“No one can pass from the upper to the lower portion of this house
without going by this door; how else could I be sure the diamonds had
not already been smuggled out of the building?”
“And you are positively sure that, as it is, they are still here.”
“Positively.”
“And that Philippa, although she will not speak, knows who took the
jewels, or at least who it was that entered the room above while Mrs.
Winchester was down here?”
“Yes.”
“Then,” I declared, “our coast is clear. To find the diamonds it is
only necessary to search the house, and as for the culprit, Philippa
will find it difficult to keep silence when once the law has taken its
course, and duty as well as honor compels her to speak.”
He nodded and stood a moment thinking.
“You would search the house?” he repeated at last. “It is a large house
and its places of concealment innumerable; I do not think we should
recover them by that means——not in the time I have specified. Listen
to my plan. Mrs. Winchester and myself expected to go to a certain
reception to-night. It is a grand affair, and it is desirable that we
should be present. We will go there, but before going I will make it
known throughout the house that you are a detective, and say that it
is your intention to search the house for the missing jewels as soon as
you can get the necessary assistance from your office. This will alarm
the guilty, and if I am not very much mistaken, lead to the endeavor of
some one person in this house to leave it. If this should prove true,
do not hinder the attempt, for that person will have the diamonds in
his possession, and if followed, as you will take measures he shall be,
their recovery must be a matter of an hour or two; for a man is more
easily searched than a house.”
“An admirable scheme,” I exclaimed, wondering at an acumen I certainly
should not have looked for in the wealthy broker. “I see but one flaw
in it. If Mrs. Winchester heard that her house was to be ransacked in
her absence, would she consent to go to the reception?”
“Mrs. Winchester will be in her carriage when I make the announcement.
I shall certainly see to that.”
“Very well, then,” said I, “it only remains for me to procure from the
police-station the man I want for the pursuit you mention.”
“I will call there on my way to the reception with any note you may
choose to write.”