The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1912-12-06
'RY whom p,

by whom?"
"By-by friend of mine" she re-
piled.
"And his name?" inquired the aeteo-
tive CURLY.
II do not care to tell his name" said
Mrs. Delaroche, WHO had recovered q
little of her calmness.
you must tell it," Britt insisted.
Il cannot" she said
But I tell you you must!" returned
the detective. Don't you see you have
got to tell 1t to square yourself7'
What do you mean, sirT' she asked
with pretty show of indignation.
Now, don't try any of those games
on me-" said Brftz. In his Impotence,
he was descending close to the meth
eds Of DonneIly and Carson. He re-
membeTed that In moment and re-
sumed more personal---very.:
TT WIN sevs you great aeai OF
trouble FOR you, Mrs. Delaroohs, N you
tell me the trUth, and tell n at once,
without holding anything back. You
understsnd, I am q detective frern Pc
lice Headquarters, and I was assigned
weeks aSs 10 find Mrs. Missioner's dia,
monGs. I have found the diamonds,
and now must find the thief"
Mrs. Delaroche shivered, and started
slowly to her feet. She turned a dis
dainful glance on the group at the door,
then faced Britt once more, and in
voice little mere than a whisper, she
said:
Whatever you may think, did not
know the jewels were stolen. did not
know they ever belonged to Mrs. Mis-
sioner. never heard of Mrs. Mission
er before tonight, except through the
papers. did not know that any of my
acquaintances knew her. I was not
aware she had lost her diamonds.
What you tell me about the theft of
necklace from Mrs. Missioner is en-
tirely new to me. l seldom read the
papers, and when I do, l do not read
accounts of crime"
"All you say may be true" Britt per-
sisted, but you may take my word for
1.-THE jewels are Mrs. Missioners;
they were stolen from her, and you
must tell me the name of the person
who gave them to YOU
The beautiful woman's distress at
this time was so sincere that the
Headquarters man involuntariIy dealt
more gently with her. He urged her
to be seated again, and then for the
first time apparently remembered his
hands still were gripped by the bands
of steel the house detective had snap
ped upon them.
Madam, must insist once more
that you tell me the mans name"
Britz said.
His manner" she returned wonder.
ingly.
ut is Curtis Griswold isn't it?" said
the Headquarters man incisively.
Mrs. Delaroche, with a little cry
which showed more emotion than any.
one would expect Srom so self-centered
a woman, sprang to her feet and ad-
venced toward Britz with hands out
stretched in protest,
You don't mean to say that you be-
lieve Mr.. GrtswOld to be thief" she
exclaimed.
I'VE shall see, madam" rejoined
Britt, now successful he has been in
at least one robbery"
Inside this little casket," he said,
ARE Jewels worth more than half a
million dollars. Please let me have the
key 10 this jewel box"
Reluctantly, she unfastened a slen-
der gold chain that hung about her
neck, from which depended a tiny sii-
yer key. Britt fitted 1t into the lock
and turned the bolt. Triumphantly he
seized the lid, and as everyone else In
the room focused eager eyes upon the
silver box, Britz opened It; then drop
ped It on the table with furious sx'
The box was empty!