The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1918-07-07
HOteLH. Regis
Started q
Round the
Country
Pursuit
Like a Real
Sherlock
Holmes
Detective
Mystery

A T half past two on the afternoon Of
"a December II, 1917, the Fifth Avenue
= doors Of the fashionable Hotel St
Regis in New York swung round and.
through them marched two footmen, their
bearing just the proper mingling Of hau-
teur and respectfulness expected Of the
service Of 80 exclusive a caravanserie.
Behind them foated, If the word is permits
sible of one swathed in some fifty thou
sand dollars worth Of furs, plainly charm
ing lady. And behind her third footman
paced, carrying with all the proud sol
emnity Of Baron bearing to a waiting
king some treasure OF apparel, tiny
Pekinese.
mus safely, conveyed the lady and Pc
kinese entered luxurious limousine wait
ing at the curb and rolled away.
'who is she. Biz" asked Footman
Number Three.
"Mrs- Francis J. Carolan, daughter of
George Pullman" said Number One /.
pullman cars and millions" sighed
Number Two. pretty near as many mil
lions as Pullman cars"
"Ain't It funny" said Number Three,
how some people have everything"
But Footman Number Three was doubly
wrong.
When at half pest seven. that night Mrs :
Francis J. Carolan, daughter Of the multi
millionaire parlor car manufacturer. re-
turned to the St Regis and began to dress
hurriedly for dinner. she not only did not
have everything hut a considerable por-
ton of what she had thought she possessed
had disappeared. To be explicit. between
-
1880 when she came in. her diamond and
amethyst necklace. a diamond-studed
watch, four diamond brooches. diamond
barette. an emerald ring and two golden
mesh bags had utterly vanished. With
them had gone a conservative equivalent
Of 10000 The thieves had. fortunately,
overlooked her 100000 pearl necklace.
The st. Regis was naturally quite as
much concerned as Mrs. Carolan. In re-
suonse to their appeal quickly appeared at
the hotel a clean shaver. keen-faced. blue
eyed member of the detective bureau.
whose name was James, better known as
Jimmy" Mccoy.
Access to the Carolan suite. he found.
could theoretically be gained bv several
windows and doors. But the windows were
Eve stories up from the street and there
was no conceivable way by which thief
could have entered or left them without
cumbersome apparatus and without having
been noticed by a crowd passing below.
All the doors except the main entrance
were securely fastened on the. inside. BY
this process OF elimination It was obvious
that whoever took the gems must have
gone in by this one entrance to the suite.
The next question was how many people
IN the hotel had pass keys to the suite or
had had legitimate reasons that day for
entering with permission Of the manage
ment The housekeeper and the day maid
had keys. Besides that the plumber had
been in to look at the pipes. a man to fix
the window, shades one to look after the
heating apparatus. The regular day maid
Il appeared had been home. her mother
having'been ILL.,. Her place had been taken
by a new maid who had gone home early,
pleading she was not feeling well.
Who was this new maid? Her name.
II appeared. was Mary Smith She had
come to the St Regis with the most excel
lent recommendations from the Gotham.
equally as exclusive as the St. Regis. and
other similar hotels. What did they know
about Mary? Oh. Mary was a splendid
girl-quiet. industrious. self-efacing and
obedient as a good servant ought to be.
Her recommendations were really unim-
peachable, and she was sure to be in next
morning. It couldn't have been Mary.
Impossible,
Mary Smith was put aside for a mo-
ment while investigation proceeded OF all
those who had entered the room or who
had access to the room. II was speedily
shown that none OF them could have had
any part in the robbery. Their innocence
was unmistakable.
Well. Mary might be everything that
everybody thought OF her. but Mccoy de-
cided to satisfy himself personally about
that. Where were her references? There
they we're, all in good order. What was
her address? II then developed that the
st. Regis, depending upon the references,
had not taken her address and did not
know where Mary lived. But the Gotham
knew.
over to the Gotham went Mccoy. They
remembered Mary well. She was a very
good girl, sober and hard worker and