"There is one thing you may be certain about. You have no ordinary criminal to deal with."
"I am not quite of your opinion, but if anything comes of my researches you shall have a portion of the reward."
Whether it is my peculiar bent of mind or not, I cannot say, but I have often in the course of my lifetime amused myself by taking up mysterious cases where the police were at fault, and not always without success. The countess was one of the most beautiful women of her time, and as good as she was beautiful. She was naturally much grieved at the loss of the family jewels, and the numerous valuable presents she had received from royalty and others on her marriage. The earl was terribly annoyed at the theft, and blamed the countess for losing sight of the dressing-case. Every assistance, so far as publicity was concerned, was given by the press, and the _Times_ had a leader about one of the missing stones, which had once been the eye of an idol in India.
The list of the stolen valuables and the marked time-table were promptly sent to me, and as I had some leisure at the time I went immediately to work to test the soundness of my theory. The robbery was committed five minutes before a certain train started, and the culprit may have left by that train.
I commenced my researches by booking by the same train to the first station at which it stopped. Here I made copious notes of the families living in the neighbourhood, and whether any of them had journeyed from London on the day in question. The station-master, an intelligent man, ran over the different names and referred to his books, but could not enlighten me. To the best of his belief, he could say that no first-class passengers arrived by that train. Next day I took the second station at which the train stopped, but with the same result. The third station did not advance me in the slightest degree, but I was not discouraged. I was determined to follow that train to its journey's end, and ascertain as well as I could what passengers alighted from it at the different stations. As it was an express train my task would soon be finished. When I had done the last station I found from my note book that about eight first-class and some seventy or eighty passengers of an inferior class had travelled from London by this particular train.