Show True Detective Story 0 by Vance Wynn Wynne e 0 Public Ledger Mystery of the Old Carpet Bag BagONE ONE hundred thousand dollars in gold packed In Iron buses boxes and these In turn placed In a safe with a Chubb lock was stolen during durIn during dur dur- In ing the trip from Crom Folkestone to Bou Bou- logne That Is to say the gold was In tn Inthe inthe the safe sare when It left the ollice of or orthe the e express press company and It was not there when It reached Its des des- To 10 add to the mystification there were only three keys kejs to the safe and the whereabouts of ot each one was know known n. n The traffic superintendent In London London Lon Lon- don had one the thc head bend of or the Folkestone Folkestone Folke Folke- stone railway had another and the captain of or the Folkestone-Boulogne Folkestone boat had the third The outside of ot the safe sare gave some evidence of ot having been tampered with but the Iron tron boxes Instead of ot holding gold dust were filled with small shot When had the gold b been en stolen Where had the change been made from Crom the gold to the shot Who could have been guilty of ot this audacious robbery These were the thc three questions which h troubled the police of ot two countries It was annoying Irritating and andall andall all of or the tho other things In tn the cal cal- The boats running between the two ports were carefully searched The waiting rooms at both ends of the line were subjected to a keen scrutiny and altogether the detectives detectives detec detec- tives used up all the tricks of the trade In trying to find the clue to this astonishing theft Finally they found an article that cast a ray of light on the case It was In the form of an ol old carpet carpet carpet car car- pet bil bag which was located d In tn the station at Folkestone The ownership of the bil bag was traced to toa a man named Peter Agar That In Itself meant nothing The great bl big fact was that the photograph of Peter Agar occupied a a place of honor In the Rogues gallery gallery gallery gal gal- lery at Scotland Yard Numerous copies of this photograph photograph photo photo- graph raph were made and were shown to conductors sailors storekeepers and others an and as a result of this It was pretty well proved pro that Peter PeterA A Agar had been seen loitering In the vicinity of ot the Folkestone- Folkestone Boulogne ne boat on the day the money p ared hut But If Ir he were guilty of ot the theft how now could he be have gotten the money I from the locked safe In the thc meantime the police started started start start- ed to look for Peter It might have taken them a long while to locate him If Peter had not been bee conveniently arrested for tor forgIng forging forging forg forg- ing checks s The detectives visited him In Jail and asked him to tell teU what he knew of or the robbery of or the safe with the gold fold oid dust Fie Re was quite Ignorant of this and anu Intimated that he hc considered It highly unprofessional to ask a man manIt manit It If he Is ts a safe robber when b he be Is already serving serring time as a check for forger er In other words he declined to give the authorities any Information One morning a woman named Mrs Sirs Kay called at Scotland Yard and without any preliminaries told the amazed officials that the gold dust robbery robber had been committed by Agar John Pierce nand Charles Tester Tester rester was employed In Inthe Inthe inthe the traffic department at London bridge They asked her what motIve e she had In squealing She answered In one word Revenge I 1 It seems when Agar went to Jail on the forgery charges he hc left with Pierce fierce to support Mrs who his dear friend Kay Kny was ear Pierce sent her money once or twice and then ceased payment al al- al together It was evident that ho he Intended to cheat client her She Sho was furious CurIous and a a furious woman Is dangerous nerous The state of affairs was explained ex ex- ex- ex to Agar and he lie told the whole story Agar and Pierce had conceived ed the scheme of ot robbing the safe but butIn butIn butin In or order er to do so It was necessary ry to get set the n a of some one connected with the railway They t tonii tolt ok Tester Into partnership partnership partnership partner- partner ship and lh the first firt move came when Pierce visits visited the Folkestone office with a handful of oC wax and secured an Impression of ot the key of or the safe After that It was simply a matter of arranging the tho details They Thy arranged ed to meet the messenger messenger mes mes- sell cr with the safe at a certain point In the journey A Agar ar carried the hc old carpet bag IHl tilled Oiled d with shot and this was quickly substituted for the gold old du dust t. t The loot was divided dl Into three equal parts and Ind the mystery might never ne ha have hac c been solved If It It had not Dot been for or the oln carpet bag baS Service |