The Wilmington morning star., 1940-08-05

uS "oO 0AAV ~AS O
been in Its case only yesterday, and
Mrs. Holmquist, Gayle's maid, who
was also a detective, likewise de-
rlared she had seen it there.
There were two canoes in pend
ants" Graham enumerated, IAN
English snuff box with a heraldic
crest on it in jewels, miss. And a
set Of IL sterling teaspoons with
some inlay Of gold, a gift to Mrs.
Mortified many years before her
death; from a wealthy friend IN
South Africa. Mr.. and Mrs. Merrl-
field had Travelled there on some
mining interests, I recall. Tn
spoons have never been used"
Gayle nodded in understanding.
'"They we're quite valuable, OF
course?"
'Oh, yes, mass. 7 doubt If they
have ever been appraised at mar
ket value, but the rarity of all the
pieces, in addition to the metal
and the stones-it must u up a
few thousands, miss!"
ut will be hard to dispose OF
quickly" Bill Bailey put in, and
Mrs. Holmquist nodded at once.
That's our best hope she said.
1.-THE bracelet could have been sold
at once, but this old stuff can't.
However, the thief is a smart one,
let me tell you! I haven't been
asleep, but it has happened again
right under my nose. You can be
sure we'll put plenty of pressure
on now"
.'Please don't disturb MI. Mer-
rifield, is all 1 ask" Gayle begged.
And all of them-Bill Graham, Mrs.
Holmquist, and this time Jeremy,
agreed to that.
Jeremy was acutely distressed in
his own right, now.
Until Bill had told him about it
yesterday, Jeremy had known moth
ing of the theft at his coming
out" party several nights ago. Bill
and Gayle had not told him when
the theft occurred; but because
they had since drifted into intimacy
with the wealthy young man and
had found a genuine respect for
him, they had told him everything,
Now here today's news brought
it all back to them. The excited
conference today occurred in hush
ed tones in the music room, with
the new machine still playing its
records and changing them unno-
ticed even as the three youths
walked outside. They had had to
tell Mrs. Holmquist, maid and de-
tective, that Lola had "disap-
peared." The woman made no COM
ment; she just listened. But it
seemed plain to the three young
people that Lola had put ove a
fast one on Bill-acted her inno-
cence well and then skipped out
with whatever valuables she could
gather in a hurry. The three talked
of this as they left the music room.
II cannot believe it," Jeremy de-
clared. mot Lola! Not Lola!"
Gayle nodded, soberly. Il know
how you feel"
$50 do T." agreed Bill. "But facts
are facts"
yesterday when I saw Lola
crying, you told me you were
wrong about %suspecting her, Bill!
You-you said yourself that you
had made a mistake: That Lola
was a wonderful grill"
For a long moment Bill did not
answer. Then he spoke as if in
shame. II know. But when I think
calmly-there's the diary, and Lola
was hard up for money, probably,
and now here's the fact of the new
theft plus the fact that Lola is
gone. She could have been putting
on a grand act with me and Gayle
yesterday, crying and all that"
Jeremy shook his head. II don't
believe it."
II don't either, Jeremy" said
Gayle. Somehow I just don't. But
I understand what Bill means"
II didn't say I believed it," Bill
defended himself. II just listed the
possibilities, concerning her. I don't
want to believe it, matter of fact,
but she's gone and common sense
seems to tell, me that We'll never
see here again. Unless the police
can do more than they've done so
far"
DIT A TANAN H0T1DN DI