Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-01-29
THE NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
Detective Story by J. s. Fletcher

mouse. was much surprised to meet
MN. l had not seen him for--I really
don't know how many years"
lie paused and looked at Spargo as if
ne was wondering what he ought or not
10 say to newspaper man. Spargo re-
NAMED silent, waiting. And presently
Mr.. Aylmore went on.
Il read your account in the Watch
man this morning." he said. .'I was
wondering when you called just now, if
u, would communicate with you or with
the police. The fact isl suppose
you want this for your paper. eh ?'' he
continued after sudden breaking off,
i shall not print anything that YOU
WISH me not to print" answered Spar :
go. III you care to give me any In
formation----" .... -. =.
Oh, .wellv' said Mr. Anymore. 'I
don't mind. The fact is, l know next
TO nothing. Marbury was a man with
whom | had some--well, business re
latlons, of a sort, great many years
ago. 1t must be twenty years-perhaps
lmorc-sincc lost sight of him. When
he came up to me in the lobby the other
night, / had to make an effort of mem
ory to recall him. He wished me, hav-
ing once met me, to give him some ad-
vice., and as there was little doing in
the house that night, and as he had once
bHen--almost Il friend---I walked to his
hotel with him, chatting He told me
that he had only landed from Australia
that morning, and what he wanted my
advice about, principally, was--dia-
monds. Australian diamonds. y ..e;=.,
aplya aI
that diamonds were ever found in
Australia
Mr.. Anymore smiled--a little Gym
ically.
Perhaps so," he said. "But dia-
monds have been found in Australia
from time to time, ever since Austria
ia was known to Europeans, and in the
opinion of experts, they will eventually
be found there in quantity. Anyhow,
Marbury had got hold of some Austria
Ian diamonds, and he showed them to
me at his hotel-a number of them.
We examined them in his ROOM"
What did he do with them-after-
wardE' asked Spargo: -
He put them in his waistcoat pock
et--in very small wash leather bag
from Which he had taken them. There
were, in all, sixteen or twenty stones
1
advised him to see some expert--I men :
toned .Streeter's to him. Now ] can
tell you how he got hold of Mr.. Brc-
tons address" H-asg
The two young men prickcd up their
ears. Spargo unconsciously tghtened
his hold on the pencil with which he
was making notes. ,'r..
He got it from me, ~ continued Mr..
Anymore. Tho handwriting on the
scrap of paper is mine, hurriedly
scrawled. He wanted legal advice. As
| knew very little about lawyers,
told him that if he called on Mr. Bre-
ton, Mr.. Breton would be able to tell
him of first class, sharp solicitor. /
wrote down Mr.. Breton's address for
him, on scrap, of paper which he tore
IF a letter that he took from his pocket.
BY the bye, I observe that when his
it in the shape Of papers or money. /
am quite sure that when l left him he
had lot of gold on him, those dia :
monds and breast pocket full of
letters.' '-..
Where did you leave him, sir"'
asked Spargo. You left the hotel
together, ] believe?'
f"Yes. We strolled along when we
left it. Having once met. we had much
to talk of. and it was a fine night We
walked across Waterloo bridge and very
shortly afterward he left me. And
that is really all I know. Ny own i'm. :.
pression--" He paused for IL mo
ment and Spargo waited silently.
my own mpression-though con
fess it may seem to have no very solid
grounds---is that Marbury was decoyed
to where he was found, and was robbed
and murdered by some person who knew
he had valuables on him. There is the
fact that he was robbed, at any rate.
I've had a notion" said Breton,
difidently. "Mayn't be worth much,
but I've had it, all the same. Some
fellow passenger of Marbury's may
have tracked him all day-Middle Tenn
pie lanes pretty lonely at night, you
know
No one made any comment upon this
suggestion, and on Spargo looking at
Mr.. Anymore, the member of Parlia :
ment rose and glanced at the door.
"Well, that's all / can tell YOU, Mr.;
Spargo," he said. "You see, it's not
much, after all. OF course, therc'll be
an INQUEST on Marbury, and shall
have to retcll it.. But you're welcome
to. print what I've told you :.,.
Spargo left Breton with his future
father in law and vert away toward
New Scotland Yard. He and Rath-
bury had promised to share news--noW
he had some to communicate.
CONTINUED TOMORROW,