The rest is already public property. All the morning papers were full of thestrange recovery of the Burlingame stomacher the following Tuesday morning,and the name of Raffles Holmes was in every mouth. That night, the veryessence of promptitude, Holmes appeared at my apartment and handed me acheck for my share in the transaction.
"Why--what does this mean?" I cried, as I took in the figures; "$12,500--Ithought it was to be only $10,000."
"It was," said Raffles Holmes, "but Mrs. Burlingame was so overjoyed atgetting the thing back she made the check for $25,000 instead of for$20,000."
"You're the soul of honor, Holmes!" I murmured.
"On my father's side," he said, with a sigh. "On my mother's side it comeshard."
"And Mrs. Burlingame--didn't she ask you how you ferreted the thing out?" Iasked.
"Yes," said Holmes. "But I told her that that was my secret, that my secretwas my profession, and that my profession was my bread and butter."
"But she must have asked you who was the guilty person?" I persisted.
"Yes," said Holmes, "she did, and I took her for a little gallop through thesocial register, in search of the guilty party; that got on her nerves, sothat when it came down to an absolute question of identity she begged me toforget it."
"I am dull of comprehension, Raffles," said I. "Tell me exactly what youmean."
"Simply this," said Raffles Holmes. "The present four hundred consists ofabout 19,250 people, of whom about twenty-five per cent. go to Newport atone time or another--say, 4812. Of these 4812 about ten per cent. areeligible for invitations to the Burlingame dinners, or 480. Now whom of the480 possibilities having access to the Burlingame cottage would we naturallysuspect? Surely only those who were in the vicinity the night of therobbery. By a process of elimination we narrowed them down to just tenpersons exclusive of Mrs. Burlingame herself and her husband, old BillieBurlingame. We took the lot and canvassed them. There were Mr. and Mrs.Willington Bodfish--they left early and the stomacher was known to be safeat the time of their departure. There were Bishop and Mrs. Pounderby,neither of whom would be at all likely to come back in the dead of night andremove property that did not belong to them. There were Senator and Mrs.Jorrocks. The Senator is after bigger game than diamond stomachers, and Mrs.Jorrocks is known to be honest. There were Harry Gaddsby and his wife. Harrydoesn't know enough to go in when it rains, and is too timid to call evenhis soul his own, so he couldn't have taken it; and Mrs. Gaddsby is long onstomachers, having at least five, and therefore would not be likely to tryto land a sixth by questionable means. In that way we practically clearedeight possibilities of suspicion.
"'Now, Mrs. Burlingame,' said I, 'that leaves four persons still in thering--yourself, your husband, your daughter, and the Duke of Snarleyow, yourdaughter's newly acquired fiance, in whose honor the dinner was given. Ofthese four, you are naturally yourself the first to be acquitted. Yourhusband comes next, and is not likely to be the guilty party, because if hewants a diamond stomacher he needn't steal it, having money enough to buy adozen of them if he wishes. The third, your daughter, should be regarded asequally innocent, because if she was really desirous of possessing the jewelall she had to do was to borrow it from you. That brings us down to the Dukeof--"
"'Hush! I beg of you, Mr. Raffles Holmes!' she cried, in great agitation.'Not another word, I beseech you! If any one should overhear us--Thesubject, after all, is an unprofitable one, and I'd--I'd rather drop it, andit--it--er--it has just occurred to me that possibly I--er--possibly I--'
"'Put the jewel in the safe yourself?' I suggested.
"'Yes,' said Mrs. Burlingame,' with a grateful glance and a tremendous sighof relief. 'Now that I think of it, Mr. Raffles Holmes--that _was_ it. I--er--I remember perfectly that--er--that I didn't wear it at all the night ofmy little dinner, and that I _did_ leave it behind me when I left town.'"
"Humph!" said I. "That may account for the extra $5000--"
"It may," said Raffles Holmes, pursing his lips into a deprecatory smile.