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Show I Tne Fatal I I Necklace 5 "If" j I RouVlckers A rp ... , XT I Authc of 4 demoting JNgvp I "mfat""" Detective Musteru I Dartmoor" C j if ' H j I ft f we II 4 Pw, ' . '' 'v y v vnF Cow and H'iw. Myy p(l m Y" AVID SORRAN Bald afterward that V V f f t A ' I I he know from the moment that he () A was commissioned to keen a watch- 'Copy; ipAf. 929, cy nff rnaffonaJ Feature Service, Inc.) CHAPTER I. Cold and Win-. j -v AVID SORRAN eald afterward that I 1 he knew from the moment that he was commissioned to keep a watchful watch-ful eye on the Mpak case that the crime would be committed, j When he dined by himself In the great j dining room of New York's fashionable Hotel Astorbllt he was more than eer convinced of 1L But as his was. as has been said, a merely watching dun the official police having charge of the visiting visit-ing personage Sorran ate hie dinner and studied his neighbors. "The time to study a crime Is before It j It committed." Sorran has since said In his I book of reminlsrenees He wa busily applying his own formula while enjoying ; some exotic unpronounceable dellcae In j vented by the chef In one of his rarest mo 1 menis. An Astorbllt dinner rarely comes the way of a private detective, even If he has as lucrative a practice as had Duvid Sorran. A cursory glance showed only one table worthy of attention It had a single occu-i occu-i pant a girl obviously an unusual girl. Her physical appearance was unusual j Her manner was unusual. Sorran was watching both The first thing he noticed was her hair He knew it wasn't Titian Titian implies -.; . - ft 0r a sort of auburn that gleams to Are when the light touches it. This girl's hair was a sort of auburn, but it didn't gleam to fire It gleamed to wine Red wine Dull red vjne "Was it wine? Anyhow, it didn't matter Id her cheeks there was no color with that hair there was no need for color. Creamy white creamy white throat shoulders arniH Sorran hoped that her eyos were faintly gTeen blue green as an Irish sea and Later be was not disappointed disap-pointed Her dress be supposed was tasteful Certainly it displayed her whiteness and At the girt, with her myterioue necklace poiaed between finger and thumb, smiled at the distinguiahed foreigner, the latter' e face turned ashy white. If ever Sorran had seen terror on a human face, he eaw it then." kit her hair. Tasteful but someone else's tasto. He v.a3 quite sure someone had chosen it for her. But who on earth had chosen that atrocious necklace? Ho could not see it properly from whore he waa sitting It colled once round her throat and fell In a double sinuous line to her waist. It had gold or oomethlng every few inches, the chain iteeir bolng of some darh velvety substance. Dark? No, it gleamed gleamed to wine. Odd, thought Sorran Her manner rather gave the show away Sho was not gauche far from It but she waa obviously a. unused as Sorran to the Astorbllt. He suspected that she was so-cretly so-cretly afraid o the waiter. For the moment bis sense of Impending crime had evaporated CHAPTER II. An Unexpected Encounter. AFTER dinner she strolled 'nto the lobby. Sorran followed her 8he L looked around for a minute or so, pretending to be at ease, and then took a seat In the foyer within a few yards of the doora, Sorran passed In front of her once or twice, looking at her To his surprise &he looked up and smiled at him Sorran im- H modlately dropped into a chair at her side. I r "Good evening," she said in response to his greeting. " thought you were going to speak to me. I'm beginning to know when people want to." Sorran liked her voice. It was the sort of soft contralto he had vaguely expected, but not the type of voice that knew when "people" wanted to heor It speak The Intonation disposed of the fleetIDg fa8e impression created by the Bmlle. Do you smile at every man who looks as if he wanted to speak to you?" he asked a her elder brother might have done "I don't know.' she answered thouhi fully Ifs only happened ence before. and I spoke to him and ho was very nice. D I Continued on Pane IS 9 I JM l Tke Eatal Necklace VEcyVckers I Cotit'nuril from Frnfit Page "You 80o. be added, "where I come from everyone speak, to everyone els no one doesn't get a chance, does MOf" Grammatically it wo- vague, but Sorran knew what she meant. "Might one inqulro the name of the sociable place?" be ak 1 with a "Isn't It unwise to tell strangers where you come rem?" There was nothing of coqueteric In the que-tlon que-tlon the doubt wa9 genuine "Yes, It Is." answered 8orran, feeling that his profession some-, some-, times made him behave like a cad. "I oughtn't to have asked I apologia apolo-gia "Oh. but It's awfully silly to talk llke that," she said "There's no mystery about It. as you would know if you could see It. East Pennacook. Conn " Sorran felt that he was not for bidden to make a menial note of it, thereupon his attention left It and became ronrentrated on that Incongruous Incon-gruous chain around her neck. H wanted to ask a question about It and he knew that he would have to be quick because the lime was get-tin get-tin short. He studlod it while she chattered provincial banalities about New York. It was a chain of f!alted hair, sheathed at regular Intervuls by narrow hands of gold and ornamented orna-mented here and there with large, uncut emeralds As he looked at It 1 he realized that In color and texture tex-ture the hair of the necklace wai I the same as her own. Sorran shuddered Was It the fashion In hki Pennncook to send your hair to the village Jeweler and I have that sort of thing done PI with it! He was about to steer round to W eomo opening that would give hlni LM en excuse to comment on It, when Mil he realized that the time hud l shortened to nothing at all. Hl The giant glass doors of the II Astorbllt swung open and there en- l tered a well-dressed foreigner of medium height He had the gait and complexion of tlx N-.u Kast- 4 cm. though there was added the IkJ air of dim accustomed to reci the obeisance of the cities of the B West. Behind him loomed the burly form of Inspector Dolan. of Police K Headquarter?. Following came a B couple of nondescript men who might have been confidential secre- As Dolan piloted his charge H through the foyer and came nearer H to Sorran and hlr. fair companion; B the girl picked up the loose end of H her atrocious necklace and held It K poised between finger and thumb ft She was evidently on the point H Of saving something to Sorran about it. hut abruptly her eye 1 Strayed from him-elf to the (list In A. guirheri new it i rlva I H For the second time that evening K' porrnn was amaaed to the in- H genuous girl from the little t'on- Ht nectlcut village Fmlle at a stranger. HB His gaze flew from her face to H that of the foreigner It was an Ht aihy white. If ever Sorran bad seen nW terror on a human lace, he saw it . then. B The foreigner Clutched the In- R fpector's arm. then, with a sudden HE effort pulled himself together and regained his composure. As the H two passed out of earshot Sorran J turned to his companion. HH 'You know that man," he said accusingly. D "I know who he Is." she answered B lightly 'I'll tell you if you like H He Is Prince Mpak of Auratia. and H he has come over here with nil the H Jewels" H "Sh!" said Sorran 'But you know blm you Bmiled at him " "I know I did," she answered with H something of bewilderment in her voice. "And I thought he would come and speak to me But he jK I" H She broke off as a tall and hand- I9i some man In immaculato evening ll dress stood bowing before her. 1 "Good-evonlnK. Miss Wilding. Are 1 you still in the mood to undertake jfBB your first Ja?7"'' HBffl "Yes. indeed'" she replied en- ,ft thuslastlcally And then to 6orran HwjH "Good-night." Soirnn returned $KXlfl her greeting and she walked off SBH with the other. Bofore they had HHB passed out of earshot Sorran heard B "That Prince Mpak never took the slightest notice of me when I H smiled at him Oh. very well. I'll HH you In the taxi." H For a moment Sorran stood look- HMflfl ing after them Then he went to the office of the manager of the hotel CHAPTER III. A Strange Precaution. yRINCE MPAK'S rocovery from his shock was instantaneous fmWijH and apparently complete. H "Forgive me " be said to Inspcc- H tor Dolan, bowing as foreigners will bow. "But my nerves have been b-" badly out of order since my HlneM r And the consciousness of my re- Hj sponsibility you understand." Pl He spoke English almost per- feLJ fectly, with only the slight, guttural, HjflHH half German accent of the Near HH East He had been educated In H America and was wholly conver- Bant with Western manners and Hi Inspector Dolan made polite H noises, and as they reached the end fl Of the foyer they were approached by Swandleton. the manager of 'he iHjj Astorbilt "Your Excellency, may I present H Mr. Swandleton?'' said the Inspoc- H tor, in an evident hurry to get rid I - "O.io of the defectives had found Miss Rosemary Wilding with her escort at one of the more reputable f Wli ''' ' y ca r. c rct.." jj BKK wBISSSSkb juSl -i t 'w ;WKa--r of this sort of thing. Politenesses were exchanged between Swandleton Swandle-ton and the Prince, and Swandleton entered the elevator with them, the two men who looked like confidential con-fidential fcecretaiios remaining temporarily tem-porarily behind "Inspector Dolan has doubtless explained that your suite is on the top floor?" questioned Swandleton. The Prince nodded and cast a half fearful glance at the elevator boy. Inspector Dolan smilod and wondered why all foreigners were so nervous At the twelfth, the top story. Swandleton stepped out of the car first and led the way along the cor rldor. There was a turn at right angles. At the last door of the turn he stopped and produced a Yale key to which was attached a metal tab. The door -wns to all appearances exactly the same as the other doors of the corridor except for Us number, which was 727. Swandleton Inserted the latchkey, latch-key, turned It and then put his shoulder to the door. Behind his shoulder was the entire weight and strength of his body. The door swung slowly open very slowly Princo Mpak gasped with admiration as he perceived its structure. The wooden exterior, with its paneling, its handle and its number, was a mere blind an outer covering cover-ing fitted on to the door' itse'', which was of massive eight-Inch steel. The three men entered the room a sitting room sparsely furnished, wholly out of keeping with the ornate style of the Astorbllt. A table, two upright chairs, one armchair arm-chair and a writing table completed its equipment In the wall opposite the door folding doors gave on to a bedroom, furnished with the same note of simplicity. Instead of a bathroom the bath itself was plainly visible behind Its screen In the bedroom. "This is your suite. Prince." 6ald Swandleton. "It Is very simple, as you perceive. But I think you will sleep more ecj'ortably here than elsewhere. And, o course, you un-deratand un-deratand ihe reason why " 'VVssuredly." said the Prince, with I nervous glance over his shoulder as his two equerry-secre- tarles entered the room, followed immediately bv six men. recognizable recogniza-ble to the Initiated as plain-clothes men. The six men, divided into pairs, were carrying between them three large iron chests, which they deposited silently, one on top o the other, in the bedroom and immediately im-mediately withdrew, Tho two equerry-secretaries remained. Almost immediately hotel servants ser-vants appeared with the Prince's personal luggage. As soon as the hotel servants had withdrawn the Prince introduced his equerries to the manager of the Astorbllt. When tho Introductions were complete Inspector Dolan said: "May I suggest that you explain the mechanism of that door to Ills Excellency, Mr. Swandleton?" "Certainly," replied the .manager. And then to tho Prince: "You can soo what the sides of this door are like The walls, the floor and the roof of these apartments are of exactly ex-actly the same structure. The two rooms, in fact, are simply a huge safe. The windows which, aa you perceive, are narrow, are heavily barrdd. I will show you how to open and close tho door." As he spoke he again put his shoulder to the door and gradually forced It shut. It closed with a slight click. "It Is now merely on the Yale latch." explained the manager, "and can be opened from the outside as you saw me open it just now." He pulled a brass knob lever on the door and thero came the sound of well-oiled bolts slipping into place. "Now," said the manager proudly. "It cannot be opened from the outside out-side at all. That Is to say." he added, "a gang of export safe mechanics, me-chanics, using the lafest implements imple-ments known to science, could not open It in less than forty-eight hours. A bomb hurled against It would produce no effect whntever. Tf by any Inconceivable chance the mechanism of this door were to break at this moment all of us who are In this rotn would bo completely com-pletely cut off from the rest of the world for forty-eight hours." "More than that I should say, Mr. Swandleton. for none would know we were missing until to-morrow morning." (Cl 100. lntcrnatioo-l . i "Oh, no Mr Dolan." corrected the manager "There's the telephone. tele-phone. On the writing table was an ordinary or-dinary telephone receiver. "That telephone," said the manager man-ager to the Prince, "is connected with our private exchange. Through it you can give your orders for your personal comfort order your meals and so forth. There Is one point I would impress on you. however. how-ever. Say, for example, you were to order your breakfast at nine o'clock, it would be necessary for you to open tho door at the time you had specified, for the servants could not be heard knocking on tho door. You could not hear a revolver re-volver shot tired in the corridor." The Prince listened with steadily growing approval to the manager's explanation. As each fresh Item of security was enumerated, a fresh load of anxiety seemed to be lifted from him. "I thank you. Mr. Swandleton." he said gratefully, "and I thank you not merely In my own person, but on behalf of the people I have the honor to represent. In those cases which Inspector Dolan's men have brought here lies the hope of my country's financial regeneration after af-ter Its bankruptcy caused by the war. There is not a one-time wealthy person in Auratia who has not contributed his or her quota of Jewelry and precious stones as a gift to the nation, and I am entrusted en-trusted with the task of mortgaging mortgag-ing these Jewels in this country of unlimited wealth. "You can Imagine," he concluded, "of what a load of responsibility your so adequate measures of security se-curity have relieved me." Inapector Dolun made a grimace and covered It with a cough. The manager of the Astorbllt accomplished accom-plished a bow. Feature Service. Jnc. Orcal lirita "Tf you would bp good enough to explain to me in detail the mechanism mech-anism of the door," said the Prince. "There is really nothing to explain." ex-plain." replied Swandleton. "You push this brass knob to tho si-ot marked 'Shut' and the bolts are In place You push it to the 'Open' like this and you have only to pull on Ihe handle. Tho pressure on the handle automatically unfastens un-fastens the outer Yale latch." As ho spoke the munaser lugged at the door and opened it. "I thank you. Mr Swandleton." said the Prince again, and Inspector In-spector Dolan, tearing another speech, edged toward the door. "I think that covers everything. Your HIghneaa.'' said the Inspector. "These two gentlemen of your suite are. I understand, to be accommodated ac-commodated in tho two next rooms." Tho manager signified assent. The party begau to leave the room. "If you should happen to want me In the night. Prince," said the manager, "there Is a telephone by my bedside and the exchange will immediately put you through." Tho manager and Inspector Dolan withdrew, to be followed a'-most a'-most immediately by the two equerries. equer-ries. The door of 727 swung slowly on Its hinges and closed. The well-oiled well-oiled bolts slipped Into place. lo Klghl Kricrred. CHAPTER IV. Shadowed. SORRAN passed from the foyer to the offices of the hotel and found tho assistant-manager, Rawson by namo. "Good evening, Mr. Sorran," said Rawson; "started work yet?" "More or less," replied Sorran. "I suppose if I ask your room clerks questions about one of your guests I shall be kicked out. shan't I?" "Probably," replied .Raw son with 0 grin. "You'd better coufldo in me." Rirht. Thanks. 1 will," replied Sorran. "Ready?" "Fire away," said Rawson. catching catch-ing up a pen. "Young girl, apparently by herself, her-self, auburn-red hair, white com plexion Name possibly Wilding. Dined alone to-nignt Wearing green evening dress with a striking necklace made of hair with gold rivets. That ought to be enough 1 want anything you can give me about her.'' "There's a box of cigars in that top drawer." said Rawson as ho hurried from tho room. "I'll bo as quick as I can " Five minutes later the assistant-manager assistant-manager returned "Signed the register, as Rosemary Rose-mary Wilding,' of East Pennacook, Conn. Arrived here two days ago. We were full up and were turning her away when a man, registered as 'Captain J L. Glllingham.' apparently ap-parently not having seen her before, be-fore, gave up his room to her. That's all. Any help to you?" "I don't know. Thanks anyway. Can I use your telephone for a long distance call?" Rawson gave ready permission. ' Who do you want?" he asked. "Police Station, East Pennacook, Conn. " Sorran replied. While the connection was being made the two men chatted. "What's the prince perso7 doing, do you know?" asked Rawson. "Or is it an official secret?" "No secret about it,'' repliod Sorran Sor-ran "Auratia was pre'.ty well rulnrfi hy the war. Wouldn't carry on Its industries, so they collected H practically all the jewelry that Auratia possessed, giving State bonds in exchange. This fellow has simply come over to raise credit H on it. Altogether he is supposed to have about $10 000,000 worth of dla- monds and pearls and ten millions H makes a lot of difference to a two- like H "Oh. that accounts for said Rawson. "There's a big bug from H the Gibraltar Trust Company com-Ing com-Ing here to morrow at eleven. We H had to fix the appointment. I won-dared won-dared at the time why they didn't make him go to the bank. But, after all. you can't carry $10,000,000 H Worth" Of Jewels about with you la n H At that moment tho telephone bell rang Sorran picked up the "Sergeant Doyle 0f the East Pen- I narook headquarters," he heard. H "I am David Sorran." he replied. "Yes. Mr. Sorran." came the ro- H epectfnl reply, for thepe was no H policeman In the countrv worth his H salt who did not know Sorran bv 1 "Do you know a lady called Miss Rosemary Wilding?" H very well." H ' Tan yon tell me anything about her and her family?" "Nothing hut good.' replied the H sergeant. "They are fine peopfe Oeed to take the load In everything every-thing here, but now thev're In reduced re-duced circumstances. Mr Wilding formerly owned a lot of land here But just before the war he died and the estate .went to pieces. an,i they ve had to lire very simply since But they're the kind that. hard up as they are. always man- f ae to keep up a pretty good front ' "Thank you. serjreant." gaid Sor- ran "I am much obliged to you. 1 Good night."- f Any luck'" asked Rawson. I "1 don't know." replied Sorran. t He dropped back Into an armchair f and for several minutes kept draw- f ing at his cignr. totally icnorlng his ! host. Then he said: "May I use c your telphono apa.n'"' jr "Sure." said Rawson with a laugh. f "Who do you want this time1" f Inspector Dolan, Police Head f quarters I guess he ought to ba If back by now " l " 'The time to study a crime is f before It Is committed.' A risky theory. A theory horribly likely to jH waste tho time of an energetlo A Chief of Police. But then" "Here you are," said Rawson. "Inspector Dolan?" said 8orram I Into the receiver. Receiving an nffirraative answer he went, onj I "Inspector, how many jazz halls do 1 you think there are In Manhattan?" "Oh. about thirty," replied the V Inspector. 1 "Can you give me a man for I each?" The Inspector whistled. "That's f r tall order" he protested. "What do vou want?" "I want a girl, young, auburn-red hair, white complexion, medium j height, wearing green evening dress j with a striking necklace made of j hair with gold rivets. Name, Rose- I mar Wilding Escorted by a man, !H tall, dark mustache, aquiline nose, t-traipht rhin. probably calling him-Belt him-Belt Capting Glllingham." There v. as a moment's silence, during which Inspector Dolan was I noting the particulars on his memo- 1 randum pad. "I say. Sorran," said the Inspector. Inspec-tor. "Is thatthe girl you were sitting sit-ting with when wo came in?" "Yes." replied Sorran "1 thought something hap- l pened." said the Inspector " "Don't build on it," warned Sor-ran Sor-ran "It's little more than a fancy, 1 Is it worth backing?" 1 "Every time," was the reply. j CHAPTER V. Cause for Alarm. AS'YONE but Sorran would have been obsessed with the idea that he had drawn a blank Any other private detective, I sitting In the lobby of the Astor-bllt Astor-bllt at 10 o'clock on the following jl morning would have worried over those thirty-odd men despatched from Police Headquarters the pre- H vious night One of the detectives had found Miss Rosemary Wilding at one of the more reputable Broadway caba-rets. caba-rets. She had been, about 'o leave, with her escort, when tho detectives came upon her. He hacf, hard the order given to the taxf- H cab driver to drive to tho Astorbilt H shortly before midnight At this H point his instruction-- ended and h returned to make his report which H had been duly telephoned to Sor- Sorran did not worry in the least. He sat and thought it all over and) was quite content to come to no conclusion At ten-thirty he went to the offico of the hotel manager to havo a chat with Rawson. "Worst of these foreigners," said Rawson when they had turned to the subjoct of the Princo "They got so fidgety. He rang up Mr. Swandleton twice during tho night over some absurd trifle, and this H morning he telephone that ho would j not have any breakfast at all and j did not want to be disturbed until it the man from tho trust company called, Mr. Swandleton has left ! orders that T am to take any futuro call, for him from tho Prince." (Continued on Sat Page). II H - H I A Esdnatmd New Detective Mystery Storv 1 I (Continued from Preceding Page) "He'll probably put through his deal with the bankers today an'! then clear out." paid Sorran bj waj of consolation Sotuo ten minutes passed in casual cas-ual gossip, which was then inter-riipicd inter-riipicd by the ringing of the telephone. tele-phone. Rawson picked up the receiver end then nodded to Sorran and grinned, from which Sorran deduced de-duced that the Prince was speaking. speak-ing. "No. sir, not yet," he heard the assistant manager say. "It is only a quarter to eleven, and I understand under-stand that the appointment is for eleven o'clock. . . , Yes. sir. we shalj ring vou up the moment ho arrives and I myself shall escort him to your door " He replaced the receiver and turned to Sorran "You heard ihat?" ho said "Nerres again " Sorran left the office and returned re-turned to the lobby. As he reached if Miss Wilding emerged from the elevator, dressed for the street. Her dull green walking suit had come from a good tailo- thought Sorran. and thought of whai the East Pennacook police sergeant had told him about the reduced circumstances cir-cumstances of her family Ho noted with approval that she no longer wore the atrocious necklace He approached her, wishing to have a word with her before she. went out. But she pave him the most distant of nods and passed on her waj Sorran -was disappointed. It was not a professional disappointment. I The professional side of the question ques-tion was adequately safeguarded by the plain-clothes man. who was waiting outside with instructions to shadow her It was a personal disappointment dis-appointment right enough and he admitted it to himself. He had wanted to hear tbat soft contralto again. He stood looking after her and noted that she kuew how to walk; "' What the dickens was a girl like that In her reduced circumstances doing a! the expensive Astorbllt? L'lK haperoned, too Through the glass doors ante a man whom he recognized as Hen Marco, a director of the Gibraltar Trust Company Sorran followed him at a little distance to the office and hung about, waiting unconcernedly uncon-cernedly A minute passed two. three mln- ntes Raw son eme fed from the office with white anxious face. "Can't get an answer from the Idiot he said in an undertone to Sorran as he hurried on to the manager s office A minute later Rawson returned (With Swandleton The latter weut In and talked to the official from the Trust Company and rxplalned i that the telephone system of the hotel -had suddenly fused RawsoD. accompanied by Sorran. tried another lnsfrument, tested it to a room on the same door and found that it was in perfect work-, work-, lng order. "Come on." said Rawson with suppressed excitement and urged Foixan to the elevator. Arriving at '.he top floor they 6trolled along the corridor to avoid attracting attention. As they turned the corner at right angle.-' they saw the equerries standing outside Xo 727. "Good morning, gentlemen." said Rawson "May 1 ask if you have Been his Highness this morning"'" "We have not seen him " replied I the senior equerrv. "We received a message from your from our representative by the telephone saying His Highness has said he wished to be not disturbed unM! eleven this morning It Is now eleven. We ask on the- telephone to speak to him and tho lady say there Is no reply " "It's no good hammering on the door," 6ald Rawson to Sorran. and b.e twe TTIAn returned to the office, having given an assurance to the equerries that there was no cattle for alarm an assurance which neither felt to be true. As they entered the offlc Swan-dleton Swan-dleton looked at Rawson and road the answer In his face. He picked up the receiver. "Try his Highness again, please," ho said and there was 8 tremor in his voice as he spoke "You can get no answer'" he asked hall a minute later "Very well. Answer no calls. Keep a constant ring on No, 7-7 and ring here the moment you get a reply." He replaced the received and turned to Henry Marco. 'I am afraid, Mr. Marco," ha said, "we must ask you to wait until His Highness answers tho telephone. We have no other ' means of communication with him w hatever. ' He explained tho construction of No 727 to him The bank official was Interested and the explanation explana-tion wa spun out for a quarter of an hour. "No answer yet?' said Swandle-ton Swandle-ton to the hotel exchange "Then get me Inspector Dolan of tho Po-'cc Po-'cc Headquarters." CHAPTER VI. A Mysterious Murder. INSPECTOR DOLAN ordered Im- mediate action While men from the firm of safemakers who had fitted No. 727 were on their way to the A6torbllt, summoned by telephone, tele-phone, a team of steeplejacks had ascended to the roof and made rapid preparations to lower a cradle. Within half an hour a cradle swung over the window of the sitting sit-ting room and the steeplejack was making his report "f'an't see nothln'." he shouted to his mates on the roof "Tables and chairs and all that, but nothln' out of the ordinary ' He ascended, and the cradle was transferred to tbx window of the bedroom "Same here." he called. 'Walt a minute There's a pair of shoes Ptii kin' out from the other side ot the bed. Looks as If the guy might have fallen down by the foot o' the bed on his face with his foet polntin' toward the sitting room " The word was passed from Rawr-spn, Rawr-spn, on the roof, to Swandleton, ?nd was explained by him to the trust company official "His Highness has obviously liad a elure of some kind Mr. Marco," he explained. "It Is, I fear, impr.' slble for us to say whether be Is alive or dead And unless he should recover of his own accord and open the door wo shall not be able to tell which, or give him any kind of assistance for forty-eight hours " With which disconcerting Information Informa-tion Henry Marco was obliged to be content and promptly returned to the bank to make his report Rawson wax dispatched to the safe makers to arrange for relays of mechanics, work'Dg In four-hour shifts, to speed up the work The men were to be Informed there would lf a bonus of S2.t apiece for each hour saved out of the forty-elgh' forty-elgh' Swandlolon, closeted with the equerries questioned them closely as to the health of Prince Mpak Was he subject to fits or seizures of any kind" The equerries denied that he had ever been known to suffer In this way. "Round the throat and neck of tho corpse, coiling again and again, Sorran saw a chain of plaited hair, sheathed at regular intervals by narrow bands of gold and grleaming in the sunlight lo dull red wine." "Tie simply must have had a seizure." protested Swandleton. 'Vou can see for yourselves that it is utterly impossible for any on to have entered the room and done him an injury The people who made that room know no way of getting into it except by means of those relays of mechanics who arc working on it now. "It is within the bounds of possibility, possi-bility, of course, thai he might bae been shot through the window. But even so. such a crime would be motiveless, because the assailant assail-ant could not himself enter the room after he had fired Besides, some one would have heard the shot." The equerries were sceptical. They came from a land where violence vio-lence Is met with at every turn, flnd In their hearts they regarded the team of mechanics as being a bluff on the part of tlje management manage-ment to save their faros. "If you cling to the belief that His Highness must have been assaulted as-saulted In some mysterlouR way," said Swandleton, with a touch of exasperation, "you are bound to admit that the assault must have taken plu e between 10:45 and 11 o'clock. For at 10:45 His Highness was speaking to my assistant man pger on the telephone which, if vou consider it gentlemen, is a double absurdity " Swandleton made every effort to keep the matter a secret But ton many people knew what was going on The last edition of the evening eve-ning papers contained a full account ac-count of the facts up to date As a result of this publicity a crowd soon collected round the , Astorbllt, Inquiring from time to time the progress of the work and the latest news. People came, stayed a short time, learned nothing noth-ing and departed But more peo-plo peo-plo came as they left. By S o'clock there were special police on duty to handle the crowd At 7 In the evening the engineer in charge of the- mechanics was able to announce tbat he expected to make a considerable saving on the forty-eltht hours owing to ihe work of a newly invented elect ric drill At 7:"0 Sorran received a ine.-sage Irom Police Headquarters (lint the man who bad been- detailed de-tailed to shadow Miss Rosemary Wilding bad lost her at 4 o'clock that afternoon and had been unabl. to find her again Sorran frowned as he read the note and immediately wrote a request re-quest to Inspector Dolan that a couple of men might bo detailed for duty at the entrance of the As torbilt to inform him the moment she returned a request that was immediately granted. Sorran knew instinctively that she would not return re-turn All night Ihe mechanics worked and throughout the following morning It was a foregone conclusion con-clusion that the Prince must be dead The crowds outside the AUorbill increased hourly. The whole of New York was waif.ng breathlessly to know whether tho Prince had died naturally or by violence. At 3 o'clock in the afternoon tho engineer in charge of the opera lions sent a message to Inspector Dolan that he expected to be able to use the explosives within an hour. Sorran met the Inspector as ho arm ed "What about that gill of yours?" ho asked as they walked through the foyer together. "Your man lost her and she ha-, not returned here." replied Sorran. "We shall know In a few minutes w hether we want her or not " At Inspector Dolan s invitation Sorran accompanied him to the top floor They stood together while the mechanics applied tho explosives explo-sives Tho two chief detectives from Police Headquarters were al ready waiting In the corridor. Tho four stood chatting, waiting for tho explosion The explosion came w ith its muffled muf-fled roar. "Stand back, you mechanics" shouted the Inspector, and himself strode forward, followed by the two police detectives, with Sorran in the rear. Dolan applied his shoulder shoul-der to tho door and it yielded to his pressure. The four men entered. Sorran being be-ing the last The sitting room revealed re-vealed nothing at first glance. One of the detectives swung the iron door back so that it was as nearly shut as it could be after the damage dam-age done by the explosive. Inspector Inspect-or Dolan opened the folding door and passed Into the bedroom. "Ilo is dead." the Inspector exclaimed, ex-claimed, bending over the prostrate form of the Prince "And. by heaven, he has been strangled! Some one must 'save got in.' He turned Kharply to the spot where he had seen the three cases deposited by his own men. They were missing "Those thrro chests containing the jewels." he said hoarsely. "Where are they?" To the two detectives: de-tectives: "Look under the bed In the bath they must be some ' where." A moment later it was abundantly clear that the three cheats were nowhere no-where in the apartment "Robbery and murder." said Inspector In-spector Dolan. "Plain robbery and murder. The Prince la dead. The Jewels have gone. So much for this safe contraption " He spoke bitterly. He foresaw the public censure that would full upon himself. "Nice little nut for you to crack in your spare time. Sorran How-did How-did they get in, apart from how they managed when they got out ' How did they get in when it las taken that team of mechanics a nee half-past eleven vesterdav morning" morn-ing" " Sorran did not answer. He had been standing by the folding doors, unwilling to thrust "himself unduly forward In ihe presence of the official of-ficial police. Now he stepped into the bedroom and stood over the corpse. jje bent down and examined it. Round the throat and neck of the corpse, coiling again and again, was a chain of plaited hair, rheathed al regular intervals by narrow band? of gold. A stray beam from the afternoon sun touched the chain and It gleamed to dull rod wine. War it wine? Anyhow, it didn't mattei. CHAPTER VII Spreading the Net. FOR a minute or more Sorran remained kneeling over the corpse, his eyes glued to the necklace. He did not touch it. No good detective ever touches any of the objects connected with a crime until the photographers and the fin gcrprint experts have done their work. The photographers had already appeared and Sorran stood aside He rejoined Inspector Dolan. Together, To-gether, and accompanied by the two police detectives who had entered the room with hnu. they left tne suite to the photographers and the Bertillon experts. Swandleton. the mauager of the Ar-torbllt. stepped forward. Inspector Dolan cut sbort his anxious inquiries by a curt demand de-mand for a private room. As Swandleton Swan-dleton led the way the Inspector vouchsafed the Information tiiat tho Prinre was dead. Then, inviting Sorran to accompany accom-pany him, Inspector Dolan entered the private sitting room on the came floor placed at his disposal bj the management, and closed the door. For the moment he ignored Sorran Sor-ran and addressed his lieutenants. "You, Lester " he said to the first, "will concern yourself with all that took place fron the momeut when we left the Prince two nights ago to the moment of our entering the suite just now understand"" Perfectly. Inspector.'' replied Lester, and Immediately left the room. "Hall, I want you to follow up from the outside Go through this place with a tooth-comb You cau have sixty men for the hotel The greater part of them will be thiough with their job in a few hours and you can keep as many a you want the whole lot if you like to follow fol-low out anvthlng that turns up. "You will, of course, circularize all jewellers and brokers for the jewels together with tho customs authorities. Communicate with the Shipping Hoard and ask them to inspect in-spect all ships leaving the rouutry. Clear?" "Quite clear. Inspector." an Bred Hal', and departed like his colleague Inspector Dolan was now alon" with David Sorran. Each had made a unique imputation in the -a me orofesslon. but from different ancles. an-cles. Dolan hod risen through his genius for organization He approached ap-proached a problem In crime as a general aproaches a field of battle. On a big case he would work with a small army of detectives and plain clothes men. each of whom -vould have his allotted line of investigation in-vestigation worked out y desi ending end-ing lines of lieutenants and petty officers. Within an hour reports would come pouring in. which would be lifted, summarized and Hied by a staff of secretaries Before the case was a day old It would have its library li-brary of reference. Sorran on the other hand, was of the imaginative school of private detei lives He worked for the most part by himself, accepting the help of the police in such cases as th present one for the buck-work of shadowing and for such routine information in-formation as he might require. For a straightforward burelary or murder mur-der by an old hand crook. Sorran was comparatively ugelcss His woik began where that of the organized or-ganized police left off. "You can organize anything bin human na-t na-t ire." he onco told an interviewer. And no one knew better than Inspector In-spector Dolan at once the value and the limits of a perfect police organization. or-ganization. "It seems to me you've dealt out most of the work." Sorran said to Dolan "Do I g?t a look In anywhere?" any-where?" Tho Inspector looked doubtful. ' We are pretty certain to need you before long.'' he replied, "but I think you had better sit on 'he fence until we've cleared the ground a bit." "Hanged If I will.' said Soman to himself. It was not an appropriate appro-priate moment to explain to Inspector In-spector Dolan his own belief that the time to study a crime was before be-fore It was committed. It would be useless to add that ho had started investigations an hour be- sFrf- fore the Prince came Into the hotel. BBj "You ee.' continued the Inspector, Inspec-tor, "the first part of the pro- Era gramme w.ll be simple enough It fs obvious that that door was not LSl forced The Prince must bavn H he,, persuaded 'o open it Tho only means of communication with fljl hint was through the telephone bbsLb! and any cheap mechanic can tap ssjt!9 a telephone We shall soon find Efl out where the telephone was lapped and who tapped It ' Hlfl nd wha' was said over the bbbfI w ire, put In Sorran "That s BBBhI easy. There is only one possible Hl2 message lhat could have made that BBBBviii nervous Imbecile open the door.' HTIfl ' You mean 'Fire""' ' Exactly It is so childishly LVS simple, so certain to be effective BBBBifl that no one would bother to try LbjS any other way. The existence of pH thai telephone tendered all lhat Sa funny business with holts and steel Hfl walls so much tomfoolery.'' Bfl "But even then, you know.' ald the Inspector, "they'd got to get bbbH ;he jewels out three heav iron LbbjeZ boxes. And the Prince was talking iSBBBBH o Rawson a' a quarter to eleven Lsl :n the momint jB il- neie i ue iii"nn-in ou ;e, ,, irpi; t ifcSJJJB'BBJpW. -. Jra JOKU-.v v . it where the telephone Iff duced that the Prince was speak- He replaced the received and Sp ,ni1 h t j , lD turned to H,,v Marco. ..d whal was said over -he "No. sir, not yet." he heard the J an;- Mr. Mar, o. h , S(,n That's assistant manager sav. "It is only ?,d' e ask yon W easy There only one possible J until Hi-- Highness answers too ,. , ., , , a quarter to eleven, and I under- telephone. We have no other message lhat could hav made that stand that the appointment Is for means of communication With him M lmbac"S pn toe door" - ; ,,- :':-;. . - 5, j- ;. , on mean Fire " eleven O'clock. . . . Yes. sir. we wn..teer. m "ExmHk It Is ao childMiW "rr"11 w" "'the office and re S3 SetierS th?K W ' Mt even Mn v,,,, ,m, . aid come trom a good tailor thought 4" J ,b mn,rilnw Sorran. and thought of what the jfjrj A -.' ''fiS Easl Penna'o-.k police sergeant ' S0 bad told him about the reduced clr- C psS . . T'OV"-' rr'--- -' ' ' '-' -,-;V cumstances of her family Ho "- ' frrMRttsMBsra noted with approval that she no 'r -" ",'"r, HBSbK? Z- "rv longer wore the atrocious necklace. ' He approached her. wishing lo 1 ". mSSt have a word with her before she LEaLidtit 0 " HbbsbbT went out. But she gave him the r I BBBBBM most distant of nods and passed on x-SJttfy her way A ' Wf Sorran was disappointed. It was f gSSj tfi LW disappolntm HHKI ' J" Sorran rihj not answer and for a KHpv' -." V J''r' v '-' ,in)'"' Inspector VI" bHL'- JL. V . YWmRsf a jBKBBSr- ? $ Dula.u .uuttered to "-V , hIP r '' '-fc. ;. ?-' ' himself. The case was going to do V, -' BipBi ' ' , jfc,r ' "You L'-'tcr he said to the first. him no manner o1' good The i-w- JfflL"'- v--"will concern yourself with all that rk jtolen ami the man v bBBBbSb VL . ' JU&fc' " '''' r,Ii"'0 "'04 the momeut when entrusted into ,i,- keeping had been ZS&B& vwMBk ! T'.''J-- HHr: , . !"fl '"" ''"".. two night-, .ic i iinii.leied .. mjghi recover th '"' y own men They to the mom.-iu of our entering the Jewels and -.nest the murderer I i : -fc'- - JEE ". ; ' suit just now understand?" Hut he could not bring' the man to 31 .. rnose tni chests containing "Perfectly, Inspector,' replied life V 4 TBk. f vV'-.'-JwWFf''' I.l'v- ?Wela'h hZ. hoarsely. Lester and immediately left the Seen anything sticking out of RMS! t! v&&&? dmW?-y "Where are they?" To the two dc- room. this case so'far'" he kdnrin SK .-' -' - timSt'' ,teCU.VCS; ?k Under UlP b0d- "Hall. I want you to follow up 'Yes" replied Sortan ' The iR W A' " Wm iS man who bad been de- 1 5h2f..bat!lTthey mU8t 1)0 some from the outside Go through this murder' . ' . . laUed to shadow Miss Rosemary A haomenl lat it w- ,h,i ,Mv u Sfi ""'T on Q Do"n loked at him questioninglv. H I - a - -" Wilding had lost her at 4 o'clock ciearXt thJ tr- ISffSSt S SU??? h?eJi Th,C 1 ,hould tavb ,houch: ,hal K IB ' - ;i,:;,!;.rrn ;,;idhadbecaun.b,, tt &S " KR!?! S ' ious f.-a.nre of the lot. " be 1 -mW Sorran0 f,ned as he read the 0- rt' UB &TZLy ft ' nolo and Immediately wrote a re- murder The Prim e h dea.l ' The T.t Siw J ,,,,, , ' P' . 11 s,and9 out the one HHM , IM; , ,uest to inspector Dolan that a Jewhav, J Zrtr. S'TirrS The professional side of the ques- couple of men might be detailed safe contraption." all jewellers and broken or the I n m loP ' tlon was adequatel: safeguarded "V1: ' ' - u. the As ,,..,. ,. -r wuh ,l,.- customs If vou or . J t U,t 5 v Iho nloln.rtninSC r,, o n irhn v , c - 101 Dill tO lntOim lllm Hie mOmOtll the public fen ire Lhal WOllbl full anlh on: iec Pnirnnimloaia n-ilt fli.-. .- .u . ... . . X Ft I Sorran did not answer and for a lis lime there was silence. Inspector Dcia.'i Crowned and muttered to v: bimseif. The case was going to do kfl him no manner o' good The jew- japm els had been stolon and the man entrusted into ,1.: keeping had been murdered. He might recover the sffJt Jewels and arrest the murderer. Iti- Bill he could not bring the man to Stll life KKf 'Seen anything sticking out of bssR this case, so far" he asked Sorran. liHSt "Yes " replied Sorran. ' The sBl' Doran loked at him questloninglv. IHS I Should havla thought that the MH most obvious feftciire of the lot." he liLlfl "Obvious, certainly." agreed Sor- Iisbb! ran. "It stands out as the one LbbdbbbI slovenly, rotten piece of work in an kbR otherwise brilliant plan. Good BHl Lord, do j ou menu to tell me that EiJjB if you or I had been running that bbbbbB stunt we should bae found it ner BSBBaB esary to strangle the fellow? Why, HH your men will probably find that MiJ? quite s do;:eu persons in this hotel YE&tm had to be doped Why not bavn ffi doped ihe Prince' IMrto "You know as well as I do he added, "that a crook never kills if HIk " he can h'-lp i: I I ector Dolan aitfeed. and tiien --IB-''1 asked : flOv) Fhen ou think thai the murdtY t J was a motive itself, and the theft a ebbbbHI mere blind"'' LKa "That's going too far." said Sor- ibbHb inn "But I think the minder HSrS ought to be tackled separately." LbSIaI The Inspector nodded thought- HBra fully. RuNl 'There's a lot In that," he said LbHB "Strangulation was an odd wav of Hxl doing it. too. Did you notice the bKHI thing it was done with1?" BBBBSjM Sorran nodded. HIm "So't of hair chain, wasn't It 7" bbhWSI added the Inspector, and then, his BBBKia mind running otT at s seeming tan- fi3 gent: BlBBU'aH 'What about that woman of BBBBHwl Sorran ?m ld In a manner that BBBBHnBBl would have irritated the other had they not understood each other ner- SBBBH iH "You're getting warm. Inspector." bbbbbEm? he vaid "Bul if you get too warm BBBBSa!J you will jigger up that part of the (-"flpNl "I am not going to get too warm." AVbbbbb was the petulan' answer. "Why RsBn can't vou ui) irhal ou want In H plain Fngllsii? 1 k." Sorran pondered his answer. He BBBBnw knew yer3 clearly what he wanted) bbbbbH but doubted the wisdom of explain- sHhI Ing It to the official bead of the sKl V.i "leave the woman to me." it bbvK2 was a request. "Keep your men off bbbbvoY her unless I ak for them " BBBBKa "Right, ho? ' said the Inspector. BS secure in the knowledge tbat if LbbkIS BOrran m?de a mess of it no one BBHBfl else was likely to ucceed BBBBfl ' an arose from his chair bbbbrBbbb I will see you again when either BBBrwl or us has anything to talk about." LbVtS he ald BBMll ife left tho room without telling BBBTfir this Inspector where be had prevl- iBii ously seen the chain of hair tbat K$i h "d choked out the life of Princo BW'iftT Mpak o( iiratia. bbI"'!'" To Be Continued Net Sunday. M Intomat onal F ' - Srrrr. Graal Hntojn Ricbts It'-'""1 H bbbbW . m bbbbbbbH |