Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1911-07-09
|ThoRadddSOn
Robbery
. Story of a Novel Entertain
ment
: By CLARISSA MACKIE
By CLARISSA MACKIE
Copyright by American Press Asso-
citation, 1911.


"a very neat job commented De
/ tective Fem as he finished his inspec
ton of the Raddason house after the
| robbery.
"a cleanup for me-" grunted Hiram
Raddason. After this careful inspec
ton of the premises l suppose you
have some theory to advance, Mr.
Fem"
The detective frowned at the mil
liOnaire victim Of the jewel robbery
and then his frown changed to a smile
for it would never do to antagonizt
this man who had employed him anG
who had promised him personal re
ward of IA thousand dollars, besides
his professional fee, if he recovered the
stolen jewels. Nevertheless Detective
Fem was reluctant to confde his the
cries to any one.
well. sir" he said patiently. "tC
sum up what have gathered. you say
you retired last night about II 80 ant
that the jewels were placed for SAFE
keeping under your pillow. You were
all alone in the house for the reason
that your wife and family are at your
country home and you merely stopped
here for the night. as you we're in tOwI
for the purpose of getting the jewels
from the bank to take to Mrs. Rad
dason. You say you found the care
taker absent and decided to remain
here all night, as you were too tired
to go on to q hotel.
You went to bed after assuring
yourself that the house was without
any other occupant than yourself. You
are quite sure that you did not miss
some closet in your search"
Mr.. Raddason shook his head posi-
lively. II tell you, Fem, | did not
leave a corner uninvestigated. be
gan at the wine cellar and went up tC
the garrett, and there was not a recess
or closet, a curtained doorway or a
piece of furniture that | did not peer
behind or under or poke at with my
cane. Can't fool me on that. I'll
swear there wasn't a human soul in
this house last night save myself
when l went to bed"
"And you heard no unusual sound
during the night?" asked Mr.. Fem.
'Not a sound from the time I drop
ped off to sleep until l awoke at to
find the jewel case gone from under
my pillow"
Didn't feel dull or stupid as if a
drug of some sort had been used to
keep you quiet" pursued the detec-
tive.
Never felt brighter in my life" as,
sured Raddason. Put my hand under
my pillow for my watch, looked at it
and then recollected the jewel case. 1t
was gone"
Cant understand why they didn't
take the watch, too" mused Detective
Fem.
That's another funny kink in the
matter. Every door and window in
the house locked as snug as you please,
and yet the jewels disappeared. Chain
up on the front door and the other
doors locked on the inside. What do
you make of it," Mr.. Raddason look
ed down at the thin. Wiry little man
before him with skeptical eyes.
"There isn't a clew to hang a theory
on" declared the detective frankly,
nothing except the trapdoor to the
roof You noticed that the hook was
unfastened on the undersideY
Yes, but this is a detached house,
and there is no way thief could make
a getaway from the roof"
Thieves used to go about their bust
ness on Shank's mares, didn't they,
Mr.. Raddason? And after automobiles
came into fashion you read about
them going off into the country and
making their getaway in a motorcar.
Well, what would you expect of the
thief of today, eh? The latest thing
in transportation. of course" The de-
tective smiled at his employer know
ingly.
IAN aeroplane. by Jove" calculated
Mr.. Raddason.
THAT is my idea" admitted the de-
tective modestly.
And very clever theory. too" ad-
mitted Raddason genially. Now. Mr..
Fem, if you have no objection just
give me an outline Of how you be-
ieve the robbery was accomplished"
ITS soon explained, sir The crook
knew Of your intention to get the
jewels from the bank, possibly trailed
you from your country place, where
he might have had a pal in your EN-
ploy; was sure you had 'em in the
house. waited till you got to bed and
asleep. lit on the roof with his ma
chine, came down and got the jewels,
skipped up through the skyIight and
into his flying machine and so away"
my dear fellow, that's n pretty
theory. but how many crooks would
risk discovery by turning off a Job in
such a conspicuous thing as an aero
plane? How many men of that class
could afford to even hire one of the
machines, much less find a mechani-
clan to operate 1t for him. You're
dreaming, Fem. Five--ten years from
now and I'll believe that"
Very well. Mr.. Raddason." said the
detective without displeasure, "Pll
just stay around the house today and
chase up few clews. You'll be here
yourself?'
aTTptil A ,,totooI- 49, a. noAah !.