Jasper County Democrat, Volume 10, Number 20, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 August 1907 — Martin Hewitt, Investigator. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Martin Hewitt, Investigator.

r> Bhe Lenton Croft Robberies.

By ARTHUR MORRISON.

Fublish«d by Arrangement Witk Harper A Brother*.

The room that Mrs. Arm It* go had (occupied presented no peculiar feature. A few feet below the window the roof of the billiard room wan visible, con •Isting largely of skylight Hewitt glanced casually about the walls, ascertained that the furniture and hangings had not been materially changed ■lnce the second robbery and expressed bis desire to see the windows from the outsldp. Before leaving the room, however, be wished to know the names of any persons who were known to have been about the house on the occasions of all three robberies. “Well, you know it’s quite Impossible to answer for* all the servants. You’ll only get that by direct questioning. I can’t possibly remember things of that sort. As to the family and visitors—why, you don’t suspect any of them, do you?" “1 don't suspect a soul. Sir James,” Hewitt answered, beaming geniuliy. ••not a soul. You see. I can’t suspect people till I know something about where they were. Was there any visitor here each time, or even ou the first and last occasions only?" “No, not one, and my own sister, perhaps you will be pleased to know, was only there at the time of the first robbery."

“Just so! And your daughter, as I bare gathered, was clearly absent from the spot each time—indeed, was in company with the party robbed. Your niece, now V “Why, hang It all, Mr. Hewitt, I can't talk of my niece as a suspected criminal! The poor girl’s under my protection, and I really can’t allow” “My dear sir, haven't 1 said that I don't suspect a soul ? Do let me know bow the people were distributed as nearly as possible. Let me see. It was your niece, ,1 think, who found that Mrs. Armitage’s door was locked —this door, In fact—on the day she lost her brooch? And yesterday—was she out then?” "No; I think not. Indeed, 6he goes out very little. Her health is usually bad. She was Indoors, too, at the time of the Heath robbery, since you ask. But come, now, I don't like tills. It’s ridiculous to suppose that she knows anything of it.” “I don’t suppose it, as I have said. I am only askiug for information. That Is all your resident family, I take it, and you know nothing of anybody else's movements, except, perhaps, Mr. Lloyd’s ?” “Lloyd? Well, you know yourself that he was out with the' ladies when the first robbery took place. As to the others I don’t remember. Yesterday he was probably In Uls room writing. I think that acquits him, eh?” Sir James looked quizzically into tbe broad face of the affable detective, who smiled and replied: “Now, you see, we get down to the servants, unless some stranger is the party wanted. Shall we go outside now ?”

Lenton Croft was a large, desultory sort of house, nowhere more than three stories high and mostly only two. Hewitt scrutinized its external features carefully as they strolled rouud and stopped some little while before the windows of the two bedrooms lie had just seen from the inside. Presently they approached the stables and coach bouse, where a groom was washing tbe wheels of the dogcart. “Do you mind my smoking?” Hewitt asked Sir James. '“Perhaps you will take a cigar yourself. They are not so bad, I think. 1 will ask your man for a light.” Sir James felt his own matchbox, but Hewdtt bad gone and was lighting ihls cigar with a match from a box handed him by the groom. A smart little terrier was trotting about by the coach house, and Hewitt stooped to rub Its head. Then he made some observation about the dog which enlisted the groom’s Interest and was soon absorbed in a chat with the man. Sir James, waiting a little way off, tapped th« stones rather impatiently with his foot and presently moved away. For fully a quarter of an hour Hewitt chatted with the groom and when at last he carte away and overtook Sir JameS that gentleman was about re-entering the house. ”Oh!” exclaimed Sir James shortly. “There is one other thing,” Hewitt said, “that I should like to know—there are two windows directly below that of the room occupied yesterday by M rs. Cazeuove, one on each floor. What rooms do they light?” “That on the ground floor is the morning room; the other is Mr. Lloyd’s, my secretary, a sort of study or sitting room.” "Now you will see at once. Sir James,” Hewitt pursued—“you will sec at once that if a ladder had been used In Mrs. Heath’s case anybody, looking from either of these rooms would have seen It” "Of coarse! The Scotland Yard mu (Questioned everybody as to that but nobody seemed to have been In either fcf tbe rooms when the thing occurred—at any rate, nobody saw anything.” "Still I think I should like to look out Of those windows myself. It will at least give me an idea of what was In trtew and wbat was not If anybody had been there.” Norris led tbe way to the tnOrolng room. As they reached the

floor a young lady, carrying a book and i (walking very languidly, caipe out. Hewitt stepped aside to let her pass And afterward said Interrogatively, “Miss Norris, your daughter, Sir John?" “No; my niece. Do you want to ask her anything? Dora, my dear,” Sir James added, following her in the corridor, "this is Mr. Hewitt, who Is Investigating these wretched robberies for me. I think he would like to hear If you remember, anything happening nt any of the three times.” The lady bowed slightly and said In B plaintive drawl: "I, uncle? Heally. t don’t remember anything; nothing at all.” “You found Mrs. Armitage’s door locked, I believe,” asked Hewitt, “when Irou tried It on the afternoon when she ost her brooch?” “Oh, yes, 1 believe it was locked! Yes, it was.” “Had the key been left in?” “The key? Oh, no! I think not; no.” “Do you remember anything out of the common happening anything Whatever, no matter how trivial—on the day Mrs. Heath lost her bracelet?” “No, really, I don’t. I can’t remember at all.” “Thank you,” said Hewitt hastily; “thank you. Now the morning room. Sir James.” In the morning room Hewitt stayed but a few seconds, doing little more than casually glance out of the windows. In the room above he took a little longer time. It was a comfortable room, but with rather effeminate indications about its contents. Little pieces of draped silk work hung about, the furniture, and Japanese silk fans decorated the mantelpiece. Near the (window was a cage containing a gray parrot, and the writing table was decorated with two vases of flowers.

Hewitt stared thoughtfully out of the window and then, still deep In thought, rattled at the wires of the Cage with a quill toothpick and plaved h moment with the parrot Then, looking up at the window again, he said, “That is Mr. Lloyd, isn’t It, coming back In n fly?” ••Yes, I think so. Is there anything else you would care to see here?” “No, thank you,” Hewitt replied; "I don’t think there is.” They went down to the smoking room, and Sir James w r ent away to Bpeak to his secretary. When he returned Hewitt said quietly: “1 think, Blr James—l think that I shall be able to give you your thief presently. I should like to know now whether you are determined to prosecute?” “Why, bless me, of course,” Sir James replied, with surprise. “It doesn't rest with me, you know. The property belongs to my friends. And. even If they were disposed to let the thing slide I shouldn’t allow It. I couldn’t after they had been robbed In my house.” “Of course, of course! Then, If I can, T should like to send a message to Twyford by somebody perfectly trustworthy, not a servant. Could anybody go?” “Well, there's Lloyd, although he's only just back from his Journey. But If it's important he’ll go,” “It Is important. The fact Is we must hqve a policeman or two here this evening, andlHJiko Mr. I.loyd to fetch them without temug anybody else.’’ Sir James rang, and In response to his message Mr. Lloyd appeared. While Sir James gave bis secretary his instructions Hewitt strolled to the door of the smoking room aud intercepted the latter as he came out.

"I’m sorry to give you this trouble, Mr. Lloyd,” he said, “but I must stay here myself for a little, and somebody* who can be trusted must go. Will yov, just bring back a police constable with you, or, rather, two? Two would be better. That is all that Is wanted. You won’t let tbe servants know, will you? Of course there will be a female searcher at the Twyford police station. Ah, of course. Well, you needn’t bring her, you know. That sort of thing is done at the station.” And, chatting thus confidentially, Martin Hewitt saw him off. When Hewitt returned to the smoking room, Sir James said suddenly: “Why, bless my soul, Mr. Hewitt, we haven’t fed you! I’m awfully sorry. We came in rather late for lunch, you know. There’s no dinner till 7, so you’d better let me give you something now.” “Thank you. Sir Janies,” Hewitt replied. “I won’t take much. A few biscuits perhaps or something of that sort. And, by the bye, if you don’t mind, I rather think I should like to take it alone. Perhaps I can go into Mr. Lloyd’s room for half an hour or bo. I don’t think he'll mind, and it’s pretty comfortable.” “Certainly, if you like. I’ll tell them to send you whatever they’ve got.” “Thank you very much. Perhaps they’ll also send me a lump of sugar and a walnut. It’s—it’s Just a little fad of mine.” “A—what? A lump of sugar and a (walnut?” Sir James stopped for a foment, with his hand on the bell rope. “Oh, certainly, if you’d like it; certainly,” he added and stared after (tills detective of enrious tastes as he left the room. When the vehicle bringing back the Secretary and the policemen drew up

ion the drive, Martin Ilewitt left the room on the first floor and proceeded downstairs. On the landing he met Blr James Norris and Mrs. Cazenove. who stared with astonishment on perceiving that the detective carried ,jn his hand thejparrot cage. “I think our business is about brought to a bead now,” Hewitt remarked on the stairs. “Here are the (police officers from Twyford.” -The men were standing in the hail with Mr. Lloyd, who on catching night of the cage In Hewitt’s hand paled stid ktenly. “This is the person who will be charged, I think," Hewitt pursued, addressing the officers and indicating (Lloyd with bis finger. ! “This is his accomplice,” Hewitt went on, placing the parrot and cage on the hall table, "though I doubt whether there will be any use in (charging him." “This was his little messenger, ht a useful Mercury,” Hewitt went on. tapping the cage complacently; “in fact, the actual lifter. Hold him upl” ! The last remark referred to the wretched Lloyd, who had fallen forward with something between a sob and a loud sigh. The i»ollcemen took him by the arms and propped him in a chair. *•*♦•*• "System?” said Hewitt, with a shrug of the shoulders, an hour or two after In Sir James’ study. “I can’t say I have a system. I call It nothing but common sense and a sharp pair of eyes. Nobody using these could help jtaking the right road in this case. I began at the match. Just as the Scot land Yard man did, but I had the ad vantage of taking a line through three cases. To begin with, it was plain that that match, being left there in daylight in Mrs. Cazenove’s room, could jnot have been used to light the table (top in the full glare of the window; therefore it had been used for some other purpose—what purpose I could not at the moment guess. Habitual thieves, you know, often have curious superstitions, and some will never take

"This is the person who will be charged anything without leaving something behind—a pebble or a piece of coal or something like that. The match had clearly been brought in, because when I asked for matches there were none in ‘the stand, not even an empty box, and tthe room had not been disturbed; also match probably had not been struck there, nothing having been heard, although of course a mistake In this matter was just possible. This match, then, It was fair to assume, had been lit somewhere else aud blown out Immediately—l remarked at the time that it was very little burned. Plainly It could not have been treated thus for nothing, and the only possible object would have been to prevent it Igniting accidentally. Following on (this, It became obvious that the match was used, for whatever purpose, not as a match, but merely as a convenient splinter of wood. “So far so good. But on examining the match very closely I observed, as (you can see for yourself, certain rather (Sharp indentations In the wood. They are very small, you see, and scarcely visible, except upon narrow* inspection, hut there they are, and their position hire regular. See, there are two on leach side, each opposite the corresponding mark of the other pair. The match, in fact, would seem to hav*. (been gripped in some fairly sharp Instrument, holding it at tw*o points above and two below, an Instrument', as It may at once strike you, not unlike the beak of a bird.

“Now here was an idea. What living (creature but a bird could possible have entered Mrs. Heath’s window without i ladder, supposing no ladder to have been used, or could have got Into Mrs. Armitage’s window without lifting the gash higher than the eight or ten Inches It was already open? Plainly, nothing. Further, It Is significant that jnly one article was stolen at a time, although others were about. A human being could have carried any reasonable number, but a bird could only take one at a time. But why should a bird carry a match In Its beak? Certainly It must have been trained to do that for a purpose, and a little consideration made that purpose pretty clear. A noisy, chattering bird would probably betray Itself at once. Therefore It must be trained to keep quiet both while going and coming. ! “I thought at once, of course, of a lackdaw or a magpie, but the marks on he match were much too wide apart to have been made by the beak of either. I conjectured, therefore, that It most be a raven. 8o ihat, when we

arrived near the coach house, t seised the opportunity of a little chat with four groom on the subject of dogs and pets In general, and ascertained that there was no tame raven in the plate. I also, incidentally, by getting a light from the coftch house box of matches, ascertained that the match found was of the sort generally used abent the establishment—the large, thick, redtopped English match. But I further found that Mr. Lloyd had a parrot which was a most Intelligent pet, and had been trained into comparative quietness—for a parrot. Also, I learned that more than once the groom had met Mr. Lloyd carrying his parrot under his coat, it having, as Its owner explained, learned the trick of opening Its cage door and escaping. “I got to Lloyd’s room as soon as possible. ' My chief object In going there was achieved when I played with the parrot and induced it to bite a quill toothpick. • “When you left me in the smoking room I compared the quill and the match very carefully and found that the marks corresponded exactly. After this I felt very little doubt indeed. The fact of Lloyd having met the ladies walking before dark on the day of the first Jobbery proved nothing, because, since It was clear that the match had not been used to procure a light, the robbery might as easily have taken place in daylight as not. “When Mrs. Heath left her window open and her door shut, anybody cllmbihg upon the open sash of Lloyd’s high window could have put the bird upon the sill above. The match placed in the bird’s beak for the purpose I have Indicated, and struck first. In case by accident it should ignite by rubbing against something and startle the bird —this match would, of course, -be dropped just where the object to be removed was taken up. As you know, in every case the match was found almost upon the spot where the missing article had been left—scarcely a likely triple coincidence had the match been used by a human thief. This would have been done as soon after the ladles had left as possible, and there would have been plenty of time for Lloyd to hurry out and meet them before dark —especially plenty of time to meet them coming back, as they must have been, since they were carrying their ferns. The match was an article well chosen for its purpose, as being a not altdfeether unlikely thing to find on a dressing table and, If noticed, likely to lead to the wrong conclusions adopted by the official detective. “In Mrs. Armitage’s case the taking of an Inferior brooch and the leaving of a more valuable ring pointed clearly either to the operator being a fool or unable to distinguish values, and certainly from other indications the thief seemed no fool. The door was locked and the gasfitter, so to speak, on guard, and the window was only eight or ten inches open and propped with a brush. A human thief entering the window would have disturbed this arrangement and would scarcely risk discovery by attempting to replace it, especially a thief in so great a hurry as to snatch the brooch up without unfastening the pin. The bird could pass through the opening as it was and would have to tear the pincushion to pull the brooch off, probably holding the cushion down with Its claw the while.

"Now, in yesterday’s case we had an alteration of conditions. The window was shut and fastened, but tbe door was open, but only left for a few minutes, during which time no sound was heard either of coming or going. Was It not possible, then, that the thief was already In the room, In hiding, while Mrs. Cazenove was there and seized Its first opportunity on her temporary absence? The room is full of draperies, hangings and what not, allowing of plenty of concealment for a bird, and a bird eouJd leave the place noiselessly and quickly. Before taking any definite steps I resolved to see if Polly could not be persuaded to exhibit his accomplishments to an Indulgent stranger. For that purpose I contrived to send Lloyd away again and have a quiet hour alone with his bird. A piece of sugar, as everybody knows, Is A good parrot bribe, but a walnut split In half Is a better, especially If the bird be used to It. So I got you to furnish me with both. - Polly was shy at first, but I generally get along , very well with pets, and a little perseverance soon led to a complete private performance for my benefit. Polly would take tbe match, mute as wax, jump on file table, pick up the brightest thing he could see In a great hurry, leave the match behind and scuttle away round the room, but at first wouldn’t give up the plunder to me. It was enough. When we sent Lloyd away, It struck me that he might as well be usefully employed as not, so I got him to fetch the police, deluding him a little, I fear, by talking about the servants and a female searcher. There will be no trouble about evidence. He’ll confess. Of that I’m sure. I know tbe sort of man. But I doubt If you’ll get Mrs. Cazenove’s brooch back. You see, he has been to London today, and by this time the swag is probably broken up.” “But Mrs. Armitage’s brooch was pawned, and by a woman,’’ said Sir James.

“Exactly. I expect our friend Lloyd ‘was rather disgusted at his small luck •-probably gave the brooch to some female connection In London and she realized on it." The two smoked In silence for a few minutes, and then Hewitt continued: k4 I don’t expect onr friend has bad an easy job altogether with that bird. His successes at most have only been three, and I suspect he had many failures ■nd not a few anxious moments that we know nothing of. I should judge jus much merely from what the groom (told me of frequently meeting Lloyd El his parrot But the plan was not id one—not at all. Even If the bird been caught In the act It would

only hava been That mischievous par* tot I’ you see. And Ms master would only have been looking for him.” The End.