SUSPECTS AND SUSPECTS.
“I am sorry to trouble you, Mr. Carter. But the loss of this watch at
the ball really becomes a personal matter with me.”
Nick Carter, sitting in the luxurious boudoir of Mrs. Clement van
Raikes, two mornings after the great ball at the Hotel Supremacy, bowed,
without speaking.
“It was my ball,” went on the lady. “As one of the acknowledged leaders
in New York society, I was anxious that it should be perfect in every
way. It was the first fancy-dress affair I ever had given, and I had
spared no pains to make it everything it should be.”
“It was a brilliant ball, Mrs. van Raikes,” put in the detective. “I can
testify to that personally, for I dropped in for a few minutes.”
“Indeed? I am glad to hear that, because it may help you in tracing this
valuable watch. Of course, intrinsically it would not be of sufficient
importance for me to engage the services of the most famous detective in
America, nor would you consider it on those grounds.”
She paused for Nick Carter to make some remark. He merely bowed gravely.
Mrs. van Raikes had spoken the truth, so there was nothing to be added.
He certainly was not the man to be sent after a stolen watch, unless
there where extraordinary circumstances surrounding the theft.
“The watch is worth four or five thousand dollars, I understand,”
continued the lady. “But that is not the point. It was the property of a
very distinguished man, who was one of my most honored guests.”
“Yes?”
“The watch was a present to him from his father, who was a monarch----”
“A king, do you mean?” asked Nick, with a sudden accession of interest.
“Well, I believe they called him a prince. He was a ruler of a small
country on the Caribbean Sea--a place called Joyalita. It was settled by
some Spanish grandees several centuries ago, and it has always been
nominally a monarchy ever since.”
“Nominally?” asked Nick. “Do you mean that it is not one in reality?”
“I don’t know. I have heard people say that the South American and
Central American republics would not permit it to exist so near to them
if it really were what it calls itself. It has a constitutional
government, and is more nearly a republic than some other countries that
call themselves such.”
“I see,” interposed Nick Carter, anxious to help the lady out of the
morass in which she was floundering. “At all events, the prince is the
head of the government, and, as I understand it, he takes his position
by right of heredity, instead of election?”
“Yes, Mr. Carter, that is it,” assented Mrs. van Raikes, with a sigh of
relief. “You have explained it exactly.”
“Who did you say it was who lost it?”
She had not said anybody, but the detective was curious to know who was
the owner of the watch that had come so strangely into his hands, and
which watch was put away securely in the safe in his library at that
very moment.
“It was Prince Miguel, a cousin of the reigning prince, Marcos----”
“Marcos?” interrupted Nick involuntarily.
“Yes. Do you know him, Mr. Carter?”
“I can’t say I know him. In fact, I doubt whether I ever saw him. But I
have heard his name.”
“That’s quite likely,” smiled the lady. “You detectives know everybody,
of course.”
“It is our business. Was it Prince Miguel who told you of his loss?”
“No. The prime minister of Joyalita, Don Solado. He came here less than
an hour ago. As soon as he had gone, I telephoned you. And, by the way,
I must thank you again for coming so quickly. I know what a favor I was
asking in suggesting that you touch this case at all.”
“Why didn’t he complain to the hotel management?” asked Nick. “You tell
me Prince Miguel discovered his loss soon after midnight on the night of
the ball. Why did he wait so long before announcing his loss?”
“I can’t say, Mr. Carter,” returned Mrs. van Raikes, shrugging her
shoulders. “These princes and their advisers are not like us. They have
their own ways.”
“He does not suspect anybody, you say?”
The lady did not answer for a moment, but stared out of a window across
Central Park without seeing anything, apparently.
“The fact is, Mr. Carter, Don Solado does suspect one person--a man with
whom he had a few angry words outside the ballroom.”
Nick Carter looked up quickly. He was going to hear something
interesting now, he thought.
“What was his name? Does Don Solado know?”
“That is a question I cannot answer. Don Solado did not say so. He only
told me the man was dressed as a Mexican. I happen to know that one of
my guests, a very important man in his own country, intended to come to
the ball in a Mexican costume.”
“And you will not let me know who he was?”
She shook her head with a little, apologetic smile.
“I am afraid I cannot, Mr. Carter. It would not be proper to reveal a
secret that is not my own.”
“A secret?”
“Well, it may be a secret. I do not know much about foreign politics,
especially those of a place like Joyalita, which seems to be different
from most other countries, large or small. That is why I am careful not
to say more than I can help.”
“Then that is all?” asked Nick Carter, rising. “If I hear anything about
this jeweled watch, I will report to you. I think you told me there is
an ‘M’ in diamonds as part of its ornamentation?”
“Yes. I know this is a very small case, Mr. Carter. But my husband
persuaded me to call you up. He thought the fact of its being the
property of a very important personage, and because there is a value
attached to the article entirely distinct from what it would bring if
offered for sale, could weigh with you.”
“It does,” replied the detective. “I should like to have known the name
of that man they think might have stolen the watch, however.”
“Perhaps you will find out yourself,” smiled Mrs. van Raikes. “I am
sorry I cannot tell you.”