, of course, nothing can
remove the wet blanket which has fallen over us all,--nothing but the
finding of this jewel. Do you see your way to accomplishing this? We
are, from this very moment, at your disposal; only I pray that you will
make no more disturbance than is necessary, and, if possible, arouse no
suspicions you can not back up by facts. I dread a scandal almost as
much as I do sickness and death, and these young people--well, their
lives are all before them, and neither Mrs. Burton nor myself would wish
to throw the shadow of a false suspicion over the least of them."

I assured her that I sympathized with her scruples and would do my best
to recover the ruby without inflicting undue annoyance upon the
innocent. Then I inquired whether it was known that a detective had been
called in. She seemed to think it was suspected by some, if not by all.
At which my way seemed a trifle complicated.

We were about to proceed when another thought struck me.

"Madam, you have not said whether the carriage itself was searched."

"I forgot. Yes, the carriage was thoroughly overhauled, and before the
coachman left the box."

"Who did this overhauling?"

"My son. He would not trust any other hand than his own in a business of
this kind."

"One more question, madam. Was any one seen to approach Mr. Deane on the
carriage-drive prior to his assertion that the jewel was lost?"

"No. _And there were no tracks in the snow of any such person._ My son
looked."

And I would look, or so I decided within myself, but I said nothing; and
in silence we proceeded toward the drawing-room.

I had left my overcoat behind me, and always being well-dressed, I did
not present so bad an appearance. Still I was not in party attire and
naturally could not pass for a guest if I had wanted to, which I did
not. I felt that I must rely on insight in this case and on a certain
power I had always possessed of reading faces. That the case called for
just this species of intuition I was positive. Mrs. Burton's ruby was
within a hundred yards of us at this very moment, probably within a
hundred feet; but to lay hands on it and without scandal--well, that was
a problem calculated to rouse the interest of even an old police-officer
like myself.

A strain of music, desultory, however, and spiritless, like everything
else about the place that night, greeted us as Mrs. Ashley opened the
door leading directly into the large front hall.

Immediately a