e murder
case in back numbers of the Age in the newspaper annex of the Public
Library. He had to read a great deal of superfluous matter, and of many
idle schemes and excursions on the part of the police before he came upon
an illuminating little item in the shape of a casual hit of testimony
from a friend of the dead man. The friend explained that the diamond
dealer always carried in a small leather bag in his breast pocket a fine
assortment of paste brilliants, with the deliberate intention of
deceiving thieves who might attack him at any time. His idea was that the
thieves would seize this case and make off without prosecuting a further
search. But the murderer, whoever he was, was not content with the false
stones; he had secured L5,000 worth of pure diamonds!

The story of the paste jewels was not repeated, and nobody seemed to have
found any significance in it. At this late hour Nicholas Crips discovered
so much meaning in it that he went out into the wide Domain to be alone
among the trees to think it over. His thoughts came back always to the
crucial point.

"I got the paste brilliants," he muttered. "She got the real diamonds.
She had them about her when I entered. She knew of the carbons, and she
stalled me off with them. Lord, what a mug I was!"

Even in his great bitterness of spirit Nicholas could not help admiring
the woman who had so completely sold him, and raising his hand in a mock
salute, he said aloud:

"Mary Queen of Scots You're a DAISY!!"

From Prince's Bridge that night Mr. Crips emptied a small bag of
glittering mock diamonds into the river, and, two days later, he looked
over the rail of an out going steamer, watching Australia receding in the
distance, and, to his fertile imagination, the outline on the horizon
took the shape of a gallows with a pendant noose.

THE END

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