covered three
remarkable ones in this case.

"Sitting alone in my room, I reflected thus:

"Take it for granted that this robbery was perpetrated by the Diamond
Coterie, what are the facts?

"The robbers knew where to enter, and where to look for plunder; _ergo_,
they must have known the premises.

"They administered the deadly chloroform with nicest calculation;
_ergo_, they must have known Miss Wardour.

"One of them was something of a dandy,--witness the superfine bit of
cambric, and the print of jaunty boots where he leaped the garden fence.

"The next morning I took unceremonious leave of my host, and set out on
my explorations. As I approached Wardour Place I met a man, who
immediately drew my interest to himself.

"This man was Jerry Belknap. He wore a disguise quite familiar to me,
and I recognized him easily. He entered at the Wardour gate, and I
sauntered on, having found new food for thought.

"Now, a word concerning this man Belknap.

"At one time he was an honorable member of the best detective force in
the city; but he had too much cupidity, and not enough moral firmness.
Twice he allowed himself to be bribed into letting a case fall through,
and finally I caught him in secret conclave with a gang of bank
burglars, who were conspiring to raise a fortune for each, and escape
with their booty through the connivance of our false detective.

"I exploded this little scheme, and compelled Belknap to withdraw from
the force. Imagine my surprise when, a little later, Miss Wardour told
me that _Mr. Belknap_ was the detective sent down from the city by Mr.
Lamotte!

"Well, Mr. Belknap went to work upon the case, and Miss Wardour
concealed me near her dining room so that I might have the pleasure of
listening to his first report.

"That was a fortunate ambush for me. Mr. Belknap's deductions were as
diametrically opposite to mine as if he had purposely studied out the
contrast; and I was shaking my sides with the thought of how all this
plausibility must be puzzling Miss Wardour and her aunt, when a new
element was introduced into the programme.

"Mr. Frank Lamotte, fresh from an amateur robber hunt, came into the
room. It had been arranged that Mrs. Aliston should break to this young
man the news that his sister had that day eloped with John Burrill; but
first, he was to relate his adventures, and this he did.

"If I can hear a voice, before seeing the face, I can usually measure
its truth or falsi