L. T. Meade and Robert Eustace

“ I am firmly convinced that someone has been tampering with the safe; and now before I go I want to ask you one more question. Would it be possible for anyone to open such a lock and to close it again, provided he had the key, at a time for which it was not set, and yet to leave it in such a condition that would make it impossible for anyone to say it had been tampered with?"
"Only a very skilled workman could do that," replied Vaughan, in a thoughtful voice, "otherwise where would be the security of these safes?"
"I see," answered Gaubert. "Well, I am very much obliged to you, Mr. Vaughan. ”

“ He stamped his foot with impatience.
"Confound all women!" he said to himself. "My time wasted by a silly, hysterical girl. But what did she mean? If there is a safe and dependable man in the world it's Mr. Lawrence Gaubert. I made him one of my very best time-locks. I never saw anyone take a more intelligent interest in my special business."
Vaughan generally lunched at a neighbouring restaurant. He went out now, but as he ate his chop and drank his pint of bitter the face of Miss Gaubert, full of anxiety and pleading, rose up again and again before his mental vision. ”

“ Now, what do you think of that for a signal? They would never have dreamed of such a thing."
"You certainly deserve your position as head of the Criminal Investigation Department," cried Vaughan. "It is the smartest idea I have ever heard of."
"Well, keep it dark," said Scott, "for we shall use it again as occasion warrants. Now, Miss Gaubert," he said, turning to the girl, "will you stay here or will you go back with Mr. Vaughan?"
"Yes, come with me," said Vaughan. "You must not be left alone. I owe you reparation for the cruel way I treated you," he added. ”

“ You know what a spectroscope is?"
"Of course," answered Vaughan.
"Well, you understand that by means of the spectroscope light is split up into red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet—that is, the rainbow. Anyone looking through a spectroscope at a light in which sodium was burned would see a bright yellow perpendicular line in the D position. You put so much sodium into your flux that the line started out extremely clear, though it could only be seen through a spectroscope. ”

“ Something must be done which they won't notice and which we will, something which we will observe even if the blinds are down. Sight won't do it. Sound won't do it—why, it's maddening!"
Scott began to pace the room in deep thought, and even Vaughan saw plainly the extraordinary position that he and the two detectives were in. ”

“ By your aid we will catch that well-known scoundrel, and also Gaubert. Without it, I confess, we can do nothing."
"If your suspicions are true," said Vaughan, "you had better remain outside with your men, and I will give you a prearranged signal."
"And how will you do that?" said Scott. "Do you suppose those men are fools? They will take precious good care you cannot. Besides, we don't want you to signal unless the stones have been removed from the box, and not put back again, for our wish is to catch the thieves red-handed. ”

“ He has got some thirty thousand pounds' worth of stones coming from Brazil to-morrow night. They are to be sent from Liverpool in a clock-lock box, and a special clerk is to bring them up. They are consigned to Gaubert as the agent, the box is timed to open at nine in the morning, and it will then go on to the millionaire who is the purchaser, a Mr. Harcourt. This morning Gaubert was put into a fine state of terror by a cable saying that Captain Halkitt, the great American bank thief, is after the jewels. He came to me shaking all over. I never saw a man in such a downright state of blue funk. ”

“ If you refuse, an unpleasant alternative will be presented to you. They will then send the box without the stones to Harcourt, to his country house. He will receive the box from Gaubert without the slightest suspicion, and won't discover the theft till nine o'clock to-morrow morning, when he opens it with his own key at the time set. The thieves thus utilise the very mechanism designed to prevent robbery to their own advantage, because it gives them a clear eleven hours to cover their tracks. ”

“ Gaubert and his accomplices get you to his house because you are practically the only man in London who can help them to open the box which has a time-lock, and which contains the stones, without at the same time injuring the lock. When you have opened the box for them, and they have removed the gems, they will compel you to close the box again, and to set the clock as if it had not been touched. ”

“ Young ladies know nothing whatever about business."
"I know what I am saying. I am not an ordinary girl. I live alone with my father, and, notwithstanding everything, I love him more than anyone else in the world. There is great danger to you if you do what he requests you to do, also great danger to him. If you refuse you are safe and he is safe. Can you not do what I ask you, and can you not keep my counsel?"
"I must be guided altogether by circumstances, Miss Gaubert ”

“ To Vaughan was due the application of clockwork to locks of safes and strong-rooms. The essential point of the new safes was the following. They consisted of a bolt or bolts so controlled by clockwork that to open them was practically impossible, except when the clock mechanism reached a certain point. If the clock were set for a given hour, even the holder of the key could not open it again before that hour. Vaughan's safes were therefore considered practically impregnable, and the man became renowned in his own line. ”

“ We want you to go on with it, in order to prove whether our suspicions are right or not. At present we cannot arrest Gaubert because we have no evidence against him. If we manage this matter well, you may be the means of giving us the necessary evidence, and we may also arrest Captain Halkitt, the well-known professional thief. Gaubert, perhaps to blind us, has already taken us partly into his confidence, and has asked us to send detectives with him to meet the train by which the stones arrive to-night from Liverpool. ”

“ He was shown at once into a private room, where Scott and the superintendent were waiting for him. The two men looked uncommonly serious.
"Well, what is it now?" asked Vaughan, just nodding to the superintendent and shaking hands with Scott. "I am particularly busy. I wish you men would clearly understand that I don't care twopence how many thieves you take up in the course of the day, nor how many villainies you expose. I want to attend to my own special work." ”

“ The other men present would of course be his tools. They would deny every word you said, and you would look a fool, if not worse. It would be only necessary for Gaubert to say that he had asked you to open the box in order that he might see if the stones were safe. Yes, even if you could give the alarm, you would do no good, and Gaubert and his accomplices would take precious good care that you were not allowed your liberty."
"Then what do you propose to do?" asked Vaughan. "Remember, I don't for a single moment believe in your suspicion ”

“ They kept no servant, the old woman being pleased and proud to perform all sorts of domestic duties for her son. He, on his part, although attached to her, was scarcely conscious of her presence, every interest being absorbed in the trade to which he devoted his life. ”

“ Vaughan did so.
"All right. Will explain later. You are quite safe. Now go. Good-bye."
Vaughan scarcely waited to consider the strange request made of him, but hurried back to his workshop. He prepared a flux with a large quantity of chloride of sodium, put a spirit-lamp and soldering tools into his bag, then hailed a hansom and gave the driver Gaubert's address. As he stepped into the hansom he fancied he saw a man watching him from the opposite side of the street, but when he looked again through the window the man had vanished. ”

“ Of course I will pay you handsomely for the service you are about to render me. I am engaged just now on some very important transactions, and this accident has upset me not a little. One thing more—you will pardon this request, but may I ask you to come to my house alone? I will tell you why. The negotiations with my client are of a strictly private nature—no one but my chief clerk knows anything about it—it is in connection with the Italian Government; and I must even ask you to keep secret the identity of my client when you see him. ”