The Plymouth Democrat. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1869-1941, 1870-01-06

la bas. 1t is true my Thompsonne, who
had imperative reasons for quitting Spa
, might have taken this purse also on his
way; but I had ascertained that my
ThOmpsOnne had not arrived in Paris al
all, you see.
"'I put this second suppositisn aside
the more readily because of something
remembered suddenly.
al remembered that that evening there
had been at the Paris terminus, waiting
the arrival of the express ut o'clock,
man who, the moment he beheld Monsieur
Langley, would he morally certain that in
a certain pocket of Monsieur Langley
travelling coat was a red portefeuille con.
tanning some forty thousand francs in
bank notes, who would have special rea-
sons for watching Monsieur Langley closer
than anybody else, and who believed Mon
sieur Langley to be Thompsonne, the pick
pocket.
"' Remembering this, I quickly saw
how this man, with special reasons for
watching Monsieur Langley closely, might
have noticed him take the POrtefeuille
from his pocket, to get out his keys, say
how this man, who believed Monsieur
might have hardly calculated on being
dDIc tO TOD ulul WIFI pcIlcCt III
asmuch as, on the other hand, even if
ThompsOnne caught him in fagrdnte de-
iictu, word from one thief would make
the other only too glad to hold his
tongue! and, on the other hand, if ThOmp-
some were not to perceive his loss at the
moment, he was to be arrested, so soon as
he was dOmiciled, by me, when, his decdts-
seur naturally supposed, there was slight
chance of my prisoner prOclaiming he had
been robbed of the most positive proofs
of his late operations at Spa.
I'm short, | saw in very brief while
how this man might have robbed Monsieur
Langley, suppOsing him to be ThOmp-
some. The more reflected on the mat
ter the more certain did l become that
this man, and no other, was the actual
rObber.
land he was-the agent VIII } had been
ordered to filler" the supposed ThOmp-
some on his arrival The "faiseur " OF
the red portefeuille was this particular
agent, was finally convinced, and no one
else.
1.-The conclusion had arrived at was a
very grave one. We are, we must be,
invariably above suspicion in our metier.
But had arrived at this conclusion de-
liberately, and could arrive at this alone.
/ laid my theory, therefore, before the
Chief, and more effectively than | had
ventured 10 hope. After some delibera-
ton the Chief decided that, concidering
the importance of this matter to ourselves,
l should be allowed to clear it up if
could At the same time the consequences
of my failing to do so were plainly in
timated to me- But | did not think
should fail Armed with the Chefs carte
blanche lost no time in placing my "sus-
pect under surveillance forthwith.
- His name was Falliex. Certain pro-
lection had procured him admittance into
the Brigade, where we knew unusually
little of his antecedents; a fact which had
no doubt had its influence in deciding the
Chief in favor of an investigation.
q" In my unavoidable absence, at the last
moment. Falliex, to whom all the details
of the affair must have been we'll known,
was directed to await the arrival OF the
supposed ThompsOnne by the express at
nine o'clock, and in the event of my still
not having appeared, To- fler that individu-
al quietly wherever he might go, our OBJ
icct being to make the acquaintance Of
any confederates ThompsOnne might have
in Paris you understand. | reached the
Care iustas Monsieur Langley was driving
away to the Grand Hotel. Once there, /,
as you will doubtless recOllcct, left Falliex
outside the supposed Thompsonne's room,
entered it myself, and arrested Monsieur
Langley,-a deplOrable error, for which |
have only forgiven myself since yester-
day.
"Convinced by Monsieur Lucingham
shortly afterward of this error, you will
also recoleet signed to my aide that he
might withdraw. Which he did in the
most tranquil manner possible, carrying
off with him the red portefeuille and the
fifty thousand francs of Monsieur Langley
with him. When, next day, informed
him Of the fascO, and the way in which
our supposed tdiseur had himself been
robbed, it pleased Monsieur Falleix to lift
his shoulders in his customary silent
fashion, and to smile disagreeably in my
face. | remembered that smile when the
notion that Monsieur Falleix, and none
but he, was the robber, began to grow
upon me. He had had time to dispose of
his plumber, and had evidently so disposed
of it as to feel quite safe.
GLOW? Where? Questions had to
answer, and questions very difficult to
answer; for the way in which he had
planned and performed this coup proved
Monsieur Fallex mt once to be a person
of profound ability, who would never
have forgotten to take into his calcula-
tions the possibility at any rate, of his
being suspected and watched, as | meant
he should be.
&" No; Monsieur Langley's red porte
feuille,-I was of opinion, by the by, that
the portefeuille itself had not been de-
stroycd, either because Falleix would con-
slider its destruction immaterial when 1t
was no longer liable to be found in his
possession, or because he had had no
means of destroying it safely forthwith,
and had been too prudent to keep it about
him till he should have had these MEANS -
Monsieur I,angleys porteteuille, | say,
and its contents the proof of Falleix's
guilt and the correctness of my the
: ory, were only to be discovered
through Falleixs impatIence or impru-
l dence. Only this could give me clew
and this clew my suspect" who now
/ began to live, as it were, under glass;
! the minutcst action, the most trif1ing Incl
| dents of whose life were all hencefortf
known to me, seemed to have determined
' | should wait for eternally. The closest
q watch upon him brought to light-abso
s lutely nothing. My suspect" continued
to conduct himself in the most unsuspi
cious manner possible. This had anti
# cipated he had taken it for granted he
8 was surpeiue, of course. But the Chic
J. grew, or appeared to grow incredulous
n | was pushing my theory too far, he said
o it was indigne, this que didNe!
"'Was it? Was / mistaken? l die
s not wonder they thought l was; but
t, never thought 50, somehow, myself No
h Falleix was even stronger than / ha,
S imagined; that was all.
"' He was poor, mserably poor, among
/: us who are not rich. Miserably poor
J. Yet could see on his debauchees fac
= signs of the vices that are costly. Thos
q fifty thousand francs,-hOw could he resis
r the temptation of them? How could h
Y hold himself back from them any longer
q Yet knew he had not spent a sou yet
e doubted if he had even once allowed him
@ self to ascertain if his treasure was sti