Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-05-13
The one thing would practically cover the

The one thing would practically cover the
other.
II thought at once. OK course. Of a jack
daw or q magpie-these birds thievish rep
utation made the guess natural. But the
marks on the match were much too wide
apart to have been made by the beak Of
either. I conjectured. therefore, that 1t
must be a raven. So that. when we arrived
tunity Of a little chat with your groom on
the subject Of dogs and pets In general and
ascertained that there was no tame raven In
the place. I also. incidentally. by getting
light from the coach house box OF
matches. ascertained that the match found
was of the sort generally used about the
establishment-the large. thick. red-topped
English match. But I further found that
Mr.. Lloyd had q parrot which was most
intelligent pet, and had been trained into
comparative quietness-for a parrot. Also.
1 learned that more than once the groom
had met Mr.. Lloyd carrying his parrot
under his coat 1t having. as its owner ex-
planned. learned the trick of opening Its
cage-door and escaping.
II said nothing. of course, to you of all
this. because / had as yet nothing but
train Of argument and no results ! got to
Lloyds room as soon as possible My chief
object In going there was achieved when l
played with the parrot, and induced 1t to
bite a quill toothpick
when you left me in the smoking room 1
compared the quill and the match very care
fully. and found that the marks correspond
ed exactly. After this 1 felt very little
doubt indeed. The fact of Lloyd having
met the ladies walking before dark on the
day of the first robbery proved nothing. be-
cause. since 1t was clear that the match
had not been used to procure a light. the
robbery might as easily have taken place IN
daylight as not-must have so taken place.
in fact, If my conjectures were right. That
they were right I felt no doubt. There
could be no other explanation.
when Mrs. Heath left her window open
and her door shut, anybody climbing upon
the open sash of Lloyd's high window could
have put the bird upon the sill above. The
match placed in the birds beak for the pur-
pose l have indicated, and struck first, IN
case by accident 1t should ignite by rubbing
against something and startle the bird-this
match would, of course, be dropped Just
where the object to be removed was taken
up; as you know. in every case the match
was found almost upon the spot where the
missing article had been left-scarcely
likely triple coincidence had the match been
used by human thief. This would have
been done as soon after the ladies had left
as possible, and there would then have been
plenty OF time for Lloyd to hurry out ana
meet them before dark-especially plenty or
time to meet them coming back, as they
must have been, since they were carrying
their ferns. The match was an article well
chosen for it's purpose, as being not alto-
gether unlikely thing to find on dressing
table, and. if noticed. likely to lead to the
wrong conclusions adopted by the officiai
detective.
.'In Mrs Armitage's case the taking
Of an inferior brooch and the leaving OF
more valuable ring pointed clearly
either to the operator being fool or
unable to distinguish values, and Ger,
tainly. from other indications. the thiet
seemed no fool. The door was locked ana
the gas-ftter. so to speak on guard, ana
the window was only eight or ten lncheS
open and propped with a brush. A human
thief entering the window would nave ols,
scarcely risk discovery by attempting to
replace it, especially a thief in so great a
hurry as to snatch the brooch up without
unfastening. the pin. The bird could pass
through the opening as II was anu ,,I Mo tha
brooch off. probably holding the cushioh
down with its claw the while.
Now In yesterdays case we had an al
teration of conditions me WINDOW was
shut and fastened. but the door was open
but only left for a few minutes, during
which time no sound was heard either OF
coming or going. Was it not possible then'
that the thief was already in the room.
in hiding. while Mrs. Cazenove was there,
and seized its first opportunity on her tenn
porary absence? The room IS fuli OF ara
peres hangingS and what not, allowing
plenty of concealment for bird ana q
bird could leave the place noiselessly and
Quickly That the whole scheme was
strange mattered not at all. Rooberies pre-.
sentine such unaccountable features must
been
one sort or another. There was no i'm
nroba bility Consider how many hundreds
of examples of infinitely higher degrees OF
bird training are exhibited in the LONDON
streets every week for copDers
$50 that on the whole. felt pretty sure
of nv ground But before taking any def
mite steps Iresolved to see II Polly could not
he persuaded to exhibit his accomplishments
to an indulgent stranger. For that pur-
nose / contrived to send Lloyd away again
and have a quiet hour alone with his BIRD
A piece of sugar, as everybody knows, IS a
good parrot bride: but walnut, spht IN
half is a better-especialiy If the bird be
used to it: so 1 got you to furnish me with
both Polly was shy at first, but l general
ly get along very well with pets, ana
little perseverance soon led to complete
private performance for my beneft. Polly
would take the match, mute as wax. Jump
on the table, pick up the brightest thing
he could see in great hurry, leave the
match behind. and scuttle away round the
room: but at first wouldn't give up the
plumber to me. 1t was enough l also
took the liberty as you know, Of general
look round. and discovered that little col
lection Of Brummagem rings and trinkets
that you have just seen-used in Pollys ed
ucation, no doubt. When we sent Lloyd away
it struck me that he might as well be use
fully employed as not. so | got him to
fetch the police, deluding him little,
fear by talking about the servants and a
female searcher. There will be no trouble
about evidence: he'll confess. OF that I'm
sure. l know the sort of man. But l doubt
if you'll get Mrs. Cazenove's brooch back.
You see he has been to London today.
and by this time the swag is probably
proken up
Sir James listened to Hewitt's eXplana-
ton with many expressions OF assent and
some of surprise When it was over he
smoked a few whiffs and then said: ''BIt
Mrs. Armitage's brooch was pawned, and
by a woman"
Exactly. I expect our friend Lloyd vas
ra Their Disguised at his small luck-probab!y
gave the brock to some female connec
ton in London, and she realized on il.
WISDOM-THE FRUI