“The medal and this envelope,” went on Mr. Williams, “were found in the
pawnshop which you said you had visited that night in Boston. After
I saw the Chief of Police and he gave me the medal and the envelope
he went with me to the pawnshop and when I got there I recognized
the address which you had given me. Then we rode back to the police
department to interview the pawnbroker who has been arrested for
receiving stolen property, and he told me this story.
“‘About five o’clock on Thursday evening of the previous week, a young
man wearing a blue cloth hat and a mixed gray suit of clothes came
into my place and asked me how much I would loan him on a watch which
he laid down on the show case. I picked it up and saw two good-sized
diamonds in the case. I was attracted by the stones and next examined
them with my magnifying glass. They were exactly alike and I saw at
once they were valuable, particularly to me as I had been asked that
day by a customer to find him two perfectly matched white stones.
“‘Then I examined the watch inside and out and saw that it was also
very valuable, and I said, thinking to get the watch cheap, since most
people who pawn things do not redeem them, “I will let you have four
hundred and fifty dollars on it.” The young fellow hesitated and then
asked: “How much is it worth?” and I said, “a thousand dollars,” and
he said, hesitating again, “Thank you, I just wanted to find out how
much it is worth,” and hurried out. I didn’t think any more of it,
except to guess to myself that the watch didn’t belong to the young
man. About five minutes later he came back and I said, “Well, you have
decided to let me have the watch anyhow for a while haven’t you?” He
looked at me rather queerly and said after hesitating as he did before,
“No, I won’t pawn that.” I noticed then he had on blue eyeglasses, but
couldn’t say whether he had them on the first time he called because I
paid more attention to the watch than to him.
“‘Finally he pulled out the medal, a very beautiful piece, and said,
“I can spare this better for a while than the watch if you can let me
have as much on it.” I took it in my hand, and noticing the inscription
on it, said: “Is it yours?” “Of course,” he replied, and as it might
easily be so from the inscription, and as very few people would take a
chance on trying to pawn that kind of a medal if it didn’t belong to
them, I took it and gave him four hundred and fifty dollars and the
ticket. “I may not be able to come for this myself,” he said, “and I
might lose the ticket, so make a note that it is not to be delivered
to anyone, even if he has the ticket unless it is accompanied by an
envelope like this one with this name on it and in his handwriting.”
Then he handed me the envelope which I put in the safe with the medal,
and which I turned over to the police this morning.’”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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