The herald. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1905-1953, 1911-04-27
WHO STOLE
THE JEWELS?
By DAVID WALTER CHURCH
Copyright by American Press Asso-
citation, 1871.

day. Jones has accumulated a snug
sum hunting up rascals. In other
words, he is a detective When we
were drinking our coffee and smoking
l asked him to give me the most i'm
portant case in which he had ever
been employed.
"You mean the most important 10
my employer or to me-"
well, let 1t be the most important
case TO you"
"All right. I'll give you the vii
liams case"
saw his wife look up at him, evi-
IDENTIFY with an intent to stop him. but
he told the story all the same.
Mrs. Williams came to the Of
fee one day-she was a widow-and
stated that something was occurring
in her house she wished investigated
She possessed a number Of valuabls
family Jewels, which she kept In a
safe imbedded in the wall on the sec.
ond story Of her dwelling. She alone
knew the combination. and yet the
Jewels were gradually disappearing.
She had a Eoverness for her children.
a Miss Elizabeth Ward. whom she suS-
pected. | having been detailed on the
case, she was giving these facts to
me. At this point interrupted her.
"T thought you said, Mrs. Williams,
that you alone know the combination.
How can Miss Ward open the safe
without it?'
Possibly in this way: She has
brother who is a skilled mechanic In
the service Of a safe and. lock COM
pany. He visits her frequently, and
suspect that either he has instructed
her in lock picking or she cOnceals
him in the house and he watches his
opportunity to pick it himself unob-
served
"It struck me that to discover the
truth all she had TO do was to watch
and she would catch either Miss Ward
| or her brother stealing the jewels. But
II she preferred to pay a detective for
| doing it l was quite willing. / was
introduced into the house as a nephew
Of Mrs. Williams, from a distant land.
and, Of course. to Miss Ward.
81 found the governess very at
tractive young lady. Had l not felt
very sure she was an adventures
should have fallen In love with her.
! Indeed, I'm not sure but Don't like
! to hear 1t, eh, dear? That's quite
natural. I'll switch off from that part
Of the story. though I'm sure you have
no reason to be jealous. Well. | took
up my residence for few days or q
few weeks, as the case might require
and was assigned a bedroom directly
opposite the safe in which the jewels
were kept
at didn't take me long to find out
that Miss Ward was as smart as 9
steel trap, and | made up my mind
that to catch her-or her brother,
which was the same thing-I would
have to be awake every night in the
week. But she seemed worried. Witt
the true detective instinct, I saw
through that l inferred that bel
brother was dominating her. compel
ling her to keep on with the thefts
while she feared this scheme would a
last be detected and one or both would
spend term In the state prison. A
any rate. she was worried.
81 remained awake all night for sew
eral nights In succession, and as l ha(
no excuse to remain in bed all day
gave up the plan of catching the THE
in the act and determined to try anC
worm myself into the confidence o
Miss Ward and see II l couldn't ge
the secret from her. l found he
quite willing to be courted and
'Horacer' interposed Mrs. Jones.
Pardon, my dear" Then to me: "M!
wife can't bear to hear me speak o
my premarital affairs"
"Of course she can't" / chimed II
with Mrs. Jones. How would yol
like your wife to talk about her Owl
premarital affairs?"
"Um! That's different But to G,
on with my story. l, didn't get mucl
from the governess, and while I wa
making up to her Mrs. Williams re
ported that she had lost another jewel
Meeting Miss Ward after this theft
found her In q very bad humor
Why / could not understand, for mel
ther she nor any one else had beef
caught stealing. She astonished m,
by coming out bluntly:
"'Mr. Detective, If you wish to fine
out who is stealing the jewels chang
your room
"You could have knocked me dowI
with feather. knew l had met m!
match and answered never a word.
went to Mrs Williams and told her
would take a room farther from tn,
safe. She gave me one at the end o
the hall where l could see withou
being seen, the light, which was KEEP
burning low all night. being directl.
over the safe.
thine passed, during which / wa
getting impatient at doing nothing
though 1 was not dissatisfied at beinl
kept in the house with MISS Ward
One night i heard a light tap at m.
door, Putting on a dressing gown,
opened It. Miss Ward was standin
In a dark corner and pointed towar,
the safe. There stood Mrs. William
fumbling with the lock.
ashes asleep whispered Mis-
Ward.
"Mrs. Williams opened the safe, too
out something, closed the door an
went away. The mystery was solved
As a sleepwalker she was transfer