Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1906-12-22

particular knowledge Of this one. Mr.
| Fatrbrothers steward may have had
the knowledge, but he would have
been fool to have used his knowl.
edge to secure for himself a valuable
he could never have found purchaser
| for in any market. But fancier-
one who has his pleasure in the mere
possession Of a unique and Invaluable
gem-ah! that is different! He might
risk crime-history tells US Of sew.
eral."
Here paused to take breath, which
gave the Inspector chance to say:
I'm other words, this Is what you
think. The Englishman, DESTROYS of
covering up his tracks, conceived the
idea OF having this imitation on hand,
in case 1t might be Of use in the dar-
Ing and disgraceful undertaking you
ascribe to him Recognizing his own
inability to do this himself, he dele
gated the task to one who in some
way, he had been led to think, cher
ished a secret grudge against It's pres
ent possessor-a man who had had
some opportunity for seeing the stone
and studying the setting. The copy
thus procured, Mr.. Grey went to the
ball, and, relying on his own seeming
ly unassailable position, attacked Mrs.
Fairbrother in the alcove and would
have carried off the diamond, If he
had found 1t where he had seen 1t
earlier blazing on her breast. But 1t
was not there. The warning received
by her-a warming you ascribe to his
daughter, fact which Is yet to be
proved-had led her to rid herself Of
the pewel in the way Mr.. Durand des-
cribes, and he found himself burdened
with a dastardly crime and with moth
Ing to show for 1t. Later, however, to
his intense surprise and possible sat
isfaction, he saw that diamond in my
hands, and, recognizing an opportun-
ity, as he thought, Of yet securing 1t,
he asked to see it, held it for an IN
slant, and then. making use Of an al
most incredible expedient for distract
ing attention dropped, not the real
stone but the false one, retaining the
real one in his hand. This, In plain
English, as take it, is your present
idea of the situation"
Astonished at the clearness with
which he read my mind, l answered.:
eyes, Inspector, that Is what was in
my mind"
Good! then 1t is just as we'll that it
Is out Your mind is now free and
you con give 1t entirely to your du-
ties" Then, as he laid his hand on
the door-knob, he added: "In study
ing SO intently your own point of
view, you seem to have forgotten that
the last thing which Mr.. Grey would
be likely to do, under those circum-
stances, would be to call attention to
the falsity Of the gem upon whose sim
ilarity to the real stone he was de-
pending. Not even his confidence in
his own position, as an honored and
highly-esteemed guest, would lead him
to do that"
mot If he were a well-known con-
noisseur," I faltered, with the pride
of one who has handled the best
gems? He would know that the de-
ception would be soon discovered and
that it would not do for him to fail
to recognize 1t for what it was, when
the make-believe was in his hands,
Forced, my dear child, forced ;
and as chimerical as all the rest. It
can not stand putting into words. I
will go. further,-you are good girl
and can bear to hear the truth from
me. don't believe In your theory: l
can't. have not been able to from
the first, nor have any Of my men;
but II your ideas are true and Mr..
Grey is involved in this matter, you
will find that there has been more of
hitch about that diamond than you,
in your simplicity, believe If Mr..
Grey were in actual possession of this
valuable, he would show less care
than you say he does. So would he If
it were in Weligood's hands with his
consent and good prospect Of its
coming to him in the near future. But
if it Is in Wellgood's hands without
his consent. or any near prospect of
his regaining 1t, then we can easily
understand his present apprehensions
and the growing uneasiness he be.
trays"
True" I murmured.
"If, then" the inspector pursued
giving me parting glance not with.
out something really serious underly.
ing its humor, eve should find, in fol.
lowing up our present clue, that Mr.
Grey has had dealings with this Well.
good or this Sears; or lie you, with
your advantages for learning the fact
should discover that he shows any ex.
traordinary interest in either of them
the matter will take on a different
aspect. But we have not got that fa1
yet. AT present our task is to find
one or the other of these men. If we
ae lucky, we shall discover that the
waiter and the steward are identical
in spite Of their seemingly different
appearance. A rogue such as this
Sears has shown himself to be, would
be an adept at disguise"
"You are right" / acknowledged
HE has certainly the heart of Grim
| inal. If he had no hand in Mrs. Fair
brothers murder, ne came near hav
| ing one in that of your detective
You know what mean. l could moi
help hearing, Inspector"
He smiled, looked me steadfastly II
| the face for moment, and Their
| bowed me out.
u