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File No. 113

By EMILE GABORIAU Condensation by ISABEL ANDERSON "AN exceptionally daring robbery--prominent bank entered--huge sum taken!" were the head-lines in a Paris paper. In following up this extraordinary case the mystery deepened, unheard-of crimes were unearthed, and thrilling situations occurred which baffled even the celebrated detective, Lecoq. It appeared that upon opening the safe one morning the cashier startled the clerks by crying out, "I have been robbed!" They gathered about, but, strangely enough, upon inspection the safe showed only a scratch, but no sign of having been broken open, although the 350,000 francs were missing that the cashier said he had placed there the day before, in order to pay Count Louis de Clameran, a friend who had been left a legacy by his brother Gaston. M. Fauvel, the president of the bank, and M. Prosper Bertomy, the cashier, were the only persons who possessed keys to the door and were credited with the knowledge of a word which made up the combination. Although their relations had been like those of father and son, each now accused the other of taking the money.