Evening star., 1923-10-27
which Sir Robert may have placed

them"
But Phillipa shook her head
"No,' she said with decision. For
in that case my father would have al
tered the last paragraph Of this letter.
He was the most methodicE! ot men.
No. those diamonds have been stolen--
stclen!'
What was The looking little de-
tective thinking of His face had sud-
denly grown animated; his eyes be-
gan to blaze; he clapped his right haid
10 something ir his breast pocket and
jumped to- his feet.
..ca.s-an,ctsa smSs %s asY mat safe" he said
Trey all set off to the library. Quin-
ton got there first and switched on the
electric light. Inspector Cortelyou hur-
rird Up 20 the safe and Phillips brought
out he. bunch o. keys. But the detec-
- NO. % no." he said. sNo-"wait"
II" drew oIt of his trousers pocket a
! b2nch Of ie,s and selecting one--a
curiously fashioned thing--inssrted it
s.ow:y oHen am:dst the exclamaticns of
Phi!'.pa and the two men.
''Thcre!' sSid the detective. Those
keys were. taken from Marshall Stead
ns shs Ss tsy es go good the nosan
though hadn't five minutes since,
where they are
! The inspector set of for TIE hall
: Coo: and the motor brougham which
/ VAS awaiting HIN there with such haste
. hat he had airead.' taken his seat when
QGinton caught him up.
May 1 c, me- with you?" he ask ed.
.. da'e say | shan't be In the way,
and in any case. you are going in my
direction"
Come. by all means" answered In
! specto.' Cortelyou. ~ have told the
man whore l want 10 so. You may
come with me if you liEe'
! Yes said QlintoI.. Where is
| that?"
! u am going to Marshall stead's
! :odSings." replied the detective. And
hope may fnd those diamonds
, tEerc.'
You do:" exclaimed Qu:nton, half
. tEem?'
! Certainly figure it out this way
said tie inspector. "Stead. from all
! c;n learn, was very much In the late
I fact. he seems to have treated him
E; more like one of the family-almost
! like son, in fact"
,, Yes" said Quinton. Yes, that is
i What mo e li,ey, then, than that
a; the baronet should take him into his
| confidence about those diamonds?" said
the detective. 1T is extremely likely
! tha. he would do SO. What Is abso-
lutely certain is that Stead provided
| safe. as you have just seen. All this
/ is only serving to elucidate a mystery
which is apart from the murder
! 4 Theory Upset.
| You said just now that you knew
/ where the diamonds We're" said Quin-
ton. Does that mean-''
! "Ah. l spoke rather hurriedly," in
f. terrupted the inspector 81 ought to
{; have said that have very good idea
where they will be found: as Stead
arrested and locked up very suddenly.
! don't think hen have had time to
in the orchard at his lodgings"
! What. planted" said Quinton.
| Just So, replied Inspector Cortel-
| you. And l believe that certain
diagram now in my pocketbook refers
/ thing, but lot OF men Ike Stead, II
| they secrete something Of value, cannot
refrain from making more or less
! elaborate diagram of Its whereabouts
: memory; Now. in this Case
! And he proceeded to tell Quinton
! ! about the diagram. and by the light Of
the carriage reading lamp showed it to
! him.
"In that orchard" he said. "there is
disused we'll: that circle evidently
represents il. The orchard has tum-
Die down wicket gate: these strokes
evidently represent that. I believe we
shall find the diamonds hidden between
the we'll and the wicket-gate."
Quinton made no answer to this: it
seemed to him that Stead might have
found much more likely place wherein
| to hestow the stolen diamonds and that
ne was more OF the sort of man to place
them in bank than in a hole in the
ground. But he reflected that Inspector
; Cortelyou was an astute man who had
good grounds for whatever he believed.
and he looked forward with interest to
the next stage Of the matter.
The inspector had ordered the motor
brougham to stop at some distance from
TO approach the house quietly.
There ought to be a man Of mine
somewhere about" he said, as they
drew near the garden In front of the
house. I've had the place watched
ever since l heard Of Steads escape,
because "a an iden that he might come
! here. And now that I know about the
diamonds I shouldn't wonder if he
does"
A mans figure suddenly rose out Of
, the darkness from behind a clump of
laurel.
"That you, Perrett?" asked rnspec-
tor Cortelyou. Anything happened?'
ing's happened"
you presently" said the Inspector. II
must have an eye kept on this place
al night. In the meantime you can
| borrow lantern from the house and
bring it round to the orchard at the
back. There's something there I want
10 examine. Come this way, Mr. Quin-
pie"
CONTINUED TOMORROW.