Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1905-07-13


praise from friend.
Yes, gentlemen" said he. 1T Is the
most famous pearl now existing In the
world, and It has been my good for
(sinc, by connected chain Of Undue
tive reasoning, to trace it from the
Prince of COlonna's bedroom at the
Oacre hotel, where 1t was lost, to the
interior of this, the last Of the six
busts Of Napoleon which were manu-
featured by Colder & Co. Of Stepney.
Hou will remember, I.estrade. the SEN
sntion caused by the disappearance Of
CHS valuable Jewel and the vain efforts
Of the London police to recover it. !
was myself consulted upon the case,
but I was unable to throw any light
upon 1t. Suspicion fell upon the maid
Of the princess, who was an Italian,
and IL was proved that she had a
brother in London. but we failed to
trace any connection between them.
The maids name was Lucretia Venue
ri. and there is no doubt in my mind
chat this rietro who was murdered
two nights ago was the brother.
have been looking up the dates in the
old files of the paper, and find that
the disappearance Of tho pearl was
exactly two days before the arrest Of
Beppo for some crime Of violence--an
event which took place in the factory
Of Gelder & CO. Mt the very moment
when these busts were being made.
Now you clearly see the sequence of
events, though you see them. Of
course, in the inverse order 60 the way
in which they presented themselves
60 me. Beppo had the pearl in his
possession. He may have stolen 1t from
Pietro, he may have been Pietro's con-
federate, he may have been the 60
between Of Pietro and his sister 1t is
Of no consequence TO us which is the
correct solution.
"The main fact Is that he had the
pearl, and Mt that moment. when 1t was
on his person, he was pursued by the
police He made for the factory in
which he worked, and he knew that he
had only few minutes in which to
conceal this enormously valuable prize
which would otherwise be found on
him when he was searched. Six plas-
ter casts of Napoleon were drying in
che passage. One of them was still
soft. In an instant Beppo, a skillful
workman, made small hole in the
wet plaster. dropped in the pearl and
with q few touches covered over the
aperture once more. 1t was an ad-
mirable hiding place. No one could
possibly find it. But Beppo was con-
demned 10 a years Imprisonment, and
In the meanwhile his six busts were
scattered over London. He could not
tell which contained his treasure Only
by breaking them could he see Even
shaking would tell him nothing. for as
the plaster was wet 1t was probable
that the pearl would adhere to it. as. in
fact, 1t has done Beppo did not de-
spair, and he conducted his search with
considerable ingenuity and persever
ance. Through a cousin who works
with Colder he found out the retail
firms who had bought the busts. He
managed TO find employment with
Morse Hudson and in that way track
ed down three Of them. The pearl was
not there. Then, with the help of some
italian employee, he succeeded in find
ing out where the other three busts had
gone. The frat was Mt Harker's. There
he was logged by his confederate. who
held BeppO responsible for the loss Of
Che pearl. and he stabbed him in the
scufiie which followed"
III he was his confederate. why
should he carry his photograph" ask.
ed.
''As a means OF tracing him II he
wished to inquire about him from any
third person. That was the obvious
reason. Well after the murder | cal.
cuated that Beppo would probably
hurry rather than delay his move.
ments. He would fear that the police
would read his secret. and so he has.
tened on before they should get ahead
of him. or course could not say that
he had not found the pearl in Harker's
bust. l had not even concluded for
certain that 1t was the pearl, but 1t
was evident TO me that he was look
ing for something, since he carried
Nhe bust past the other houses in
order to break it in the garden which
had lamp overlooking it, Since
Harker's bust was one in three, the
chances We're exactly as told you-
two to one against the pearl being in
eide 1t. There remained two busts
and II was obvious that he would 20
for the London one first. warned the
Inmates of the house, SO as to avoid "A
second tragedy. and we weNt down
with the happiest results. by that
lime. Of course, knew for certain
that 1t was the Borgia pearl that we
were after The name of the murder
ed man linked the one event with the
other There only remained single
bust, the Reading one. and the pearl
must DO there. I bought it in your
presence from the owner, and there it
Hes"
We sat in silence for moment.
WELL" snid Lestrade, 1--WE seen you
handle good many cases, Mr.. Holmes,
but don't know that I ever knew a
pore wOrkmanlike one than that
We're not jealous Of you Mt Scotland
fard. No. sir; we are very proud Of
you. and IL you come down tomorrow
there's not man, from the oldest in
Vpector to the youngest constable. who
wouldn't be glad to shake you by the