emises. It was at least certain that exit had been made easy for the
thieves.

"You spent this fifteen minutes, after the flight of the thieves by way of
the front door, in your father's room, I take it?" asked Ned.

"Yes; when the thieves ducked out of the front door I found a maid
fainting in the corridor running along back of the parlor to Dad's room,
the place where he does his work while in the house. She flopped over when
I spoke to her and pointed to Dad's room. There I found him lying on the
couch, drugged with chloroform."

"They placed him on the couch, did they?"

"Oh, no, sir, the thieves didn't take that trouble. Pedro was there before
I entered the room, and it was he that did that. He had 'phoned for the
doctor, too, before I got into the room."

"He was chasing the thieves?" asked Ned.

"Why, yes. He was just ahead of me at the front door."

"Then how did he get back and do so much before you reached the study?"

"I opened the front door and looked out for a couple of minutes," was the
reply. "I was rattled, of course, and don't know how long I stood there,
but I remember seeing two men running down the street. If I had known then
that they had my emerald necklace, I'd have chased them and roared until
the police came up and stopped them."

"Then you came right in?"

"Yes; right to the corridor where I found the maid lying on the floor."

"And you remained with your father until the doctor came, and then went
back to your room? It was then that you discovered the loss of the emerald
necklace?"

"Yes, I missed it when I came back."

"You saw only two intruders?" asked Ned.

"There were only two."

"And these two ran down the staircase just ahead of you?"

"Yes; they went down in about one leap."

"Now, was the necklace in the safe when you went to it?"

"I am certain that it was."

"You saw it there?"

"I saw the case in which it was enclosed."

"And the case was gone when you returned?"

"Yes; oh, the necklace was taken from the safe during my absence, all
right."

"Yet the two men were ahead of you, and went out of the street door before
you reached the lower landing?"

Frank's face showed that the idea presented by Nestor was new to him. He
had never considered that feature of the case. In fact, he had been so
excited that he had not thought logically of the circumstances surrounding
the theft.

"Well," he said, "I reckon I need a hired man to do my thinking for me.
Why