The Diamond Pin Page 12

  CHAPTER XII

  IN CHICAGO

  The three looked at one another in consternation.

  "Hughes said it was unsafe," Chapin remarked. "He said you didn'tremember to pull down the shades in this room when you hid the pin,Iris."

  "No, I didn't, but who could get in? The windows are barred----"

  "But the door to the living room was open, and we were all in the diningroom--anyone could have come in at the front door and walked inhere----"

  "Very silently, then, or we could have heard footsteps from the diningroom."

  "But it must have been done that way. Someone looking in at thesewindows saw you put the pin in the chair, and a few moments later,watching his chance, sneaked in and stole it."

  "Then it was Pollock, or some messenger of his. But what _can_ he wantof it?"

  "The whole thing is _too_ mysterious!" exclaimed Lucille. "Let's sendfor a city detective at once."

  "But," objected Iris, "what could he do?"

  "Do? He could do everything! Find the murderer, find the jewels, findthe pin----"

  "Good gracious!" cried Iris. "I don't want the pin! In fact, I'm gladit's gone. Now, they won't be kidnapping me to get it! But I'm going tofind the jewels. And I'm going to start on a new tack. I'm no good atsolving mysteries, but I can investigate. I'm going to Chicago----"

  "Whatever for?" exclaimed Lucille; "I'll go with you!"

  "No; I'm going alone, and I'm going because I feel sure I can find outsomething there. I'll see the minister of the church Auntie attended,and see if she promised him a chalice, or if his church has a crypt, orif those people she spoke of in her will--that firm, you know--can tellme anything about the receipt that was in the pocket-book she left toWin."

  "But it wasn't in the pocket-book!" reminded Chapin.

  "It was when Aunt Ursula made that will. The murderer took it, and, Mr.Chapin, that lets Win out! Why should he steal a paper that was meantfor him anyway?"

  "He didn't know then that it was left to him, did he?"

  "I don't know that, I'm sure. But I know Win didn't kill Aunt Ursula,and it's awful to keep him shut up!"

  "I think myself they hardly had enough evidence to arrest him on, butHughes thought they did, and the district attorney is hard at work onthe case now."

  "Yes, hard at work!" Iris spoke scornfully, "what's he doing, I'd liketo know."

  "These things move slowly, Iris----"

  "Well, I'll do a little quick work, then, and show them how. I'm goingto Chicago to-morrow, and I'll be gone several days, but I'll be back assoon as possible and there'll be something doing, or I'll know why!"

  "Your energy is all right, Iris," said Chapin, "but a bitmisdirected----"

  "Nothing of the sort," snapped Iris, who considered the lawyer an oldfogy; "it's time somebody got busy, and I don't take much stock in thelocal police."

  "But about the pin," pursued Lucille, "I think you ought to find out whostole it just now, Iris. Maybe it was somebody in the house. Where isPurdy?"

  "Purdy!" cried Iris, "don't suspect him, Lucille! Why, he is as faithfuland honest as I am myself."

  "But where was he?"

  "I don't know, and I don't care; he wasn't in here stealing the pin."

  "Perhaps it's still in the chair," suggested Chapin.

  But it wasn't. A careful search showed that, and as inquiries provedthat Purdy and his wife were in the kitchen and Agnes had been waitingon Iris at her belated dinner, there was really no reason to suspect theservants. Campbell, the chauffeur, was in the garage, and there were noother servants about on Sunday. The disappearance of the pin was asinexplicable as the murder, and Iris decided to give up the housemysteries, and look in Chicago for new light.

  * * * * *

  She started the next day, Lucille and Agnes hovering over her in asolicitude of final preparations.

  "I'll take only a suitcase," Iris declared, "for I can't be botheredwith a trunk."

  "I wish you'd let Agnes go with you," urged Lucille, who hated to havethe girl go alone.

  But Iris didn't want to take a maid along, and, too, Agnes didn't wantto go.

  "I'll go if you say so," Agnes demurred, "but I'd hate to leave herejust now. Sam is on one of his spells, and I ought to look after him."

  "Oh, yes," and Iris smiled at her, "that's one word for Sam and two foryourself! I think that good-looking young man who calls on you has morepower to keep you in Berrien than poor Sam!"

  Agnes blushed, but didn't deny it.

  So Iris went to Chicago alone. She went to a woman's hotel, andestablished herself there. Then she set out in search of the church thatMrs. Pell used to attend.

  The rector, Dr. Stephenson, was a kindly, courteous old man, whoreceived her with a pleasant welcome. He well remembered Ursula Pell,and was deeply interested in the mystery of her tragic death. It wasmany years since she had lived in Chicago, and his definite memories ofher were largely concerning the pranks she used to play, for even theminister had not been spared her annoying fooleries.

  But he knew nothing of any gift of a jeweled chalice, and said he reallyhad no desire for such a thing.

  "It would only be a temptation to thieves," he asserted, "and the priceof it could be much better expended in some more useful way."

  "Is there a crypt in your church?" asked Iris, abruptly.

  "No; nothing of the sort. Or--well, that is, there is a room below themain floor that could be called a crypt, I suppose, but it is never usedas a chapel, or for mortuary purposes. Why?"

  Iris told him of the entry in her aunt's diary stating that thecollection of jewels was in a crypt, and Dr. Stephenson smiled.

  "Not in my church," he said, "of that I'm positive. The basement I speakof has no hidden places nor has anybody ever concealed anything there.You may search there if you choose, but it is useless. To my mind, itsounds more like a bank vault. That might be called a crypt, if onechose so to speak of it."

  "Perhaps," said Iris, disappointed at this fruitless effort. "I will goto the Industrial Bank and inquire. That is the bank where my aunt kepther money when she lived here."

  The people at the bank were also kind and courteous, but not so much atleisure as the rector had been. They gave Iris no encouraginginformation. They looked up their records, and found that Mrs. Pell hadhad an account with them some years ago, but that it had been closed outwhen she left the city. There were no properties of hers, of any sort,in their custody, and no one of their vaults was rented in her name.

  They seemed uninterested in Iris' story, and after their assurances thegirl went away.

  Next she went to the firm of Craig, Marsden & Co., to see if she couldtrace the receipt that was mentioned in Mrs. Pell's will as being ofimportance to Winston Bannard.

  A Mr. Reed attended to her errand.

  "A vague description," he said, smiling, as she told him of the will."To be sure, our books will show the name, but it will take some time tolook it up."

  However, he agreed to investigate the records, and Iris was told toreturn the next day to learn results.

  It was a mere chance that the record of the sale, whatever it might be,would be of any definite importance, but Iris was determined to tryevery possible way of finding out anything concerning the matter.

  The firm of Craig, Marsden & Co. was a large jewelry concern, andprobably the receipt in question was for some precious stones or theirsettings.

  Iris boarded a street car to return to her hotel. She sat, deeplyengrossed in thought over the various difficulties that beset her path,when the man who sat next her drew a handkerchief from his pocket.

  Abstractedly, she noticed the handkerchief. It was of silk, and had afew lines of blue as a border. Then, suddenly, she realized that it wasthe exact counterpart of the one with which the midnight marauder hadtied up her mouth the time he came to get the pin.

  Furtively she glanced at the man. The burglar had been masked, but thesize and general appearance of this man we
re not unlike him. Then,another surreptitious look revealed his features to her, and to hersurprise she recognized her caller named Pollock!

  Quickly she turned her own face aside (the man had not noticed her) andwondered what to do. Without a doubt it was Pollock, she was sure ofthat, and the peculiar handkerchief gave her an idea it was the midnightintruder also--that they were one and the same! She had surmised thisbefore, and she now began to join the threads of the story.

  She felt sure that Pollock and the burglar and the kidnapper were allone, and that Pollock was determined to get the pin at any cost; andshe couldn't believe it was for the reason he had asserted, merely as amemento of the dramatic tragedy.

  It had not been this man who drove the little car that carried her awayon Sunday, but the driver, as well as the girl called Flossie, wereprobably Pollock's tools.

  At any rate, she concluded to trace Pollock and find out something abouthim.

  When he left the car, as he did shortly, she rose and followed him. Hehad not glanced at her, and was apparently absorbed in thought, so shehad no difficulty in walking, unnoticed, behind him.

  She smiled at herself, as she realized she was really "shadowing," andfelt quite like a detective.

  Pollock went into a small restaurant, and Iris, through the wide window,saw him take a seat at a table. The deliberation with which he unfoldedhis napkin, and looked over the menu, made her assume that he would bethere some time.

  Acting on the impulse of the moment, Iris ran to the nearest telephoneshe could find, and called up a detective agency.

  Over the wire she stated her desire to employ a detective at once, andasked to have him sent to her, where she was, which was in a drug shop.

  There was a maddening delay, and as Iris waited, she began to fear shehad done a foolish thing. She suddenly realized that she had acted tooquickly and perhaps unadvisedly. But she must stand by it now.

  It was half an hour before a man arrived and met her at the door of thedrug shop.

  "I am Mr. Dayton," he said, "from the agency. Is this Miss Clyde?"

  "Yes," said Iris, "and please hurry! I've just got on the track of a manwho is a--a burglar----"

  "Ma'am?" and the detective looked sharply at this young girl who hadcalled him to her.

  "Yes," and Iris grew impatient at his doubtful interest, "now, don'tstop to parley, but catch him."

  "Where is he?"

  "He's in the restaurant, half a block away. I don't mean for you toarrest him, but trail him, shadow him, or whatever you call it, and findout who he is, and what sort of a character he bears. If he's a correctand decent citizen, all right; if he's a man who might be a burglar, Iwant to know it! Now, fly!"

  "Wait a minute, Miss Clyde. Tell me more. How shall I know him?"

  "Oh, he's at the table by the first front window, as you go from here.He's a tall man, and a strong-looking one. Come on, I'll point him out."

  They went toward the restaurant, and cautiously Iris looked in at thewindow. But her quarry had fled. There was no one at the table at all.

  "Come on in," she cried to the bewildered Dayton. "No, that won't do, hemustn't see me. You go in, and get the waiter who served him, or theproprietor or somebody, and find out who the man was who ate at thattable just now. Maybe he's still in the coat room."

  Iris stepped around a corner, and Dayton went in on his errand.

  But the waiter had no knowledge of the patron's name. He said he hadnever seen him before, to his knowledge, but he was a new waiter there,and the captain might know.

  However, neither the head waiter nor the cashier, nor indeed anyoneabout the place, knew the man. A few remembered seeing him, but thewaiters at nearby tables, if they had noticed him, didn't know his name.

  One waiter said he thought he had seen him before, but wasn't sure. Theman was gone, and no one knew which direction he had taken from therestaurant.

  Iris was disheartened at the report of her emissary.

  "If you'd only got here sooner!" she reproached the detective.

  "Did my best," he assured her. "Describe your man more accurately."

  But Iris couldn't seem to think of any very distinguishingcharacteristics that fitted him.

  "His name is Pollock," she said, "and he's a collector. Oh, wait, I doknow something more. He's in the hardware business."

  "For himself, or with a firm?"

  "I don't know."

  "Then, I fear, Miss Clyde, we're wasting time in looking for a person sovaguely identified. If you say so, I can go over the hardware people fora Pollock, but it will be an unsatisfactory and expensive process."

  "I don't want that," and Iris looked perplexed. "Oh, I don't know what I_do_ want! But it's maddening to see him, and then have him get away!He's also a collector."

  "Ah, that helps. A collector of what?"

  "Of mementoes of crimes----"

  "Of what?"

  "It sounds silly, I know, but he told me so. Not exactly crimes, more ofprominent people. Like a pencil that belonged to President Garfield,and such things."

  "Oh, a freak! I hoped you meant a prominent collector of valuablethings; then we might trace him."

  "No; he collects queer things, it is a sort of harmless mania, I think.Well, if we can't find him, we can't. How much do I owe you?"

  This matter was adjusted, and Iris turned disconsolately back to herhotel. She had accomplished nothing on her Chicago trip, and unless theCraig people could give her information of importance, there was no useprolonging her visit.

  The rest of that day, and the morning of the next, she spent in thevicinity of the restaurant, hoping Pollock would return.

  But she didn't see him, and in the afternoon she went back to Craig,Marsden & Co.

  Mr. Reed greeted her pleasantly, but he had no important information.

  "We've many records of sales to Mrs. Pell," he related, "and, if youdesire, I can give you a memorandum of them. Presumably, she hadreceipts in every case, but as I do not know the particular receipt youwant, I can't offer you any data concerning it."

  "What are the transactions?" asked Iris. "Jewels she bought?"

  "Yes; and setting, and engraving. Mrs. Pell had a great deal ofengraving done."

  "What sort of engraving?"

  "On silver or gold trinkets and ornaments."

  "Oh, yes, I know. All her silver has not only initials, but names anddates, and sometimes quotations or lines of poetry."

  "Yes, and she was most particular about that work. It was always done byour best engraver, and unless it just suited her we were treated to herfinest sarcasm. Mrs. Pell was a wealthy and extravagant patron, but notaffable or easy to please."

  "I know that, but she was a remarkable woman and a strong characteroften has peculiar ways. I am heir to half her fortune, and that givesme a sense of obligation that will never be canceled until I haveavenged my aunt's death."

  Iris did not tell this man about the missing jewels, for it seemed of nouse. But they discussed at length the jewels that he knew that Mrs. Pellhad possessed, and Iris was amazed at the size and value of the amount.

  "Really!" she exclaimed. "Do you _know_ that my aunt had such anenormous fortune as that, in gems?"

  "I know that she had at the time of her dealings with us. That was tenyears ago, or so, but then we had the handling of more than a milliondollars' worth, and I know she added to her store after that."

  "Oh, where are they?" cried Iris forgetting her determination not todiscuss this matter here.

  "Do you mean to say you don't know?" exclaimed Mr. Reed, astounded.

  So Iris told him about the will.

  "What an extraordinary tale," he commented as she finished. "I wish Icould help you out, I'm sure. Now, no receipt of ours would be ofimportance in and of itself. It must have had a memorandum scribbled onit, or something of that sort."

  "Yes," agreed Iris, thoughtfully, "that must be it. In that case themurderer wanted it because it told where the jewels are hidden."

  "
And he has already secured them! Oh, no!"

  Mr. Reed's interest was so sincere that Iris told him a little more. Shetold him of the pin, and of her being kidnapped in an attempt to get it.

  "You are in danger," Reed said, warningly. "Until they get what theywant you will continue to be molested. It isn't the pin--that's tooabsurd! But they're after something that has to do with the secret ofthe hiding place of those jewels. On that you may depend."

  "But couldn't the pin have some bearing on that?"

  "I can't imagine any way that it could. The idea of its being made ofradium is ridiculous. The idea of its being a weight or a measure issilly, too; and how else could it be indicative? No, the pin part of theperformance is a ruse, the thieves are after something else. If theystole the receipt in question, it was, as I said, because there wereinstructions on it. Your man Pollock is doubtless the head of the gang.He's no important collector, or I should know of him. And probably hiswhole collection story was a falsehood. He read of the pin in the paperand used that to distract your mind from what he really was after."

  "Very likely," and Iris sighed. "What would you advise me to do?"

  "It's too big a case for a layman's advice, and, pardon me, too big acase for a young girl to manage."

  "Oh, I know that. I've a very good lawyer, and the police are at work,but nobody seems able to accomplish anything."

  "I hope and trust somebody will," said Reed, heartily; "that lot ofjewels is too big a loot for crooks to get hold of! I'd be sorry indeedto learn they have done so!"

  Iris went away, and as her work in Chicago was done, she decided tostart at once for home.

  Entering the hotel, she found a telegram from Lucille Darrel. It read:

  "Come home at once. I've engaged F. S. and he will arrive to-morrow."

  Now, F. S. meant the great detective, Fleming Stone.