the parlourmaid room together. The
cook, who knew me when I was a schoolboy, sleeps alone; all three
servants sleep on the floor above. I locked the jewels up in the safe
which stands in the dressing-room. My keys and watch I placed, as usual,
beside my bed. As a rule, I am a fairly light sleeper.

"'I cannot understand how it could have happened--but--you had better
come up and have a look at the safe. The key must have been abstracted
from my bedside, the safe opened, and the keys replaced--all while I was
fast asleep. Though I had no occasion to look into the safe until just
now, I should have discovered my loss before going to business, for I
intended to take the diamonds away with me--'

"The detective and the inspector went up to have a look at the safe. The
lock had in no way been tampered with--it had been opened with its own
key. The detective spoke of chloroform, but Mr. Shipman declared that
when he woke in the morning at about half-past seven there was no smell
of chloroform in the room. However, the proceedings of the daring thief
certainly pointed to the use of an anaesthetic. An examination of the
premises brought to light the fact that the burglar had, as in Mr.
Knopf's house, used the glass-panelled door from the garden as a means
of entrance, but in this instance he had carefully cut out the pane of
glass with a diamond, slipped the bolts, turned the key, and walked in.

"'Which among your servants knew that you had the diamonds in your house
last night, Mr. Shipman?' asked the detective.

"'Not one, I should say,' replied the jeweller, 'though, perhaps, the
parlourmaid, whilst waiting at table, may have heard me and Mr. Knopf
discussing our bargain.'

"'Would you object to my searching all your servants' boxes?'

"'Certainly not. They would not object, either, I am sure. They are
perfectly honest.'

"The searching of servants' belongings is invariably a useless
proceeding," added the man in the corner, with a shrug of the shoulders.
"No one, not even a latter-day domestic, would be fool enough to keep
stolen property in the house. However, the usual farce was gone through,
with more or less protest on the part of Mr. Shipman's servants, and
with the usual result.

"The jeweller could give no further information; the detective and
inspector, to do them justice, did their work of investigation minutely
and, what is more, intelligently. It seemed evident, from their
deductions, that the burglar