«The great ruby robbery

Загрузить книгу на мобильный телефон.

He won't attempt to defend it; indeed, with such evidence, I
think he's doing what's best and wisest."

Persis stood there, all dazed. "I — I don't understand," she cried, with a
swimming brain. "Who on earth are you talking about?"

The inspector pointed mutely with one hand at Gregory; and then for the first
time Persis saw he was guarded. She clapped her hand to her head. In a moment it
all broke in upon her. When she had called in the police, the rubies had never
been stolen at all. It was Gregory who stole them!

She understood it now, at once. The real facts came back to her. She had taken
her necklet off at night, laid it carelessly down on the dressing - table (too
full of Sir Justin), covered it accidentally with her lace pocket-handkerchief,
and straightway forgotten all about it. Next day she missed it, and jumped at
conclusions. When Gregory came, he spied the rubies askance under the corner of
the handkerchief — of course, being a woman, she had naturally looked everywhere
except in the place where she had laid them — and knowing it was a safe case he
had quietly pocketed them before her very eyes, all unsuspected. He felt sure
nobody could accuse him of a robbery which was committed before he came, and
which he had himself been called in to investigate.

"The worst of it is," the inspector went on, "he had woven a very ingenious case
against Sir Justin O'Byrne, whom we were on the very point of arresting today,
if this young woman hadn't come in at the eleventh hour, in the very nick of
time, and earned the reward by giving us the clue that led to the discovery and
recovery of the jewels. They were brought over this morning by an Amsterdam
detective."

Persis looked hard at Bertha. Bertha answered her look. "My young man was the
postman, miss," she explained, quite simply; "and after what my lady said, I put
him up to watch Mr. Gregory's delivery for a letter from Amsterdam. I'd
suspected him from the very first; and when the letter came, we had him arrested
at once, and found out from it who were the people at Amsterdam who had the
rubies."

Persis gasped with astonishment. Her brain was reeling. But Gregory in the
background put in one last word —
"Well, I was right, after all," he said, with professional pride. "I told you
the very last person you'd dream of suspecting was sure to be the one that
actually did it."

Lady O'Byrne's rubies were very much admired at Monte Carlo last season. Mr.
Gregory has found permanent employment for the next seven years at Her Majesty's
quarries on the Isle of Portland. Bertha and her postman have retired to Canada
with five hundred pounds to buy a farm. And everybody says Sir Justin O'Byrne
has beaten the record, after all, even for Irish baronets, by making a marriage
at once of money and affection.

(End.)