Stanley laughed.
"The jewels are no mystery at all. I can satisfy your mind about those here and now. They were Joan's—Mrs. Heath's. Her maid, Corinne, took them and disappeared. Soon afterward, purely by accident, I met Paul Latimer, a friend who lives on Long Island, and played squash with him at the club and during the course of our conversation, he asked if I knew of a good man servant, saying that Julien, their butler, had just given notice that he was to be married shortly to Corinne, the new parlor-maid, and return with her to France.
"The woman's name instantly caught my attention.
"Why shouldn't I do a bit of sleuthing on my own account?
"Thus far the detectives Joan and I had hired had made no headway at locating the jewels.
"Why shouldn't I have a try at it myself? It chanced I had ordered a power-boat built in Rhode Island and had for some time been awaiting an opportunity to test her out. Why not combine the two errands?
"I got the boat and used her a couple of days, and finding her satisfactory cruised along to the Latimers' at whose house I had frequently stayed, and with the habits of whose household I was familiar. My plan was to arrive early in the morning before the family was astir and catch the parlor-maid alone at her work.
"Should she prove to be our Corinne, I would boldly confront her with the theft and demand the jewels; if, on the other hand, she turned out to be another person altogether, it would be perfectly easy to explain my presence by falling back on my acquaintance with Paul.
"It seemed, on thinking the matter over, that this would be a far more considerate course anyway than to drag in the detectives, not only because I had no real evidence to present to them, but also because of my friendship for the Latimers and for Julien, who had been in their employ many years. I knew they esteemed him very highly and would be dreadfully cut up should they find him involved in an affair as unpleasant as this one. Beside, I felt practically certain he had had nothing to do with the crime. He was too fine—one of the old-fashioned, devoted type of servant.
"To shame such a man and throw suspicion on him if he were blameless would be a pity, especially just on the eve of his resigning from service. It might mean that instead of leaving with the gratitude and good-will of his employers, he might be sent away under a cloud. I did not wish that to happen.