Show SERIAL ERI AliT L sa s1 STORY Z KJ afi a V I 1 MS A I 1 B em s L JACQUES by ay FUTRELLE val v ty ar mi IL O b ky th olwe awa ol wl ads Ua ai milOM 1 a fars IJ by 07 the th bobb I 1 SYNOPSIS count di 31 the th italian ambas ador is at dinner with diplomats when summons him to the th em MT sy where a beautiful young woman vh aki k 6 for or ticket to the th embay embassy bill ball the ticket Is in made out at in the name of miss isabel thorne thorn chief campbell Cani of he secret service rolce and mr grimm hla his head ea tta detective are warned that a plot to brewing in washington and grimm ROM goes to the state itata ball for information ilia hla attention to I 1 called to miss mini isabel thorne who wh with her companion disappear A hot to la heard and senor benor alvarex of the mexican can location legation Is I 1 found wounded grimm orlum in assured mica thorne thome did it he visits her demanding knowledge knowl of the frair affair and ana a arrests pietro W miss dicu thome laitman lai toan old bomb maker and they a wonderful experiment ollile fifty I 1 ty thousand dollar lie in stolen from the office venezuela of senor benor rodriguez the minister from venezuela and while detectives detective are in the robbery miss thorne appears appear no B a eruest K beat of the legation grimm accuses her of the theft and threatens he her r with deportation CHAPTER XI continued dut but it if I 1 ILM am innocent ube she protested you must prove it continued mr grimm mercilessly personally I 1 am convinced and count dl rosini has practically fissured me that its it un juett she ahe interrupted pas paa Flo its it its you have proved nothing itt its unheard theard Vi oil of I 1 its beyond it V suddenly she he became silent A minute two min minutes Viles three minutes mr grimm waited patiently will you give me m time and opportunity to prove my innocence she ahe demanded finally cally fl and if I 1 do con vines you 1 I should bo delighted to believe that I 1 have bavo made a mistake mr artam assured her illow how much time one artay two days 1 I will let you know within an hour it at your office she aha told him mr grimm rose and meanwhile in came cage of accident I 1 ishall ahall look to count dl rosini for ad ment bearded he be added pointedly good taming moraln ft one hour and ten minutes later he be received this note unsigned closed carriage will stop for you at southeast corner ot of pennsylvania avenue and fourteenth street tonight to night at one he ha was there the tha carriage carr laga was on time and my lady of mystery was in ilde aide lie ile stepped in and they swung I 1 but if I 1 am ennocent cent out into pennsylvania avenue bolm noiselessly over the asphalt should the gold be placed in your anda bands b now within the hour she queried solicitously would it be necessary tor for you to know who was the tho the thief it would mr grimm responded without hesitation even it if it destroyed a reputation she be pleaded the secret service rarely destroys a reputation miss thorne although it bolds bold itself in readiness to do so I 1 dare say aay la in this case there would ba oo no arrest or prosecution because of ot of reasons which appear to be good there and there was a note ot of in her voice the identity of the guilty person aou would never appear it would become a matter of record in our office but beyond that I 1 think not at least in this one instance miss bliss thorne thorlo sat silent for a block or more boull admit mr air grimm that you b have ve forced me into a most moat remarkable position you seemed convinced 0 of my guilt and it if pardon me without reason then you made it compulsory upon me to establish my innocence the only way tor for me to douthat floi that was waa to find the guilty one I 1 have dore doce it and im sorry because wit its a little tra tragedy tedy mr grimm waited its As a airi high in diplomatic so doty clety ifer her fathers position Is an honorable rather than a lucrative one no he has to no fortune this girl moves in a n certain set devoted to bridge and stakes are high she played and won and played and won and on and on until her winnings were about eight thousand dollars do llara then luck turned she sha began to lose her money went but she continued to play desperately anally come old family jewels were pawned without her fathers knowledge edge and ultimately they were lost one day ay she ahe awoke to the fact that she 0 wed owed some woo nine or ten thousand dollars in bridge debts they were pressing and there was no way to meet them this meant exposure and utter ruin and women do strange things mr grimm to postpone such ouch an ending to social aspirations I 1 know this much Is true for she related it all to me herself at last in some come way a misplaced letter perhaps or a word overheard she learned that fifty thousand dollars would be in tho the legation bank overnight and evidently she learned the precise night she paused a moment here ll is the address of a man in baltimore thomas Q griswold graswold and she passed a card to mr grimm who sat motionless listening about four years ago the combination on the legation safe was changed this man was sent here to make the change therefore some some one besides senor rodriguez does know the combination I 1 have communicated with this man today for I 1 saw the possibility of lust just such a thing as this instead of your stethoscope by a trick and a forged letter this girl obtained the combination from this man ikaji mr grimm drew a long lone breath sh she e intended to take perhaps only what she desperately needed but at sight of it all do you see what must have been the temptation then we get out here there were many unanswered questions in mr air grimms mind ile he repressed them for the time stepped out and assisted miss thorne to alight the carriage had bad turned out of pennsylvania avenue and at the moment he quite place himself A narrow passageway opened before them evidently the rear entrance to a house possibly in the next street miss thorne led the way unhesitatingly cautiously unlocked the door and together they entered a hall then there was a short abort flight of stairs and they stepped into a room one of a suite she closed the door and turned on the lights the bags of gold are in the next room she said with the utmost composure mr grimm orlum dragged them out of a dark closet opened one there were ten and allowed the coins to dribble through his fingers finally ilbo he turned and stared at miss mis th flatly e who pallid and weary stood loosing too ng on where are we wet he asked what house Is this k I 1 the venezuelan legation she answered we are standing less than forty feet from the safe that was robbed you see how easy and whose room inquired mr air grimm slowly must I 1 answer she asked appealingly you must I 1 senorita rodriguez ray my hostess bo do dont in it you see what youve made me do 16 she and mr cadwallader made the trip to baltimore in his automobile and and 1 she stopped ile H knows nothing of it she added yes I 1 know said mr grimm lie he stood looking at her in silence for a moment staring deeply into the pleading eye sand a certain tense ix expression pres slon about his lips passed for an instant her hand trembled on his arm and he caught the fragrance of her hair where Is she now he asked playing bridge replied miss bliss thorne with a sad little smile it Is always so at least twice a week and she rarely returns before two or halt half past she extended both hands bands impetuously please be generous mr air grimm you have the gold dont destroy her tenor senor rodriguez the minister from venezuela ela found the gold in his safe 0 on n the f following flowing 0 morning with a brief note fro from m mr air grimm in which there was no explanation of how bow or where it had been found and tw two hours later monsieur Bols segur a ambassador in bas from france to the united states disappeared from the embassy CHAPTER XII the vanishing diplomatist it was vas three days after the ambassadors disappearance that monsieur RI grigolet rigolet golet secretary of the french embassy and temporary charge reported the matter to chief campbell in the secret service bureau adding thereto a detailed statement of several singular incidents following close cloae upon it he told it in order concisely and to the point while grimm and his chief listened monsieur Bote segur the ambassador sou understand Is a roan man whose habits are remarkably regular he began ile he has made it a rule to be a at t ills big desk every morning at ten and between that time and one one he dictates his correspondence spon dence lence and clears up tip whatever rou routine tine work there Is before him I 1 have known him for many years and have been secretary of the embassy under him in germany and japan and in this country I 1 havo have never neer known him to vary this general arder ot of work unless because of illness or necessary sary absence well monsieur last tuesday this Is friday the ambassador was at ilia his desk as usual he dictated a dozen I 1 or more letters and had begun another e private letter to bis big sister in parts paris lie he was well along in this letter when without any apparent reason he ruse from hn desk and left I 1 the room rom closing the door bohlae him ills hla stenographers impression was that some detail ot of business had bad occurred to him and he be had bad gone into the general office to attend to it I 1 may say monsieur that this impression seemed strengthened by the fact that he left a fresh cigarette burning in his ash tray anil and his pen was behind his ear it dna all as it if he baat merely stepped out intending to return rob reb immediately t the b a sort of thing monsieur that any mari anad might havo have done it so BO happened that when he be west went out he be left a sentence of his bis letter incomplete I 1 tell you this to show that the impulse to go must have been a sudden one yet there was nothing in hla his manner so hla his stenographer says to indicate excitement or any other than his usual frame of mind it was about five minutes of twelve high noon when he be went out when he return immediately the stenographer began transcribing the letters letterii at one monsieur Dols Bols segur still had not returned and his stenographer teno grapher went to luncheon As he talked some inbred excitement seemed to be growing upon him due perhaps to his bis recital of facts and he paused at last to regain control of himself incidentally he be wondered it mr air grimm was taking the slightest interest in what he was saying certainly there was nothing in hla his impassive fare face to indicate it understand monsieur the secretary continued after a moment that I 1 knew nothing whatever of all this un until ill into that afternoon that Is tuesday afternoon about five i now montleur monsieur thera are only two entrances Entrance i t the embassy I 1 was engaged all day upon some important work in my office and had had bad no dec aalbu tocea osee monsieur bols segur since a word or so when he came in at ten my mir attention was called tb the affair finally by his stenographer monsieur who cams came to me for instructions ile he had finished the letters and the ambassador bas had not returned to sign them at this point I 1 began an all investigation vesti gation monsieur and the further I 1 went the more uneasy I 1 grew now Alon monsieur there are only two entrances to the embassy the front door a servant Is in constant attendance from nine in the morning until ten tea at night and the rear door which can only be reached the kitchen neither of the two men who had been stationed at the front door had seen the ambassador since breakfast therefore he be could not have hava gone out that way Com it seem seemed ed ridiculous monsieur but then I 1 went to the kitchen the chef had been there all day and he had not seen the ambassador at all I 1 inquired further no one in the embassy not a clerk nor a servant nor a member of the ambassadors family faintly had seen him since he be left his bis office again he be paused and ran one hand band across lila bis troubled brow TO BE CONTINUED |