Evening star., 1923-10-27
lContinued from Yesterdays Star.l
A Diamond Mystery.

TT was nearly dark when Inspector
Cortelyou reached the castle. His
mind had been fixed the whole
i day on the problem of Stead 8
disappearance. He had no idea that
he was to be brought face TO face
with further mystery.
Fisher led him straight to the
morning room. where, sitting around
q table on which stood a small box
OF japanned tin, such as men of law
are supposed to keep deeds In, sat
Miss Mannersley, Quinton and a
gray-haired gentleman whom the
inspector had never seen before, and
who was introduced to him at once
as Mr.. Barnwell the late Sir Rob-
ert's solicitor. Ph:ll!pa pointed In
spector Cortelyou to q seat by her
side.
81 am so much obliged to you for
coming Inspector" she said. be
cause you are SO clever at solving
mysteries, aud another has sprung
up this evening which ! cannot solve.
You see Mr.. Barnwell and Mr. gum
ton came to see ME on business ana II
vas necessary 20 see II there weie any
of my dear fathers papers which had
not been examined. ye.. ] knew o.
nothing except this boN which he al
wsys kept on his dressing table. aad
rot liked to open II. Yoa will under
stand why.
But these gentlemen though: II had
better he orened, SO ! fetched it down
here and opened it. The hrst thing !
tie, Let
see. is addressed 10 me. and was writ
ten only month ago. ! have 81 nldch
respect for you and 30 mach con.idence
in you inspector. that ! will give you
this letter to read Mr.. 3arnwen and
Qulnton have both read it,
Inspector Cor e,you tock the letter
with one of his Old fashioned bows,
and, putting on his gogs,e sp"ctacies'
went over to the hearth to read IT.
And this is what he read:
"My Dearest Love:
For some time, | do not know
why. and it may be mere foolish
fancy on my part. ] have had strong
premonitioh thpt I have not long to
live, and that the end may come sid
denly. Eve ything then. will, of course,
fall into Your hands, and ] have seen
enough of your good qualities to know
that you will faithfully and well and
wisely administer the very great wealth
which will com" to You.
LAS you know that the small de"d
box which ! always keep on my dress
ing table contains my most privni e
papers. I apprehend that in the event
Of my sudden d.ath you will open it
without delay. That is the reason why
] am placing this letter in it. I pray
God for both our sakes that there may
never be reason for you to find 1t. But
the premonition I have spoken of is
there and I must make proper pro-
vision.
What | want to tell yoa is this:
About six months ago I purchased a
collection OF diamonds which were once
the property of famous French queen
never mind which. There is no III
fortune attached to them. My object
in buying them was to give them to my
dear daughter on her twenty first
BIRTHDAY. Now. il is naughty to tell the
price OF a present to the person to
will understand that | must tell you
well. not the price. but the worth OF
these diamonds. as determined by the
best experts. They are worthy thirty
thousand pounds.
Nov. if anything should happen to
me suddenly, dear. wear these dia-
moHds. and remember the pleasure that
It gave your father to buy them for the
dearest d luFhtcr in the world.
THE diamonds are in the drawer
marked "A in my safe in the library.
They are as safe there as they would
be if they had been lodged in a bank
MY Pnllilpa loving
ts FATHER"
Inspector Cortelyou came quietly back
to the tubie and as quietly laid the let
ter by Phillipas side.
Thank you, Miss Mannersley." he
said "Well?''
"Well, inspector" said Phillipa.
''you may. be sure that this letter was a
great surprise to me. Immediately
showed 1t to Mr.. Barnwell and to Mr..
Quinton. and they agreed that the first
thing to be done was to open the safe
In the library.
LAS you and Mr.. Illingworth have
that was possible and we went there
at once. and ] opened the safe with the
key which was found in my father s
private bunch. We opened the drawer
referred to-the one marked "A And
we found it empty
The solicitor and the manager were
watching the detective narrowly. But
Inspector Cortelyou showed no sign
except one of polite interest and 1t was
''Well, Miss Mannersley," he said at
last, 'it Is highly probable that your
father transferred those diamonds else
where. He may have reconsidered mat
ters and sent them to his bank"
"In that case" said Phillipa prompt
ly, II should have learned of the fact
from the bank before now"
Inspector Cortelyou smiled.
TRUE he said. so you would.
your father could have transferred
them"
That" said Mr.. Barnwell ''is pre-
cisely what I said to Miss Mannersley
There are safe deposits, for instance, in