THE SOLUTIONS OF RADFORD SHONE.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXX, Issue 8986, 22 November 1907, Page 2

THE SOLUTIONS OF RADFORD SHONE.

BKING NARRATIVES BY OFFICERS OF THE CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION DEPARTMENT, AND OP THE PROVINCIAL POLICE, IN RESPECT OF DEALINGS WITH THE EMINENT EXPERT, MK RADFORD SHONE.

COMMUNICATED TO AND KDITKI) l:Y

[Published By Special Arrangement.] [All Eights Reserved.]

CHAPTER lll.—Continued. And he went on to tell me thdt Shone had been engaged by the directors of the Flower Steamship Company to solve the mystery of several robberies that had recently been effected on the Petunia. As one of the "greyhounds of the Atlantic," and also a mail boat, the vessel wa« fitted with a bullion-room that had till quite recently been considered impregnable. Nevertheless, during the past,.year this stronghold had been twice entered by thieves, who had abstrai-ted valuable uncut gems consigned to leading jewellers in New York. To have removed and landed the heavy gold ingots which sometimes formed part of the cargo was, of course, beyond their ingenuity. The robberies were the more unaccountable as the bullion-room was guarded by a heavy iron door, which was furnished with an up-to-date combination letter-lock. As second officer, Lancaster had charge of the room, and kept the key, though the captain of the ship also bad a key and shared with him the secret of the particular lettering decided on for each voyage, the precaution being intended to provide against the loss of the combination in the event of one or other of them meeting with a fatal accident. In spite of these safeguards the bullion-room had thrice been denuded of its most portable valuables, and, as on the present occasion the Petunia was carrying a priceless consignment of diamonds for Tiffany of New York, Radford Shone's services had ibeen enlisted with the double purpose •of protecting the gems and, if any attempt were made on them of detecting the thief. "It is pretty rcugh on me, Mr Rovds, because I'm engaged to the sweetest girl in the world, and we are only waiting till I get my first officer's certificate to be married. I should have had it before now if it hadn't been for this set-back," Lancaster concluded.

"Then you ought to hail Mr Radford Shone as a, friend," I said. "He has a great reputation, and ought to see you through." The young officer flicked a speck of dust "from the gold lace on his slesve and frowned. ' "Radford Shone is a vain beast!" he replied fiercely. "The sort of creature who sticks at foregone conclusions, and if he sticks to his present one he'll be worse than useless." "He has formed a theory?" I hazarded.

"He behaves as if he has. But see here, Mr Royds, I've told you all this in confidence, and I can tell you no more. I don't really know what, is in Shone's mind; Captain Smithers and I—and now you-are the only people in the ship aware of his presence on board,.and I beg that you will not give me away for having blabbed to you. We have had some pleasant times together, crossing the ditch, so as you were in the same line of business I thought I would like to post you in what was going on. Nothing like having a friend at court, you know."

A little later, as I leaned over the stern-rail and watched the receding river-flats, I found myself wondering at that last cryptic utterance. Why should this frank-faced sailor want a "friend at court" in the shape of a Scotland Yard inspector? Why was the buy worrying so strangely over the employment of Shone, when the object of that famous investigator was the same as his own—the keeping of felonious hands from the treasures.entrusted to his charge? I am a detective by profession, remember, and, though I tried to put it away, the thought flashed across me that his hostility to Shone could not .have been more pronounced had he had designs on the contents of the bullion room himself.

If so his apparently open confidence in me would have been a very subtle piece of strategy indeed. Lancaster was on duty that evening, and did not appear at dinner in the saloon. But I need hardly say that I paid particular heed to my fellcw-passengers, without, however, recognising among them any criminal of note who might have shipped with nefarious intentions. If such a one was on board he must be a new man who had not yet passed through our hands, for I know that there were but four old convicts then at large capable of taking up such big business.

Failing in that direction, I naturally turned my attention to Mr Radford Shone, with whom I had never yet been brought into professional association. This was not surprising, from the fact that his principal exploits had been performed in cases of the "hushing-up" order, where police interference was the last thing wanted. So far as I was concerned, his reputation, great as it was, was somewhat shadowy, and I hailed with satisfaction the chance of studying his methods. Th.ro was nothing the matter with his m.xe-up, anyhow, or with his manner. He had been given a seat at the .captain's table between a handsurne and.vivacious young lady and a tall, aquiline-featured gentleman who wore in his button-hole the ribbon of the Legion of Honour. His friend, Martin, playing the part of his pupil, sat on the other side of the girl, and they seemed to have quickly shaken down into a congenial party. Shone, with the deferential air of the clerical tutor, turned frequently to his distinguished-looking neighbour, while Mr Samuel Martin engaged the handsome brunette in airy trifling. Indeed, unless the stout youth Was an excellent actor—and he did not look it—he had really fallen a victim to her fascinations. At the close of the meal, before repairing to the smoking-room, I allow-

Ed my curiosity to get the better of me so far as to beckon a steward. "Who is that gentleman who has just risen and is offering his arm to the lady?" I asked. "That, sir? That is a French nobleman, sir—the Due de Vionville; and the young lady is his daughter, the Vicomtesse de -Mericourt," replied the man. And, lowering his voice, he added—"They've sailed with us before, sir, and I am surprised that they should choose this boat again." "How's that'?' said I.

"Last voyage they made with us there was a robbery aboard —out of the bullion-room. Goodness knows how it was broken into, but among the things taken was a pearl necklace belonging to the Vicomtesse, which she had got the captain to place there for safety. Rough luck, sir, wasn't it?" "Very," I rejoined, and I left the saloon pondering on what I had heard. The question presented itself whether Radford Shone and his assistant were known as private detectives to the Due and his daughter, or whether the wily Shone, was cultivating an acquaintance which might be profitable in the event of his tracing the thieves and possibly recovering their property. On the whole I was inclined to the latter view, for I had had dealings with some of the old French nubility, and it is hardly one of their traits to hobnob on equal terms with private inquiry agents, however eminent.

The Petunia sped westward over an unusually kind Atlantic, and we reached the fifth day out without any untoward development. Young Lancaster, ;vhen not on the bridge, was often with me, and with the narrowing down of the hours which would end his suspense his spirits seemed to fall lower and lower. He talked gloomily to me of his Ethel, and of hi i fears that a cruel fate would come between them. The bullion-room had evidently got badly on his nerves, and he refused to be comforted by my suggestion- that all must be well or Radfcrd Shone would have made some sign.

This the celebrated expert had not done. There had been no sensational indication of the thief or thieves, no alarums and excursions in the neigh* bourhood of the bullion-room, or, indeed, anything to show that Shone was exercising any vigilance whatever. He lounged for the most part on deck, avoiding the poker and bridge players in the smoking-room, and living up to his assumed clerical character by doing the civil to elderly ladies, spending also some portion of bis time in promenading with the Due de Vionville. The Honourable George Dalrymple, otherwise Mr Samuel Martin was equally assiduous in improving his acquaintance with the Due's piquante daughter. The more I saw of these strangelyassorted fellow passengers, the more convinced 1 became that Shone's real personality had not been divulged. No scion of the old regime would have been so affable to a mere specialist in criminology as was the Due to Radford Shone. Certainly no such gay dalliance as prevailed between Mr Samuel Martin and the Vicomtesse would have been permitted. No; I perforce stuck to my original opinion that Shone was ingratiating himself with a view to reaping a greater reward when he should spring his. great surprise upon us. If his researches should lead to the rt.-'ora-tion of the stolen necklace, the Due's admiration would be enhanced by his having been innocently fooled himself. Or could it be that there was a deeper undercurrent, born of some secret knowledge gained by Shone, that the Due and his daughter were themselves guiltily concerned in the robberies? I put this theory away as inadmissible, arguing that no detective, private nr official, would allow himself to loom so largely in the notice of his quarry. Besides, it was well established that these grandees had themselves been heavy losers by .the raids on the bullion-room.

We were expected to make New York harbour on the afternoon of the sixth day, so dinner on the rif th evening bade fair to.be a lively function. The great, domed, palm-decorated saloou was a blaze of electric light, illuminating brilliant toilettes fresh from Paris; speculation ran high on the probable winner of the lottery on the ship's daily runs; clean-shaven men with clear eyes and curt speech talked of the Wal 1 Street prices received by Marconigram just before the gong sounded. For all that, for me, the place lacked its Hamlet, for Mr Radford Shone was absent from table, and so was Mr Samuel Martin. (To be continued.)