Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1906-09-19
A Boy S Find

ernOOn Major ADAMS, fetlieu dimy
officer. appeared at the station and
made complaint that his daughter had
been robbed Of two valuable diamond
rings that forenoon. They We're on
her dressing table as she got up In the
morning, but as she was going horse
back riding she left them there.
The majors household consisted Of
himself, wife, daughter and a girl of
all work, who had been with them for
seven years. The girl had done the
chamber work and left both windows
open to air the room, it being In the
spring Of the year. She admitted to
| seeing and moving the rings, but de-
| MED taking them. The police came and
! questioned her, and, although the fam
| lily protested that she could not be the
| thief, she was arrested and locked up.
'Whenever there is crime there must
be an arrest" Is the saying In ever
police force. If Mary, the girl, didn't
steal the rings, then who did?
Before noon next day there was an
other complaint. A Mrs. Williams, the
wife of retired manufacturer, lost a
| diamond bracelet from her room. One
| of the stones was loose, and the brace
let had been laid aside to be taken to
| the jewelers. after luncheon. Mrs.
| Williams had the bracelet in her hand
at 10 o'clock An hour later it had dis
appeared, and she could vouch for the
| fact that no one had entered the room
meanwhile.
The police wanted a victim, but could
not find one They searched the house
and grounds for what they called
clew, but went away no wiser than
when they came.
While they were muddling about on
this case, and only the next morning,
the third complaint came in. Three
diamond rings were taken off the dress
ing table Of Miss Saunders, wife Of ex-
Admiral Saunders.
The person arrested for this robbery
was the family coachman. He could
prove by one Of the stablemen that he
had not been near the house for two
hours, and he had the backing of the
whole family, but the police again
asked, IF he didn't do it, who did?'
The three robberies created great
CONSERVATION In the town, and every
body had half a dozen theories to ad-
vance. The one that seemed most ra-
tional was that a slick thief from Lon
don was working the town. The police
could find no stranger to suspect. No
resident of the town had met a suspi
cious character. No matter how slick
the man was, there must be some rea-
sonable explanation Of how he could
enter second story rooms in broad day
light and steal the jewelry and get
away without being seen.
The fourth robbery also occurred in
the forenoon. The wife of a retired
merchant was working among the
flower beds under her bedroom window
from 9 to II. Only the gardener passed
her. During the interval diamond
sunburst was taken from her dresser.
No one could have got in by the win
dow, and as her husband had been
sitting In his own room, which adjoined
hers, he must have seen anybody who
entered in the regular way.
There We're two servant girls, and
they were arrested against the protesta-
tons Of the family. AS it was seen that
the local police were making a middle
Of the cases a Scotland Yard man was
sent for and came down.
For three days there was no robbery.
The officer was swelling around and
claiming to have driven the slick one
away when two more diamond rings
were taken just as mysteriously. In
this case the plumber was taken when
the door Of the room was locked. There
was but one servant, and the lock on
the door was patent one and she
could by no possibility have had key.
Whoever came and went used the open
window. That was on the second story
and only to be reached by the use Of a
long ladder. There was no ladder about
the place. No man carrying a ladder
could have escaped observation.
A vegetable peddler drove up while
the detective was scratching his head
and looking for clews, and, seeming to
take great interest in the affair, he was
at once locked up on suspicion. He
could prove that he had not been with
in mile Of the house for two hours
before the robbery, but he was hustled
to a cell to give him time to become
conscience stricken and own up.
There might have been other rob-
berries but for dough faced boy
| about ten years old, who had the rep
utation of knowing even less than he
looked to know. He was the only
child Of washwoman, and through her
and the boys on the street he heard all
about the robberies. He had no theo-
ries Of his own. He had heard about
thieves and always wanted to see one,
and he hoped the culprit would be ar
rested by daylight, so that he could
get look at him.
The Saunders, boy was stretched on
the grass In his mothers yard, he be-
ing left to mind the house In her abb
sence, and beside him were half a doz-
en- fragments Of looking glass that
had been broken. Suddenly maggie
flew down and seized one Of the frag-
ments and few chattering away. Jack
watched the bird fly to its nest, fol-
lowed it, climbed to the nest and. WOW
en- into it, found every piece of missing
jeWelry.
The police discharged their prisoners
and then resigned in body, while the
Scotland Yard man declared that he
knew 1t was the work Of magpie at
once and had spent three days looking
for her nest. However that may have
) been. his resignation was demanded