Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1911-08-25
CHAPTER lX.-(contlnued.)

AS the detective left the office, he
could not help feeling of depression
at the slow progress of events. AS yet,
the intricacies of the mystery were
vaguely outlined in his mind. He saw
them as a floating mist, heavy with
possibilities but charged with delusive
signs of reckoning trails that he in
stinctively knew led to nowhere He
was still treading lightly the mazes
of the case. One false step might be
fatal, and he preferred to remain in
a crouching attitude of watchfulness.
ready to spring from cover at the
proper moment
Much as he deplored his enforced
inactivity, he nevertheless had faith
IN the final outcome. A quick mental
survey of the case convinced him that
the first necessity was to find the
maker of the paste stones. Whoever
made the duplicate Maharanee would
surely recall having done So There
were few Europeon firms that could
have made the stone. 1t was doubtful
could have turned out a substitute to
fool the eyes of Mrs. Missioner, even
for q night 1t is hard enough to get
the compact brilliance of the diamond
in a small paste gem; infinitely more
diff cult is it to manufacture a coun-
iterfeit Maharanee. Britt knew that
whoever copied the cut and lusfer Of
that marvellous stone was an expert
of high caliber No faint simmer of
glass could have availed to deceive
Mrs. Missioner. The laboratory fire
that cleaned from the duplicate was
the work of years of experiment, and
only in Paris, Britt believed, was the
art of manufacturing paste gems suf-
ficiently developed to bring forth a
satisfactory duplicate of the Mahara-
nee.
Three weeks, at least, must elapse
before word would come from Logan.
The emissary sent abroad was himself
the Detective Bureau, he had been a
foreign agent of the United States
Treasury Department. II the dupli-
cate necklace was manufactured
abroad. Logan would find the manu-
facturer without delay. Britt had
faith in his man, and he waited i'm
patiently through three weeks of tor
ment for the first cablegram. 1t came
finally. and he opened it with nervous
fingers.
Missioner necklace manufactured
from drawings by three firms. Orig
.inaI never in possession of manufac-
turers"
Britz let the telegram f1utter to the
floor.
Il knew it," he burst forth. They
wouldn't have dared to take the orig
tnal out of the safe without immedi-
ately replacing it with the duplicate"
He picked up the message and
burst into the Chiefs room.
Read it," he exclaimed.
The Chiefs eyes drank in the
words. but his brain failed TO grasp
their underlying meaning.
II don't see that this proves any
thing" he remarked.
1T proves everything volleyed
Britz. 1T proves that the thief was
clever draughtsman. 1t proves that
he spent weeks sketching the neck
lace. stone by stone, and 1t proves,
too, that he went to Paris to have the
duplicate made"
TT proves all that" agreed the
Chief but who had the opportunity
to see the necklace a sufficient num-
her of times and long enough to make
the sketches? Who but MISS hoi-
comb"
"I will find someone who had al
most as good an opportunity brl1z
returned confidently.
and if you do, what will 1t mean?
asked the Chief.
1T will mean something 10 WoTh
on" the detective said.
| The next twenty-four hours Brltz
snent in the quiet of his home,
his mind focused on the prob
lem before him. trying to map out his
line of procedure. Plan after plan ne
discarded as worthless. He could have
struck out blindly in the hope OF
stumbling on trail, but that was not
Rritz's method. Crime mysteries were
10 him scientific problems to be solved
nv scientific means. Step by step ne
wont over the ground already covered
and then swept the outlook with the
kean searchlight of his mind.
Nv a process of elimination he tried
90 sif- the real thief from the group