Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine. Vol. 48, No. 1, January 2003

“Well, can you think of a safer place? No pun intended. You see, Bunny, I did not share Morgan’s touching faith in the police being fooled by the scheme he had concocted. I fully expected the police to search everyone here, and thoroughly at that. The police would perhaps not examine the safe, but if they did do so, and the real stones — not to speak of the Whitechurch emeralds — were in the safe, then it would be Morgan whom the police arrested, not us. If, as I thought likely, the police did not check the safe, then all would be well. I intended to give the fake necklace — which I planned to put in a temporary hiding place when people went upstairs — to Morgan, and I imagined that he would put it straight in the safe.”

“Wouldn’t he see the real stones?”

“The theft would be detected about the time I handed the fakes to Morgan, and there would be the devil of a fuss, so I did not think he would examine them too closely. But then I had also planned to put the real diamonds in the empty jewel case. The safe was full of papers, and I planned to bury the emeralds under those. Of course, if he went through the safe he would be sure to see them, but they would not be obvious to a casual glance, and I could not believe that Morgan would stand there going through the safe with us in the room, even if the theft were not discovered! He might look at the supposed fakes when I handed them over, and even compare them with the supposed real diamonds, but what of that? He would see minor differences, if he saw any, but that would only make him more convinced of the quality of the fakes! After all, he would expect to see two sets of diamonds in the safe, and that is what he would see. But as I read it, he would lock the safe immediately once the fakes were back inside it and try not to mention its very existence to the police, try to forget he had a safe, until the fuss had died down, for he dared not risk its being searched by the police. And that was all I wanted. All I needed was for the stones to be undetected for a few hours, as long as the police were in the house, in fact.”

“But I still don’t see the point! All you would have done was to ensure that the fake diamonds, the real diamonds, and the emeralds were all together in the safe, instead of just the fake diamonds!”

“Ah, but I never intended to leave them in there! I planned to return at my leisure, when the police had left, having searched the place — and us — and proved us guiltless. I confess that when I took the real diamonds I toyed with the notion of leaving Mrs. M. the fakes in their place, but I dismissed the idea. With the document gone, Morgan would know that I had been into his safe anyway. And then I did not want him to have even the consolation of selling the fakes for what he could get! And for good measure, I had an idea the fakes might prove useful in the future. A pity I had to hand them over to that burglar chap, but it really could not be helped, Bunny.”

“I begin to see your plan. And Morgan could hardly complain that the jewels — real or fake — had gone, not when the theft had already been investigated and he had claimed the insurance money!”

“You read my mind, Bunny. And with that incriminating document gone, we were safe. Of course, my plan was but half complete. I went downstairs with the real diamonds, the fake diamonds, and the emeralds, all variously disposed about my person. I planned to put in an appearance, then when people went up to change for dinner, I would put the real stones in the safe and the fakes somewhere else. But it was then that things went awry, or seemed to, because it was then that those crooks — and I swear they were nothing to do with me — appeared. As I say, I foisted them off with the fakes.”

“But the real stones? You had not put them in the safe, you say? Incidentally, Raffles, I think I might have improved upon your plan! I should have taken the real stones first and made only one visit to the safe instead of two!”

Raffles laughed. “You give me more credit — and less — than I deserve! I was making the ‘plan’ up more or less as I went along, you see. It was largely a matter of timing. I could not go upstairs for the real jewels until everyone came down for tea — but I could open the safe. And the main thing, the vital thing, was that damned document! Jewels or no jewels, I had to have that document, Bunny! As I said, I toyed with the idea of leaving the fakes, and only settled on leaving the real stones in the safe at the last minute. There was simply no time. I still had the stones, the fake and the real, in my pockets. And come to that, excepting the fakes, I still have!” And with that, he drew diamonds from his left pocket and emeralds from his right.

I put a hand to my forehead. “Suppose the police had searched us?”