The Leader, enterprise and press. (Fitzgerald, Ga.) 1915-1921, 1917-07-13
Stolen
Diamond
A Case of Double Detective
Work.
By DONALD CHAMBERLIN


session l was invited to the national
capital to spend a week with my
friend Jim Yreusdail in company with
others, forming a very pleasant house
party. Jim had not been long mar
r1ed, and I was a bachelor l have
always thought that his wife got up
the affair especially for my benefit and
that Of Miss Mildred Sweet, Mrs. Jim
desiring to make match between us.
If she did she had no trouble, so far
as l was concerned, for l had not
been acquainted with Miss Sweet ten
minutes before l remarked to myself,
That's the girl am looking for"
have theory that good way to
win a, girl Is to5ronjure4 up something
in which you and she may have mu-
tual interest. Fortune favored me In
this wise:
One evening at dinner Mrs. Jim show
ed plainly that something had hap
pened She said nothing to any Of the
guests and when they spoke to her
replied in monosyllables. Treusdail
labored hard to keep a certain amount
of life in the party, but was not sue
cessful.
After dinner Jim took me up to
little den he used to hide away in
and told me what was the matter.
His wife had lost a diamond as big
as a hickory nut. 1t had been handed
down to her from five generations and
been turned over to her on her wed
ding day. She had taken it out of
its receptacle to wear it that evening
at reception that was to occur at
the White House and had left it on
her bureau while giving some direc-
lions about the dinner
He had no sooner told me this than
1t REQUIRED to me to make a detective
of myself for the purpose of discover
ing the thief and to take Miss Sweet
into the business with me. By inter
esting her in the case 1 hoped eventu-
ally to turn that interest from the
gem to myself.
l asked Jim a good many questions,
but only ELECTED the information that
every servant in the house during his
W1fe's absence from her room was
downstairs and quite busy, most of
| them with the preparations for the
dinner The men guests were all In
the billiard room. Two Of the women
guests were dressing In their rooms
for dinner and after that the function
at the White House. A third, a wild
ow, Mrs. Jernegan, with little daugh-
ter, five years old, had finished her
toilet and was assisting her nurse to
put the child to bed.
Mrs. Jernegan was my first choice
for the thief. Women who are not
dressed don't run about in another
persons house, and Mrs. Jernegan was
the only person on the floor at the
time the stone was lost. l went to
the White House reception with Miss
Sweet and during the evening told her
about the loss and began to excite her
curiosity as to who could have been
the thief.
1T would be nice thing" / said,
'if you and I, working together, could
recover the stone and turn it back TO
the rightful owner"
Indeed, 1t would" she said, "but
how can we do thatW
II don't know that we can. but we
can try"
confided to her that I suspected
Mrs. Jernegan. She did not especially
fancy the widow, but could hardly
bring herself to feel that she had
stolen the diamond. 1 told Miss Sweet
that she, being woman, could keep
an eye on the suspect better than l,
and she agreed to do so.
L had little scheme up my sleeve
to compel Mrs. Jernegan to show her
colors If she We're guilty. OF course
that was not proving her guilty or
getting back the stone, but it would
serve for a clew. I invited a party
including Mrs. Jernegan, to visit the
capitol. Miss Sweet was, Of course,
with us. After showing the party
through the building 1 took them up
into the dome. There is q Whispering
gallery in this dome in which a voice
speaking on one side can be heard at
the other. Leaving the widow on one
side of the dome, 1 took Miss Sweet
halfway round the semicircle, and,
watching till Mrs. Jernegan was sep
arated from the others, 1 suggested to
Miss Sweet to put her mouth near the
wall and whisper the words, "What did
you do with it?'
She did so, and the effect was in
Simultaneous and unmistakable. The
widow staggered, turned pale and look
| ed hurriedly about her. When she
turned her eyes upon us we were look
Ing down on to the marble floor far
below.
My companion was delighted with
the success Of my device She seemed
to be struck with surprise and admira-
ton at what she was pleased to call
my ingenuity. l was more interested
in Miss Sweet than in the thief. l dis
claimed any great shrewdness-indeed,
thus far was simply lucky. But
must keep up the illusion. I must find
some method of learning from the wild
Ow what she had done with the dia-
mond.
And here showed that instead Of
being an experienced detective I was
| mere bungler. I permitted the widow