mrs. Upton.'
+
+"This ended the interview. I had gained some information at least, for I
+had learned that Mrs. Beaumont did have the opportunity to take the
+stud, but, on the other hand, the motive for such an act seemed less
+tenable. She certainly would not take it for its value, and in view of
+her own magnificent array of jewels, she would be less likely to imagine
+that she was giving Mrs. Upton any great annoyance by the petty theft.
+Then, too, her assertion that Mrs. Upton is systematically seeking to
+undermine her influence in their society connections, affords a possible
+reason for our last theory, that Mrs. Upton lied in declaring that the
+stud had been stolen. Thus the matter rests, as I have had no
+opportunity to have another interview with Mrs. Upton. If you call on
+her, I am sure that you will be well received because of the fact that
+she knows all about your outwitting me in that wager matter. Trusting
+that you may care to give this little affair some of your time and
+attention, and with the belief that you will certainly unravel the
+tangle if you do, I am
+
+                                "Very sincerely yours,
+                                                     "JACK BARNES."
+
+
+               (_Letter from Mr. Mitchel to Mr. Barnes_)
+
+"MY DEAR BARNES:--
+
+"I read your letter with considerable interest. As you very truly say,
+the case was intricate because of its simplicity. As you had followed up
+three theories with apparently the result that you were at least
+tentatively satisfied that neither held the key to the mystery, it
+seemed proper to take up the affair where you had left it, and to
+endeavor to learn whether or not Mrs. Upton had lied to you, and still
+had the stud in her own possession. For this and other reasons I decided
+to adopt your suggestion and call upon Mrs. Upton. I did so, and, as you
+surmised, was cordially received. She met me first in her parlor, and I
+at once stated to her the object of my visit.
+
+"'Mrs. Upton,' said I, 'you are perhaps aware that I have a friendly
+regard for Mr. Barnes, the detective, ever since the affair of my little
+wager. I have received a letter from him this morning in which he states
+that an important criminal case compels him suddenly to leave the city;
+he has also given me a succinct statement of the few facts in relation
+to the loss of your stud, and has asked me to interest myself in the
+solution of this little mystery."
+
+"'And you mean to do it?' she exclaimed, impulsively. 'Why, how
+delightful! Of course you will find out all about it. To think that you,
+Mr. Mitchel, the man who outwitted Mr. Barnes, will take up my case! I
+am honored, I assure you.'
+
+"I give you her exact words, though her flattery was somewhat
+embarrassing. In the course of the conversation she referred to you in
+terms which I repeat, though I do not at all share her poor estimate of
+your ability.
+
+"'Of course,' said I, 'I am not a detective, yet I do take a trifling
+interest in these little problems, I find it mentally exhilarating to
+measure minds, as it were, with these wrong-doers. Thus far I have
+generally been successful, which, however, only proves my claim that
+those who stoop to crime are not really ever sound mentally, and
+consequently, either from too little or from too much care, some slight
+detail is overlooked, which, once comprehended by the investigator,
+leads unerringly to the criminal.'
+
+"'Ah, how delightfully you talk!' said she. 'I am so glad you have taken
+this up, for, do you know, I rather thought Mr. Barnes a little dull,
+not to say stupid. Why, he actually suggested that my maid took the
+stud!'
+
+"Here, I thought, was an opportune moment to follow the method which you
+employed with Mrs. Beaumont, and by a sudden, unexpected accusation, to
+endeavor to surprise the truth from her. I said:
+
+"'Oh, Mr. Barnes has given up that idea now, and has almost adopted one
+even more startling. He thinks that perhaps you took the stud yourself."
+
+"I had expected from your estimate of this woman's character, which you
+recall was not very flattering to her mental calibre, that if indeed it
+were true that she had concocted this little scheme to injure a society
+rival, thus taken unawares she would feign great indignation. On the
+contrary, she laughed so heartily, and spoke of your theory so lightly
+that I was practically convinced that again we were on the wrong scent.
+All she said by way of comment was:
+
+"'Well, if that is the result of his investigation, he is a bigger fool
+than I took him to be. It is certain, therefore, that he will never
+discover the truth, and so I am doubly glad that he has gone out of
+town, and that you have consented to take his place.'
+
+"'You must not so quickly condemn Mr. Barnes,' said I, feeling bound to
+defend you. 'He has really worked in this matter quite systematically,
+and this final theory has been reached by exclusion.'
+
+"'I do not understand,' said she, puzzled.
+
+"'Well, first he accepted your assurance that the maid Janet was not
+guilty because she had no opportunity. Then he called upon Mrs.
+Merivale, and from his interview with her judged that she too must be
+innocent, a view in which I must concur after reading his report of what
+passed. Then he called upon Mrs. Beaumont, and though she admitted, what
+you did not yourself observe, that she actually took the stud in her
+hand when leaving the room, yet it seems equally certain that she
+replaced it, as she says she did. Thus, if the stud is really not in the
+room, there apparently could be no other explanation than that you are
+misleading us.'
+
+"'Us? Does that mean that you too held the view that I merely pretend
+that the stud was lost?'
+
+"'My dear Madame,' I replied: 'such an idea, of course, seems
+preposterous, but a detective cannot set aside any theory without
+thorough investigation. In an analysis of this character the personal
+equation must have a secondary place. In this affair it could not help
+us at all. Perhaps you will not understand my meaning. But do you not
+see that it is just as inconceivable that either of the other ladies
+should have stolen this stud of yours, as it is to believe that you
+merely pretend that it is lost? From the view-point of the impartial
+investigator there can be no choice between these propositions.'
+
+"'I must say that you are not very flattering,' said she, troubled, as
+she realized that social position could not protect her from suspicion
+any more than it would the other women. 'Why, I have my enmities, of
+course, and I frankly admit that I do not love either Mrs. Merivale or
+Mrs. Beaumont, especially not the latter. Still, to concoct such a
+scandalous calumny against an innocent woman would be awful. I could not
+be so low as that.'
+
+"'I believe you,' said I, and I did. 'But, on the other hand, would it
+not be equally low for these ladies, your social equals, to stoop to
+petty theft?'
+
+"'I suppose you are right,' said she reluctantly; 'but how did the stud
+disappear? Don't you see that I had strong evidence against one of them?
+It was there when they were in the room, and gone when they had left.
+There must be some explanation of that. What can it be?'
+
+"'Of course,' said I, 'there must be, and there is, an explanation. The
+most plausible seems to be the one suggested by Mrs. Beaumont, that it
+rolled from the table to the floor when she put it back. It seems
+incredible that two searches have failed to discover it, yet it is a
+small object, and may be lying now in some crevice which you all have
+over-looked.'
+
+"'I think not,' said she, shaking her head dubiously. 'Suppose you come
+up and see for yourself. You won't find any crevices. Why, we have even
+run wires along the line where the seat and back of the lounge are
+joined. No, the stud is not in that room.'
+
+"And now, friend Barnes, we come to the finale, for I may as well tell
+you at once that I have found the stud,--that, indeed, as soon as I
+looked into the room, I suspected that it was within those four walls,
+in a place where no one had thought of looking, though, to mystify you a
+little more, I may say that it may not have been in the room when you
+made your search.
+
+"I inclose with this a sciagraph, that is to say, a picture taken with
+the X-ray. You will observe that the skeleton of a small animal is
+discernible surrounded by a faint outline which suggests the form of a
+dog. If you understand something of anatomy, look where the stomach of
+the dog should be, and you will notice a dark spot. This is the shadow
+of the missing stud, which, as Mrs. Beaumont suggested, must have
+dropped to the floor. There it evidently attracted the attention of Mrs.
+Upton's pet dog, Fidele, who took it into his mouth, with the result
+shown in the sciagraph. You will ask how I guessed this at once? In the
+first place I had perfect confidence in the thoroughness of your search,
+so when I saw the dog in the room, lying on a silk pillow, two pertinent
+facts were prominent at once. First, the dog may not have been in the
+room when you examined the place, and consequently you could not have
+counted him in as a possible place of search. Secondly, he might easily
+have been present when the two ladies called, and this was probable
+since his mistress was lying down and the dog's sleeping-pillow was near
+the head of the lounge. If you noted this, you may not have comprehended
+its use; perhaps you took it for one which had slipped from the lounge.
+At all events, I do not consider that you have been at all at fault. I
+had better luck than you, that is all.
+
+                                    "Very sincerely yours,
+                                                  "ROBERT LEROY MITCHEL.
+
+"P. S.--I do not myself believe in luck. I must also state that Mrs.
+Upton has sent letters of apology to the other ladies. The dog, Fidele,
+is to undergo an operation to-morrow. One of our most skilful surgeons
+has agreed to regain the stud and preserve the life of the pet. A
+laparotomy, I believe they, call it.--R. L. M."
+
+                                THE END.
+
+
+
+
+                          Transcriber's Note:
+
+On the first page of advertisements, the "^o" represents a
+superscripted "o". 16^o is for an abbreviation for sextodecimo,
+which refers to the book size (6.75" x 4").
+
+Throughout the document, the oe ligature was replaced with "oe".
+
+Throughout the dialogues, there were words used to mimic accents of the
+speakers. Those words were retained as-is.
+
+Passages in italics were indicated by _underscores_.
+
+Passages in bold were indicated by =equal signs=.
+
+Small caps were replaced with ALL CAPS.
+
+On the title page, a comma was placed after "A CONFLICT OF EVIDENCE".
+
+On page 95, "but, as. well," was replaced with "but, as well,".
+
+On page 122, the question mark after "It was
+not difficult to discern that a human being had been
+cremated" was replaced with a period.
+
+On page 160, "moment" was replaced with "moments".
+
+On page 177, "dimunitive" was replaced with "diminutive".
+
+On page 178, "momnt" was replaced with "moment".
+
+On page 187, "attacted" was replaced with "attracted".
+
+On page 191, "in _Herald_ for D.M.," was replaced with "in the _Herald_
+for D.M.,".
+
+On page 226, a single quotation mark was added after "Why have you done
+it?".
+
+On page 230, "stiring" was replaced with "stirring".
+
+On page 257, "Livingston" was replaced with "Livingstone".
+
+On page 274, a single quotation mark was added before "Madame, your life
+is in danger."
+
+On page 319, a double quotation mark was deleted after "remaining of the
+thirty.'".
+
+On page 327, a double quotation mark was added after "I said
+'suppose,'".
+
+On page 329, a quotation mark was added after "will be more
+appreciative".
+
+On page 368, the double quotation mark after "yes," was replaced with a
+single quotation mark.
+
+On page 384, the double quotation mark after "this little
+mystery." was replaced with a single quotation mark.
+
+On page 386, the double quotation mark after "you took the stud
+yourself." was replaced with a single quotation mark.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Final Proof, by R. Ottolengui
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