The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1902-08-07
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mark made by his trade, such as the
mark on the hand of barber, where
the scissors had constantly pressed
against the root of his thumb, should |
be careful lest these means of identi-
tication are not the means of his down |
fall. Most of the cases which have |
come under my notice have been cases |
whore the culprit has had some bod
ily deficiency which has left its mark
on something with which he had come
in contact. The experience which |
am about to relate embodies this
truth. and had not the criminal in the
case had the misfortune of losing one
half of his-but l am anticipating
events.
had Just return from the continent,
where | had been sent in connection
with the duchess of Mentone's stolen
Jewels, and was prepared to enjoy a
rest. when | received n wire from my
chief asking me to report at once.
Upon arriving at The Office he told me
that a robbery had been committed at
the summer home of Mr.. George Mid
dleton the millionaire oil magnate,
and that a detective had been wired
for. As to the particulars only one
diamond had been stolen, magnificent
stone of great value intrinsically, and
of incalculable worth to the family as
an heirloom.
Mr.. Middleton's place was some
where up the Hudson, and set out at
once.
When / arrived I was at once taken
to Mr.. Middleton, who appeared very
much upset over the AGAR, not so
much, as he assured me, on account of
the value of the stone, but it had been
so long in the family and had had so
much to do wi~h the history of the
family, having been passed down as
an heirloom from one generation to
another, that he viewed the loss as a
great calamity. The points of the
ease were briefly as follows: On the
previous night he had taken the dia-
mond from the safe to show 1t to
some of his guests, and Mrs. Middle
ton, who was to wear it at the ball
on the following night, had taken it
from him, and not thinking it neces-
sary to place it in the safe for so
short time, had taken it to her bed
room and put it in a small casket on
her dressing-table.
The next morning before going
downstairs she thought she would see
if IT was all right, and was astonished
to find the casket empty. There were
many guests in the house, and at my
request ] was TO be introduced as
friend of Mr.. Middleton. Before going
into the drawing-room / asked if he
would be good enough to give me some
particulars about his guests. Let me
see" he said, "there are about 20
guests, mostly gentlemen. With the
exception of three. they are old friends
of the family, and above suspicion. The
remaining three are gentlemen of high
character. One of them is a Russian
count, who came to me with letters
from intimate friends abroad, and one
of the Others is an Englishman whom
I met in New York, and our kindred
tastes led me to invite him here few
weeks: the other is gentleman from
town, greatly interested in dynamics,
and whom met at my club. These are
the only acquaintance that are here
whom | have met during the last
rear"
| was then taken to the drawing
room and introduced to most of the
guests, among them the three new ac-
auaintances. | gained nothing that
night, and noticed nothing suspicious
about any of the guests. | was rather
inclined to think that the robbery had
been committed from the inside, by
either one of the servants or one of
the guests, as all the doors had been
found fastened on the morning after
the robbery, and no one knew that the
diamond was in the house Gt was al
ways kept at the bank) but the mem
bers of the household and the guests
to whom it had been shown on the
night of the robbery. In the morning
I asked the servant who brought me
my coffee and rolls to come in, and |
questioned him as to the guests, and if
he had noticed any of the servants were
in trouble over money matters.
"Now," I said to him, "have you
noticed anything peculiar about any
of the guests? No matter how
trihing it may appear to you, it may
be the means of providing me with n
elew."
He thought for "A moment and then
said that he had noticed nothing
out of the common. He had just
gone out of the room when he re-
appeared and told me that he had
noticed one thing about one of the
guests, but it could have nothing to
do with the robbery. He had no.
.ticed that one of the men had al
ways had his shoes cleaned while
they were ON his feet. He always
collected all the shoes and took
them down to he cleaned, but Mr.
Dane, "the man who always talks
about machinery and electricity to
Mr.. Middleton, always came and had
them cleaned on his feet
In the evening l had another tal,'
with the man and asked him to give
me an account of everything that
happened on the night of the rob
berry. He told me that the gentle