did it all right. And there's the cross," and Basset
tossed on the table beside the colonel a battered cross of gold in
which sparkled many stones with the limpid fire of hidden rainbows.

"Did he give any particulars?"

"Oh, yes, he come across with the whole story."

"What made him hold back on me then? He might have known I'd find out.
Why didn't he confess to me, Basset?"

"Well, I guess it's just as he says--he didn't want to split on a pal.
But when his pal went back on him--"

"What do you mean--his pal went back on him?" asked the colonel, and
there was uneasiness in his voice. "And, while you're about it,
Basset, don't handle that cross so carelessly. It's worth several
thousand dollars--a small fortune maybe--and some of the stones may be
loose. They might fall out."

"That wouldn't hurt, Colonel. I reckon maybe I did lose one or two on
the way back, careless like."

"You lost some of those diamonds?" The colonel's voice was sharp.

"Diamonds? Diamonds nothin'! Them's paste, Colonel. That's what made
Spotty sore. His pal done him dirt, and that's why he split. The
whole cross is made of phoney diamonds--paste!"

"Paste diamonds! Spotty's pal fooled him! What do you mean?" gasped
the colonel, his apprehension growing. "Isn't this the diamond cross
that Mrs. Larch owned? And yet, if this is here, how could her husband
send it to her? And Spotty! Basset, what _does_ it all mean?"

"Well, Colonel, I don't know whose cross this is, but whoever lost it
didn't lose much. It's worth about ten dollars, I guess, and say, if
ever there was a sore crook it's Spotty! He says when he and Blue Ike
planned to rob Grafton's store they thought there was some real jewelry
there."

"Rob Grafton's store!" cried the colonel. "Didn't Spotty confess to
stealing this diamond cross from Mrs. Darcy, and killing her because
she wouldn't let him get away with it?"

"Colonel this is the first I've come on the case, and all I know is I
was sent on to bring Spotty back. I wasn't told he was charged with
murder."

"He wasn't exactly _charged_ with it, but-- Well, go on, what did he
confess to?"

"Just robbery, that's all, and he didn't get much. He and Blue Ike
cracked a crib here one night. From what Spotty says they got in Aaron
Grafton's department store, opened the safe the way Ike always does, by
listening to the tumblers in the lock, and took out some jewelry.
There wasn't much--they picked the