e a collection would be foolish enough to take it to a
pawnbroker. Of course, the police say that they thought the thief
would dismantle the cluster, and sell the gems separately. As to this
necklace of emeralds, possessing as it does an historical value which
is probably in excess of its intrinsic worth, what more natural than
that the holder of it should open negotiations with its rightful
owner, and thus make more money by quietly restoring it than by its
dismemberment and sale piecemeal? But such a fuss was kicked up, such
a furore created, that it is no wonder the receiver of the goods lay
low, and said nothing. In vain were all ports giving access to the
Continent watched; in vain were the police of France, Belgium, and
Holland warned to look out for this treasure. Two valuable months were
lost, and then the Marquis of Blair sent for me! I maintain that the
case was hopeless from the moment I took it up.

It may be asked why the Marquis of Blair allowed the regular police to
blunder along for two precious months, but anyone who is acquainted
with that nobleman will not wonder that he clung so long to a forlorn
hope. Very few members of the House of Peers are richer than Lord
Blair, and still fewer more penurious. He maintained that, as he paid
his taxes, he was entitled to protection from theft; that it was the
duty of the Government to restore the gems, and if this proved
impossible, to make compensation for them. This theory is not
acceptable in the English Courts, and while Scotland Yard did all it
could during those two months, what but failure was to be expected
from its limited mental equipment?

When I arrived at the Manor of Blair, as his lordship's very ugly and
somewhat modern mansion house is termed, I was instantly admitted to
his presence. I had been summoned from London by a letter in his
lordship's own hand, on which the postage was not paid. It was late in
the afternoon when I arrived, and our first conference was what might
be termed futile. It was take up entirely with haggling about terms,
the marquis endeavouring to beat down the price of my services to a
sum so insignificant that it would barely have paid my expenses from
London to Blair and back. Such bargaining is intensely distasteful to
me. When the marquis found all his offers declined with a politeness
which left no opening for anger on his part, he endeavoured to induce
me to take up the case on a commission contingent upon my recovery