The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1913-12-21

1 -
mousse where, say what you would, tn,
atmosphere was one OF agonizing ankle
ty-
} Two Journalists stayed behind, how
ever; and the colonel joined them, afte
attending to Edith and handing he
J over TO her maids. The three of them
, together with the detectives, made {
, search that did not lead to the discov
cry OF anything OF the least interest
|, Then the colonel sent for some cham
pagne; and the result was that il wa.
not until late hour-to be exact, &
quarter To three in the morning-that
the Journalists took their leave, the
colonel retired to his quarters, and the
detectives withdrew TO the room which
mad been set aside for them on the
ground floor.
They took the watch by turns, a
watch consisting, in the first place, iu
keeping, awake and, next, in looking
round the garden and visiting the gal
| lery at intervals.
These orders We're scrupulously car.
red out, except between five and seven
In the morning, when sleep gained the
mastery and the men ceased to go their
| rounds. But 1T was broad daylight out
OF doors Besides. if there had been the
least sound Of bells, would they not
have walked up7
Nevertheless, when one of them, at
! twenty. minutes past seven, opened the
| door of the gallery and flung back the
shutters, he saw that the twelve tapes
tries were gone.
This man and the others were blamed
afterward for not giving the alarm at
once and for starting their own inves-
legations before informing the colonel
and telephoning to the local commits
sary. Yet this very excusable delay
can hardly be said to have hampered
nt ne hn t.,
! the colonel was not told until half past
eight. He was dressed and ready to go
out. The news did not seem to upset
| hlm beyond measure, or, at least, he
| managed to control his emotion But
the effort must have been too much
for him, for he suddenly dropped into
chair and, for some moments, gave
way TO regular fit of despair and
anguish, most painful to behold in a
man OF his resolute appearance.
Recovering and mastering himself, he
went to the gallery, stared at the bare
walls and then sat down at a table and
hastily scriDpled letter, which he put
into an envelope and sealed;
'There,o he said "I'm in hurry
L have an important engage
ment.. Here is a letter for tho
the detectives eyes on him, he
added. 81 am giving the eommissary
my views. telling him Of a
suspicion that occurs to me. :.
He left the house at run, with ex-
cited gestures which the detectives
were subsequently to remember.
y few minutes later, the commissary
of police arrived. He was handed tho
letter, which contained the following
words:
81 am at the end of my tether, The
theft of those tapestries completes the
crash which l have been trying to con-
ceal for the past year. l bought them
as speculation and was hoping TO get
million francs for them, thanks TO
the fuss that was made about them.
As II was, an American Offered me
six hundred thousand It means my
salvation. This means utter destruc-
tion.
~ hope that my dear wife will for
give the sorrow which l am bringing
upon her. Her name will be on my
lips at the last moment"
Nine. SparmIento was informed. She
remained aghast with horror, while in
quiries were instituted and attempts
made to trace the colonel 3 movements.
Late in the afternoon, a telephone
message came from Vile d'Avray A
gang of railway men had found a man IS
body lying at the entrance to tunnel
after train had passed. The body
was hideously mutilated; the face had
lost all the resemblance to ANYTHING
human. There were no papers in the
pockets, But the description answered
TO that of the colonel.
Nine. Sparmiento arrived at Vile
d 'Avray, by motor cur, at seven clock
in the evening. She was taken to
room at the railway station. When the
sheet that covered it was removed,
Edith, Edith Swan-neck, recognized her
husband s body.
In these circumstances, Lupin did not
receive his usual good notices in the
press:
"Let him look to himself,'' jeered
eral opinion, "lt would not take many |
exploits of this kind for him to forfeit |
the popularity which has not been
grudged him hitherto. We have no
use for Lupin, except when his rogueries |
are perpetrated at the expense Of shady |
promoters, foreign adventur. |
ers, German barons, banks and financial |
companies: And, above all, no mur-
ders! A burglar We can put up with;
rectly guilty, he is at least responsible
for this death. There is blood upon
his hands; the arms on his escutcheon
are stained gnles.
The public anger and disgust were
increased by the pity which Edith s
pale face aroused. Tho guests of the
uight before gave their version Of what
had happened, omitting none Of the
details; and a legend formed
around the fair-haired
Englishwoman, a legend that assumed
really tragic character, owing to the
popular story Of the swan-necked hero,
inc.
And yet the public could not with
hold its admiration of the extraordi-
nary skill with which the theft had
been effected, The police explained il,
after Il fashion. The detectives had
noticed from the first and subsequently,
stated that one of the three windows
Of the gallery was wide open There
could be no doubt that Lupin and his
,onfederates had entered through this
window, It seemed a very plausible
Still, in that case, how
were they able, first. to climb the gar.
den ratings. in coming and going, with.
out being seen; sec ondlv, to cross the
garden and put up ladder on the
flower border, without leaving the least
trace behind, thirdly to omen the sbut