"And what did King say?"

"He agreed to try to get it for Larch. That's all I gathered then.
But I heard them talking of something else."

"What?"

"Larch dropped a hint that he and his wife might be reconciled."

"The deuce you say!"

"That's right, Colonel. I heard him telling King about it. Larch is
going to pay his wife a visit--going to call on her at her father's
place in Pompey. And he's going to take her out a present. I believe
that's the usual thing after a quarrel."

"Possibly," admitted the colonel. "Oh, I wish I'd never mixed up in
this! I'm sorry for young Darcy, and I believe-- Oh, well, what's
the use of talking now! I'm in it and I must see it through. So Larch
is going to visit his wife?"

"Yes. He's either sent her a present or is going to. I couldn't quite
catch which."

"What sort of present, Jack?"

"A diamond cross."

"What?" and the colonel had suddenly to modulate his voice or he would
have attracted more attention that he cared to. "A diamond cross? Are
you sure about that, Young?"

"Sure! Why not? I don't see anything queer there. He might buy her a
diamond cross as a sort of forgiveness gift. Same idea Harry King had
you know, but a little higher class, that's all.

"You know, Colonel, these things are about alike. The man on Water
Street gets drunk and brings his wife home a quart of oysters as a
peace offering. The man on the boulevard does the same thing and
patches up the break with a pearl pendant. It's all the same, only
different."

"Yes, I suppose so. I didn't know you were a philosopher, Jack."

"I'm not. It's just common sense."

"But a diamond cross! And if Larch is losing money--"

"Oh, well, he may have held out some, or maybe the diamond cross isn't
so elaborate. You know they take a lot of little diamonds now, set 'em
in a cluster and make 'em look as good as a solitaire. Anyhow Larch
has been boasting to King that there's to be a diamond cross present.
And there's another angle to it."

"What's that, Jack?"

"Well, there's been some talk between Larch and King about some big
diamonds that have been sold of late. I couldn't catch whether King
had sold them or Larch. Anyhow they brought quite a sum of money.
Maybe they were stolen from the jewelry stock."

"Not unless Mrs. Darcy had some of which James Darcy knew nothing."

"Well, I saw Larch at one time, and Harry King at another, have one of
those white tissue paper packages that jewelers keep diamonds in. I
didn't get a glimpse at the stones themselves. I had to be a bit
cautious you know, and, even now, I think they're suspicious of me
here. If it wasn't that King drinks so much, though he manages to walk
and talk straight. I believe he'd try to pump me. Anyhow, I thought
I'd better let you know what I'd heard."

"Jack, I'm glad you did. So Larch has sent, or is going to send, his
wife a diamond cross! Well, then, Grafton might be right about that
after all. Gad! this thing is getting mixed up! Now, Jack--"

A waiter who knew the colonel, from the fact that the latter was a
striking figure and had been in the Homestead more than once,
approached the private room occupied by the detective and Jack Young
and announced:

"Excuse me, Colonel, but you are wanted at the telephone."

"All right. Where is it?"

"You can come right in here and have the call transferred from our
central," and the man opened the door of a small booth. The Homestead
was honeycombed with private rooms, booths and telephones.

"Yes, this is Colonel Ashley," announced the detective into the
instrument, when his identity had been questioned. "Who are you? Oh,
Shag! Yes, Shag, what is it? What's that--at the jewelry store you
say? Well, will this never end? Yes, I'll go there at once!"

"What is it?" asked Jack, as the colonel hung up the receiver.

"Why, Kettridge telephoned to my room, and Shag took the message and
repeated it to me. Sallie Page, the old servant of Mrs. Darcy has just
been killed by an electric shock in the jewelry store!"




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