Evening star., 1925-07-26

4 been taking INTO the lele'
4 4 phone-in his room, high
above the roar of PiccadillS
Circus, he was answering a call from
Paris-and looked at his watch.
"C'est maintenant cinq heures Ell
demie" he resumed. "Bon-Je seral
chez vous a neuf heures ee soir. Mais
oui-ce soir meme. \ tantolt, alors.
He turned to me with his kindly
smile "A little trip to Paris, Mr.
Creighton. a client, NJ. Dieulafoy OF
the Rue de la PaiX-one of the most
trouble" He pressed the bell. Miss
Satterthwaite appeared.
"Ah. Veronica-will you phone II
Croydon to have the Number Two or
Number Three ready in half an hour
And tell Paris to have car waiting
at LIE Bourget from s pm. onward.
1t was els when one of the Q. Q
Agency's own machines took of
from Croydon. 1t was still light
when we banked for the descent to
the landing ground at LIE Bourget. AS
our car sped into the Rue de Ia PaiX
my watch marked 9 o'clock. The
Q. Q. Agency was nothing If not pre-
else
A minute later. in the private room
behind that famous shop, NJ. Dieula-
foy himself greeted us.
IN. Quayne, five-four hours ago
who knows?-my safe held the crown
diamonds of-ah"' He threw up his
hands. 1T matters not which coun-
try-that is n secret 1 must not re-
veal-not even to you, NJ. Quayne.
They were intrusted to me for par
ticular purpose" He dropped his
voice to a Mortified whisper. And
now, NJ. Quayne-they are not there!
When did you discover this losS!
AT a few minutes past 8. Some
thing whispered to me to make sure
the crown diamonds were still in the
safe. l went to the strong-room,
opened the safe, and the diamonds
were no longer there. M. Quayne, |
must recover those diamonds, what
ever it COSTS
You discovered the absence Of the
diamonds a little after 5? Your en-
ployes were here at that hour?"
Yes. But they are beyond sus-
picion Nevertheless, to make sure, l
searched them myself. l found
nothing. 1 sent them away and
searched the premises. Then 1 tele-
phoned to you. NJ. Quayne-between
o'clock and o'clock, those dia-
monds were spirited out of that safe
to which 1 alone hold the inner key.
How do you know they were there
at 4 o'clock?"
'I saw them. NJ. Monnier, my
chief assistant, had a package which
he desired to lock up. He asked me
to accompany him to the safe. l
unlocked it myself. l remember
looking to see that the diamonds were
there They were il i small black
case. NJ. MonriC" Ut in his package
some jewei 1elonging to a Gus
tomer-and locked the safe. NJ.
Monnier turned with me to the
shop He .:as still there when l dis
Co eel the loss"
Z: searched him?"
Quayne, 1 searched every one,
including myself! Those diamonds are
more to me than life; they represent
my professional honorr'
WE followed NJ. Dieulafoy into the
w vaults and stopped in front of
the steel door of a safe.
The jeweler turned the knob Of the
combination, swung open the outer
doors, inserted a key and opened the
inner door. Ranged on shelves were
piles of jewelers. cases.
THE diamonds were here" said NJ.
Dieulafoy, pointing TO one of the
shelves.
@ Q, nodded.
And NJ. Monnier stood at your
side?"
Yes" replied NJ Dieulafoy. "he
stood here" He indicated the side of
himself. The chief stepped to that
position.
And now will you close the safe?"
NJ Dieulafoy complied, but before
the inner door had swung back, there
was a clash on the floor. Mr.. Quayne
had dropped a bunch of keys with
which he had been fidgeting. The two
men bent to pick them up. 1t was
Mr.. Quayne who retrieved them. NJ.
Dieulafoy turned again to the safe,
pushed the door home, turned the key.
Q. @. smiled.
And now will you open the safe
again and see if anything is missing,
NJ Dieulafoy?" he said.
NJ. Dieulafoy unlocked the door,
swung it back, peered within.
The pearls of the Countesse de
Saint Menin"' he gasped. Il could
have sworn I saw them there mo-
ment ago."
Mr.. Quayne held out a small red
case.
rs this it, NJ. Dieulafoy?"
The jeweler sprang the lid open, his
face a study in stupefied astonishment.
M. Dieulafoy," said Mr.. Quayne, Il
have shown you how your diamonds
vanished. l wager that as you were
closing that door this afternoon, M.
Monnier momentarily distracted your
attention.
M Monnier?" gasped the little jew
eler. "YeS-I remember now-he
dropped his keys, as you did-we both
bent to pick them up. But-but-M
Quayne. I cannot believe that! NJ
Monnier is my chief assistant. He
has been with me twenty years-there
has never been the slightest irregu
larity-'
Nevertheless" said Mr.. Quayne,
he has robbed you
The ieweler protested his incre-
dulity of NJ Monnier's guilt. Certainly,
he knew the diamonds were there
but-a man of such integrity. And
besides, what had he done with them
Although not in the least suSpectins
his chief assistant, the jeweler had
searched NJ. Monnier as he had
searched every one else.
The chief had dropped into a chair.
Hin" he grunted. But before
you suspected anything, he could have
carried it up from the strong room
under his coat. Can you answer for
NJ. Monnier's movements after you
came from the safe?"
Yes. We were in the shop until |
went to the safe and discovered my
loss
And did NJ. Monnier communicate
with any one outside his business-or
serve any customer, for example,"
Yes. Just after we came from the
safe he telephoned to a client that an
article was waiting for him.
And did the client call?'
Yes. At twenty past four. NJ.
Monnier attended to him. The Gus
toner took away his parcel-it was a
Louis V silver inkstand, left for re-
pair
He left his name. of course?"
Iin11la fnN- fllrrad IN an entry in