| Show JONES 4 D MS 0 mr A V 11 E jones average jones jonea T his friends called him was tired tiled of s spending pending his dead uncles millions in ne new w york and doing nothing more and craved to take part in the dynamic activities of life j at the suggest suggestion decent on of the owner of an ims and decent newspaper lie he opened offices in astor court and went in for tol fol lowing up queer advertisements and tracing down fraudulent advertisers there were few places average A jones held where human nature in the rough can be studied to better ad 14 vantage than in the stifling tunnels of the subway or the tha close packed sardine boxes of the metropolitan sur face lines it was in pursuance of this f theory that he encountered the westy erner on a third avenue car by cus torn tom average jones picked out the A most interesting or unusual human be ing in n any assembly where he found JT himself for study and analysis this man was peculiar in that he alone was i not perspiring in the tha sodden august humidity the clear browned skin and the rangy strength of the figure gave i him a cottain distinction he held in his sinewy hands a doubly folded newspaper presently it slipped from p his hold bold to the seat beside him he 1 stared at the window opposite with harassed and unseeing eyes abrupt ly he rose and went out on the plat form average jones picked up the paper pape in the middle of the column to which it was folded was a marked fe advertisement ARE YOU IN AN embarrassing PU botlon anything anywhere any time regardless of nature or location every blodys friend consultation at all hours suite owl building brooklyn the car was nearing brooklyn bridge average jones saw his man drop lightly off he ha followed and at the bridge entrance caught him up youve left your paper said he tho the stranger et ranger whirled quickly right he said thanks perhaps you ran can tell me where the owl building Is 1 I consult with every blodys friend over in the owl building e why 11 er because er it if I 1 may speak plainly drawled average jones 1 I t risk a womans comans namo name with a gang of blackmailers youve got your ner nerve ve 11 retorted the stranger the keen eyes flattening almost to slits silts fixed on the impassive face of the other well ill go you he decided after a moment his glance swept the range of 0 vision and settled upon a sign come over there where we can talk they crossed the grilling roadway and being wise in the heat ordered soft drinks now said the stranger youve declared declai ed in on my game make good your interest none personally I 1 like your looks all replied the other frankly and I 1 dont like to see you run into you know them twice in the last year ive made em change their place of business but you dont know me and you spoke ot of a woman ive been studying you on the car explained average jones youre hard as nails yet your nerves are on edge on your watch chain youve got a solitaire diamond ring until you can find a place to put it its a fair inference that theres been an obstruction rac in the course couise of true love unless jm im mistaken you being a stranger newly come to town were going to take your case to those man eating sharks at a venture id say you were mining man from down around the ray kelvin copper district in arizona that peculiar translucent copper silicate in your scarf pin comes from those mines 1 the blue fire I 1 wish it had stayed there all ot of it anything else yes returned average jones warming to the game youre an eastern college man I 1 think from your phi beta kappa key hamilton 89 name kirby A gleam ot of pleasure appeared in average jones keen eyes 4 rather a coincidence lie he said two ot of ua from tho the old goldhill hill im jones joneson ot 04 had a cousin in your class carl van they plunged into the intimate corn com of interest which to la the peculiar her heritage liage and asset of the small close knit old college presently however lever kirbys kirbas forehead wrinkled again he sat bat silent comment communing n g with himself at length he lifted his head like one who has taken a resolution you made a good gu guess guessaz essat at a in tho the case he said and you fiall call this a coincidence shed say it awas was a case of intuition ashes very bistrong ngon on intuition and superstition generally there was a mixture of tenderness and bitterness in his tone chance brought that advertisement to her eyes yes A babp hatpin jn afi shed ed dropped stuck through it or something of the sort enough for her nothing would do but that I 1 should chase over to see the owl building bunch at that maybe her hunch was right its brought me up against you perhaps you can help me what are you A sort of detective only on the side aide average jones drew a card from his pocket and tendered it A JONES 8 addison AD VISOn JONE advice upon all matters connected with advertising astor court temple 2 to 6 5 P 1 M I advisor ad visor eh repeated the other well ivell theres going to bo an advertisement ti in the evening truth today by me heros a proof of it average jones took the slip and read it LOST NECKLACE ACE OF CURIOUS BLUE stones from hotel denton night ot of august 6 reward greater than value val e of 0 i stones for or return to hotel no questions asked reward greater than value of stones commented average jones theres a sentimental interest then will you take the case returned kirby abruptly at least ill look into it replied average jones across a luncheon table at the quiet old fashioned hotel denton kirby unburdened himself you know all necessary about me the the other party in the matter is mrs hale ashes a young widow weve been engaged for six months vere were to be married in a fortnight now she insists on a postponement where I 1 want your help average jones moved uneasily in his chair really mr kirby lovers quarrels arent in my line theres been no quarrel its only her superstition caused this trouble one cant blame her her father and mother were both killed in an accident after some sort of ghostly warning the first thing I 1 gave her after our engagement was a necklace of these stones lie he tapped his that id selected one by one myself beautiful as 29 you see but not particularly valuable only semiprecious semi precious the devil of it Is that the subject of an indian legend the indians and mexicans call them blue fires and say they have the power to bind and loose in love edna has been out in that country and she fairly soaked in all that nonsense to make it worse when I 1 sent them to her I 1 wrote that that P a dull red surged up under the tan skin that as long as the fire in the stones burned blue for her my heart would be all hers now the necklace Is gone you can imagine the effect on a woman of that tempera feht and you can see the result he pointed with a face of misery to the solitaire on his watch chain details said average jones crisply ashes here at this hotel has a small suite on the third floor came down from her home in central new york to meet my mother whom she had never seen mothers here too on the same floor night before last mrs airs hale thought she heard a noise in her outer room she made a look see but found nothing in the morning when she got up about ten ashes a late riser the necklace was gone from the stand in her sitting room anything else taken the strange part of it her purse with over a hundred dollars in it which lay under the necklace touched any other thefts in the hotel not that I 1 can discover but one of the guests on the same floor with mrs hale saw a fellow acting queerly that same night there he sits yonder at that table ill ask him to come over the guest an elderly man already interested in the case was willing enough to tell all he be knew 1 I was awakened by some one fumbling at my door and making a clinking noise he explained 1 I opened my door A man was fussing at the keyhole of the room opposite he was very clumsy I 1 said Is 19 that your room ho he oven even look at me in a moment he started down don tho the hallway he walked very fast and I 1 could hear him muttering to himself he seemed to be carrying something in front of him with both hands it was his keys I 1 suppose anyway I 1 could hear bear it clink at the end of the hall he stopped turned to the door at the left and fumbled at the keyhole tor for quite a while I 1 could hear his keys clink again this time I 1 suppose he be had the right room for he unlocked tt it and went in I 1 listened for fifteen or twenty minutes there was nothing further average jones looked at kirby with lifted brows of inquiry kirby nodded indicating that the end room was mrs airs hales how was the man dressed asked average jones grayish dressing gown and bed slippers he was tall and had gray hair many thanks now mr air kirby will you take me to see mrs hale the young widow received them in her sitting room she was of the slender big eyed sensitive type of womanhood her piquant face marred by the evidences of sleeplessness and tears to average jones she gave her confidence at once people usually did 1 I felt sure the advertisement would bring us help she said wistfully now I 1 feel surer than byer ever faith helps the worst case said the young man smiling mr me kirby tells me that the intruder awakened you yes and im a very heavy sleeper still I 1 cant say positively that anything definite roused me it was rather an impression of so being about I 1 came out of my bedroom and looked around around the outer room but there was ilo bouy there here you ill think k to look for th the necklace no she said with a little gasp if I 1 only hadl had and er you dian didn t happen capien to hear any clinking noise e did you 1 no are you sure your door was locked certain As soon as I 1 missed the necklace I 1 looked at the catch sometimes these locks dont work slipping the catch back average jones pressed the lover lever down there was a click but the ward failed to slip at the second attempt the lock worked but repeated trials proved that more than halt the time the door doof did hot lock so observed average jones jonea 1 I think wo wo may dismiss the key theory As he spoke average jones disappeared through the window when he returned after five minutes he held in his hand some scrapings of the rusted iron which formed the balcony railing youre a mining man mr kirby karby he said would you say that assayed anything 0 kirby examined the glinting particles gold he said decisively ali ah then the necklace i 2 rubbed with some violence aga against the railing now mrs airs hale how long were you awake ten or fifteen minutes I 1 remember that a continuous rattling of wagons below kept up tor for a little while and I 1 heard one of the drivers call out something about taking the air er really average jones became suddenly absorbed in his seal ring he turned it around five accurate times and turned it back an equal number of revolutions did he be heer er get any answer not that I 1 heard the young man pondered then drew a chair up to mrs halos hales escritoire yop yep did you seo see him go in nope heres your twenty said average jones youre long on sense and short on words I 1 wish there were more like you thanks thanks again said the teamster and went out meantime kirby had sent his list hat of the guests who had bad given up their rooms on august 7 armed with the list average jones went to the hotel donton denton and spent a busy morning ive had a little talk with the hotel servants said he to kirby when the latter called to make inquiries mr air henry al gillespie of locke N Y had room its on the same floor with mrs airs hales suite at the farther end of the hall he had only one piece of luggage a suitcase marked 11 M G 7 I 1 4 V V af 6 70 V na V 1171 k 1 14 y guy on the third floor balcony and with an abrupt excuse me helped himself to pen ink and paper therel there 1 he said after five minutes work do for a starter you see lie he added handing the prod act of his toll to mrs airs hale this street happens to be a regular cross town route for milk vans hence this mrs hale read MILK MILIC DRIVERS ATTENTION dl delaware delt L central mid town route who t talked to man outside hotel early morning of august I 1 twenty dollars to right nian man apply personally to jones advisor ad visor astor court temple new york for the coming issue of the milk dealers journal explained its author now sir air kirby I 1 want you to find out for me mrs hale can help you since she has known the hotel people for years the names of all those who gave up rooms on this floor or the floors above or below yesterday mor morning nigg and ask whether they are known to the hotel people you think the thief Is still inthe hotel cried mrs hale average jones shook his head he was still shaking his bis head when he left the hotel it took three days for the milk jour nal advertisement to work on the afternoon of august 10 a lank husky voiced teamster called at the office ot of the advisor ad visor and was passed in ahead of the waiting line im after that twenty he declared earn it said average jones with equal brevity hotel denton guy on the third floor balcony right sc far Leau deanin Le anin ln on the rail as it if he was sick I 1 give him a hello a nip of night air bill I 1 says saya he say bothin noth ln did ho he do anything kinder tanned fanned himself an jerked his head back over his shoulder deanin etwas too hotto hot to sleep inside I 1 reckon it sure was waa hotl hot fanned hime himself elf how like Lik ethis this the visitor raised his hands awkwardly cupped them and drew them his face ace er ei with both ha banda rids that information 1 got from the porter he left his room in perfect order except for one thing one of the knobs on the headboard of the old fashioned bed was broken off short ile he mention the matter to the hotel people what do you make of that it was a stout knob only a considerable sid erable effort of strength exerted in a al peculiar pecullar way would have broken it as it was broken there was something unusual going on in room all right then you think henry M gillespie of locke N Y Is our man no said average jones the westerners square jaw fell why not because theres no such person as henry M 11 gillespie of locke N Y ive just sent there and found out three stones of the fire blue necklace returned on the current of advertised appeal one was brought in by the night bartender of a sporting club he had bought it from a man who had picked it up in a gutter just where the finder remember for the second a south brooklyn pawnbroker demanded and received an exorbitant reward A florist in greenwich conn contributed the last with that patient attention to detail which Is the A B C of detective work average jones traced down these apparently incongruous wanderings of the stones and then followed them all back to mrs hales fire escape the bartenders stone offered no difficulties the setting which the pawnbroker brought in had been found on the city refuse heap by a scavenger it had fallen through a grating into the hotel collar cellar and had been swept out with the rubbish to go to the municipal dump the apparent mystery of the florist was lucid when jones T on es found that the hotel exchanged its shopworn shop worn plants with the greenwich floral company his roaming eye keen for every detail had noticed a row of dubbed azaleas within the ground inclosure of the denton thus it was apparent that the three jewels had been stripped from the necklace by forcible contact with the iron rail of the fire escape at the point where average jones had found the color of precious metal the stones were identified by kirby from a peculiarity in the setting as the end three nearest the clasp at the back a point which jones carefully noted but there the trail ended no more fire blue stones came in for three weeks average jones issued advertisements like commands the advertisements would perhaps have struck the formal |
