The Tell-Tale Diamond
by R. D. Mason
ON the night of January 10, 18—, the Clifton Bank was entered by burglars who made good their escape with thirty thousand dollars in their possession. As soon as the robbery became known I repaired to the bank and sought the president, to whom I presented my credentials and made known my intention of beginning work at once. The old gentleman readily acquiesced, and together we passed into the main office where several spruce looking young men were scratching away as unconcernedly as if they had not been engaged in an animated discussion of the robbery only a minute before. I glanced at them sharply, but saw nothing suspicious in their looks, and concluded it would be a waste of time to question them.
I examined the [lock] of the door opening upon the street, and found it had not been tampered with, although the first arrival had found the door ajar. I next turned my attention to a door opening upon the rear, and found it securely locked, in which condition it had been, so the president assured me, since the night before.
“Who has charge of the key of this door?” I inquired.