Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1912-10-22
The Evening Story
An Important
Leak
3, THOMAS R DEAN

When Q very young man secured
q position a. clerk in large diamond
house. The diamonds were received In
the rough and ground in . department
for that purpose. They were sold both
at wholesale and at retail. the whole.
sailing being done upstairs and the -
failing on the ground door.
One day just before closing the
doors were all locked and every en-
ployes was ordered to . large room
where the head Of the arm spoke to 10.
He told 10 that there was q leakage Of
diamonds in the establishment and We
must all be searched. This was done.
but didn't learn that diamonds wsre
found on any one.
The leak continued-that was evi-
dent from the fact that q number Of
methods were adopted for catching the
thief. though all Of them were fail-
ures. A detective was introduced on
the premises who went to work with
US ~ an employee. We rarely had any
change in the force. and . new man
going to work among a.. at q time
when goods were missed. made mo
suspicious Of this person-Erhart was
his name-and fell to watching him.
II soon saw enough to convince mo
that he was what took him for.
In order to facilitate matters, the
firm offered a reward Of $500 for evi.
dence that would convict the perpe-
traitor Of the theft. It struck me that
the reward would be more effective
than Mr.. Erhart. But I hadn't much
confidence in either. Doubtless the
thief had found some ingenious way Of
getting away with the plumber. and
diamonds are so small that they could
be removed without much chance of
detection.
l was working on a small salary
doing boys work. Boys are the most
observing creatures in the world, and
l was no exception to the rule. was
not confined to any one department. l
was doing odds and ends In all parts
Of the building. It struck me that I
would like to earn that $500. 1 was
ambitious to set up in some kind Of a
small business Of my own. and the re-
ward would be far more than enough
capital for any would think Of going
into.
Nevertheless I did not 60 about the
matter deliberately or methodically. I
didn't know how to make a beginning.
I supposed the detective would know
all about that, and I envied him his
experience.
About the time the diamonds were
missed mice began to appear on the
premises. Traps were set in different
places. and every day one or more mice
were caught. But somehow the num-
Der Of mice didn't seem to diminish
Then a cat was introduced. The cat.
so far as could be seen. didn't catch
any mice. but the traps did.
That gave me a suspicion that the
mice might possibly have something
to do with the missing diamonds. For
my part would rather trust q cat to
catch mice than a trap. have known
mice to go all about a trap and let 1t
severely alone. The next time I saw
mouse in trap noticed that it
had been caught in such a way as to
kill 1t. Indeed, couldn't find that one
Of them was ever caught by the foot
or the tail or in any way that would
not kill 1t.
My suspicious having grown in this
direction. l resolved to watch one Of
than done. The traps were placed In
secluded corners. Any one could go
to them at any time. but they were
not in position to be watched. ! gained
nothing by this idea.
One day I found a mouse in 4 trap
and concluded to throw it out l did
so and tossed 1t out through q window
In the rear, where 1t fell In the small
space between our building and the
one behind 1t. leaned on the window
sill. looking down to see where It fell.
and to my surprise l saw q sash that
stood about foot above the ground
raised. 4 hand reach out and take the
mouse In.
The problem was solved. The dia-
monds were removed In the mice.
After taking time to consider what
should do I went to the head Of the
firm and told him that I could tell
him Of the way in which the diamonds
were removed. though did not know
who stole them or who received them.
was told that II my Information
should lead to the detection OF the
thief would be paid the reward.
then gave an account of my suspicious
a. to the mice being the means of
conveyance for the diamonds, how l
had thrown out the dead mouse and
had seen It taken in through q base
ment window.
l was relieved Of further RESPONSE
bllity in the matter, the management
Of the concern using it, own methods
to trap the guilty parties. They put
confederate In the building into which
thu ,Hoad sno,,an had hnAu <akAn ~hn