Show bip br w i i SERIAL S mae A L STORY 4 AV bw W by JACQUE FUTRELLE bv N HE NER C copyright ll 11 1908 1909 by the aa sunday bla copyright P Y lw athe by the dobb bobbit merrill company 8 SYNOPSIS 1 cou count nt dl rosini the italian ambassador Is at dinner with diplomats in the national capital when a messenger brings a note directing g him to come to the embassy at once here a beautiful young woman asks that she be given ft a ticket to tho the embassy ball the ticket Is made out in the name of miss isabel thorne chief campbell of the secret service and sir mr grimm his head detective arp are I 1 warned that a plot of the latin races against tho the english speaking races Is brewing in washington and grimm goes to the state ball for information in a conservatory his attention Is called callea to miss isabel thorpe thorne who with her companion soon disappears A revolver shot Is is heard and campbell Camp boll and grimm hasten down the ibe t hall to find that alvarez of u tho the mexican legation has been shot A woman did it and grimm is assured it was miss thorne ile he I le visits herb her demanding knowledge of the affair and thero there arrests a man named pietro Petro miss visits an old man luigi apparently a bomb malc matter 1 er asid and they speak of a won wonderful darful experiment t fifty thousand dollars in gold lo Is stolen from the office of senor rodriguez oz the minister from venezuela while defectives tire are investigating tho robbery miss thorne appears as a vest guest of the legation CHAPTER X A saad s 0 together t they ey entered the adjoining ro room M which 1 was sma small 11 compared to the one they had just fust left senor rodriguez used it as a private office his desk was on their right between two windows overlook overlooking ink the same pleasant little garden which wa was s visible from the suite of tiny drawing rooms farther along the saie safe a formidable looking receptacle of black enameled steel stood at their left closed and locked the remaining wall space of the room was given over to oak cabinets evidently a storage place for the less important legation I 1 papers has any one besides yourself been in this room today mr grimm brimm inquired I 1 not a soul senor was the reply mr grimm went over and examined the windows they were both locked inside and there were no marks ot of any sort anthe on the sills they are just as I 1 left them last night explained senor rodriguez 1 I have not touched them today and theres only one door mused mr air grimm meaning that by which they had entered so it it would appear that whoever washer was here e last night entered through that room very well lie he walked around the once opening and shutting the doors of the cabinets as he passed and finally paused in front of the safe what are the first and second figures figure of the combination he asked thirty six then back to ten mr grimm set the diali dialot at thirty six and then with his ear pressed closely against the polished door turned the dial slowly back senor rodriguez stood looking on helplessly but none the less intently the pointer read ten then nine eight seven dooen civo mr grimm gazed at it thoughtfully after which he did it ali all ove ragain placidly and without haste now ve benl look inside please pie lie Te requested quested rising I 1 senor genor IV im unlocked locked fh the tabs safe the ta while mr grimm r respectful respect fu ly y turned his eyes away then pulled t ie 18 door wide open the books sn ailef pi ledone oceon on top of another und thru ahr st t into various pigeon holes at ai the f p mr grimm understood that adl adis i fp f r der was vas the result of making room P it the bottom tor for the bulk if af gold W EU d asked no Oest questions ions In instead h hei e fl it t down upon the floor floo raga again in 7 the lock on this private cox i apartment part ment at the toi iop la Is broken bouen I 1 bayre marked after a moment A sl sen senor or the diplomatist agia a evidently the robbers were not content with only fifty thousand donors in gold they imagined that something e else of value was hidden there 0 was as therea thera asked mr mi grimm naively he look around nothing of monetary value ih the e senor explained there were some important state papers in there they are there yet but ho money none of the papers was stolen no senor there were only aljo nine packets they are there yet contents a all 11 tight ight yes I 1 personally looked th them ai m over mr grimm drew out the packets of papers one by one they were U unsealed save the last when ii he e I 1 reached va ched for that senor ben or rodriguez made a quick involuntary motion toward it with his hand this ones sealed commented mr grimm it happen that yoli you opened it and sealed it if again senor rodriguez stood staring at tl him blankly appa cpr a moment then so mo sudden apprehension was aro aroused tor a startled look came into lils his deyeo and again he reached forthe for the packet dios mio he exclaimed let t me I 1 I 1 I 1 see senor I 1 I 1 going to open it asked mr grimm yes senor I 1 had not thought of it before I 1 senor rodriguez opened itt it with nervous fingers mr mcgrimm grimm had turned toward the safe again but he heard the crackle of parchment as some document was drayn dran out 6 of the envelope and then camo camba a deep sigh of relief having satisfied his sudden fears for the safety of dt the paper whatever it was tze lo 10 senor placed edif it jn in an other envelope and sealed it again with elaborate care wi mr grimm dropped into inlo the swivel chair at tho the desk 4 benor he inquired pleasantly your daughter andmios and miss thorne were in this room yesterday afternoon ji yes replied the diploma as I 1 if ai surprised at the question what time please I 1 1 about three they were going out driving why and just where please di did d you find that handkerchief continued mr grimm handkerchief repeated the diplomatist lo matist you mean miss handkerchief he paused and regarded mr grimm keenly senor what am I 1 to under understand siano from t that hat question 1 it was plain enough replied ari mr grimm where did you find and that handkerchief vf there was silence fo for i an instant in this room ro pm yes replied ro rodriguez M last near the safo safe mr grimm p persisted F I 1 1 yes came the slows slow reply aga n just here 0 and he be in indicated dilated a s snot ot a little to the left of the safe and when did you find it yest yesterday r afternoon last night this moping mo n j this morning and without any ny apparent reason tho the diplomatists diplomatist sf face ce turned d deathly white but senor senor yau you are mistaken there can be nothing A domant woman two hundred pounds of gold senor mr grimm was still pleasant about abort I 1 it his curiosity was absolutely impersonal his eyes grown listless again were turned straight into the others face if that handkerchief had bad been there last night senor he be resu resumed nied 4 qu quietly itly e you havo have noticed it when you placed tho the gold tn in the safet safe senor rodriguez Rodrigue 4 stared at him a long iong time J dont know ho be said at last ho he dropped bade back into a chair with wilh his face in his bis hands senor he b burst out suddenly impetuously after a moment liento if the gold is not recovered I 1 ani am ruined you understand that hetter than I 1 can tell you its the kind of thing that could not bo be explained to my government he rose suddenly and nd faced the impassive young nia man with merciless determination determination in his face you must find that gold senor IMO r he be said ano no matter who may be who may suffer inquired mr grimm find the gold fenorl very well commented comment idd mr grimm without moving do me the favor please to regain possession of the handkerchief you just returned to miss thorne and to send to me here your secretary senor diaz andybur and your servants one by one I 1 shall question them alone no dont be alarmed unless they know of the robbery they shall get no inkling of it from me first be good enough to replace the packet in th the esafe safe and lockel loc lock kIL it senor rodriguez replaced the packet without question afterward locking the door then went out A moment later sl senor enor diaz appeared he remained with mr grimm forus fc eight i minutes senor rodriguez entered again as his secretary passed on and laid a lace handkerchief on tho the desk desil mr air grimm stared at it curiously for a long time its the same handkerchief si senor Th theres bres no doubt whatever about it no t senor I 1 got it by its ot of no consequence interrupt interrupted mr grimm now tho servants please the dpn me n first the first of the men servants was in the room two minutes the second the butler w was gs there five ni minutes F one of the women wo dpn was not questioned at au all the other remained ten minutes mr grimm followed her into therall the hall senor rodriguez rodrigue stood there helpless impatient well he demanded eagerly im g goias out a little while replied mr grimm placidly no one has even an intimation of the affair please kepp keep the matter absolutely to yourself until I 1 return that was all the door opened and closed and he was gone at tho thi end of an hour ho he returned passed on through to the diplomatists i private office sat down in front of the locked safe again and set the dial at thirty six senor rodriguez looked on astonished as mr grimm pressed the soft rubber sounder of a stethoscope against the safe door and began turning the dial back toward ten slowly slowly thirty five minutes later the lock clicked mr grimm rose turned the handle and pulled the safe door open chats kh ats how it was done he ex to the amazed diplomatist an and now please fiade have a servant hand my card to miss thorne I 1 Ci CHAPTER APTER ale XI the lace handkerchief still wearing the graceful filmy morning gown with an added touch of scarlet in her hair a single red rose miss thorne came into the drawing room where mr air grimm sat waiting 1 ia I believe lie ho said slowly without preliminaries this Is your handkerchief he offered the lacy trifle odd in do de sign unique in workmanship ob obviously I 1 y of foreign texture and she accepted it it yes she agreed readily 1 I must have dropped it again that Is the one handed to you by senor rodriguez mr grimm told her 1 I think you said you lost it in his officio emco yesterday aftem afternoon oon yes ayes she nodded inquiringly it may interest you to know th tha senor butler positively 1 identifies it as one he restored to you twice tit at dinner last evening between betTye eo seven and nine mr grimm went on dispassionately indeed exclaimed e d miss tho thorae 66 the senor identifies it as ono one ho found this morning in his office ce mr grimm explained explain ed obligingly during the night fifty thousand dollars ID IB gold were stolen tolen from his safe miss thorne sat motionless waiting bh all this means what she inquired at length ill trouble you please to return the money requested mr air grimm griffim courteously no reason appears why you should have taken it but im not seeking reasons nor barn am 1 11 aeb seeking disagreeable public publicity ity only the money it seems to me you attach undue importance to the handkerchief sho objected a matter of opinion mr grimm remarked it would be useless ase even tedious to attempt to disprove a burglar theory but against it is the difficulty of entrance the weight of the th egold gold the ingenious method of opening the safe and the assumption that not more than six persons knew the money was in the safe while it a person in the house might have learned it in any of a dozen ways and in addition Is the fact A the lock oh on th this is private CoRi part ment at tho the top Is broken that the handkerchief Is odd therefore noticeable A lace expert assures me theres probably not another like it in the world he stopped miss Thor nos e eyes y eaf sparkled and a smile seemed to be tugging at the corners of her mouth she spread out the handkerchief oh ob her knees P t 4 you could identify this again oi course she queried yes she thoughtfully crumpled up tip OR th bit of lano lace in both hands then opened thein t there were two handkerchief now they were identical which Is it please she asked if mr grimm was disappointed there was not a trace of it on his face she laughed outright gleefully angly then demurely pardon me you sm see its absure absurd the handkerchief the butler ref restored to me at dinner after I 1 lost one in the senors office might have been eithel of these or one of ten other duplicates in my mk room all given to me by her maj I 1 mean she corrected quickly by a friend in europe she was silent for a moment Is that all no replied mi grimm gravely decisively im not satisfied datis fied I 1 shall insist upon the of the money and if it Is not forthcoming I 1 dare say count di rosini the italian dor would be pleased to glye his per pep bonal check rather than have the mat ter ier become public she started ic interrupt but lie he went on in aw an event you will be requested to lean the country TOBE TO BE CONTINUED |