The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1912-05-19

"Kindly give me the names.
Madame went to fetch the list ana
handed il to me. | counted the names
there were siIty.thrce.
"Where are the othersF'
Madame turned red and then said;
/ "You see. NJ. Goron, We have not
been long in Paris, and ] gave my
friends blank invitation cards, which
they filled up and sent to people
among their own set; A.,
"Then YOU don't know even inc
names of the remaining seventy, nlne
who spent the evening with you! :.
"Well, no; / remember perhaps half
q dozen, but not the others.
Things did not look promising.
We entered the drawing room
which looked Like battlefield the day
after the fight. Several of the small
vases had been smashed, and there
was big tear in one of the pale yei-
| low curtains.
When Dominguez saw this devasta-
ton his temper, never the most cqua-
BILE. apparently, again got the better
OF him.
night IS entertainment; a fine exPen,
sive evening. Everything smashed
and three hundred thousand francs
worth Of property stolenl" His eye
wandered around the room till 1t
rested on the piano, and he burst out
afresh.
"Look at my Erard!" he easped. ]
looked and felt sorry both for the man
and for the Erard, Punch, cham
paene. lemonade, every refreshment
ment. without reckoning the scratches
and knocks, of which it bore numerous
traces.
why did / not follow M. Domingucz
when he walked to the door TO con,
duct me to the dining room7 Why did
I sit down on the music stool before
that ill-used pianos 7 cannot tell. All
| know is that l gaZed at the greasy.
smudgY keys and that suddenly | felt
there. on one Of the KEYS, in the high
er notes. was slight pinkish stain,
similar to the one on the paper knife.
I opened the window behind me to
let in as much light as possible, and
carefully compared the two small spots
through the magnifying glass al
WAYS carry with me, No, ! was not
mistaken. and 1 knew instinctivelly 1
had made discovery that might help
me materially. The thief had, after
all. left his H'visitine card - and it was
now for me to decipher his name.
This scene had not lasted minute,
and / caught M. Dominguez in the
hall as he was turning back to see
what had become of me,
"StilI no clue. NJ. Goron''' asked the
master of the house, looking at me
from the corner of his eye.
"Still no c]ue,' retorted, "but |
have a few questions to ask you. Who
were the people who performed on the
piano last night7''
Madame fumbled about some papers
and handed me the programme of
the musical portion of the soiree There
was pianist, vlolinist, a prima
donna from the Opera Comique and
two Montmartre singers, all we'll
known artists.
"Now," said, FtI want to know
whether you engaged pianist for the
dances
"No. we had no professional The
dance was impromptu and the gentle
men took turns at the piano.
"Can you give me the names Of
these Gentlemen9'
"The names7' repeated madame
IETho names-let me think a moment.
No, I only know one. M. dc c.,
come to the house for the first time
and ] did not know them. Do you re-
member any, Enrique9'
Enrique could not enlighten me.
NV task for the moment was fin
| ished. Before going away / asked for
n complete list of the stolen articles.
These comprised a quantity Of valu-
| able lewelry - bracelets, pendants,
rings. securities and some documents
| which NJ. Dominique assured me were
Of greater Importance to him than
the money. The master of the house
| accompanied me to the street door.
| and putting out his hand, repeated his
| former remark:
| 'fThe thief must be found, M. Goron.
Snare neither money. nor trouble
AS he was opening the door I
turned suddenly around
| 'Do you suspect anybody, NJ. Do.
minguez7'' =
He hesitated a moment before re-
plying.
'tNo. If We were in Caracas 7 might
perhaps give shrewd guess. But the
man / am thinking Of is a few thou
sand miles away
"You may as well tell me what is in
your mind I insisted "It might helm
me in my Search
He eyed me curiously for moment
"No,' he almost snarled. Hit is no
use. 1t would only put you on the
wrong track" And he closed the door
/ had no reason to be dissatisfied
with my mornings work The rob
berry, felt certain, had been committed
by one Of the guests at the soiree
and IL the stains on the piaDo could
he relied upon, by one who, having
PLAYED a few waltzes. had stolen up.
stairs. broken open the safe, and dc
parted, not knowing that he had left
his mark first on the instrument and
nfterward on the paper cutter And
the more ] examined the pink stain
the more ! felt convinced that it was
the trace of a slightly cut OF grazed
finger.
The case was Of too delicate ma.
ture to intrust IL TO any Of my subor
dlnates, l myself had to forge the
chain from the one link 7 hoped I pos
sessed, and my first step was to send
for NJ. de C, whose address Mad
anne Dominguez had given me.
NJ. de G. who belonged to
very wealthy and highly esteemed
family, replied promptly TO my call
He had heard of the robbery, and