Evening star., 1929-06-30
By
E. PHILLIPS
| OPPENHEIM
Y Copyright, 1879, By North Amer
lean Newspaper Alliance and
Metropolitan Newspaper eerv-
ice. a

| found his body in the Thames. That
was the work of Josephs gang, without
doubt, but they we're never able to
bring scrap of evidence against him
1 can not understand why Joseph did
not make an end of you last night.
imagined he spared you, because II
wasn't quite a safe environment for him
I can think of no other reason.
have not one iota of belief in that
gesture of chivalry. I am not man
of violence, Mai. Owston, but I warn
you that you must never be without
your revolver or automatic pistol, which
ever of the two 1t is that you carry. You
must never be misled by anonymous
letters or messages inviting you to
strange rendezvous. Your business
such as it is. will center round the West
End. Keep to the West End"
"All right" I conceded. Now. is
there anything definite I can start on?
want to work"
quite natural" he agreed. "It is
my business to give you all the assist
ance I can. In the first place, you will
begin to receive invitations for various
functions. Accept them all, and watch. "
Watch for what, particularly"
I'VE know for certainty" the law
yer explained, that Joseph goes to
many of the best houses in London, and
that 1t is from the information he has
cleaned as a guest that some of his
most daring burglarieS have been plan
ned. From what I can gather, 1t is
seldom that he goes near the East End
nowadays. There are score of police
around that particular district, not far
from the heart of the city, where they
think his headquarters are, and they
ara a1c0 trhinO hfS T1lara IN Shore.
ditch, where it is reported that he has
been seen, but my belief is that he
hasn't been near any of these haunts
for months, that he has spent his time
in the West End, and that, when he
moves eastward again, it will be for a
very brief visit and to an unknown
rendezvous
You have spies of your own about,
them"
Certainly" he admitted.
ANY more hints for me?" I asked.
Mr.. Yardsley produced a paper.
Besides the invitations am arrang-
ing" he said, there are several restau-
rants and night clubs where Joseph is
reported to have been seen-the Milan
Restaurant, for instance, and the Blue
Skies Club. There are others, but these
are the most likely. Lunch or dine at
the Milan whenever you have the op-
portunity, and visit the Blue Skies Club
as soon as you have an evening to
spare"
With that, Mr.. Yardsley picked UP
his hat and bade me good morning.
He had left card upon the table.
You will find my address and tele-
phone number there" he said, "but
don't communicate with me personally;
in other words, do not come near my Of
flee"
I presented myself at Christie's at the
appointed time, and was attracted by
the appearance of a singular looking
man seated in a chair just underneath
the auctioneers rostrum. was not sur
prised when someone addressed him as
Mr.. Isaacs.
The sale was dull, at first About half
an hour after proceedings we're opened,
however, there was stir in the room.
The auctioneer leaned forward
we come now," he announced, ito
the Martellion miniatures ladies and
gentlemen. My instructions are to offer
them first en- bloc, and. If / fail to get a
satisfactory price for them, to ask you
to bid for them singly. I would Sug-
gest an initial bid of 1000 guineas for
the seven miniatures"
I glanced about, trying to guess who
the bidders might be at such a price.
Before looked back at the auctioneer.
the bidding had reached 1000.
watched Isaacs closely, and, for the first
time, saw a faint nod. He went on
until the price stood at 10000 guineas.
The auctioneer raised his hammer
THE bid Is 10000 guineas with you,
Mr.. ISaacs! Going then at 10000
guineas. Going"
"Tventy-von," came a voice from
somewhere in my vicinity.
The man who had suddenly entered
the arena seemed the least likely per-
son in the world to have bid 81 900
guineas for a collection of miniatures
I should have imagined him to have