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Show It II. The Mint Mystery "Mr. Drummond! Wire for Mr. h Drummond! Mr. Drummond, please!" It was the monotonous, oft-repcated call o' a Western Union boy according accord-ing to my friond Bill Qulnn, formerly of the United States Secret Service that really was responsible for solving tho mystery which surrounded the disappearance dis-appearance of $130,000 in gold from the Philadelphia Mint. "The boy himself didn't have a thing-to thing-to do with the gold or the finding of It," admitted Qulnn, "but hi3 persistence persist-ence was responsible for locating Drummond, of the' Secret Service, Just as ho was about to start on a well-earned well-earned acatIon In tho Maine woods. LTncIc Sam's sleuths don't get any too much time off. you know, and a month or so In a part of the world where they don't know anything about International Interna-tional intrigues and don't care about counterfeiting Is a blessing not to be desp'sed. That's the reason the boy had to be persistent when ho was paging Drummond Drum-mond The operative had a "hunch -that it'1 rvac a summon? to .mother case nnrl hp I was dog tired. But the boy kept singing sing-ing out the name through the train and finally landed his man, thus being Indirectly responsible for the solution of a mystery that might have remained unsolved for weeks and Incidentally saved tho Government nearly every ; cent of the 5130,000." ' When Drummond opened the tele gram (continued Quinn) he found that It was a summons to Philadelphia, 6lgned by Hamlin, Assistant Secretary 1 of tho Treasury. "Preston needs you at onoc. Ex-; Ex-; tremely important," read the wire . and, as Drummond was fully aware , that Preoton was Director of the j United States Mint. It didn't take much deduction to figure that something some-thing had gone wrong in the big build-ng build-ng on Spring Garden Street where a : large part of the country's- money Is. coined. But even the luro of tho chase something you read a lot about in detective stories, but rind too seldom X In the real hard work of tracing crim-I crim-I lnals did not offset Drummond's dls-; dls-; ' appointment in having to defer his va- B. cation. Grumbling, he gathered his bags and cut across New York to tho Pennsylvania Station, .where he was fortunato enough to bo able to mako a train on the point of leaving for U Philadelphia, ' At the Mint ho found Director Pres- ton and Superintendent Bosbyshell ' awaiting him. f "Mr. Hamlin wired that ho had in- ' structed you to como up at once," said the Director. "But wo had hardly ; hoped that you could make It so soon." Tho MiE3lng Gold. "Wlro reached me on board a train that would havo pulled out of Grand Central Station in another three mln- utes," growled Drummond. "I was on It, my way to Maine to forget all about work for a month. But," and his faco broke into a smile, "since they did find me, what's tho trouble ?' "Troublo enough,'' replied the Director. Di-rector. "Some $130,000 In gold is i missing from tho Mint!" "What!" Even Drummond was Bhaken out of his professional calm, : not to mention his grouch. Robbery I of the United States Treasury or ono of tho Government Mints was a favor-; favor-; ite dream with criminals, but save i for tho memorable occasion when a tranrr -iva found trvinir to tunnel un- der Fifteenth Street In Washington '; there had been no time when the j scheme was more than visionary. j "Arc you certain? Isn't thero any chance for a mistake?" i Tho questions" were porfuaoiry, rather than hopeful. "Unfortunately, not the least," con- llnued. Preston. "Somebody has mado away with 5130,000 worth of the Gov- : ernment's money. Seven hundred pounds of gold la missing and there Isn't a trace to show how or whero It won't. The vault doors haven't been tampered with. Tho combination of ' the grille inside the vault Is In intact. W Everything, apparently, Is as It should j dc but fifty bars of gold are miss ing." " "And each bar," mused Drummond. 'weighs " ' "Fourteen pounds." cut In tho Su- perlatendunt Drummond looked at him In surprise. ; Tho Diocovory Mado. y "I beg your pardon." said Preston. r "This Is Mr, Bosbyshell, supcrintend- ent of the Mint. This thing has gotten on my nerves so that I didn't have the , ' common decency to introduce you, : Mr. Bosbysholl was with mo when wo 1 discovered that tho gold was missing." 2 "When was that?" !, "Yesterday afternoon," replied -the Diroctor. "Every now and then at Irregular intervals wo weigh all the ; fold in the Mint, . to mako nuro that everything Is as It should be. Nothing Noth-ing wrong was discovered until we reached Vault 6, but thore fifty bars woro missing. There wasn't any chanco of error. Tho rocords showed precisely how much should havo been thorc and the scales showed how much there was, to the fraction of an ounce "But even if wo had only counted tho bars, Instead of weighing each one separately, the theft would hav0 been instantly discovered, for the vault contained con-tained exactly fifty bars less than it should have. It was then that I wired Washington and asked for assistance from the Secret Service." "Thus spoiling my vacation." muttered mut-tered Drummond. "How many men know the combination to the vault door?" "Only two," replied the Superintendent. Superin-tendent. "Cochrane, who is the official of-ficial weigher, and myself. Cochrane is above suspicion. He's been here for the past thirty years and there hasn't been a 'single complaint against him In all that time." Drummond looked a3 If he would like to ask Preston if the same could be said for the Superintendent, but ho contented himself with listening as Bosbyshell continued: Tho Double Check. "But even if Cochrane or I yes, he could have managed to open the vault door unseen, we could not have gotten inside the Iron grille which guards tho gold In the Interior of the vault That is always kept locked, with a combination known to two other men only. There's too much gold in each one of these vaults to tako any chance with, which is the reason for this double protection. Two men Cochran and I handle tho combination combina-tion to the vault door and open it whenever necessary. Two others Jamison and Strubel are the only ones that know how to open tho grille door. One of them has to be present whenever the bars are put in or taken away, for the men who can get insidp the vault cannot enter the grille, and tho men who can manipulate tho grille door can't get into the vault." "It certainly sounds like a burglar-proof burglar-proof combination," commented Drum-mon Drum-mon ."Is thero any possibility for conspiracy con-spiracy between ' and he hesitated for tho fraction of a second "between Cochran and either of the men who can open the grille door?" , "Apparently not tho least "lh ""tho world," replied Preston "So far as wo know they are all as honost as the day " "But the fact remains." Drummond interrupted, "that the gold is missing." miss-ing." "Exactly but tho grille door was sealed with the official Governmental stamp when w entered the vault yesv terday. That stamp Is applied only in the presence of both men who know the combination. So the conspiracy. If there bo any, must have included Cochrane. Strubel and Jamison Instead In-stead of being a two-man Job." "How much gold did you say was nvlsslng?" inquired the Treasury operative, op-erative, taking another tack. "Seven hundred pounds fifty bars of fourteen pounds each." answored Bosbyshell. "That's another problem that defies explanation. How could one man carry; away all that gold without being seen? He'd need a dray to cart it off and we're vory careful care-ful about what goes out of tho Mint. There's a guard at tho front door all tho time and no one Is allowed to leave with a package of any kind until it has been examined and passed." Crooks Always Lcavo Traces. A grunt was Drummond's only commentand com-mentand those who knew tho Secret Service man best would have interpreted inter-preted the sound to mean studious digestion di-gestion of facts, rather than admission of even temporary defeat. It was ono of the Government detective's de-tective's pet theories, that ovory crime, no matter how puzzling, could be solved by application of common-sense nrlnnlnlns and tho rules of logic. "The criminal with brains." ho was fond of saying, "will deliberately try to throw you off tho scent Then you've got to take your time and separate the wheat from tho chaff the false leads from tho true. But tho man who commits a crlmo on tho spur of the moment or who flatters himself that he hasn't left a singlo clue behind is tho ono who's easy to catch. The cleverest crook In the world can't enter a room without leaving his visiting card in some way or another. It's up to you to find that card and read tho name on It. And common 3enso is tho best reading glass." Requesting that his mission bo kept secret, Drummond said that ho would like to examine Vault Number Six. "Let Cochrane open tho vault for me and then havo Jamison and Strubel open the grille," he directed. "Unless Mr. Bosbyshell opened the vault door," Preston reminded him, "there's no ono but Cochrane who could do It It won't bo necessary, howovor, to havo cither of the others open the grille tho door was taken from its hinges this morning in order the better I to examine tho placo and it hasn't yot been replaced." "All right," agreed Drummond. "Lct'3 havo Cochrane work the outer combination combi-nation then. I'll have a look at tho other two later." Tho Combination Sticka. Accompanied by the Director and the Superintendent, Drummond made his way to the basement whero they were Joined by the official weigher, a man well over fifty, who was introduced by Preston to "Mr. Drummond, a visitor who is desirous of seeing the vaults." "I understand that you are the only man who can open them," said the detective. "Suppose we look into this one," as he stopped as if by accident before Vault No. C. Cochrane, without a word, bent forward for-ward and commenced to twirl the combination. com-bination. A few spins to tho right, a few to the left, back to tho right, to the left once more and he pulled at the heavy' door expectantly. But It failed to budge. Again he bent over the combination, spinning it rapidly. Still the door refused re-fused to open. "I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to help me with ' this. Superintendent," Cochrane said finally, "It doesn't seem to work, somehow." - But. under Bosbyshell's manipulation, the door swung back almost Instantly. "Nothing wron with the combination." combina-tion." commented Preston. Drummond smiled. "Has the combination been changed recently?" he asked. "Not for the past month," Bosbyshell replied. "We usually switch all of thorn six times a year. Just as a general precaution pre-caution but this has been the same for the past few weeks. Ever since the fifteenth of last month, to be precise." Inside the vault Drummond found that, as Preston had stated, tho door to the grille had boon taken from its hinges, to facilitate the work of the men who had weighed tho cold, and had not been replaced. "Where are the gold bars?" asked the detective. "The place looks like it had been well looted." "They were all taken out ihls morning, morn-ing, to be carefully weighed." was Preston's Pres-ton's reply. "I'd llko to see some of them stacked up there along the side of the grille, If It Isn't too much trouble." On tho Trail. "Surely.' said Bosbyshell. "I'll have the men bring them in at once." As soon as the Superintendent had left the room, Drummond requested that the door of the grille be placed In its usual position and Cochrane set It up level with the floor, leaning against tho supports at tho side. "Is that tho way It always stays?" Inquired tho Secret Service man. "No, sir. but It's pretty heavy to handle and I thought you Just wated j to net a general Idea of lbins." "I'd llko to sec It in place, if you don't mind. Here, I'll help you with it but wo better slip our coats off, for it looks : f like a man's-slzed Job," and he removed his coat as he spoke. After Cochrano had followed his ox-ample, ox-ample, the two of them hung the heavy door from its hinges and stepped back to - set tho effect. But Drummond's eyes were fixed, not upon the entrance to tho grille, but on the middle of Cochrane's back and, when the opportunity oppor-tunity offered 'an instant later, he shifted his gaze to the waist of the elder man's trousers. Something that he saw there caused the shadow of a smllo to flit across his face. "Thanks." he said. "That will do nicely," and he made a quick gesture to Preston that ho would llko to have Cochrane leave the vault. "Very much obliged, Mr. Cochrane, siiiu me uirecior. vu wun l uuuil-i you any more. You might nsk those men to hurry in with the bars, if you will." And the weigher, pausing only to secure his coat, left the vault. "Why all the stage-setting?" inquired Preston. "You don't suspect . . . "I don't suspect a thing," Drummond smiled, searching for his own coat, "beyond "be-yond the fact that the solution tq tho mystery Is so simple as to be almost absurd. 33y tho way, have you noticed those scratches on the bars of the grille, about four feet from the floor?" "No, I hadn't," admitted the Director. "But what of them? These vaults aren't new,' you know, and I dare say you'd find similar marks on the grille-bars In any of the others." less you carried a package or something some-thing clso contrary to orders. "The people in your neighborhood say that they've seen ' queer bluish lights in the basement of your house on Woodland A'enue. So I suspect you've been melting that gold up and hiding It somewhere, ready for a quick getaway, "Yes, Cochrane, .we've got the goods on you and if you want to save half of a twenty-year sentence which at your age, means life come across with the Information. Where i3 the gold?" The Confossion. 4 "In the old sower pipe," faltered the weigher, who appeared to have aged Tho Ways of tho Slouth. "I hope not," Drummond replied grimly, "for that would almost certainly rncan a shortage of gold in other sections sec-tions of the Mint, Incidentally, has all tho rest of the gold been weighed?" "Every ounce of It." "Nothing missing?" ' "Outside of the 700 pounds from this vault, not a particle." - "Good then I'll bo willing to lay a small wager that you can't find tho duplicates of these scratches anywhere else in tho Mint " And Drummond smiled at the Director's, Direc-tor's, patont perplexity. When the men arrived with r truck loaded with gold bars, they stacked them at the Superintendent's direction along the side of tho griflo nearest the vault entrance. "ia that tho. way they are usually arranged?" ar-ranged?" inquired Drummond. "Yes the grille bars aro of tempered steel and the openings between them are too small to permit anyone to put his hand through. Therefore, as we are somewhat pressed for space, wo stack them up right along the outer wall of tho grillo and then work back. It saves tlmo and labor in bringing them In." "Is this the way the door of the grille ordinarily hangs?" Bosbysholl Inspected it a moment before be-fore he replied. "Yes," he said. "It appears to be all I right It was purposely made to swing : clear of the fioor and the celling so that it might not become jammed. The combination com-bination and the use of the seal prevents pre-vents Its belnr: opened by anyone who has no business In the grille." "And the seal was intact when you camo in yesterday afternoon?" "It was." "Thanks," said Drummond, "that was all I wanted to know," and he made h:a way up3talrswlth a smUo which seemed to say that his vacation in the Maine woodB had not been indefinitely postponed. post-poned. Once back in the Director's office, the Government operative asked permission to use the telephone and, calling the x-jiiitj.'iJiua unice ui wie secret oerviuu, requested that three agents be assigned to meet him down town as soon a3 possible. pos-sible. Drummond Gets Busy. "Havo you a record of the home ad--dross- of tho people employed in the Mint?" Drummond Inquired of the Director, Di-rector, as ho hum: up the receiver. "Surely," said Preston, producing a typewritten list from the drawer of his desk. "I'll borrow this for a while, if I may. I'll probably bo back with It before three o'clock and bring some news with me. too." and the operative was out of the room before Preston could frame a singlo question. As a matter of fact, tho clock In the Director's office pointed to 2:30 when Drummond returned, accompanied by tho three men who had been assigned to assist him. "Havo you discovered anything?" Preston demanded. "Lot's have Cochrane up hero first," Drummond smiled. "I can't be positive until I'vo talked to him. You might have the Superintendent in, too. He'll be interested In dovelopments, I think." Bosbyshell was the first to arrive and. nt Drummond's request, took up a position posi-tion on the far side of the room. As soon as he had onter.cd, two of tho other Secret, Service men ranged themselves them-selves on tho other side of the doorway and, the moment Cochrano came in, closed tho door behind him. "Cochrane." said Drummond. "what did you do with tho TOO pounds of gold that you took from Vault No. C during tlie past fow weeks?" "What What ", stammered tho weigher. Putting It Up to Him. "There's no use bluffing," continued the detective. "Wo'vo got tho goods on you. The only thing missing "Is tho gold Itself and the sooner you turn it over the moro lonlont the Government will be with you. I now how you got the bars out of tho grille a pleco of bent wire was sufficient to dislodge them from the top of tho pllo nearest tho grllle-bara and It was easy to slip them under the door. No wonder the seal was never tampered with. It wasn't necessary for you to go inside the grille 'a.', all. t "But, more than that, I know how you carried the bars, ono at a time, out of the Mint It took .these three men less than an hour this afternoon to find the tailor who fixed the false pocket in the front of your trousers the next time you try a Job of this kind you hotter attend to all these details de-tails yourself and it needed only one look at joii- suspenders thi mom -to sec that thoy were a good deal wider and heavier than necessary. That long coat you are in the habit of wearing Is Just the thing to cover up any auspicious aus-picious bulge In your garments and the guard at the door, knowing you, would ...... (Ulnl. nf tnlllnr. frM In ...tnti nn. ten years while Drummond was speaking. speak-ing. "In the old sower pipe that leads from my basement" "Good!" exclaimed Drummond. "I think Mr. Preston will use his influence with the court to see that your sentence Isn't any heavier than necessary. It's worth that much to guard the Mint against future losses of the sarao kind, isn't it, Mr. Director?" "It surely is," replied Preston. "But I how in the name of Heaven did you get the answer so quickly?" Drummon delayed his answer until Cochrane," accompanied by the three Secret Service men. had left the room. Then "Nothing but common sense," ho said. "You remember those scratches I called your attention to the ones on the side of tho ffrllle-bars? They were a clear indication of tho way in which the gold had been taken from the grlllo knocked down from tho top of tho pile with a pleco of wlro and pulled undor tho door of the grlllo. That eliminated Jamison and Strubol immediately They needn't havo Tonc to that trouble, even It it hud been possible for them to get into tho vault in tho first place. "But I had my suspicions of Cochrano when ho was unable to open the vault door. That pointed to nervousness and nervousness Indicated a guilty conscience. con-science. I made tho hanging of the grlllo door an coccuso to got him to shod his coat though I did want to s whether the door came all tho way J down to the fioor and I noted that hla J suspenders were very broad and his trousers abnormally wide around thv waist He dldn'J want to take any i, chances with that extra fourteen pounds of gold; you know. It would never dc to dron It in the street. "The rest is merely corroborative. 3 ' found that bluish lights had been ob-served ob-served in the basement of Cochrane's house and one of my men located the ' tailor who had enlarged his trousers. j That's really all there was to It." With th.-.t Drummond started to thjj door, m'y to be stopped by Director Preruon'a inquiry as to where he wa "On my vacation, which you inter-rupted inter-rupted this mornlner," replied tho Secret" Service man. "It's a good thing I did," Preston IH called after him. 'If Cochrane had IH really gotten away with that gold we might never have caught him." "Which," as Bill Qulnn said, when h, finished his narrative, 'is the reason i claim that the telegraph boy who per-sistetl per-sistetl In paging Drummond Is the ont ' who was really responsible for the sav-ing sav-ing of some $130,000 that belonged tc Uncle Sam " JA "But surely, I said, "that case was an exception. In rapidity of action, I mean Don't governmental investigations usu- i ally take a lone time?" I "Frequently," admitted Quinn. "the? ! drag on and on for months sometime! years. But it's seldom that Uncle Sari. falls to land his man even though thi trail leads Into the realms of royally, i; in the Yplranga case. That happened . i before the World War opened, but It ( gave the State Department a mighty good line on what to expect from Ger- many." IH ("The Ypiranga Case" the, third In tho Long Arm of Undo Sam ecrios , will appear next wook.) IH |