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The Case of the 30-Carat Emerald

The theft of the Emerald occurred under circumstances most embarrassing to Lawrence Johnson, owner of the 30 Carat Emerald. Johnson had been having a house party at his home in Barrington. There were five guests: Shirley Simmons, Lawrence’s new girlfriend; Charles and Patricia Knight, Charles is President of their Homeowner’s Association; Michael French, Johnson’s best friend; and Doris Moore, Michael’s girlfriend.

Lawrence Johnson, the host, was careless. He had left the emerald in a small black lacquer box on a table in the living room. Johnson had been playing telephone tag all week with someone in New York. When the person in New York finally reached Johnson he left the lacquer box on the table and hurried out to the library of the Johnson Mansion to take the call. When he returned in five minutes, the box was empty. Mary Dempsey, the maid, had been in the room during Johnson’s absence. Mary was the maid at the Johnson Mansion for thirty years and was beyond supposition. Mary said, “That she saw nothing.” For two hours during dinner Mary searched the entire Johnson Mansion on the theory that the jewel had been accidentally lost. But at last, Johnson was compelled to face the truth. Someone had taken it.

Johnson would not call the Barrington Police. Absolving everyone from blame in the matter except himself and insisting that he must have dropped it from the box, he stopped further discussion of the subject and Mary cooked up the Bananas Flambé Dessert tableside. This gave Johnson, who is something of an amateur detective, a chance to examine the lacquer box carefully in the library.

The black lacquer box was highly polished. On the outer rim of the inside cover he discovered a remarkably clear thumbprint which was not his own. He sprinkled it with the white powder used to bring out fingerprints on surfaces. Then he set the box carefully aside.

Johnson knew that none of the company had laid hands on the inside when he had first shown it to them. He figured that this must be the thumbprint of the thief.

After dessert Johnson’s dinner guests left. Johnson told Mary to touch nothing. Johnson went directly to the dining room to examine the crystal ruby red water and wine goblets. Each goblet, bearing a different thumb mark, Johnson dusted the goblets with the white powder. Each goblet was labeled for purposes of identification.

Below is a reproduction of the thumbprint on the lid of the black lacquer box and the guests thumbprints left on the crystal goblets.

Thief


Charles Knight	Patricia Knight	Doris Moore	Michael French	Shirley Simmons

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