elegrams lying about, for any one
to see, and within a few minutes I found on his desk a telegram from Mr.
Marshall Allerdyke, dispatched early that morning from Hull, saying that
his cousin had died suddenly during the night. That, of course,
definitely explained Mr. Fullaway's departure, and it also made me
wonder, knowing all I did know, if the jewels were safe.

"This, I repeat, was about ten to half-past ten o'clock. About twelve
o'clock of that morning, the 13th, Mr. Van Koon, whom I knew as a
resident in the hotel, and a frequent caller on Mr. Fullaway, came in. He
wanted Mr. Fullaway to cash a cheque for him. I told him that I could do
that, and I took his cheque, wrote out one of my own and went up town to
Parr's Bank, at the bottom of St. Martin's Lane, to get the cash for him.
Mr. Van Koon stayed in the office, reading a bundle of American
newspapers which had just been delivered. I was away from the office
perhaps forty minutes or so; when I returned he was still there. I gave
him the money; he thanked me, and went away.

"Towards the end of that afternoon, just before I was leaving the office,
I got a wire from Mr. Fullaway, from Hull. It was quite short--it merely
informed me that Mr. James Allerdyke was dead, under mysterious
circumstances, and that the Nastirsevitch property was missing. Of
course, I knew what that meant, and I drew my own conclusions.

"Now I come to the 14th--a critical day, so far as I am concerned.
During the morning a parcels-van boy came into the office. He said that
on the previous day, about half-past twelve o'clock, he had brought a
small parcel there, addressed to Mr. Fullaway, and had handed it to a
gentleman who was reading newspapers, and who had answered 'Yes' when
inquired of as Mr. Fullaway. This gentleman--who, of course, was Van
Koon--had signed for the parcel by scribbling two initials 'F. F.' in the
proper space. The boy, who said he was new to his job, told me that the
clerk at the parcels office objected to this as not being a proper
signature, and had told him to call next time he was passing and get the
thing put right. He accordingly handed me the sheet, and I, believing
that this was some small parcel which Van Koon had taken in, signed for,
and placed somewhere in the office or in Mr. Fullaway's private room,
signed my own name, for Franklin Fullaway, over the penciled initials.
And as I did so I noticed that the parcel had been sent from Hull.

"When the bo