Arthur Sherburne Hardy

“ It is well known that there exist people who willingly sacrifice the diamonds of others to meet their own obligations. I pass over that point, which is a delicate one, for another even more so. For I admit that I know that beside Madame de Caraman's bed,—on the left as you face it, Monsieur Joly,—there is in the wall an iron safe? ”

“ In one of those dreams a woman takes the night-lamp from her table, descends the stairs to the closet in the vestibule, wraps about her shoulders the cloak which she finds there, and enters the salon. She even opens the window and passes out into the park. For Monsieur de Wimpffen from his balcony sees the light of her lamp crossing the terrace, and on the hem of her cloak, which on her return she drops on the floor of the salon, are found some of those pine-needles with which the pines I see below the terrace strew the ground—"
"Monsieur!" gasped Madame de Caraman. ”

“ Personally I much prefer this heirloom to anything so banal as a collar of diamonds—a point, you observe, in my favor. But enough of myself. Let us pass to Madame de Caraman. Obviously she is above suspicion. For why should a woman steal her own diamonds? But why does a woman do anything? Who knows, perhaps Madame de Caraman, like many worthy persons, has made the acquaintance of Shylock on the Rialto of Paris. There is another possibility. The diamonds are not stolen, but lost. ”

“ In the letter that Madame de Wimpffen wrote that evening to the Countess Anne occurred this sentence:—
"We were feeding, Raoul and I, the carp in the pond, when we saw Célimène and the inspector—that same Monsieur Joly who came to Freyr to arrest your gardener—descending the steps of the terrace. They traversed the pines to that inclosure which Célimène calls the sub rosa, a spot carpeted with myrtles and hedged with box and ilexes. In its green niches are statues, at one extremity marble seats, and at the other a fountain from which water is constantly falling into a shell of marble. ”

“ A few days ago we were all sitting in this retreat, when Monsieur de Sade began descanting in the manner which you know. 'It is a violation of every principle of good taste,' he said, 'to people our gardens with these naked statues. The man who originated this barbarous custom should be stripped and subjected to the same punishment. By what canon of art do we expose these charming creatures to the inclemency of the weather! ”

“ From Paul, the butler, a little man prodigal of smiles and bows, he learned that Madame de Caraman and her cousin, Madame de Wimpffen, having dined in Paris at General Texier's, had returned at midnight; that on their return they had retired at once, while Captain de Wimpffen and M. de Sade had passed an hour at billiards before going to their rooms at one o'clock; that he, Paul, had thereupon closed the house as usual, and on the following morning, when making his customary round, had found the windows and doors securely fastened as he had left them the previous evening ”

“ There is none." Madame de Caraman became attentive. "There is the hypothesis of an accomplice who admits him. But for a thief who steals a collar of diamonds, to leave behind him still greater booty, is unusual, whether this thief enters by force or is admitted by an accomplice." ”

“ She grows younger every hour."
"Monsieur de Sade!"
So the lady in white was not Madame de Caraman, and the waxed mustache did not belong to her husband. M. Joly revised his catalogue.
"Oh, no, Monsieur Joly, believe me, you have lost nothing. On the contrary, let me explain to you." M. de Sade selected carefully a cigarette from a silver case and tapped it lightly on the table. "Every investigation of this nature naturally proceeds logically from a basis of facts. You expect to obtain these facts from Madame de Caraman, since it is she who has lost this precious collar of diamonds. ”

“ A sharp edge like this might easily penetrate the thin sole of a lady's shoe," observed M. Joly, taking the fragment from Paul's fat hand. "It appears to belong to a globe that has been broken."
"Monsieur is quite right. Madame has on her table de nuit a night-lamp with a globe of blue glass. Jacqueline was arranging the flowers brought by the gardener when I was putting the salon in order yesterday morning. ”