River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1912-11-28

we entered the drawing rOOm1
which looked like battlefield the day
after the fight Several of the small
gilt chairs were broken, the china
vases had been smashed, and there
was a big tear in one OF the pale yell
low curtains.
When Dominguez saw this devasta-
ton his temper, never the most equa-
BILE, apparently, again got the better
Of him.
"Dios mio!" he shouted, there's a
nights entertainment; a fine expen-
sive evening. Everything smashed,
and three hundred thousand francs
worth Of property stolen!" His eye
wandered around the room till 1t
rested on the piano, and he burst out
afresh.
Look at my Erardl" he gasped. /
looked, and felt sorry both for the man
and for the Erard. Punch, cham
payne, lemonade, every refreshment
served had left mark on the instru-
ment, without reckoning the scratches
and knocks, of which it bore numerous
traces.
Why did I not follow M. Domfnguez
when he walked to the door to con-
duct me to the dining room? Why did
sit down on the music stool before
that ill-used piano? I cannot tell. All
l know is that I gaZed at the greasy,
smudgy keys, and that suddenly / felt
something like an electric shock. For,
there, on one of the keys, in the high
er notes, was slight pinkish stain,
similar to the one on the paper knife.
| 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 l knew instinctively l
had made a discovery that might help
me materially. The thief had, after
all, left his visiting 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.
"Still no clue, M. Corona" asked the
master of the house, looking at me
from the corner of his eye.
"Still no clue" | retorted, "but l
have a few questions to ask you. Who
were the people who performed on the
piano last night?"
Madame fumbled about some papers
and handed me the program of the
musical portion Of the soiree. There
was pianist, a violinist, prima-
donna from the Opera Comique, and
two Montmartre singers, all we'll
known artists.
Now said; 81 want to know who
played after the concert, and whether
you engaged a 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 gentlemen"
"The names?" repeated Madame.
"The names-let me think moment.
No, only know one, M. de G..
He played lot. The four others had
come to the house for the first time,
and did not know them. Do you re-
member any, Enrique?"
Enrique could not enlighten me.
My task for the moment was finish
complete list of the stolen articles.
These comprised a quantity of valu-
able jewelry - bracelets, pendants,
rings. securities, and some documents
which M. Dominguez 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:
''The thief must be found, M. Goron.
Spare neither money nor trouble"
AS he was opening the door I
turned suddenly around.
DO you suspect anybody, M. Do
minguez?"
He hesitated a moment before re-
plying.
mo. If we were in Caracas might
perhaps give shrewd guess. But the
man / am thinking of is few thou
sand miles away"
"You may as well tell me what is in
your mind" I insisted. st might help
me in my search"
He eyed me curiously for a moment
NO. he almost snarled, sit is no
use. 1t would only put you on the
wrong track" and he closed the door.
I had no reason to be dissatisfied
with my mornings work. The rob-
berry, I felt certain, had been commit
ted by one of the guests at the soiree,
The case was of too delicate a ma
ture to instrust it to any of my subor-
dinates. 1 myself had to forge the
chain from the one link I hoped 1 pos
sessed, and my first step was to send
for M. de c., whose address Mad
anne Dominguez had given me.
M. de C., who belonged to a
very wealthy and highly esteemed
family, replied promptly to my call.
He had heard of the robbery, and
l led the conversation on the Domin-
guezes.
Il do not know much about Them"
he said, laughingly; "they are new ar
rivals, and, I am told, very rich,
Madame Dominguez was introduced to
one OF my aunts, and, as she was in
want of young men, she sent me an in
vitation with the request to bring
whom l liked. 1 never saw such a
noisy gathering. Some of the men
were really too bad"
"You worked very hard" said, "and
presided over the piano?"
well, not exactly. 1 did my share,
but others, too, banged away as hard