E. Phillips Oppenheim

“ She wasted no time upon pets. Men were her one and everlasting hobby.
We were staying at the Magnificent Hotel at Brighton when the idea which I have mentioned, of robbing my mistress, first took definite shape in my mind. I should have bided my time, I think, but for two reasons. One was that the salary which she paid me was absurdly small and I saw no chance of saving anything, and the other was the very imminent fear of being anticipated. Mrs. Trumperton-Smith was not always so discreet as she should have been in her acquaintances. ”

“ He made languid attempts to kiss me whenever he found me alone in the sitting-room, attempts which I always managed to evade without exaggerated prudery, and without thinking it necessary to refuse the frequent tips which his position as my mistress' declared admirer seemed to render my due.
I knew exactly what he was after, though. I had seen his covetous eyes light up when my mistress had more than usually overladen her portly person with some of the magnificent jewels in which a portion of her large means was invested. ”

“ I contrived to leave open the connecting door between the bedroom and the sitting-room, and to be in the former when they returned for their coffee. Madam had come in for her cloak, and they were on the point of starting out again, when her escort at last gave me the cue for which I had been waiting.
“I say, Mimi,” he drawled—he called her 'Mimi' although she weighed fourteen stone, “I don't feel comfortable walking along the front with you in those diamonds. Leave them behind, there's a dear. All those women at the Royal wear flashy jewelry. ”

“ Poverty is a hard mistress. When you met me in Bond Street some months ago, and I lunched with you, I was engaged at a dressmaker's establishment. Then my husband sent for me to go to Paris. You know very well what happened to us there. I returned to London worse off than when I had left it. I lost my situation. Then I became a manicurist. I stood that for about three weeks. I had nine shillings in my purse when I saw Mrs. Trumperton-Smith's advertisement. ”

“ Anyway, the night-watchman, who is a very respectable fellow, is prepared to swear that he saw Sidney Bloor reënter the suite, even though his idea of the time seems to be out Assuming that the theft took place then, though, the motive for the murder becomes obscure.”
“And Mr. Bloor's own story?”
“He came a terrible cropper, sir,” Johnson declared, a little triumphantly. “He at first stated that he only left the bridge-table when he cut out, to get some fresh air—that he leaned over the wall of the promenade, looking at the sea, the whole of the time. ”

“ He hesitated, closed the door and came back again.
“I should imagine,” he said, looking at me attentively, “that you are a trusted servant.”
“I was engaged as companion-lady's-maid, sir,” I told him. “I believe that my mistress has every confidence in me.”
He nodded.
“To tell you the truth,” he explained, “I am a little worried about your mistress' jewels. There was a small robbery last night at a hotel in the neighborhood, and I have had an indirect sort of warning from the police that there are thieves about. Mrs. Trumperton-Smith has the reputation of being very careless. ”

“ I showed him the case, although I said nothing of the diamonds in the drawer. He frowned severely.
“It is placing temptation in people's way,” he declared.
“The door of the bedroom is always locked,” I reminded him, “and you have a night-watchman. Then, too, we are on the fourth story—”
“My dear young woman,” he interrupted irritably, “those things are nothing to an experienced thief. The hotel safe is the only place for such jewelry as Mrs. Trumperton-Smith possesses. ”

“ His antecedents are bad, his attentions to a woman nearly twenty years his senior are difficult to explain on any other basis except that of self-advantage. He escorted her round to the Royal Hotel to play bridge, cut out during the evening, came back to this hotel, and was seen by the fireman, who acts as night-watchman, to enter Mrs. Trumperton-Smith's suite. The presumption is, of course that he stole the jewels then, left the hotel with them in his pocket and passed them on to a confederate. ”

“ You'll look much more the real thing with none on at all.”
“Just as you like, dear,” she assented meekly. “Perhaps you're right, especially if we go on to supper afterward. Here, Janet!”
I hurried out.
“Yes, madam?”
“Take these off—all of them,” she directed, extending her arms and poising her neck. “I am going out and may be late.”
I relieved her of the jewels. All the time Mr. Bloor was watching with a gleam in his eyes. ”

“ I had seen him make mental calculations as to their value with a greedy, almost ferocious light in his unpleasant eyes. There was a particular diamond necklace which seemed to move him more than any other of her possessions. ”

“ He refused, however, on the ground that he had a case of wine in the van, which he was taking back to a wine-merchant. I made a few calls, dined at my club, and traveled back again to Brighton by the late train. I met Rimmington; in the hall of the hotel and we strolled jato the manager's office. Mr. Léon Grant, looking more tired than ever after his long day in town, was speaking passionately into the telephone.
“It is absurd,” he declared as we came in. “I spoke from the number I am asking for, several times this afternoon. The telephone is in perfect order.” ”

“ I told him. “On the other hand, Bloor may have already disposed of the diamonds. Again, they may have been mislaid and will be brought in for the reward.”
“What first of all made you think of Grant?” Rimmington asked a little later, as he was preparing to take his leave.
“A very slight thing,” I answered. “The woman was strangled, as you know, although the finger-marks were undistinguishable. There was a scratch upon her throat, and a few drops of blood, evidently caused by the fingernail of the murderer. Now, Sidney Bloor's finger-nails are bitten almost to the quick. ”

“ Léon Grant, the manager of the hotel, who was on his way up to confer once more with the directors. It was obvious that he had taken the tragedy very much to heart. He showed me a cable from Mrs. Trumperton-Smith's son, who was on his way back from Egypt. It ran as: follows:
Greatly shocked. Arrive 17th. Hope police will discover criminal. Believe jewels principal part mother's estate. Offer reward immediately for return anyone not connected crime. ”