Lewiston evening teller. [volume] (Lewiston, Idaho) 1903-1911, 1907-09-11

perience and daily contact with
~ crime had turned as pale as
ever l myself had done in face Of
Threatening calamity
II shall see about this" he muttered,
lcrumpling the paper in his hand. but
this is a very terrible business you are
plungtng me into. / sincerely hope
that you are not heedlessly misleading
me-"
81 am correct in my facts, If that is
what you mean," said l. THE stiletto
is an English heirloom and bears on
its blade, among other devices, that of
Mr.. Grey's family on the female side
But that is not all want to say. If
the blow was struck to obtain the dia-
mond, the shock of not finding ii on his
victim must have been terrible. Now,
Mr.. Grey's heart, If my whole theory
is not utterly false, was set upon OBJ
taining this stone. Your eye was not
ION him as mine was when you made
your appearance in the hall with the
recovered jewel. He showed astonisb-
ment, eagernesS and a determination
(which finally led him forward as you
know with the request to take the dia-
mond in his hand. Why did he want
to take it in his hand? And why, hav-
ing taken it, did he drop tia diamond
supposed to be worth an ordinary
mans fortune? Because he was star
tied by a cry he chose to consider the
traditional one of his family proclaim
ing death? Is it likely, sir? Is it con-
celvable even that any such cry as we
heard could, in this day and genera
tion, ring through such an assemblage,
unless it came with ventriloquial power
from his own lips? You observed that
NE turned his back; that his face was
hidden from us. Discreet and reticeut
as we have all been and careful in our
scriticisms of so bizarre an evel,t, there
StiIl must be many to question the real
fly Of such supersttious fears and
some to ask If such sound could be
4 without human agency and a very
guilty agency too. Inspector, am but
a child in your estimation, and 1 feel
my position in this matter much more
keenly than you do, but l would not
be true to the man whom I have un.
Willingly helped to place in his present
unenviable position if did not tell you
that In my judgment this cry was
spurious one, employed by the gentle.
man himself as an excuse for dropping
the stone"
"And why should he wish to drop
the stone?"
Because of the fraud he meditated.
Because 1t offered him an opportunity
for substituting a false stone for the
real. Did you not notice a change in
the aspect of this jewel dating from
this very moment? Did it shine with
as much brilliancy in your hand when
you received 1t back as when you
passed it over?"
Nonsense! do not know; it is all
too absurd for argument" Yet he did
stop to argue, saying in the next
breath: "You forget that the stone has
a setting. Would you claim that this
gentleman of family, place and polit
seal distinction had planned this hide
ous crime with sufficient generalization
to have provided himself with the ex-
act counterpart of q brooch which 1t
Is highly improbable he ever saw?
You would make him out a Cagliostro
or something worse. Miss Van Ars-
dale, l fear your theory will topple
over of it's own weight"
He was very patient with me; he did
not show me the door.
"Yet such a substitution took place.
and took place that evening"" insist
ed. "The bit of paste shown US at
the inquest was never the gem Mrs.
Fairbrother wore on entering the al
cove. Besides, where all is sensation,
why cavil at one more improbability :?
Mr.. Grey may have come over to
America for no other reason. He Is
known as a collector, and when a man
has passion for diamond getting
HE is known as a collectorT
I'm his own country"
81 was not told that"
"Nor I. But found 1t out"
"How, my dear child, howT
"By a cablegram or So"
"You-cabled-his name-to Eng.
liandT
mo, inspector; uncle has a code, and
I made use of 1t to ask a friend in Lon.
don for a list of the most noted dia
mond fanciers in the country. Mr.
Grey's name was third on the list"
He gave me a look in which admira.
tIon was strangely blended with doubt
and apprehension.
you are making brave struggle"
said he, but it is a hopeless one"
81 have one more confidence to re
pose in you. The nurse who has charge
of Miss Grey was in my class in the
hospital. We love each other, and tc
her l dared appeal on one point. In
tspector"-hore my voice unconsciously
fell as he impetuously drew nearer
"a note was sent from that sick cham
her on the night of the ball-a note sur
reptitiously written by Miss Grey while
the nurse was In an adjoining room.
The lnnssall COR EEas ALr Grnu,s Nalnt