River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1902-07-31

Mr.. Dane, and, being myself some.
thing of an authority on dynamics
/ was able to interest him. / was
! looking at him closely all the time
we were talking. There was only
one thing that distinguished him
| from any other guest. This was
that half of one of his front teeth
was missing; it had been broken off
in almost exactly the middle.
| i did not connect Mr.. Dane with
the robbery; in fact, | had up to
this time not the slightest suspicion
of a clew. 1T was early the next
morning that l was put on the scent.
| I had visited the lawn under the
window of the room from which the
diamond had been stolen, and was
looking to see if I could find any
trace of footprints on the beds or
the lawn. / did not find any trace
of footprints, but L noticed the half
of an apple directly under the win
| dow. / picked it up and examined
it carefully. AS / was turning it
over and over I was thinking and
wondering how it came there. IT
Gently, otherwise it would have been
swept up. Then it struck me that
apples had been eaten on the night
that the diamond had. been stolen,
and I understood that no one had
gone out on that night. Of course,
/ thought some one might have
thrown it there since that night.
Then | noticed a popularity of the
marks of the teeth on the apple.
About half of it had been eaten,
and at every place where the apple
had been bitten a small portion of
| the apple remained, a small ridge
about an eighth of an inch in width
| and extending the entire length of
| the bite. / saw in a moment who
had been eating the apple. It was
the man with the broken tooth, Mr..
Dane, and the ridge was left where
the missing tooth must have bitten
Now it occurred to me that it was
just possible that after Mr.. Middle
ton had given the diamond to his
wife (Which was just after the ap-
pies had been brought in) Mr.. Dane
had followed her and taken his part
ly finished apple with him.
After she had left the room, leav-
ing the diamond in the casket, he
had gone in, and, when opening the
box, had put the apple down, and, not
knowing exactly what to do with it.
had opened the window. which opened
after the fashion of a door, and had
thrown it down on the grass below.
Another thought struck me. Why did
| Mr.. Dane have his shoes cleaned on
his feet, instead Of having them cleaned
as the other guests did? There must
be some reason for this, unless it was
fad. I asked my confidential serv-
ant which was Mr.. Danes bedroom, and
in the evening when Mr.. Dane was
in the drawing-room with his pumps
on, I went to his room, and, as 1 ex-
pected, 1 could not find the shoes.
could, however, give guess that they
were in large box which stood in the
corner of the room. Further evidence:
Why did he keep his shoes locked up
in his box? / pulled bunch of keys
out of my pocket and tried to unlock
the paddock, but not one key in my
possession would fit the lock. The
next morning by six o'clock / was be-
ing driven to locksmith with the pur-
pose of obtaining fresh keys.
On the evening of that day, I watched
for the appearance of Mr.. Dane with
certain amount of excitement. / felt
as though I was going to find the dia-
mond that night. Presently he APP
peared as usual in his pumps and chal-
! lenged me to a game of billiards. I
would rather not have played but l
accepted his challenge, and we had a
game.
1t seemed terrible long game, but
! at last it was finished, and he made
| his way to the smokingroom, while I
made my way to his bedroom. I closed
and locked the door and then started
to try the various keys. Almost the
first key fitted, and I opened the box
and got out the shoes. They were of
common make, and there appeared to
| be nothing out of the way about them.
I noticed, however, a little cut in the
heel of the right shoe, and put my
| finger in this cut and gave it a pull,
but it remained firm.
I examined it very carefully, and
discovered the head of a small nail
driven into the heel from the side,
and, as this conld serve no purpose
there, and, moreover, as it was black
ned over so that it could hardly be
| seen without very close inspection,
! naturally thought it might have some
purpose, so [ got my knife from my
pocket, and, putting it under the head,
enough, and then / pulled the top of
the heel right off,. and there, snugly
resting in bed of cotton wool, lay
the missing diamond
/ took it out and looked at it by the
light of the candle. 1t was a mag
nifcent stone, and l could see of i'm
mense value.
At this moment some one tried the
! door, and I fancied I heard an ex-
clama ton of rage and then hurrying
| of feet downstairs. | rushed toward
the door and was just in time to see
Mr.. Dane disappearing out of door
which led into the grounds. 1 shouted
out to the gentlemen that the man
! who stole the diamond was but few
yards away, and they Joined in the pur-
| suit. We were not long in catching
| him.
| Mr.. Middleton would not at first be-
] lieve it was Mr.. Dane who stole the
| diamond, but when l showed him the
| shoe with a sliding heel, he realized
/ how his confidence had been a buSed