DOES “ RAFFLES ” EXIST? 
469 
in maintaining, in spite of the clearest evidence 
to the contrary, that no common rogue could 
have robbed him. 
In the first instance a man and a woman 
entered the jeweller’s store and asked to be 
shown some high-priced gems. They left 
without buying anything, and as soon as 
they were gone the jeweller discovered the 
loss of a valuable ruby ring and a splendid 
sapphire brooch set with brilliants. What 
had happened ? The salesman whose special 
duty it was to exercise a discreet watch over 
new customers 
had noticed 
nothing. Then a 
little incident 
was remembered 
which tended to 
throw a light 
upon the mys- 
tery. Just as the 
lady was handed 
the ring to 
examine, the 
yelling of a dog, 
which was appa- 
rently being 
throttled, was 
heard coming 
from the street 
outside. There 
was a man on 
the side-walk, in 
the uniform of 
a porter, holding 
two dogs in leash. 
No doubt these 
were the pets of 
ladies who were 
doing their bar- 
gaining in some 
neighbour ing 
establis hmen t, 
and they had 
been entrusted to 
his care. The silly 
fellow had allowed the leads to get tangled 
up, and the dogs were having a desperate set- 
to. One was a poodle, the other a big 
Pomeranian. The poodle was evidently get- 
ting the worst of it. “ Oh, the poor little 
thing ! ” exclaimed the tender-hearted lady 
in the store, putting the ring down upon the 
counter; “do go to its rescue, one of you 
men ! ” The attention of everybody in the 
store had been momentarily attracted to the 
agonizing scene. This was the thieves’ 
opportunity. The “ porter ” dn charge of 
the two dogs was, of course, an accomplice. 
In the other case a couple, giving the names 
of the Comte and Comtessc de \V., hired an 
apartment in a fashionable hotel near the 
Opera quarter, which happened to have two 
exits. The “ Comte ” visited F.’s famous 
jewellery store in the Place Vendome, and, 
having selected a magnificent pearl necklace, 
asked for it to be sent on approval to the 
Comtesse, who was unable to leave the hotel. 
On the excuse that the Comtesse was ill in 
bed, the salesman to whom the necklace had 
been entrusted was discreetly persuaded to 
remain in an 
anteroom while 
the “Comte” 
was showing the 
pearls to his wife. 
He heard a sound 
of chairs being 
moved about, 
then of doors 
being closed, and 
after a lengthy 
wait discovered 
that his cus- 
tomers had dis- 
appeared and 
that he himself 
was a prisoner, 
locked in the de- 
sert e d apart- 
ment. 
In both these 
instances the 
police were not 
long in laying 
their hands on 
the delinquents. 
Oddly enough, 
the same expla- 
nation was forth- 
coming from 
both jewellers : 
the thieves were 
so faultlessly got , 
up, and showed 
such high-bred manners, that it was im- 
possible not to have been taken in by them. 
Yet what a disillusion when they arrived, 
handcuffed, at the police commissary’s office. 
The flashy, shoddy clothes, the flaming red $ 
cravats, the sham diamond pins 1 With 
“ crook ” stamped unmistakably upon every 
feature, these were the sorry scoundrels who 
had managed to pass themselves off in the 
Rue de la Paix, of all places in the world, as 
secretaries of foreign Embassies and holders 
of historic French titles ! Even the police 
records, quickly hunted up, which proved 
THE “ OUIST1TI." 
This is the name given to a little instrument with which locks can be picked 
as ir by magic. Here are shown some of the many forms in which it is disguised. 
From a Photograph. 
