Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1896-04-16
Ve 6r0jne9 MS 1rincqldss.

button to a friend. This friend l found
after some delay, and he admitted that
he had once had the button, but that he
had given it to a woman. More time
was lost in discovering this woman, but
when 1 did she, too, recognized the
button and said that it had been stolen
from her by another woman, whom she
described as q creole Thus at last got
on the tsaclz of the Montalbon, for that
was the name which she used in France.
Under this name it was easier to follow
her. l soon learned that she had com
panion, of the name Of Jean Molitaire
l then easily found that Moltaire had
been in the employ of the Paris jewel
ers as shipping clerk. 1t was he who
had written the two descriptions of the
Jewels, one Of which found among the
woman's effects and the other in Mr..
Mitchel's possession. This was a suspi-
cious circumstance, but we know now
how it was that the handwriting match
ed, fact which had puzzled me great
". 1t seems that Mr.. Mitchell at one
time had bought some valuable papers
from the MontalbOn woman, paying her
with diamonds and recommending her
to his Paris jewellers to dispose of
them. "
''That," said Mr. Mitchell, ''was
partly to get her out Of this country
and partly to recover the diamonds,
which / did, through the dealer. -
$50 he told me- 1t was when she re-
ceived the money from them that she
noticed Molitaire. Itwas not long after
that the second set of jewels We're sold
to MIR. Mitchell This clerk, of course,
knew of the transaction, because he
packed them for shipment Then he
must have persuaded the woman to &C
company him across the Atlantic, with
! the design Of stealing the gems from Mr..
| Mitchell as soon as he should take them
from the custom house. This is seen
from the fact that three days after the
| shipment this man resigned his posi-
ton, and from that time all trace Of
| both the man and the woman in Paris
| is lost -
''From which you deduce that they
followed the jewels?' said Mr.. Mitchell.
"Of course. The man and woman
separated here to avoid suspicion. By
! trick the woman obtained possession of
! apartments in the very house where
| your intended lived, while Moitaire
| stopped at the Hoffman, which, Of
course, is very near your own hotel As
soon as you went to Boston they follow
! ed and registered at the same hotel.
! You obtained the jewels from the Gus
tom house, and they entered your room
| and robbed you during your absence.
Your theory Of the murderer's S actions
after the jewels were recovered by you
! Is probably correct. He went back to
hunt for them, hoping that she had not
placed them in the satchel or rather
that she had taken them out of it, since
you yourself placed them there. l think
there is no point left unexplained. "
'Pardon me-" said Mr.. Thauret, Il
think you are wrong. You have not to
my mind quite connected this man
what did you call him? Jean Molitaire,
was it not? Well, do not see that you
have traced his hand to the crime.
Il think that l have" said Mr..
Barnes.
"You do not make it clear to me, p"
said Mr.. Thauret, as coolly as though
discussing some question in which he
had but a passing interest. "You say
that your MontaIbon woman noticed
this Molitaire when she sold her dia-
monds. Later that both We missing
from Paris. The woman turned up in
New York, but how do you prove that
MoIitairo did not go to-let US say Rus
sia?"
NO." said Mr.. Barnes, "he did not
go to Russia. Suppose that | should tell
you that ferreted out the fact that this
name Moitaire vas but an alias, and
that the mans true ual4e was Montal-
bon2 Then, when we rem ember that the
Yoman's name had been cut from all
her garments, is that not signifcantf'
This speech made a mild sensation,
but Mr. Thauret remained unmoved.
He replied calmly:
"All things are ignifcant-how dc
you interpret this fact, surposing that
you could prove it,"
"This Moitaire was really the dead
woman'5 husband. They quarreled
many years ago, and she went to New
Orleans, where she kept a gambling
house, having learned the trade from
him. When they met again il Paris