Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1914-05-07
The Mystery
of the
DOuIe Cabinet
By BURTON E. STEVENSON
Copyright, 1918, by Burton L.
Stevenson.
By BURTON E. STEVENSON
Copyright, 1918, by Burton L.
Stevenson.


THAT theft continued NJ. pigot,
was accomplished in manner at
once so bold and so unique that we
were certain it could be the work of
but Il single mana rascal named Gro
chard. who calls himself also The In
vincible'-a rascal who has given us
very great trouble. but whom we have
never been able to convict In this
case we had against him no direct evil
dence; we subjected him to an inter
rogation and found that he had taken
care to provide Il perfect alibi; so we
were compelled to release him. We
kept CrOchard under constant Surveil-
lance. We searched his rooms not
once, but many times.
"He knew thoroughly what we We're
doing, for what we We're searching.
He knew also that nowhere in Europe
would he dare to attempt to sell Il sin
gle one of those jewels. We suspected
that he void attempt to bring them to
this country, and we warned your de
partment of customs. For we knew
that here he could sell all but the very
largest not only almost without dan
ger, but at Il price far greater than he
could obtain for them in Europe. We
closed every avenue to him. as we
thought-and then. all at once, he dis
appeared.
For two weeks we heard nothing.
then came the story of this man Drou-
ct. killed by Il stab on the hand At
once we recognized the work of Gro
Chard, for he alone of living men pos
sesSes the secret of the poison of the
Medici 1t is Il fearful secret which,
in his whole life he had used but once
and that upon man who had betray-
ed him
NJ. Pigot paused and passed his hand
across his forehead
I'VE We're mt loss to understand
Orchards connection with Drouet."
NJ. Pigot continued "DrOuet. while
a mere hanger-on Of the cafes Of the
boulevards. was not criminal. Then
came the death of that creature. Mo-
rel, in an effort to gain possession of
this cabinet, and we began to under
stand. We made inquiries concerning
the cabinet, We learned its history,
and the secret Of its construction. and
we arrived at a certain conclusion. 1t
was to ascertain if that conclusion is
correct that | came to America"
What is the conclusionf" Queried
Grady, who bad listened to all this
with manifest impotence in strong
contrast to my own absorbed interest.
Our theory" replied NJ. Pigot with
out the slightest acceleration of speech.
lis that the Michaelovitch diamonds
are concealed in this cabinet. Every
thing points to it. and we shall soon
see"
As he spoke he drew from his peck
ct a steel gauntlet, marvelously like
the one Godfrey had used, and slip
ped it over his right hand
when one attempts to fathom the
secrets of the invincible one" he said
with smile, zone must 20 armored
Already three men have paid with
their lives the penalty Of their rash,
ness.
Three men repeated Grady. won
deringly.
Three" and Pigot checked them
off upon his fingers First the man
who gave his name as D'Aurelle, but
who was really backmailer named
Drouet: second VI. Nantine, the con
noiSSeur. and third. the creature Morel
OF these the only one that really mat
tiers is NJ Nantine His death was
most unfortunate and l am sure that
Crochard regrets it exceedingly"
zone moment. monsieur / said,
bursting in. unable 10 remain longer
silent. This i all SO wonderful-so
thrilling-will you not tell US more?
For what were these three men search
ing-for the Jewels