“Acting upon the detective’s instructions,
there were several men in plain clothes ready to his
call in the immediate neighbourhood. Two stood
within the shadow of the steps of the Congregational
Church at the corner of the mews, others were stationed
well within a soft call.
“Hardly, therefore, had the hare turned into
the cul-de-sac at the back of Phillimore Terrace
than, at a slight sound from Mr. Francis Howard, every
egress was barred to him, and he was caught like a
rat in a trap.
“As soon as the tramp had advanced some thirty
yards or so (the whole length of this part of the
mews is about one hundred yards) and was lost in the
shadow, Mr. Francis Howard directed four or five of
his men to proceed cautiously up the mews, whilst
the same number were to form a line all along the
front of Phillimore Terrace between the mews and the
High Street.
“Remember, the back-garden walls threw long
and dense shadows, but the silhouette of the man would
be clearly outlined if he made any attempt at climbing
over them. Mr. Howard felt quite sure that the
thief was bent on recovering the stolen goods, which,
no doubt, he had hidden in the rear of one of the
houses. He would be caught in flagrante delicto,
and, with a heavy sentence hovering over him, he would
probably be induced to name his accomplice. Mr.
Francis Howard was thoroughly enjoying himself.
“The minutes sped on; absolute silence, in spite
of the presence of so many men, reigned in the dark
and deserted mews.
“Of course, this night’s adventure was
never allowed to get into the papers,” added
the man in the corner with his mild smile. “Had
the plan been successful, we should have heard all
about it, with a long eulogistic article as to the
astuteness of our police; but as it was—well,
the tramp sauntered up the mews—and—there
he remained for aught Mr. Francis Howard or the other
constables could ever explain. The earth or the
shadows swallowed him up. No one saw him climb
one of the garden walls, no one heard him break open
a door; he had retreated within the shadow of the
garden walls, and was seen or heard of no more.”
“One of the servants in the Phillimore Terrace
houses must have belonged to the gang,” said
Polly with quick decision.
“Ah, yes! but which?” said the man in
the corner, making a beautiful knot in his bit of
string. “I can assure you that the police
left not a stone unturned once more to catch sight
of that tramp whom they had had in custody for two
days, but not a trace of him could they find, nor of
the diamonds, from that day to this.”
ALL HE KNEW
“The tramp was missing,” continued the
man in the corner, “and Mr. Francis Howard tried
to find the missing tramp. Going round to the
front, and seeing the lights at No. 26 still in, he
called upon Mr. Shipman. The jeweller had had
a few friends to dinner, and was giving them whiskies-and-sodas
before saying good night. The servants had just
finished washing up, and were waiting to go to bed;
neither they nor Mr. Shipman nor his guests had seen
or heard anything of the suspicious individual.
