The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1922-08-31
True
|. Detective Stories
THE D~EVONSHIRE
DIAMONDS

Copyr1ght ~ The Wheeler Syndicate, Inc.
TAD Lady Alberta Devon not yield
III ed TO temptation at the last ND
ment and stepped out of her
boudoir to secure her sisters opinion
upon the effect Of her latest Partisan
creation II is quite possible that In
spector John Sweeney of Scotland
Yard would not have had the eppor-
tunity of proving. his detective genius
In a peculiarly striking manner.
Lady Alberta was absent from her
room for less than ten minutes; but
during that time occurred an event
which, for several hours, threatened
to disrupt several of the highest social
circles In England.
1t was, the night of the Devon bali,
held In the big old-fashioned house In
the center Of the Devon estate. As
was only to be expected, the list Of
guests read like a section from Burke's
Peerage-a fact which made Inspector
Sweeney's work distinctly more diff
cult when the boss of the famous neck
lace of Devonshire was reported to
Scotland Yard.
Early in the evening Lady Alberta
had dismissed her maid with the state
ment that she would complete her tot
lette herself, but, just as she was about
20 put on her necklace-an heirloom
which had greatly increased In value
because Of Its historic connections
she thought 1t would be well to ecure
an unbiased opinion as to the effect
Of her gown which had just arrived
from Paris. When she returned from
ber sisters room q few minutes later
The reached for the necklace, only 10
discover that it had vanished!
Positive that she had had it in her
hands less than ten minutes before, she
searched the room and then summoned
her husband. whom she told of the
mysterious loss.
'@There is only one thing to do" de-
clared his lordship, after verifying his
wife's statement that the jewels were
missing, land that is to.notify the po-
lice. H.
Inspector Sweeney reached the Devon
house shortly after midnight, while the
ball was still In progress, and secured
the meager details OF the case directly
from her ladyship.
did you notice any n In the hall
as you passed through on the way to
Jour sisters roorn2 r. Sweeney asked.
mo one at ALL
'How long has your maid been with
pour" {:
LESS than two months-but she
came well recommended" =.
Finally, in spite OF protests. the op-
eratiye from scotland Yard gave or
ders that no one was to leave the
grounds of the Devon estate without
his permission, and, as the ball formed
part OF . waakss Festivities, 1t was pos-
BlbIe to arrange this without mention
Ing the eason for the request to the
guests. Armed with d list Of those
present, with their servants, Sweeney
then repaired TO Lady Devon's boudoir
% commence active investigations.
His knowledge Of London society
sufficient to Inform him that nit
least three ,of the guests, despite their
titles, might easily have been-guilty Of
lifting the necklace 81 the opportunity
had presented itself.
ssThe question ID, unused Sweeney,
who could have known that Ladys
Devon would have been out OF the
room for just those few momentsf She
wasn't summoned by any message and
Il would therefore appear that some
one Nm hiding m the hope that ~ on
pcrtunity would present itself. That
would seem to eliminate the guests-
bnt not the servants
working along this line. Sweeney
nade q careful e~xamination of tn
toilet articles "a the dressing table
where the diamonds had been placed.
after u thorough scrutiny of the per~
fnrne bottles, pieces 81 silver ma other
nrticles which were highly pOlished
- reflective made his way downatalEs
- 6ent word 70 Lady Deyon TINT he
Ropld IKE to speak a - fos = -
mont.
Your ladyshlp. u said. VIII <you
ndlv pre- me tins ~ your Hnssws
hfly On thiSs ma q held mt O. +
hand mlrtoEs from me bOudclr.
he add6o. m not s1specting
~ 81 MAXIM awsy with youir own
AmondsA merely with 4 dkscoysr
midi hnesrpsinf6 ~ yonk