Of course I didn't believe that "J.M." was a jeweller's messenger,
though possibly I might have been less incredulous if Maxine had not
told me the true history of the diamonds, and what had happened in
Holland. As it was, I had very little doubt that the rat of a man I had
chanced to protect in the railway carriage was no other than the
extraordinarily expert thief who had relieved du Laurier of the
Duchess's necklace.
Following out a theory which I worked up as I walked, I thought it
probable that the fellow had been helped by confederates whom he had
contrived to dodge, evading them and sneaking off to London in the hope
of cheating them out of their share of the spoil. Followed by them,
dreading their vengeance, I fancied him flitting from one hiding-place
to another, not daring to separate himself from the jewels; at last
determining to escape, disguised, from England, where the scent had
become too hot; reserving a first-class carriage in the train to Dover,
and travelling with a golfer's kit; struck with panic at the last moment
on seeing the very men he fled to avoid, close on his heels, and opening
the door of his reserved carriage with a railway key.
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