"He did not pass into the bedroom, then?" "No. Mrs. Kildair went in immediately, took off her apron, and discovered the loss of the ruby ring." Beecher, without further interruptions from McKenna, recounted in detail the return of Mrs. Kildair, the locking of the doors, the extinguishing of the lights, the announcement of the theft, the beginning of the counting, the sound of the ring on the table, and the discovery of its second disappearance. Then he stopped, awaiting the questioning of the detective. "No; go right on," said McKenna, with a little gesture of his pencil that dotted an imaginary _i_. Beecher continued, describing the lighting of the lights, the confusion in the room, the sending for the detectives, the discussion as to the order of search, and the failure to recover the ring. Omitting his personal observations of Miss Charters and their conversation in the cab, he recounted his return to Mrs. Kildair’s, his meeting with Garraboy, the discovery of the detective, the strangeness of Mrs. Kildair’s attitude, and her concealment of the identity of the next visitor. He concluded, and both young men looked at the detective as if they expected him to solve the problem on the instant—an attitude that was not lost on McKenna. "I suppose you young men believe every word that has been written on deduction," he said, grinning and biting off the end of another cigar. "Presume you’ve already determined that a woman took the ring, and lacked the nerve to face the risk—that the strong, daring nature of a man seized the opportunity the second time, and, because Slade and Majendie are millionaires and Bloodgood the respectable owner of a newspaper, the thief is either Garraboy, a gambler in stocks, or Cheever, with an ugly reputation." The two young men smiled guiltily. "But I say, McKenna, you don’t reject deduction entirely," said Gunther. "Oh, no, I believe in ’deduction forward,’" said McKenna, laughing. "If I know there’s a thief in the company, I deduce he’ll steal if he gets the chance. Now, before I put a few more questions to you, let me tell you this. My business isn’t in deducing how the theft was done (I get my man and sweat him out; he’ll tell me that), but who did it; and for that it don’t take any deduction, either. Give me time, money, and no strings on me, there isn’t any crime can’t be worked out." "But how the deuce are you going to locate a ring," said Beecher, "if you don’t know whom to follow?" "The ring’s the easiest part," said the detective. "You may not know it, but every stone of great value is what’s called a named stone; every jeweler knows of it. Now, there aren’t many rubies worth over fifteen thousand floating around. If you don’t believe it, I’ll show you how easy it’s done. Inside a week I’ll give you the history of the stone and just how it came into the hands of Mrs. Kildair." "You mean no one can dispose of it to a jeweler without its being recognized?"