Graham guardian., 1911-11-17
CHAPTER lx.-tcentlnu.d.)

Al the detective left the once, he
could not help feeling Of depression
Ut the slow progress Of events. Al yet,
the intricacies Of the mystery were
vaguely outlined in his mind. He saw
them ~ floating mist, heavy with
possibilities but charged with delusive
pigns of beckoning trails that he In
utinctively 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
> crouching attitude Of watchfulness.
ready to spring from cover at the
proper moment.
Much a. 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 ind 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. It was doubtful
whether any American manufacturer
could have turned out substitute to
fool the eyes Of Mrs. Missioner. even
for q night II IL hard enough to get
the compact brilliance Of the diamond
In small paste gem: infinitely more
difiicult is 1t to manufacture a coun-
terfeit Maharanee. Britz knew that
whoever copied the cut and luster Of
that marvellous stone was an expert
uf high caliber. No faint simmer OF
glass could have availed to deceive
Mrs. Missioner. The laboratory fre
that cleaned from the duplicate was
The work Of years Of experiment, and
only In Paris, Britx believed, was the
nrt Of manufacturing paste gems suf-
nciently developed to bring forth .
sAtisfactory duplicate Of the Mahara-
Three weeks, at least. must elapse
before word would come from Logan.
The emissary sent abroad was himself
diamond expert Before entering
The Detective Bureau, he had been q
foreign agent Of the United States
Treasury Department. II the dupli-
cate necklace Was manufactured
abroad. Logan would md the manu-
facturer without delay. Britz had
faith In his man. and he waited Inn
patiently through three weeks Of tor.
ment for the frst cablegram. II came
finally. and he opened It with nervous
fingers.
missioner necklace manufactured
from drawings by three firms. Orig.
inal never In possession Of manufac-
turers..
Britz let the telegram flutter to the
nOor. %
II knew III" he burst forth. "They
wouldn't have dared to take the orig.
lnal out Of the safe without immedi-
ately replacing 1t with the duplicate q
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. X
Z Il don't see that this proves any
thing" he remarked.
1T proves everything" volleyed
Britx 1T proves that the thief was q
clever draughtsman. It 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"
1T proves all that" agreed the
Chief. But who had the opportunity
10 soc the necklace sufficient mum
Dor of times and long enough to make
tho sketches? Who but Miss Hol
comb?"
II will ind someone who had al
most a. good an opportunity" Brita
returned confidently.
"And II you do. what will It meant
asked the Chief.
1T will mean something to worl
on" the detective said.
The next twenty-four hours Briti
spent in the quiet Of his home
his mind focused on the prob
lem before him. trying to map out hi'
line OF procedure. Plan after plan ht
discarded as worthless. He could have
struck out blindly in the hope O
stumbling on a trail. but that was no
Britz's method. Crime mysteries were
TO him scientific problems to be SOLVED
by scientific means. Step by step hi
went over the ground already covered
and then swept the outlook with th'
keen searchlight of his mind.
BY process Of elimination he tried
to sift the real thief from the grouI