The daily banner. (Cambridge, Md.) 1897-2008, 1913-10-11
A |THlEVlNG
MYSTERY
By EDITH V. ROSS


officer OF the postoffice detective bu-
I reau, "Ehore thieyery has been going
| on at tTrimmngham. This is the
fourth time stamps have been missed
in that kQuarter. and | wish you to 60
there aid get on to the thief"
'T've tbeen there twice already" re-
piled Murtaugh. without finding any
thing Wrong The people Of the town
all hayfe the most perfect confidence In
NJ riggs,sthe postmistress. and heI
Ryk is her younger sisteE, aged
| sixfed Miss Griggs has appeared to
be as' much puzzled as any one as to
what Incomes of the missing stamps "
"rra afraid Murtaugh, you're toe
gallant to spy on woman"
There was hidden meaning in the
| words, for Andrews was not above
spying on the members Of his force
and had learned that Detective Muir
laugh. who had been several times to
Trinimingham to ferret out the source
OF the trouble, had been making love
to the postmistress. Indeed, he would
| have sent some one else this time. but
he suspected Murtaugh Of shielding
Miss Griggs aud if he was doing this
he was recreant to his duties as q
poStoffice official Murtaugh made nc
reply to Andrews last remark. and
the latter added:
.tWell. try it once more. II you don't
get on to the thief this. time I'll try
some one else
This was spoken in tone to give
Mnrtaugh warning. He was one of
the best men on the force, and An
drews didn't wish him to get into
trouble by shielding a thief
tMurtaugh had thoroughly convinced
| himself of Miss Griggs' honesty, and
| Ger sterling worth was apparent to
every one He knew it would be folly
for him to spy on her, and, acting on
| his own Judgment. he went openly to
| drimningham and told her that he
, bad come to help her find who was
| stealing her stamps
/ - The postotfice was little one story
frame building, all Of which was occu-
4 pied for mail purposes One night
4
/ postoffice. climbed up under the roof
and bored peep hole in the ceiling
/ through which he could look down into
/ the poStOffire A few stamps had
/ been left in the poStmiStress' desk.
! The detective kept awake all night,
but heard not the slightest sound be-
low, saw no light indeed. no sign of
any one coming TO steal stamps But
| in the morning the stamps left in the
| desk were gone
Since the thievery was perpetrated
at night there was no need to watch
in the daytime Indeed. no stamps
| had ever been missed in the day. They
were counted in the morning and at
night How the thief managed to
/ get into the house after dark without
being detected Murtaugh could not
conceive
When sure that no one was near to
see him he examined every part Of
| the little building. especially the cellar,
for subterranean passage, but could
Griggs or her sister could so far out
wit him as to get into the house while
| he was there without his knowing It
he felt sure was impossible. The
| stealing must be committed by some
| one eIse-some one VINO managed co
conceal himself or herself In the build
ing. This person must be able to work
| quite noiselessly. Whether the exit
was made in the daytime or not was
| like all the rest of unknown In
| deed. Murtaugh could not find any
possible way any one could get into
the building unless by going down the
chimney, and to do this without be-
/ ing heard would be very difficult
During the time Of his operations his
love affair with Miss Griggs was being
brought to a head, and when he re-
| turned to his chief the only thing he
had to report was that he was engaged
| to the person whom he had been sent
to spy on. This he kept to himself,
| though Andrews knew of his lovemak-
Ing, for he had sent detective to spy
on his spy.
Andrews astonished Murtaugh by dis
charging him He also transmitted an
order written at his suggestion from
Washington to Miss Griggs that she
was required to make good all the
stamps that had been purloined. since
| from the first more than 500 worth
was unaccounted for and the salary at
Trfmmingham was but $500 a year
Miss Griggs found herself unable to
comply with the order. for she and her
| mother and sister needed every cent
| of her income.
| Murtaugh found another job Miss
Griggs was permitted to retain her
place till an enlargement of the post
Office building which was intended
| could be made. In taking out side Of
the house the workmen laid bare a
space that was filled with fragments
Of postage stamps. Miss Griggs' desk
had stood against this wall. Mice had
gnawed a hole from the wall into the
back of the desk. which gave them &C.
cess to the drawer In which she kept
the stamps The tiny thieves, attracted
by the gum arabic on the back Of tn
| stamps. had carried them where they
| could feast on 1t at leisure
A great deal Of sympathy had been
manifested for Miss Griggs by the
townspeople. who all signed a petition
that she should be retained in her po-
sition. This was now not necessary.
She would have retained her position,
but Murtaugh established a detective
agency of bis own and wanted her to
attend to bis house and home