“Now, we will see the sorrowful Martin,” he said, “and let me tell you this, Moya, that if this girl is innocent she has grounds for action against you for false imprisonment.” “What do you mean?” demanded Lord Flanborough with asperity. “I have a perfect right to detain anybody I think is guilty of theft.” “You have no more right to lock a woman in a room,” said the other calmly, “than I have to stand you on your head. But that is beside the point. Lead me to the prisoner.” The prisoner was very pale and very tearful; a middle-aged woman who felt her position acutely and between sobs and wails made an incoherent protest of her innocence. “I suppose you have searched everywhere?” asked Michael, turning to the girl. “Everywhere,” she replied emphatically. “I have had every box and every corner of the room examined.” “Suppose the string of the pearls broke, would they all fall off?” “No, they would still remain on, because each pearl was secured. Father gave them to me as a birthday present and he was very particular on that point.” “I would like to bet,” said Michael suddenly, “that those pearls are not out of this room. Show me your wardrobe.” The girl’s wardrobe occupied the whole of one wall of her dressing-room, and the tearful Martin opened the rosewood doors for his inspection. “This is your fur cloak, I presume? Did you examine this after the loss?” “Examine the cloak,” said Lady Moya in surprise, “of course not. What has the cloak to do with the loss? There are no pockets in it.” “But if I know anything about the fur cloaks that are fashionable this season,” said Michael, wisely, “I should say that there is a possibility that this luxurious garment had a great deal to do with the loss. In fact, my dear Moya,” he said, “your mysterious loss has been duplicated and triplicated this year. In two cases the police were called in, and in the other case the owner had the intelligence to find her lost trinket without assistance.” He lifted the cloak down very carefully and opened it to show the silk lining and there, caught in one of the long flat hooks, dangled the pearls. The girl uttered an exclamation of delight and slipped them from its fastening. “Wonderful, isn’t it?” said Michael dryly. “That is what has happened, not three times but half-a-dozen times since these flat hooks have been introduced. You take the cloak off in a bad temper, the hook catches the chain, breaks it, you bundle the cloak in your wardrobe and there you have the beginning of a great jewel mystery.” “I can’t tell you how delighted I am,” said the girl. “Michael, you’re wonderful!” Michael did not reply. He turned to the frightened waiting-woman with a kindly smile. “I am so sorry you have been worried about this, Mrs. Martin,” he said, “but when people lose very valuable property they are also inclined to lose their very valuable heads. I am sure Lady Moya is sorry and will make you due compensation for any inconvenience you have been put to.”