The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1912-11-29
BRITT OF HEADQUARTERS.
Continued from page 6.

Continued from page 6.
of his work on the case with Britt, had
direct knowledge of the importance
that the suspicious of others should
not be alarmed. He had been with the
detective when the card of Bruxton
Sands was discovered in the possess
sion of the old curiosity shop man; he
knew of the note addressed to Curtis
dear" and signed "Millicent," and also
of the desperate attempts made by the
Hindoos to find the diamonds. So Fitch
did not bother the sleuth as much as
did other friends of Elinor's, and it
was we'll; for Britt several times was
at his wits ends to dissuade Mrs. Mis-
sioner, and Sands from going to the
District Attorney and offering a heavy
security for Miss Holcomb's appear
ance in the trial court. However,
Britt had held them off, and it fol-
lowed that Griswold nursed the delu-
sion that Elinor and Fitch and Sands
were suspected so strongly by the
Central Office men that no search for
evidence against anybody else was in
progress. Donnelly and Carson also
had fostered that misconception on the
clubman's part by their unabated &C
tivity in hunting proofs of the girl Sec
retarys guilt Those worthless spent
every day of their work on the case
In tracing EIinor's past, and In efforts
to couple Fitch with her suspicious
theft of the jewels. Furthermore, be-
ing the sort of men who would rather
win credit for detective work than do
anything quietly in the way of real
detection of crime or criminals, they
could not refrain from expressing their
belief in Elinor's dishonesty at every
turn. They talked literally to the sea,
soned reporters in the newspaper
rookeries opposite Police Headquars
ters, to the newspaper men In the po-
lice stations, and the magistrates
courts, and to the several star repor-
tiers of the more enterprising papers
who had been assigned especially on
the case. Every word they uttered
hinged on their evidence In the return
of a verdict against Miss Holcomb,
and, with the exception of two or three
unusually sapient newspaper men who
discounted the opinions of Donnelly
and Carson because they knew Britt
was doing the real work. and because
Britt had as yet made no revelations,
the reporters quoted them at great
length.
Therefore, practically all the New
n&a In -hfnh
Elinor Holcomb was tried, convicted,
and sentenced In advance of her ar
raignment for the theft of the Mission
er necklace. Over-enterprising Sunday
papers went 30 far as to publish page
stories, purporting to be psychological
studies of the mental bent that made
the trusted secretary of msitimA'
honaire society woman. with COM
Portable career In expectation, throw
all chances to the winds by Yielding
to a momentary feminine impulse to
possess herself of glittering baubies.
Those psychological studies were In
teresting to the multitude, and might
have been worth publishing had they
been based on either psychology or
void, though, and consequence of
that fact was that the clubman's mind |
was at ease so far as the possibility |
that he would be connected with the |
disappearance of the gems was con-
cerned.
So Griswold did not go to. the |
Renaissance that night, nor did he dis |
tuFb Mrs. Delaroche with a telephone
message, although an instrument stood |
on a convenient desk In her boudoir, |
and an extension wire connected 1t /
with a duplicate device that rested
on a little Russian table beside her
bed. 1t would have been the work
of moment for GrisWold to get into
conversational touch with Mrs. Della
roche, and he would have had the ex-
euss of replying to her urgent and
somewhat petulant note-if he had
received II; unfortunately for him. he
never had seen that missive. Kanan-
da's guess in regard to the activity of
his followers, Chunda and Gain, was
accurate, for these adroit Orientals
had stolen the missing note1rom Gris-
wold's apartment before 1t came un-
der the observation of Curtis dear"
To whom It was addressed. Altogeth-
er, once more, as he would have ex-
pressed 1t. things were not breaking
for the suave secretary of the Iroquois
Trust Company.