Evening star., 1922-03-16

case which l am sure VIII taA
even your resources. Heaven
knows it has taxed ours.
/. The visitor was large. we'll built
man. He placed his hat on the table
and, without taking off his gloves.
sat down In an easy chair. which he
completely Allied.
Andrews is my name-third vice
president of the Great Eastern Lie
Insurance Company. l am the nomi-
nal head of the company's private de-
tective force. and though l have some
pretty clever fellows on my stan,
we've got a case that so far none OF US
Eas been able to unravel. I'd like 10
. consult you about ii"
Kennedy expressed his entire will
ingness TO be consulted. and after the
usual formaIities were over Mr.. An
drews proceeded:
Il suppose you are aware that tne
large insurance companies MAINTAIN
quite elaborate detective FORCES ana
follow very heeniy such Of the cases
of their policy holders as look at all
suspicious. This case which l wish
10 put in your hands is that OF MI
Solomon MOI Iowitch. wealthy Mall
den Lane jeweler. suppose you
have read something in the papers
about his sudden death and the
strange robbery Of his safe?"
Very little" replied Craig. There
hasn't been much to read.
of course not. of course not, SAID
Mr. Andrews with some snow OF
qualification. II tiatter myself that
we have pulled the wires 30 As 10
much as posslule We don't want to
frighten the quarry till the net Is
spread The point IS, though, TO nnd
out VINO is the quarry. its most oai-
ilinS."
0"i am at your service" interposed
Sraig quietly. but you will have to
enlighten me as 10 the facts In the
case. AS to that know no more
than the newspapers.
"Oh, certainly, certainly. That Is 10
say. you know notnihs d. AZ @mo ,,o,,.sd
approach it without bias. he paused
and then, seeming to notice some
thing in Craig's manner, added hastl-
ly: "I'll be perfectly frank with you:
The policy in question Is for $loo'voo
and is incontestable. HIS Wiie is tne
beneficiary the company IL perfect
Iy willing to pay, but We want 10 Dc
sure il is all straight first. There are
curtain suspicious circumstances tnas
IN Justice to ourselves we think snoulo
cleared up. That is aii-Deiie'e
NE. We are not seeking to avoid an
honest liability"
What are these suspicious CIR
cumstances 2" asked Craig. apparent
Iy satisfi d with the explanation.
This il in strict confidence, gen
Morowi.ch, according to the story as II
comes 10 us. returned home late one
night last week. apparently from MS
office, In a very weakened. a sem-con-
scious condition. His family physician.
DIR. Thornton. was summoned. not AZ
once, but shortly. He pronounced
Mr.. Morowitch to be suffering from
n congestion of the lungs that was
very like a sudden attack OF pneu-
monia.
to bed, or at least was in bed. when
the doctor arrived but his condition
grew worse SO rapidly that the DOC
Tor hastily resorted to oxygen. unoer
which treatment he seemed TO re,
vive. The doctor had Just stepped
#, hurry call was sent to him that MI.
Morowitch was rapidly sinking. He
died before the doctor could return.
No statement whatever concerning
made by Mr.. Morowitch. and the
death certificate. copy OF which
have, gives pneumonia as the cause
Of death One of our men has seen
DIR. Thornton, but has been able 70
get nothing out of him. Mrs. Moro
witch was the only person Win hef
husband at the time
There was something in his tone
that made me take particular note o.
this last fact, especially as ne paused
for an instant.
nothing surprising about 1t all. SO
far at least, were it not for the iact
that the following morning, when
his junior partner. Mr.. kahan, open
ed the place of business. or rather
went to 1t, for it was to remain closed.
Of course. he found that during the
night some one had visited it. The
lock on the great safe, whfcn con.
tained thousands OF dollars worth OF
diamonds. was intact. but in the top
of the safe huge hole was found
an Irregular, round hole. big enough
to put your foot through. Imagine
it, Prof, Kennedy, a great hole in
safe that is made OF chrome steei-a
safe that. short of safety deposit
vault, ought to be about the strong
est thing on earth.
splinter even the finest diamond drill
before 1t made an impression. The
mere taking out and renting OF drills
into the brace would be most
lengthy process. Eighteen or twenty
hours il the time by actual test when
It would take to bore such q hole
through those laminated plates. even
II there were means OF exerting arti-
ficial pressure. AS for the police.
they haven't even theory yet
And the diamonds?"
All gone-everything OF any value
was gone. Even the letter files were
ransacked. His desk was broken
open, and papers Of some nature had
been taken out of it. Thorough is no
name for the job. Isn't that enough
to arouse suspicion"
"I should like to see that safe,
was all Kennedy said.
$50 you shall. SO you shall" said
Mr.. Andrews. Then we may retain
You in our service7 My car IL wait.
down to Maiden Lane If you wish"
ssYou may retain me on one condi-
ton" said Craig. without moving. II
am to be free to get at the truth
whether it benefits or hurts the COM
psny, and the case is to be entirely
in my hands"
Hats on" agreed Mr.. Andrews.
reaching In his vest pocket and pull
ing out three or four breva:. my
almost beat the subway down."
"First to my laboratory" interposed
Craig. ut will take only few min
utes."
We drove up to the university and
stopped on the campus while Craig
hurried into the chemistry building
to get something.
Il like your professor OF criminal
science" said Andrews to me. blow
ing Q huge, fragrant cloud Of smoke.
/. for my part, liked the vice presi.
dent He was q man who seemed