The Pursuit of the House-Boat | Page 7

mystery and recover
the diamonds, or the robber himself, actuated by motives of
self-preservation, would endeavor to direct my energies into other
channels until he should have the time to dispose of his ill-gotten booty.
A mental discussion of the probabilities inclined me to believe that the
latter would be the case. I reasoned in this fashion: The person robbed
is of exalted rank. She cannot move rapidly because she is so. Great
bodies move slowly. It is probable that it will be a week before,
according to the etiquette by which she is hedged about, she can
communicate with me. In the first place, she must inform one of her
attendants that she has been robbed. He must communicate the news to
the functionary in charge of her residence, who will communicate with
the Home Secretary, and from him will issue the orders to the police,
who, baffled at every step, will finally address themselves to me. 'I'll
give that side two weeks,' I said. On the other hand, the robber: will he
allow himself to be lulled into a false sense of security by counting on
this delay, or will he not, noting my habit of occasionally entering upon
detective enterprises of this nature of my own volition, come to me at
once and set me to work ferreting out some crime that has never been
committed? My feeling was that this would happen, and I pulled out
my watch to see if it were not nearly time for him to arrive. The
robbery had taken place at a state ball at the Buckingham Palace. 'H'm!'
I mused. 'He has had an hour and forty minutes to get here. It is now
twelve twenty. He should be here by twelve forty-five. I will wait.' And
hastily swallowing a cocaine tablet to nerve myself up for the meeting,

I sat down and began to read my Schopenhauer. Hardly had I perused a
page when there came a tap upon my door. I rose with a smile, for I
thought I knew what was to happen, opened the door, and there stood,
much to my surprise, the husband of the lady whose tiara was missing.
It was the Duke of Brokedale himself. It is true he was disguised. His
beard was powdered until it looked like snow, and he wore a wig and a
pair of green goggles; but I recognized him at once by his lack of
manners, which is an unmistakable sign of nobility. As I opened the
door, he began:
"'You are Mr.--'
"'I am,' I replied. 'Come in. You have come to see me about your stolen
watch. It is a gold hunting-case watch with a Swiss movement; loses
five minutes a day; stem-winder; and the back cover, which does not
bear any inscription, has upon it the indentations made by the molars of
your son Willie when that interesting youth was cutting his teeth upon
it.'"
"Wonderful!" cried Johnson.
"May I ask how you knew all that?" asked Solomon, deeply impressed.
"Such penetration strikes me as marvellous."
"I didn't know it," replied the stranger, with a smile. "What I said was
intended to be jocular, and to put Brokedale at his ease. The Americans
present, with their usual astuteness, would term it bluff. It was. I merely
rattled on. I simply did not wish to offend the gentleman by letting him
know that I had penetrated his disguise. Imagine my surprise, however,
when his eye brightened as I spoke, and he entered my room with such
alacrity that half the powder which he thought disguised his beard was
shaken off on to the floor. Sitting down in the chair I had just vacated,
he quietly remarked:
"'You are a wonderful man, sir. How did you know that I had lost my
watch?'
"For a moment I was nonplussed; more than that, I was completely

staggered. I had expected him to say at once that he had not lost his
watch, but had come to see me about the tiara; and to have him take my
words seriously was entirely unexpected and overwhelmingly
surprising. However, in view of his rank, I deemed it well to fall in
with his humor. 'Oh, as for that,' I replied, 'that is a part of my business.
It is the detective's place to know everything; and generally, if he
reveals the machinery by means of which he reaches his conclusions,
he is a fool, since his method is his secret, and his secret his stock in
trade. I do not mind telling you, however, that I knew your watch was
stolen by your anxious glance at my clock, which showed that you
wished to know the time. Now most rich Americans have watches for
that purpose, and have no hesitation about showing