Evening star., 1918-02-10
PAUL BECK, RULE; THUMB DETECTIVE

:s too 1s.a N .s; .a ~ t.s, = q: e. e: ~
= must have the plumber IN q oncs."
portant writing to do here tonight
He had his hand on tho ball whn Give
stopped him.
don't ring. uncle. I am going down %
the club. IN look In at Carver q Ptcteo's
'sThank you very much. Clive." ths
uncle said, with unctious affection, pat.
ting his. his nsphsws h shoulder kindly nd 18th With
links Of his gold watchchain with the
other.
"You have always been q good and
obedient nephew to me. and ! hope !
won't prove a harsh uncle to you when
the time comes. You guess what mean,
eh?"
Give did guess what he meant. ana
felt meaner than ever. He had NOT tne
least notion what was to be the upehoe OF
the trick Of Mr.. Beck's. but he had some
victim. So he sQuirmed at his unsuspect-
ing kindness.
aI'm of, SIR. he said abruptly. TO- cut
the thing short. TN have the man f nsfs
attempting to plug the leak up with q pol
let Of blotting paper.
Directly opposite Mr.. Beck's door .
young man was louneing with q WORK.
He crossed over as Give leaped out
Of the hanson. and stopped him oefore
he could ring.
'sdr. Give Meredith" he said respect-
fully enough. He was a strong, well-see.
up young fellow, dressed like a decent
artisan, with a broad black smudge on his
face.
"Yes," Give answered, ~that's my
name"
"Ai right, suv'nor." said the oth'r. I'm
.sYou know what's to be done7''
IT got my orders straight I'm on the
Job"
"You had better go there"
''Thank ye, sir. The bus is good enough
for me and it passes the door. There
she goes now. Excuse me. SIR" And ne
sprinted down the street and leaped on q
motor bus as It started around the cor
ner. leaving Give standing bewiidereo op-
posite Mr.. Becks door.
Mr. Beck was out. he was told when
he knocked, and would not be back for
two hours. Would the gentleman leave
his name
name, but walked away. vexed. to his
club. finding it impossible to make head or
tail Of the business.
I'm the plumber" said the workman TO
the footman at the door Of the house in
Park Lane
From Carver Picton AL right! Mr..
Meredith is at lunch. He left orders you
should be shown straight to the study
where the gas leakage is It's to be done
without delay; the house is all a-ssin,n'
with it.
Once safe in the study the plumber de-
liberately bolted the door on the inside.
and began to search the room curiously.
The writing materials seemed to have
a special attraction for him. He examined
the paper and blotting paper. the pens and
the ink. with the n1inutest care There
were two ink bottles on the big mahogany
A@I I1~ H4trE thn ind Nyy0
smelled and tested the contents Of each
in turn and shook his head. Then he
crossed over to a smaller table OF Ameri-
can pattern with revolving lid. tr1ed the
handles and found it locked. $50 ]
thought" he rnuttered. fitting in the lock
piece of iron wire with some curious
twists and curves at the end OF 1t. Twice
he tried the lock with a little gentle pres
sure, feeling his way, and twice with
strong fingers he bent the wire into new
shape Then all at once. as II it mistook
the thing for its own key. the facile lock
volvinE lid slid back from the top Of the
desk. unlocking all the drawers down the
sides by the same motion.
Our plumber-burglar searched the In
terror with quick eyes and hands He
inkstand and set it aside. Then suddenly
he pounced upon a common ink bottle OF
round brown DELPHI, set back in one OF
the pigeon holes Of the desk. with some
papers pQSnSQ III IEUNt u 1ao
his prize eagerly: he even poured a few
drops of ink out on sheet of note paper
smelled and tasted it.
Then he wrote with the same Ink a brie,
memorandum on a sheet Of paper. waved
it until it was dry without blotting. ane
put 1t into his pocket
In quarter of an hour moro the inl
Jar was back in its place, the desk locked
the door unlocked. and the puncture In ths
gas pipe repaired.
None too soon, either. As tho plumbe,
came out Of the study he met Mr.. Meredith
in the hall smiling and good-humored from
q particularly substantial lunch.
What, done already. my man? he
asked pleasantly: That's quick work
Here's sixpence for yourself"
All that afternoon in defiance OF
omens Mr.. Marmaduke Meredith was in