Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-09-18
lg into the diamond rooms them

leading into the diamond rooms them
selves.
You know, too, that in the main room
fronting Stockdale street and Jones street
the diamond tables run around the two
s:des' under the windows and are rallied
off fxom the rest of the room by singl"
light VIC oden rail. There is a table in the
middle of the room and on you right
hand as you go in there is a big safe stand
ing against the wall. You Will remember.
too. that in the corner exactly facing the
door stands the glass case containing the
die mond scales. 1 want you particularly
70 recall the fact that these scales stand
Giagonaily across the corner OF the Will
dow. The secondary room, as you Know,
opens out onto the left, but that is not OF
much consequence.
| signifed my remembrance oil these de-
tails, and the inspector went on:
THE diamond was first put in the scale
and weighed in the presence of the sec
rotary ard the two directors by one OF me
higher officials, licensed diamond broker
and a most trusted employe of De BeerS.
whom you may call Philip Marsden When
YOU come to write the story Inc Weleht,
as 1 told you, In round nsures was W.
carats. The stone was then photographed,
nartly for purposes of identification ana
nartly as a reminder of the biggest stone
ever found in Kimberly in its rough state.
1.-The gem was then handed over TO MT
Narsden's care pending the departure Oh
the diamond post to Vryeburg on the FOL
lowing Monday-this was Tuesday. ne
secretary saw it locked up in the big sa1e
by Mr.. Marsden. who. as usuai, was aer
companied by another official. younger
man than himself, whom you can cal!
Henry Tomas. a connection OF his, ana
also one of the most trusted members OF
the staff.
Every day. and sometimes two or three
times a day, either the secretary or one
CIR other of the directors came up and had
q look at the big stone. either for their
own satisfaction or to show it to some OF
their more intimate friends. l ought, per-
haps to have told you before that the whole
diamond room. staff were prao tically sworn
to secrecy on the subject, because, as you
will readily understand, 1t was not conS1d-
e.ed desirable for such an exceedingly val
liable find to be made public property in q
place like this. When Saturday came it was
decided not to send it down to Cape Town,
for some reasons connected with the state
of the market. When the safe was opened
Monday morning the stone was gone.
Il needn't attempt to describe the abso-
lite panic which followed. 1t had been seen
two three times in the safe on the Sat
urday, and the secretary himself was posi-
tive that it was there at closing time, be-
cause he saw it just as the safe was being
locked for the night. In fact, he actually
So it put in, for it had been taken out to
show 70 a friend CT his a few minutes be-
fore.
The safe had not been tempered with
nor could ii have been unlocked, because
v hen it Is closed fer the night it cannot be
opened again unless either the secretary or
the managing director Is present, as they
have each a master key without which the
key used during the day Is of no use.
''Of course l was sent for Immediately
ard l admit that / was fairly staggered
If the secretary had not been so positive
flat the stone was locked up when he saw
the safe closed on the Sc turday l should
have worked upon the theory-the only
possible one, as it seemed-that the stone
had been distracted from the safe during
the day, concealed in the room and some
how or other struggled cut, although even
that would have been almost impossible in
consequence of the strictness of the scare h.
ing system and the almost certain discoy-
cry which must have followed an attempt
to get il out of town.
Both the rooms were searched in every
nook and Granny. The whole staff, natural
ly feeling that every one of them must be
suspected, Immediately volunteered to sub
nit to any process of search that might
think satisfactory and l can assure you
the search was very thorough one.
Nothing was found, and when we had
done there wasn't a scintilia of evidence
TO warrant us in suspecting anybody 1t
Is true that the diamond was last actually
seen by the secretary in charge of Mr.
MarSden and Mr.. Tomas. Mr. Marsdan
opened the safe. Mr.. Tomas put the tray
containing the big stone and several other
tine ones into its usual compartment, and
he safe door was locked. Therefore that
fact went for nothing.
You know, i suppose, that one of the
diamond room staff always remains all
iiisHt III Inc room, there Is at least one
night Waterman on every landing: and the
frontages are patroled all night by armed
men of the special police. Tomas was on
duty on the Saturday night. He was
searched as usual when he came off duty
on Sunday morning. Nothing was found
and recognized that it was absolutely i'm
possible that he could have brought the
diamond out of the room or passed IL to
any confederate in the street without being
discovered. Therefore. though at first sight
| suspicion might have pointed to him as be-
| ing the one who was apparently last in the
room with the diamond, there was abso-
lutely no reason to connect that fact with
its Disappearance"
Il must say that that is a great deal
| palmer and more matter-of-fact than any
OF the other stories that have heard of
| the mysterious disappearance" / said as
| the inspector paused to refill his glass and
/ ask me to do likewise
| Yes, he said, drily, "the truth is more
commonplace up to a certain point than
| the sort of stories that stranger will find
! foating about Kimberley, but still / dare
| say you have found In your own profession
| that 1t sometimes has way Otto put 1t
l IN sporting language-giving fiction a seven
Fpound handicap and beating 1t in q canter -
| For my own part" answered, with an
1 affirmative nod. my money would go on
fact every time. Therefore. it would 20
| on now II ! were betting. At any rate, /
4 may say that none of the fiction that i
| have SO far heard has offered even a rea-
| sonable explanation of the disappearance OF
that diamond. given the conditions which
] you have just stated. and, as far as 1 can
/ see. admit that couldn't give the re-
| hottest guess at the solution of the n vs.
| terry"
That's exactly what 1 said to myself
after had been worrying day and night
spector. "And then" he went on sudden
iy getting I'D from his seat and beginning