The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-09-07
HOW MARROW GOT HIS THIEF.

first time | saw him. and I've trusted ev-
erything to him almost from the first week
he came-and that is over a year ago. Now,
it maddens me-thc thought that he was a
thief. after all. Only catch him and half
the Gl.C0O he has taken shall be yours. Put
him in the dock. I don't care what it costs
ne. Let me see him punished. Let me see
him caught Go for him for all you're
worth, Mr.. NARROW, and the very day he
is charged I'll give you a check for G5Oo!'
The detectives thin face flushed. He was
young and unknown, and so far had never
had a chance. Now it had come: and he
might not only make his reputation but
$500 as well. and that last would give him
all that was best in the world to him-the
girl he loved, for wife; and without it it
might be years before he could afford TO
marry.
He turned eagerly and gathered up his
papers and notebook.
"Ill lose no time he said. "Tl do my
best" But ali the same it seemed an al
most hopeless task. Fred Emberson, the
thief had had a good twelve hours start.
He had gone at 4 o'clock the day before to
the bank to pay money in and to cash a
check as usual ready for paying the mems
"hSCS vi lit IipIioN, AIT nc iAdN w
turned. The check had been cashed, the
money never paid in and Fred Emberson
had vanished.
Mr.. Richie was a hard and bitter man.
He had been soured five years before by the
disappearance of his only daughter. She
/, had met, at the house of some friends she
had been visiting, a man with whom she
had fallen in love. He had been ineligible in
every way-a poor man with no prospects.
with apparently nothing TO recommend him
but that made TO difference to her.
Mr.. Richie had stormed and ragged. had
refused emphatically to see him, and had
forbidden her ever to mention him again.
She had refused. She had tried for some
months to induce the two men to meet, she
had persisted in sticking to the man she
loved, and then she had run away and mar
ried him.
Mr.. Richie never forgave her-never
would. He returned all her letters UNI
opened. He washed his hands of her and
settled down, bitter and soured, to live out
the remainder of his life in hard work.
Now, to find that he had been deceived
again seemed to make him more bitter than
ever. At first he could not believe that his
trusted clerk had really done anything
wrong-he would turn up and explain. he
thought. and he waited until the morning
before he sent for a detective. Now. the last
doubt seemed removed. Fred Emberson had
not been seen at his lodgings since the
morning before, and from his desk at his
office had gone every paper except those
bearing directly on the business of the firm.
Mr.. Richie looked up at the detective.
Hes arranged it all. Of course" he said,
angrily. He meant TO go. He always goes
TO the bank on Fridays to draw the money
ready to pay the men on Saturday morning,
and he thought he'd seize the opportunity.
of course. You see, he's left nothing behind
in his desk-not a scrap of paper to betray
him. Not a thing! Everything was ar
ranged.
The detective nodded.
Il must see what there is at his Iodg-
ings,' he said. - criminal always gives
himself away somewhere. He can't help il.
If il wasn't for that the world would be 4
dangerous place for honest men. But they
always leave something undone, and very
often il is the cleVerest thieves who are
the easiest TO catch in the end. They're too
clever. sometimes
Mr.. Richie nodded Detective NARROW
pOcketed his papers and went out from the
office into the noisy streets of the busy
midland town.
He sent his men to the station to make
inquiries. and then made his way toward
the rooms i'm which Fred Emberson had
lodged during the year he had been with
Mr.. Richie. He went up to them. question
ing the landlady as he went, and getting
no information, except that she had not
seen EmbersOn since he had left for his of
fee the morning before.
Upstairs NARROW found everything in or
der. The rooms were Just as EmbersOn had
left them. He might be coming back in half
an hour. The chest Of drawers was full of
clothes and Uttered with knick-knacks-
were boots arranged underneath. carefully
polished; brushes and combs lay on the
dressing table, and a writing desk stood
close at hand. But in il Detective MARROW
could find not a single scrap of paper. not a
letter. or an envelope, or a bill. Emberson
had arranged everything. There was moth
ing to betray him-not even an ink mark
on the blotting paper.
NARROW looked round in some dismay
when he had finished. He couldn't find a
single clew, not q thread to start a search,
not a thing to go upon, and he made a
close search, too, for the thought of the
$500 reward made him strain every nerve.
He was almost giving up at last when
suddenly a tiny scrap Of cardboard fallen
between the mantelpiece and the wall
caught his eye. He took his penknife and
began forcing il up. 1t might be nothing.
of course, but he had turned over every
scrap of paper and every book in the room,
and he would miss no chance.
The cardboard came up slowly. 1t was
wedged In firmly between the mantelpiece
and the wall, but he loosened it at last and
held it up TO the light.
When he saw it he gave a little gesture
" OAlCRRCAAANAA1CAA IL Nao lhC PllOlOE ii III
OF a hid That it belonged to EmberSon
seemed the last thing likely.
He called up the landlay and held it out
to her. She shook her head over ii. She had
never seen it before, but it must have be-
longed TO Mr.. EmbersOn, she said. for her
own daughter had occupied the room before
he had had IL. and the photograph was OF
no child they knew.
NARROW looked at it again and made a
note of the photographers name, which was
printed on the back. 1t bore the address OF
"A small town. and he froUnP6 a little a = he
looked at it. What had Fred Emberson, a
thief, to do with Il little child?
He shut UP his pocketbook with a snap
and gave a final look around.
He was just turning away when his mar
came back from the station with the infor-
nation that EmberSon had been seen TAX
ing a ticket-not to London. as they had
expected. but to a little place called Stay
bridge, half way down the line. 1t was a
trick. of course. He would. go on to Eustor
and pay excess fare, and be lost at once IN
the London crowd.
Still, NARROW sent his man to telegraph
to the station at Staybridge. and waited
still impatiently, searching the room, fol
the reply.
1t came promptly. Only one person had
come by that train on the day before, and
that was a mechanic in a working suit ap-
parently on the lookout for work. Evident
cided that his only chance now was TO go &c
Topping, where the photograph had beer
taken.
He started Immediately. sending his mar
on TO London TO try TO get some informa'
ton there. and meaning to wait for him al
A nav yyTTu 0CTu IIc