Mrs. Frothingham prided herself on her jewels, especially one remarkably handsome pearl necklace. She kept them locked in a small wall safe in her room, where she felt that they were perfectly secure because only she knew the safe's combination. Or so she thought; actually, her most trusted maid had devoted a year's patient study towards that very end. Finally she stole the necklace, hid it in her alarm clock, and went about her business. When Octavius read of Mrs. Frothingham's loss, his soul was, as ever, moved by the spectacle of a beautiful woman in distress, so he went to Mrs. Frothingham and offered his services. A searching cross-examination of the servants convinced Octavius that the butler was the guilty one, so he ''shadowed" him in the most approved manner, but the butler caught him spying on him from behind a curtain and summarily ejected him from the house. Meanwhile, the maid was becoming alarmed: Mrs. Frothingham had engaged two professional detectives in addition to Octavius. The maid, fearing the real detectives, determined on a bold play. Giving Octavius a package containing the alarm clock, she asked him to take it to her confederate in an Italian barber shop; the unsuspecting Octavius willingly consented. The confederate was absent when he arrived at the barber shop, and Octavius decided to have a shave. While he was being shaved, one of the barbers discovered that Octavius' package was unmistakably ticking. Since they had lately received a black-hand letter, the Italian jumped at the obvious conclusion that the package contained an infernal machine. The police were called, and Octavius was dragged off to the station. An examination of the supposed infernal machine led to the discovery of the necklace. Octavius had an unpleasant quarter of an hour, but it was not difficult for a young man of his attainment to turn the whole affair into a proof of his excellence as a detective. He graciously refused the reward the grateful Mrs. Frothingham offered, but accepted her invitation to dinner. But when he came to the dinner, the butler met him at the door and Octavius went away very quickly.