The King Diamond by Fred M. White — Read

It was in the daily Press two days later that Bly read all about the mysterious outrage in Cleopatra's flat. The cheaper journals were full of it. The famous film star and actress had been followed home by some dangerous miscreant, who had forced himself into her presence in the temporary absence of her maid, and had compelled her with brutal violence to hand over to him certain valuables, including a diamond which the unfortunate woman had greatly valued. But, strangely enough, Cleopatra had been unable to give any account of her assailant. She had been found lying practically senseless within a few moments of the criminal's escape by her maid, who had immediately called in the police. And to the authorities Cleopatra had told a story of a masked man who was quite a stranger to her.

All of which Bly read with the greatest interest. He could give a pretty shrewd guess as to what had happened, and was sure in his own mind that the thief was not masked and that, for some reason best known to herself, Cleopatra was desperately anxious that the police should not know who it was who had got away with her favourite stone. He did not doubt for a moment that it was Zambra himself who had carried out the robbery.