The Little River news., 1922-05-24
True Detective Stories THE DEVONSHIRE DIAMONDS

| ed to temptation at the last mo-
 ment and stepped out of her bOudoir to secure her sisters opinion upon the effect of her latest Partisan creation it is quite possible that h. spector John Sweeney of Scotland Yard would not have had the oppor- tunity of proving his detective genius in 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.
 It was the night of the Devon ball, held in the big old-fashiosed 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 diffi- cult when the loss 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 toi- lette herself, but, just as she was about to put on her necklace-an heirloom which had greatly increased in value because of it's historic connections she thought 1t would be well to secure an unbiased opinion as to the effect of her gown, which had just arrived from Paris. When she returned from her sisters room a few minutes later she reached for the necklace, only to 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 summ Oned her husband, whom she told of the mysterious loss.
 There is only one thing to do," de- clared his lordship, after verifying his wifes statement that the jewels were missing, land that is to notify the po- lice.
 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 one in the hall as you passed through on the way to your sisters room?" Sweeney asked.
 No one at all.'
 How long has your maid been with you?''
 Less than two months-but she came well recommended
 Finally, ill spite of protests, the Op- erative 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 weeks festivities, it was pos sible to arrange this without mention ing the reason for the request to the guests. Armed with a list of those present, with their servants, Sweeney then repaired to Lady Devon's boudoir to commence active investigations.
 His knowledge of London society was sufficient to inform him that at least three of the guests, despite their titles, might easily have been guilty of lifting the necklace if the opportunity had presented itself.
 "The question is," unused Sweeney, "who could have known that Lady Devon would have been out of the room for just those few moments? She wasn't summoned by any message and it would therefore appear that some one was hiding in the hope that an op- portunity would present itself. That would seem to eliminate the guests but not the servants"
 Working along this line, Sweeney made a careful examination of the toilet articles on the dressing table where the diamonds had been placed. After thorough scrutiny of the per fume bottles, pieces of silver and other articles which were highly polished, the detective made his way downstairs and sent word to Lady Devon that he would like to speak to her for mo- ment.
 "Your ladyship," he said, twill you kindly press the tips of your fingers lightly on this," and he held out one of the hand mirrors from the boudoir. "No," he added, "I'm not suspecting you of making away with your own diamonds-I merely wish to discover which finger-prints are yours"
 '"Then, a moment later, ''Thank you. I thought as much."
 "Nowj' he continued, "I want you to instruct your butler-whOm l under stand has been wth you for number of years-to secure the prints of all the servants under your roof. Tell him to make any excuse for it that he wants to, but must secure complete collection. Kindly have them sent to my room the first thing in the morning. Meanwhile, don't worry. If my in- structions are rigidly carried out your necklace should be discovered before nine o'clock"
 But Sweeney underestimated by some two hours. It was eleven o'clock on the following morning before he re- ceived the complete set of finger prints, and ten minutes later pair of