Gunnison news-champion. [volume] (Gunnison, Colo.) 1905-1932, 1923-06-08
True
Detective Stories
THE DEVONSHIRE
DIAMONDS


uart and stepped out Of her
bout To secure hes sisters opinion
upou the sGec; ~ her latest Partisan
crearra Il Is quite possible that In
spectur John Sweeney Of Scotland
Yard 81 hid not have had the oppor-
tunI,y ~ proving his detective genius
10 4 rr-u..arIy striking manner.
LAY Alberta was absent from her
room frT less than ten minutes: but
durH= that time occurred an event
Whigh lgr several hours, threatened
10 disrupt several Of the highest social
circle 10 England
Il aas the night q the Devon ball.
held n the big old.fashloned house In
the o,.ugrr q the Devon estate. As
was ...F 70 be expected. the list Of
gus=f- Rad Ike section from Burke's
Pee ga fact which made Inspector
Svcr.rg- work distinctly more din
cult 81 hen the loss q the famous neck
lace ~ usyunshire was reported TO
Scotland Yard
Earg In the evening Lady Alberta
had ..-rl.-sei her maid with the state
msu' 'uat she would complete her toll
le,ir aars"iG but, jus, as she was about
10 I-' on her uecEIace-au heirloom
which Lai greatly increased In value
be'au-s. ~ It's historic Connection
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 ss,cr's room a few minutes Inter
she ry4ched FOR the necklace. only TO
d.sna,r- that 1t had vanished
I-iiye that she had had It In her
hand, less than ten minutes before. she
searched the room and then summoned
her husband. whom she told of the
my strrious loss.
There Is only one thing TO do" de-
clu-.I his iordship, after verifying his
vii statement that the jewels were
mis-us, and that is TO notify the po-
liCr.
lr.pector Sweeney reached the Devon
h"u-, shortly after midnight. while the
baL was stlll In progress. and secured
the meaEer details Of the case directly
from her ladyshIp.
Did you notice any one in the hail
as you passed through on the way to
your sisters room Sweeney asked.
No one at all"
How long has your maid been with
your
Less than two months-but she
came well recommended"
Finally, In 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, rs the ball formed
part OF weeks festivities. II was pos
sible to arrange this without mention
Ing the reason for the request to the
guests. Armed with list OF those
present. with their servants. Sweeney
then repaired TO Lady Deyon'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 II the opportunity
had presented itself.
The question Is" unused Sweeney.
who could have known that Lady
Devon would have been cut of the
room for just those few momentsf She
wasn't summoned by any message and
II would therefore appear that some
one was hiding In the hope that an OPP
portunity would present Itself. That
would seem to eliminate the guests
but not the servants"
Working along this line, Sweeney
made careful examination Of the
toilet articles on the dressing table
After a 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 Ike TO speak to her for mo-
ment.
Your ladyship," he said. will 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
merely wish to discover
which fingerprints are yours
Then. moment later. Thank you
l thought as much"
Now" he continued. 81 want you to
Instruct your butler-whom l under
stand has been with you for number
of years--to secure the prints Of all
the servants under your roof. Tell him
to make any excuse for 1t that he
wants to, but must secure a complete
collection. Kindly have them sent to
my room the first thing In the morning.
Meanwhile, don't worry. II my In
structions are rigidly carried out, your
necklace should be discovered before
nine o'clock"
But Sweeney underestimated by
some two hours. 1t was eleven O'Clock
on the following morning before he re
ceived the complete set Of finger