IVTHE ADVENTURE OF THE MISSING PENDANTS
"I think," said Raffles Holmes, as he ran over his expense account whilesitting in my library one night some months ago, "that in view of thepresent condition of my exchequer, my dear Jenkins, it behooveth me to getbusy. Owning a motor-car is a demned expensive piece of business, and mybalance at the bank has shrunk to about $1683.59, thanks to my bills forcogs, clutches, and gasoline, plus the chauffeur's fines."
"In what capacity shall you work, Raffles or Holmes?" I asked, pausing in mywriting and regarding him with that affectionate interest which contact withhim had inspired in me.
"Play the combination always, Jenkins," he replied. "If I did the Rafflesact alone, I should become the billionaire in this land of silk and money,your rich are so careless of their wealth--but where would my conscience be?On the other hand, if I stuck to the Holmes act exclusively, I'd starve todeath; but the combination--ah--there is moderate fortune, my boy, withpeace of mind thrown in."
Here he rose up, buttoned his coat about his spare figure, and reached outfor his hat.
"I guess I'll tackle that case of the missing pendants to-morrow," hecontinued, flicking the ash from his cigar and gazing up at the ceiling withthat strange twist in his eye which I had learned to regard as the harbingerof a dawning idea in his mind. "There's ten thousand dollars for somebody inthat job, and you and I might as well have it as any one else."
"I'm ready," said I, as well I might be, for all I had to do in the matterwas to record the adventure and take my half of the profits--no verydifficult proceeding in either case.
"Good," quoth he. "I'll go to Gaffany & Co. to-morrow and offer myservices."
"You have a clew?" I asked.
"I have an idea," he answered. "As for the lost diamonds, I know no more oftheir whereabouts than you do, but I shall be able beyond all question torestore to Gaffany & Co. two pendants just as good as those they have lost,and if I do that I am entitled to the reward, I fancy, am I not?"
"Most certainly," said I. "But where the dickens will you find two suchstones? They are worth $50,000 apiece, and they must match perfectly the tworemaining jewels which Gaffany & Co. have in their safe."
"I'll match 'em so closely that their own mother couldn't tell 'em apart,"said Holmes, with a chuckle.
"Then the report that they are of such rarity of cut and lustre is untrue?"I asked.
"It's perfectly true," said Holmes, "but that makes no difference. The twostones that I shall return two weeks from to-day to Gaffany & Co. will be aslike the two they have as they are themselves. Ta-ta, Jenkins--you can counton your half of that ten thousand as surely as though it is jingled now inyour pockets."
And with that Raffles Holmes left me to my own devices.
I presume that most readers of the daily newspapers are tolerably familiarwith the case of the missing pendants to which Holmes referred, and on thequest for which he was now about to embark. There may be some of you,however, who have never heard of the mysterious robbery of Gaffany & Co., bywhich two diamonds of almost matchless purity--half of a quartet of thesestones--pear-shaped and valued at $50,000 each, had disappeared almost as ifthe earth had opened and swallowed them up. They were a part of the famousGloria Diamond, found last year at Kimberley, a huge, uncut gem of suchvalue that no single purchaser for it could be found in the world. By asyndicate arrangement Gaffany & Co. had assumed charge of it, and were inthe process of making for a customer a bar with four pendants cut from theoriginal, when two of them disappeared. They had been last seen in the handsof a trusted employe of many years' standing, to whom they had been intrustedfor mounting, and he had been seen to replace them, at the end of the day'swork, in the little cage-like office of the custodian of the safe in whichjewels of great value were kept at night. This was the last seen of them,and although five weeks had elapsed since the discovery of their loss andHolmes's decision to look into the matter, no clew of the slightestdescription had been discovered by the thousands of sleuths, professional oramateur, who had interested themselves in the case.
"He had such assurance!" I muttered. "To hear him talk one would almostbelieve that they were already in his possession."
I did not see Raffles Holmes again for five days, and then I met him only bychance, nor should I have known it was he had he not made himself known tome. I was on my way uptown, a little after six o'clock, and as I passedGaffany's an aged man emerged from the employes' entrance, carrying a smallbag in his hand. He was apparently very near-sighted, for he mostunceremoniously bumped into me as he came out of the door on to thesidewalk.
Deference to age has always been a weakness of mine, and I apologized,although it was he that was at fault.
"Don't mention it, Jenkins," he whispered. "You are just the man I want tosee. Cafe Panhard--to-night--eleven o'clock. Just happen in, and if aforeign-looking person with a red beard speaks to you don't throw him down,but act as if you were not annoyed by his mistake."
"You know me?" I asked.
"Tush, man--I'm Raffles Holmes!" and with that he was off.
His make-up was perfect, and as he hobbled his way along Broadway throughthe maze of cars, trucks, and hansoms, there was not in any part of him ahint or a suggestion that brought to mind my alert partner.
Of course my excitement was intense. I could hardly wait for eleven o'clockto come, and at 9.30 I found myself in front of the Cafe Panhard a full hourand a half ahead of time, and never were there more minutes in that periodof waiting than there seemed to be then as I paced Broadway until theappointed hour. It seemed ages before the clock down in front of the WhiraldBuilding pointed to 10.55, but at last the moment arrived, and I entered thecafe, taking one of the little tables in the farther corner, where the lightwas not unduly strong and where the turmoil of the Hungarian band wasreduced by distance from moltofortissimo to a moderate approach to apianissimo, which would admit of conversation. Again I had to wait, but notfor so long a time. It was twenty minutes past eleven when a fine-lookingman of military bearing, wearing a full red beard, entered, and afterlooking the cafe over, sauntered up to where I sat.
"Good-evening, Mr. Jenkins," said he, with a slight foreign accent. "Are youalone?"
"Yes," said I.
"If you don't mind, I should like to sit here for a few moments," heobserved, pulling out the chair opposite me. "I have your permission?"
"Certainly, Mr.--er--"
"Robinstein is my name," said he, sitting down, and producing a letter fromhis pocket. "I have here a note from my old friend Raffles Holmes--a note ofintroduction to you. I am a manufacturer of paste jewels--or rather was. Ihave had one or two misfortunes in my business, and find myself here inAmerica practically stranded."
"Your place of business was--"
"In the Rue de l'Echelle in Paris," he explained. "I lost everything inunfortunate speculation, and have come here to see if I could not get a newstart. Mr. Holmes thinks you can use your influence with Markoo & Co., thetheatrical costumers, who, I believe, manufacture themselves all the stagejewelry they use in their business, to give me something to do. It was saidin Paris that the gems which I made were of such quality that they woulddeceive, for a time anyhow, the most expert lapidaries, and if I can onlyget an opening with Markoo & Co. I am quite confident that you will notrepent having exerted your good offices in my behalf."
"Why, certainly, Mr. Robinstein," said I. "Any friend of Raffles Holmes maycommand my services. I know Tommy Markoo very well, and as this is a prettybusy time with him, getting his stuff out for the fall productions, I havelittle doubt I shall be able to help you. By Jove!" I added, as I glancedover the cafe, "that's a singular coincidence--there is Markoo himself justcoming in the doorway."
"Really?" said Mr. Robinstein, turning and gazing towards the door. "He's adifferent-looking chap from what I had imagined. Perhaps, Mr. Jenkins, itwould--er--expedite matters if you--"
"Of course," I interrupted. "Tommy is alone--we'll have him over."
And I becko
ned to Markoo and invited him to join us.
"Good!" said he, in his whole-souled way. "Glad to have a chance to seeyou--I'm so confoundedly busy these days--just think of it, I've been atthe shop ever since eight o'clock this morning."
"Tommy, I want to introduce you to my friend Mr. Robinstein," said I.
"Not Isidore Robinstein, of Paris?" said Markoo.
"I have that misfortune, Mr. Markoo," said Robinstein.
"Misfortune? Gad, Mr. Robinstein, we look at things through differentglasses," returned Markoo. "The man who can do your work ought never tosuffer misfortune--"
"If he only stays out of the stock-market," said Robinstein.
"Aha," laughed Tommy. "Et tu, Brute?"
We all laughed, and if there was any ice to be broken after that it wasalong the line of business of the cafe. We got along famously together, andwhen we parted company, two hours later, all the necessary arrangements hadbeen made for Mr. Robinstein to begin at once with Markoo--the followingday, in fact.
Four nights later Holmes turned up at my apartment.
"Well," said I, "have you come to report progress?"
"Yes," he said. "The reward will arrive on time, but it's been the de'il'sown job. Pretty, aren't they!" he added, taking a small package wrapped intissue-paper out of his pocket, and disclosing its contents.
"Gee-rusalem, what beauties!" I cried, as my eyes fell on two such diamondsas I had never before seen. They sparkled on the paper like bits ofsunshine, and that their value was quite $100,000 it did not take one likemyself, who knew little of gems, to see at a glance. "You have found them,have you?"
"Found what?" asked Raffles Holmes.
"The missing pendants," said I.
"Well--not exactly," said Raffles Holmes. "I think I'm on the track of them,though. There's an old chap who works beside me down at Gaffany's who spendsso much of his time drinking ice-water that I'm getting to be suspicious ofhim."
I roared with laughter.
"The ice-water habit is evidence of a criminal nature, eh?" I queried.
"Not per se," said Holmes, gravely, "but in conjunctibus--if my Latin isweak, please correct me--it is a very suspicious habit. When I see a mandrink ten glasses of water in two hours it indicates to my mind that thereis something in the water-cooler that takes his mind off his business. It isnot likely to be either the ice or the water, on the doctrine ofprobabilities. Hence it must be something else. I caught him yesterday withhis hand in it."
"His hand? In the water-cooler?" I demanded.
"Yes," said Holmes. "He said he was fishing around for a little piece of iceto cool his head, which ached, but I think differently. He got as pale as aghost when I started in to fish for a piece for myself because my head achedtoo. I think he took the diamonds and has hid them there, but I'm not sureyet, and in my business I can't afford to make mistakes. If my suspicionsare correct, he is merely awaiting his opportunity to fish them out andlight out with them."
"Then these," I said, "are--are they paste?"
"No, indeed, they're the real thing," said Raffles Holmes, holding up one ofthe gems to the light, where it fairly coruscated with brilliance. "Theseare the other two of the original quartet."
"Great Heavens, Holmes--do you mean to say that Gaffany & Co. permit you togo about with things like this in your pocket?" I demanded.
"Not they," laughed Holmes. "They'd have a fit if they knew I had 'em, onlythey don't know it."
"But how have you concealed the fact from them?" I persisted.
"Robinstein made me a pair exactly like them," said Holmes. "The paste onesare now lying in the Gaffany safe, where I saw them placed before leavingthe shop to-night."
"You're too deep for me, Holmes," said I. "What's the game?"
"Now don't say game, Jenkins," he protested. "I never indulge in games. Myquarry is not a game, but a scheme. For the past two weeks, with three daysoff, I have been acting as a workman in the Gaffany ship, with theostensible purpose of keeping my eye on certain employes who are undersuspicion. Each day the remaining two pendant-stones--these--have beenhanded to me to work on, merely to carry out the illusion. The first day, inodd moments, I made sketches of them, and on the night of the second I had'em down in such detail as to cut and color, that Robinstein had nodifficulty in reproducing them in the materials at his disposal in Markoo'sshop. And to-night all I had to do to get them was to keep them and hand inthe Robinstein substitutes when the hour of closing came."
"So that now, in place of four $50,000 diamonds, Gaffany & Co. are inpossession of--"
"Two paste pendants, worth about $40 apiece," said Holmes. "If I fail tofind the originals I shall have to use the paste ones to carry the schemethrough, but I hate to do it. It's so confoundly inartistic and as old atrick as the pyramids."
"And to-morrow--"
Raffles Holmes got up and paced the floor nervously.
"Ah, Jenkins," he said, with a heart-rending sigh, "that is the point. To-morrow! Heavens! what will to-morrow's story be? I--I cannot tell."
"What's the matter, Holmes?" said. "Are you in danger?"
"Physically, no--morally, my God! Jenkins, yes. I shall need all of yourhelp," he cried.
"What can I do?" I asked. "You know you have only to command me."
"Don't leave me this night for a minute," he groaned. "If you do, I am lost.The Raffles in me is rampant when I look at those jewels and think of whatthey will mean if I keep them. An independent fortune forever. All I have todo is to get aboard a ship and go to Japan and live in comfort the rest ofmy days with the wealth in my possession, and all the instincts of honestythat I possess, through the father in me, will be powerless to prevent myindulgence in this crime. Keep me in sight, and if I show the slightestinclination to give you the slip, knock me over the head, will you, for myown good?"
I promised faithfully that I would do as he asked, but, as an easier way outof an unpleasant situation, I drugged his Remsen cooler with a sleeping-powder, and an hour later he was lying off on my divan lost to the world foreight hours at least. As a further precaution I put the jewels in my ownsafe.
The night's sleep had the desired effect, and with the returning dayHolmes's better nature asserted itself. Raffles was subdued, and he returnedto Gaffany's to put the finishing touches to his work.