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Show Miction FLASH OF BRILLIANCE - Corner "No. The real ones. Captain Cap-tain Talbert, I'm going to take yon into my confidence. The story I told about the necklace being imitation was false. I've never worn false Jewelry and I never shall. I merely told that story so that the thief would think his loot valueless." CAPTAIN TALBERT'S face lighted. "And then you spoke about apprehending the- criminal by searching for the imitations so that the thief would return " "Exactly. The imitations weren't worth keeping, and in order to dispel dis-pel the possibility of having them found in his possession he decided to return them. In doing so he unintentionally un-intentionally returned the originals and spared me the unpleasantness unpleasant-ness of facing my husband alone." ' Captain Talbert n.:: derstandlngly. Be ti 1 the word "alone" mesc regarded Mrs. Holb:o:i frank admiration. "M: brook, allow me to : lata yon, and pleiu stand that yon will S' fullest co-operation. ! reasonable length of t announce that w I-7-unsuccessful in oar s A moment later C2:"-went C2:"-went out. Left alone, i::;. sat down before her mi::, been a strain. A great c sighed wearily. It warn-- I to feel that once more ( I return to the role of the t f ble spouse that her busbar: j -stood and expected. f , 1 CONSIDERING the fact that the necklace was valued at $50,000 and it was not insured, Mrs. Hol-brook Hol-brook should have been upset. The fact that she wasn't astonished even her husband, for her husband knew her for I I a n emotional, 3 -Minute excitable per-, per-, "rt'on s?But, good lord, Bess! You might at least act concerned. I paid 50 grand for that rope. Maybe you think I'm made of money." "That," said Mrs. Holbrook, "is the point." "Point? What point?" Mr. Holbrook Hol-brook was becoming irritated. "I mean," said Bess, "that I'm not the empty-headed, irresponsible ir-responsible person you think me. The diamond necklace wasn't stolen. I left it back in New York in a safety deposit box." "You what?" "The jewels that were stolen were imitations. I wouldn't dream of wearing the originals without having hav-ing them insured." Mr. Holbrook' s mouth fell open. "So you see," said Bess. It isn't as bad as it seems." Rita Fenway, one of the guests, suddenly said: "But it doesn't alter the fact that there's a thief aboard. And that means we're all in danger of being robbed. And the cruise won't be over for another week." "Of course," Mrs. Holbrook said. "And nothing could be more satisfactory. satis-factory. My dears, consider that we are to be on the high seas for a week. The criminal, whoever he is, will have to remain with us during dur-ing that length of time. A week, my dears, will give our clever and efficient captain ample opportunity to apprehend the thief." An hour after Mrs. Holbrook had demonstrated her hidden genius she excused herself from a group in the main lounge and unobtrusively un-obtrusively descended to her cabin. After a moment she rang for the captain. "Captain Talbert, my husband has undoubtedly told you about the theft and instructed you to apprehend appre-hend the thief." "Yes, ma'm. I have two of the crew making a search now." "Instruct them to desist. It will not be necessary." "But, Mrs. Holbrook, your husband hus-band said " "Never mind what my husband said. The necklace has been returned." re-turned." She nodded toward a box on her dressing table. "Returned? The imitations, you mean?" |