"How large was the tortoise?" I asked.
"It could at a pinch be hidden in the hollow of a man's hand,—say about two inches in diameter with the setting."
It was now nearly three o'clock in the morning. There was no more for me to do there, so I prepared to take my departure.
The old man began again to lament the loss of the diamond, and complained in the most energetic manner that he had not been able to shoot, or cut in two, the rascals who had robbed him.
"It would be stupid of me to promise anything," said I; "but, for my own part, I am pretty sure we shall have the birds caged before many days, and that we shall secure the diamond as well."
With these words, I took my departure, put the cut-off heel bits in my pocket, and went home.
My thoughts on the way were naturally taken up with what I had heard and seen at Bartholomew Frick's.
But, remarkably enough, it was the young girl, Miss Frick, upon whom my thoughts dwelt most of all. I had only heard her speak a few words, and this was the first time I had seen her face; but she attracted me strangely. I have never been of an impressionable nature, and no woman had ever had much of an attraction for me. So I was astonished to find how clearly her image stood out before me after the few hours we had been together. I already felt a strong desire to please her—a desire to do something which would compel her admiration.
You must, in any case, get the diamond back for her uncle, I thought; women naturally set value upon a detective's skill. It will at any rate please her uncle, and bring me into her society again.
I had at once noticed that the robbery at Frick's was of a simple and not very complicated kind; and though the matter from a professional stand-point had not interested me particularly, it had suddenly become invested with a new importance.