The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1873-06-10
Selerf Stnry.
The Tell-Tale Diamond.
Leaf From a Detectives Life.


i lily acquiesced, and together we passe
Unto the main Office, where several spruc
Hooking young men were scratching ava
as unconcernedly as if they had not bee
engaged in an animated discussion O
the robbery only minute before.
lglanced at them sharply, but saw moth
ing suspicious in their looks, and con
cluded it would be a waste Of time t
lquestion them.
l examined the lock of the door open
ling upon the street, and found it had no
been tampered with, although the frs
arrival had found the door ajar I mex
turned my attention TO door openin,
upon the rear, and found it securel
locked, in which condition it had been
so The president assured me, since th'
night before
who has charge Of the key Of thi
door? ?" l inquired
"Mr N, the cashier, has one, an,
our janitor the other.'
"Can either of these gentlemen b
summoned ?"
Eyes, both, if need be- Here, Warren
run round to Mr. Ms and tell hin
that want to see him Immediately.
The clerk addressed was about tt
obey, when sudden thought struck me
and called him back.
"You need not trouble Mr.. N-,bu
| if the janitor can be found ask him tt
step down for minute or two"
In less than two minutes the clerk re
turned with the janitor-a broad shoul
dered Irishman, whose answers to my
questions we're given in such a straight
forward manner that ! at once exohora
ted him from all blame.
you lock up after the clerks have
gone home, do you not ?" l inquired
looking the man in the eyes.
eyes, sometimes l does, an sometime.
l doesn't" was the laconic answer.
"When do you not p
"When Mr.. N wurruks late al
nights has been the case much O. late.'
Ibid you lock up last night 9'
"Yes, sir; fwat's more, tried every
dure afterward."
"At what time did you lock thai
door" and | pointed toward the front
entrance.
"Well, sir, as near as I can recollect
half-past SWIM"
''Are you sure you shot the bolt into
the socket?'
"Aye! / could swear that I locked
that dure an left it locked
"How about the windows--did YOU
fasten them as well p
'.Yis, livery wan ov them"
"Very good, sir; you may 60 now, il
you like and turned to the president.
"Now, then, Mr.. J-,with your per
mission, will investigate matters below
stairs"
The old gentleman conducted me to the
vault below. The heavy iron, door OF
the large vault in which the banks fund s
were stored, stood wide open, affording
a view of the interior which presented d
scene of confusion not unfamiliar to my
eyes Books and papers lay upon the
floor in every direction, where they had
been thrown after gratifying the curios.
ity of the burglars.
I stopped to pick up crumpled docu-
ment that lay at my feet, and as l did go
the sparkle of gem, heretofore conceal.
ed by the paper, caught nv eye. With
quick motion of the hand picked the
stone from the floor,and held it conceal.
ed in the palm Of my hand. while pc
rused the document, more for conceaing
the exultation felt at having gained so
clue, than for any other rea-
son.
Having glanced at several other pa.
pers similar to the one had first picked
up,I made thorough search OF the vault.
which proved fruitless but the diamond
in my possession was Sufficient founda-
tion on which to weave network of
evidence
Having no further business at the
bank l took nv departure and went di-
rect TO celebrated jewelers. establish
ment in Somers street The proprietor
of the store knew me, and intuitively
guessing my business, conducted me to
his private office
swell, Tracy, what's upf" he inqnir-
ed. when we had become seated.
"Nothing unusual" Ireplied. 1 "You
have heard OF the Clifton bank robbery,
| presume ?"
"The Clifton Bank2 All! yes, I did
heal some one remarking about it.
There was no account of it in the morn
ingiparers p
"No, believe not. The affair was
not discovered in time for the reporters
10 get hold Of it. Well, sir, the bank
has been robbed to the tune Of thirty
thousand collars, and am engaged on
The case"
"Hum indeed! Hope you'll catch
The rascals, old boy. Dreadful state of
affairs to exist in small city like this"
and the little man twisted uneasily in his
chair.
"Not SO bad as you may imagine. Be
calm, my friend the parties that robbed
he Clifton Bank will not be likely to pay
7ou a visit"
"Ah! 1 hope your surmises are cor
'ect; but pray tell me your reason for
as you do"
Certainly. In the first place the bank
'obbery is the work of one man, and he
s not professional burglar. In the
second Place that man cares more for
yreenbacks than he does for gold orna-
nents and would not plunder vorr place
or all there is in it. In fact, this very
'ame party owned diamond, but threw
t away rather tian carry it around with |
lim. 1t is very pretty, is it not?"
And ! held the stone up to him. !
The jeweler took it, examined it close
v, and returned it to me, with the re-
mark: 4.a -,...a,q.
"lt is, as you say, very pretty stone, |
md might add.very valuable for gem
# its size That is your clue, pre-
une ?"