Grafton. He wanted to be sure of his ground before he told of this end
of the affair.

"I wish I knew what to make of Grafton," mused the colonel, "His share
in it--if share he had--is getting more complicated. Can he and Spotty
be up to some trick between them and did the gunman get away with the
cross? It wouldn't be the first time Spotty had hired out his services
to a man who wanted something desperate done! Now in this case,
Grafton may have wanted something from Mrs. Darcy she wasn't willing to
do. In that case--"

The colonel shook his head.

"I guess," he half-whispered, "that Shag was right. This is going to
be a mighty complicated case. Talk about a diamond cross, there may be
a double-cross in it on the part of Grafton. I must watch you a bit
closer, my friend."

The colonel considered that he was working to clear Darcy, and he
wanted to do it in his own way. He was willing--perforce--that, for
the time, the young man be considered guilty. He could not help the
young man by making these few disclosures now. The prisoner would not
be released because Spotty or any one else was suspected, nor would he
be admitted to bail. In any case he must remain in jail.

The Grand Jury was setting considering the evidence against the
prisoner, and against others accused of various crimes.

"And I suppose they'll indite Darcy," mused the colonel. "It means
only another step, however, a step I have already counted on. It won't
help or hinder the solving of the mystery. Hang Spotty, anyhow! Why
couldn't he keep out of this? He surely has tangled it worse than
ever. I wonder if he's telling the truth when he says he didn't go
near the place? It was Spotty, or one of his kind, who got in and out
without leaving a trace. It took Spotty's skill. But--I don't know.
I must have another look around the jewelry store."

A day or so after his return from the West, the colonel made a close
examination of the shop. Just what he was looking for he hardly knew,
but he was quite surprised when he discovered, connected with the main
lighting wires of the store, other wires which ran to various places in
the shelves and the show windows, where many of the clocks stood.

"I wonder if that's a new kind of burglar alarm," thought the colonel.
"If it is, it's the first time I've ever seen one hooked up to the
electric light circuit. A bad thing in case of a short circuit. A
person might get a shock that would knock him down and--"

Something seemed to give the colonel a new idea. He made a hurried
examination of the wires and then left the store, to be seen a little
later at the establishment of an electrician, where he stayed some time.

It was late that afternoon, when the papers, in extra editions,
announced the indictment of James Darcy for the murder of his cousin.

When Colonel Ashley returned to his hotel from the electrician's, he
found Amy Mason waiting for him.

"Oh, Colonel! isn't this dreadful?" she exclaimed, holding out a paper.
"It's so--so--"

"Tut, tut! my dear young lady, this is nothing! It is only a little
shoot on the main stem. Don't let it distress you. It was to be
expected."

"I know! But it sounds so dreadful! Before, he was only suspected,
even though formally charged. Now it seems as if he were found
_guilty_!"

"Far from it. The only evidence against him, just as it has been all
along, is circumstantial. They have yet to prove anything, and I don't
believe they can. Cheer up! I'll get him off yet!"

"Are you sure, Colonel?" and her eyes were bright with unshed tears.

"Sure? Why, of course I am!"

And yet the colonel had to force himself a bit to make that sound
natural. Perhaps it was because he had said it so often and was tired.

Or did it have anything to do with the strange wires that led to the
work table of James Darcy?




CHAPTER X

THE DEATH WATCH

Doctor Warren, the county physician, stopping in at police
headquarters, as he often did on returning from his round of private
visits, to see if there were any official calls for him, encountered
Detective Carroll.

"Hello, Doc!" was the genial greeting, for Doctor Warren was more than
a physician. He was a politician, and politics and the police were no
more divorced in Colchester than elsewhere. "Seen that colonel guy
to-day?" asked Carroll.



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