Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1902-08-13
The Stolen Diamond

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AZ CRIMINAL. who has any pecu.
TN liarity about his person, such as
missing finger. a club foot, or
any mark made by his trade. such as
the mark on the hand Of barber.
where the scissors had constantly
pressed against the roof Of his thumb.
should be careful lest these means Of
Identification are not the means OF his
downfall. Most OF the cases which
have come under my notice have been
cases where the culprit has had some.
bodily deficiency which has left III
mark ON something with which he has
come In contact. The experience
which am about to relate embodi es
this truth, and had not the crimt,lal
In the case had the misfortune Of los-
ing one-half of his-but l am apticipat-
ing events.
! had just returned from the CONT
nent where had been sent In con-
nectton with the Duchess OF Meutone's
stolen Jewels. and was prepared, to en-.
JOY rest. when received wire from
ny chief asking ME to report 1T once
Upon arriving at the office he told me
that robbery had been committed at
the summer home Of Mr.. George MIDI
dleton, the millionaire oil maknnte. and
that detective had been wired for. As
to the particulars, only one, diamoq3 y
had been stolen. magnificent stone {
great value intrlnsically a1hd of i1SSl-
enlable worth to the family as an hr-
Mr.. Middleton, ~
up the Hudson and S1o / BY wq sus some efe
When arrived was at once
20 Nj. Middleton, who appeared ves.
much upset over the affair, not SO much
ne assured me, on account Of the yalne
o. the stone. but 1t had been 80 long IN
The family and had so much to do with
the history Of the family, having been
passed down as an heirloom from o.
operation to another, that he yiek ~
&c sSss a v sA. great eatsTshs,y. The
points OF the case were briefly as fol.
lows: On the previous night he had
taken the diamond from the safe to
show 1t to some OF his guests, and Mrs.
Middleton. who was to wear 1t at a
ball on the following night, had taken
It from him. and, not thinking 1t nee
essary to place Il in the safe for so
short q time. had taken It to her bed
room and put It In small casket on
her dressing table.
The next morning before going down.
stairs she thought she would see IL it
all right, and was astonished to
the casket empty. There were
~ guests In the house, and ut my
aest was to be introduced as a
I'd of Mr.. Middleton. Before going
the drawlng-room asked hc
Id be good enough to give me some
'culars about his guests. .Let me
he said; there are about twenty
SITS, mostly gentlemen. With the
'ption of three they are old friends
e family and above suspicion. The
remaining three are gentlemen Of high
character. One Of them is Russian
count, who came to me with letters
from intimate friends abroad, and one
Of the others is an Englishman whom
/ met In New York, and our kindred
tastes led me to invite him here few
weeks; the other Is q gentleman from
town, greatly interested In dynamics.
and whom met in my club. These are
the only acquaintances that are here
whom have met during the last year."
/ was then taken to the drawing
room and introduced to most Of the
guests. awcug them the three new &C.
quaintance. 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 ct the
guests, as all the doors had been found
fastened on the morning after the rob-
berry, and no one knew that the dia-
mond was in the house ut was always
kept at the bank but the members OF
the household and the guests to whom
It had been shown on the night of the
robbery. In the morning asked the
servant who brought me my coffee and
rolls to come in. and questioned him
as to the guests. and IL he had noticed
any of the servants were In trouble
over money matters.
"Now," said to him, "have you no.
ticed anything peculiar about any "
the guests? No matter how trifling It
may appear to you. 1t may be the means
Of providing me with q clue"
He thought for moment gnd then
said that he had noticed nothing out
Of the common. He had Just zone out
of the room when he reappeared and
told me that he had noticed one thing
about one of the guests. but 1t could
have nothing to do with the robbery.
He had noticed that one of the men
had always had his shoes cleaned while
they were on his feet He always col
Iected all the shoes and took them down
to be 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 had another talk
with the man and asked him to give me
An account Of everything that happen
ed on the night Of the robbery. He told
me that the gentleman had been out all
day, and In the evening Mr.. Middleton
had sent an order to him to bring some
apples into the drawing-room; these
apples were Of a special kind grown
on the place. He had taken them into
the drawins.room and 1t was soon after
this that Mr.. Middleton had gone and
fetched the diamond from the safe.
! made mental nsts Of these fscts.