The Caldwell watchman. (Columbia, La.) 1885-1946, 1912-02-23

Hindoos to find the diamonds. So Fitch
did not bother the sleuth as much as
did other friends of Elinor's, and 1t
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 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 undated &C.
tivity in hunting proofs of the girl Sec
retarys guilt. Those worthless spent
every day Of their work on the case
in tracing Elinor'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 Headquar.
!; tiers. to the newspaper men in the po'
lice stations, and the magistrates
courts. and to the several star repor'
ters 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 Brit3
was doing the real work, and because
Britz had as yet made no revelations.
the reporters quoted them at great
length.
Therefore, practically all the New
York papers published stories in which
Elinor Holcomb Nas tried. convicted
and sentenced III advance OF her AZ
raignment for the theft of the Mission
er necklace. Over-enterprising Sunday
papers went so far as to publish page
stories, purporting to be psychological
studies of the mental bent that made
the trusted secretary Of a multimit
lionaire 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 baubles.
Those psychological studies were y,
; teresting to the multitude, and might
have been worth publishing had they
been based on either psychology or
truth. They had their effect on Girls
void, though, and consequence OF
that fact was that the clubmans 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
turb Mrs. Delaroche with telephone
message, although an instrument stood
on a convenient desk in her boudoir.
and an extension wire connected It
with a duplicate device that rested
on little Russian table beside her
bed. It would have been the work
Of a moment for Griswold to get into
conversational touch with Mrs. Dela'
roche, and he would have had the e1
cuse Of replying to her urgent and
somewhat petulant note-if he had
received it; unfortunately for him, he
never had seen that missive. Kanan'
da's guess in regard to the activity Of
his followers, Chunda and Gazim. was
accurate. for these adroit Orientals
had stolen the missing note from Girls
wold's apartment before It came I'M
der the observation of Curtis dear"
to whom 1t was addressed. Altogeth.
er, once more, as he would have eI'
pressed It, things were not breaking"
for the suave secretary of the Iroquois
Trust Company.
(To BE CoNT1NUED)