The Monmouth inquirer., 1923-03-22

Ana you would nave Hdu Inc SaihS
experience, not only in one, but in ten
points of the case if you had weighed
them and turned them over in your
head as long as / have done"
But there must be one theory which
is right" exclaimed Some one must
have stolen the diamond !"
Eyes, that's the dreadful part Of it
ALL" groaned Monk, There is only
one theory which can be applied to all
that has happened in this dreadful af-
fair, and that is" here his voice sank
almost to Whisper" and that is, that
that Sigrid took the diamond to help
her brother, was photographed by Mr..
Howell, and then sold the diamond to
Mr.. Jurgens. No, don't say what you
want to say, Mrs Viller. Rather bear
in mind that it is my fixed determine
ton, in a few days to go to America,
and again offer Sigrid my hand Can /
better show my faith in herr"
Clara did not answer
Where is the actor now?" asked.
"He died in delirium tremens, in
public hospital in Denmark / had an
agent there for some time, who tried to
get something out of him, but it was of
no use The agent was under the i'm
preston that the actor knew nothing of
the diamond robbery nothing of any
importance to us, at least"
"And Mrs. Reierson-have you tried
her?'
by all possible means, through
third person. She will not see me- If
show myself to her, she swears and
curses me for having brought about her
daughters death Old Prick gives her
a yearly pension; but as she has com
pletely given herself over to drink, it
does not last very long, and between
each quarterly payment she lives in the
greatest restitution"
"And Mr.. Howell?"
Il have not lost sight of him, al
though it is often difficult enough to
keep an eye on him He leads the life
of so many rich Englishmen He spends
the season in London, the autumn in
the country and the rest of the year in
travelling He has a yacht, and has sew
eral times visited Norway in the sum-
mer. He has, however, been only three
or four times in Christiania all these
years, and then only for short time.
He has on these occasions stayed at
Villa Ballarat with old Prick. My agent
in England informs me that he is well
known as gambler and as man who
spends more money than he can afford.
He has for many years paid frequent
visits to country house in Yorkshire,
Ashton Hall,-beionging TO a rich
gentleman, Mr. Ashton. They say it
will end in his marrying the gentleman's
eldest daughter, lady who is no longer
young. The reason for this long court
ship no one can explain They think
he'll not swallow the bitter pill until he
is obliged. Here, people believe that he
will inherit old tricks money Very
likely that is the reason he goes on
counting so long. Very likely too, the
old mans death might put him on his
legs again, and save him from marry
ing the lady in Yorkshire"
"You seem no longer to like the Eng
lishmanp
"T~have never liked him particularly
and, as have told you earlier, his con-
duct frequently appeared to me to be
suspicious. Yet / cannot very well acr
count for the reason of my distrust for
him. l have an idea that he played \
part in the drama, which l do not COM
prehend. | believe your wife's instinct
tells her the same"
Instinct" repeated Clara, whitening
y. 1--WE women must always hear,
when we in some way or other hit upon
a right solution, that it is our instinct
which has come to our aid--never a
word is said about logical deductionl
Look here, Mr.. Monk What mean to
say is, that I am sure that Mr.. Howell
tempered with the photograph in order
to ruin Sigrid. This result | arrive at
from the following reason. If the pho
tograph is to be relied upon, Sigrid must
have had the diamond in her hand that
day; but she denied this absolutely.
No, don't try to avoid it, Monk You
are afraid to tell me that now am il
logical-isn't that what you call it?-
like all women, and so you won't even
look at me. But l haven't finished yet.
Suppose Sigrid could and would tell
lie, what could have been easier for her
than to admit she had that afternoon
been into the museum, had taken out the
diamond and looked at it for a moment,
and then put it back in its place again?
No one could have said word against
this explanation as to how the photo
Crap. was taken. Mol Sigrid was not
fool; and you must admit that il she
wanted to tell lie, she would not do
it in such foolish way. Admit that
am right, Monk! All probabilities go
to prove that Sigrid spoke the truth.
She had not set foot in Mr.. Tricks
museum that day between five and half
past seven, and-the photograph was
tempered with"
Monk could not help smiling; but it
was the same smile-the hopeless smile
with which the giant who has in vain
attempted to lift burden watches the