Evening star., 1922-09-15

pcrsteiy, she had.a p,str replira Of it made
aud Herman Sch!oss. jeweler of Maiden Lane
it. This morning sch!"ss h"d ."i"p,,on"c
the necklace had been stolen. The Hale Elec
tric Protection, burglar alarm company, aist
called Kennedy for help about the sane rob
hery. The safe had been opened without nn,
damage. But nobody, not even Muller, schloss
assistant. knew the combination.
AREFULLY Craig was going
over the Office Outside oi
the safe there had apparently
been nothing of value. The
and 1t seemed to have been Schloss
idea that the few thousands of bur.
glary insurance amply protected hin
against such loss. AS for the safe
its own strength and the careful
wiring might we'll have been consid.
cred quite sufficient under any hith-
erto to be -foreseen circumstances.
A glass door around the bend of a
partition. opened from the hallw a!
been designed with the object of max
ing visible the safe. so that any one
passing might see whether an in
truder was tamperins with il.
Kennedy had examined the door
perhaps in the expectation OF finding
finger prints there. and was passing
on to other things. when a change ir
his position caused his eye to catch
large oval smudse on the glass
" hIch was visible when the light
struck il at the right angie. Quickly
h. busted il over with the poWde!
and brought out the detail more
clearly. As examined it, while
-
the glass 10 preserve it. il seemed tt
contain IL number of minute points
and several more or less broken par
allel lines. The edges gradually trail
ed off into an indistinct faintness.
Business, naturally was at stand
still and. as we were working near
the door. We could see that the new
of Schloss' strange robbery had Leaked
out and was spreading rapidly. Scores
of acquaintanceS in the trade stopped
at the door to inquire about tbs
rumor.
To each it seemed that Morris
Muller, the working jeweler employed
by Schloss. repeated the same story.
oh" he said. 1t is big lrss-y"s
but big as it is. it will not break Mr.
:S"hluss. And" he would add viii
the tradeSman'S idea OF humor. u
guess he has enough 10 play game
of pUker-eh""
Poker" asked Kennedy. smiling
Is he much Of a player"
Yes. Nearly every night with his
friends he plays"
Kennedy made mental note of it
Evidently Schloss trusted Muller i'm
plicitly. He seemed like a partner
rather than an employe, even though
he had not been intrusted with the
secret combination.
outside. we ran into city detective
Liz he.
stationed at the Maiden Lane post
guarding that famous SECTION of the
dead line established by the immori a
Byrnes at Fulton street. below which
no crook was supposed to dare ever
to bc seen. Winters had been de-
tailed on the case.
You have seen the safe in there
asked Kennedy, as he was leaving I,
carry on his Investigations elsewhere
Winters seemed to be quite as skep.
teal as Schloss had intimated the
public would be. Yes" he replied
there's been an epidemic of robber.
with the dull times-people who wan
guess.
But" objected KENNEDY. "Schlos:
carried $50 little"
We'll. there was the Hale protec-
ton. How about that"
Craig looked up quickly. unrufled
ny lIt pdlEDnlLblS dir OF pTOIeSSlCnd
toward the amateur detective.
What is your theory" he asked
DO you think he robbed himself?''
Winters shrugged his shoulders
I've been interested in Schloss for
some time" he said, enismatically
He has had some pretty swell Gus
toners. I'll keep you wised up. il
anything happens" he added in d
burst Of graciousness, walking off.
ON the way to the subway. We
paused again to see McLear.
Well" he asked, what do you
think of it now?'
All most extraordinary" ruminated
Craig. And the queerest feature OF
all is that the chief loss consists OF
a diamond necklace that belonged tc
Mrs. Antoinette Moultpn."
Mrs. Lynn Moulton?" repeated Me
Lear
THE same" assured Kennedy.
McLear appeared somewhat puzzled
Her husband is one of our. old sub
scribers. he pursued. HE is law
yer on Wall street and quite "A gen,
collector. Last night his safe was
tampered with, but this morning he
reports no loss Not half an hour
ago he had us on the wire congratu-
lating US on soaring off the burglars
if there had been any"
What is your opinion?" I asked
rs there a gang operatinE?"
My belief is." he answered. RENT
niScently of his days on the detective
force. that none Of the loot will be
r.coN cred until they start to fence
it. That would be my 1ay-to look
Tor the fence. Why. think of all the
big robberies that have been pulled
off lately. Remember" he went on
the spells of Il burglary consist gen
orally of precious stones. They are
not currency. They must be turned
into currency-or what's the use of
robbery?
But merely to offer them for sale
at an ordinary jewelers. would be
suspicious. Even pawnbrokers are
driving at? | think the is man
or a group of men whose business ii
is to pay cash for stolen property
and who have ways of returning
gems into the regular trade chan
ne!s. In all these robberies W. let
glimpse of as dark and III. .terious
criminal as has ever been recorded
He may be-anybody. About his
legitimacy l believe. no question has
ever been raised. And l tell you his
arrest is going to create greater
sensation than even the remarka bic
series of robberies that he has planned
or made possible. The question is, to
my mind who is this fence"
McLear's telephone rang and he
handed the instrument to Craig
Yes. this is Prof. Kennedy" an
swered Craig. "Oh. too bad you've
had to try all over to get me- I've
been going from one place to another
gathering clues and have made good
progress. considering I've hardly
started. Why-whats the matter
Really"
An interval followed. during which
McLear left to answer personal
call on another wire
AS Kennedy hung up the receiver.
his face wore a peculiar look. at
was Mrs. Moulton." he blurted out.
She thinks that her husband has
found out that the necklace is paste"