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Chapter 7: Learning Disabilities and Specific Learning Disorder

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In DSM-5, a child can be diagnosed with Specific Reading Disorder in all of the
following areas EXCEPT….
A) Reading
B) Writing
C) Mathematics
D) Oral Language.

2. Dyslexia is a term that some professionals used to describe deficits in …


A) Word reading and reading fluency.
B) Reading comprehension.
C) Written expression.
D) Visual processing or graphemes.

3. The current definition of learning disabilities is included in...


A) the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act.
B) the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
C) the Education for All Handicapped Children Act.
D) the DSM-5.

4. Which of the following is NOT a weakness of the IQ-achievement discrepancy method


to assess learning disabilities?
A) The IQ-achievement discrepancy method does not reliably differentiate youth with
and without learning disabilities.
B) Youth with significant IQ-achievement discrepancies do not show different patterns
of cognitive abilities than youth who fall short of the IQ-achievement discrepancy
cutoff.
C) Youth with reading problems who do and who do not show significant
IQ-achievement discrepancies show similar outcomes.
D) The IQ-achievement discrepancy method is only a valid means of identifying
Specific Learning Disorder, not learning disabilities more generally.

5. The most common type of learning disability among school age children is...
A) Reading disability
B) Mathematics disability
C) Writing disability
D) Oral language disability

Page 1
6. According to information presented in the text, the prognosis of children with learning
disabilities is predicted by all of the following EXCEPT:
A) the ability to receive high quality treatment in early elementary school.
B) the child's level of parental support.
C) the child's IQ.
D) the child's personal resiliency.

7. Phonemic awareness refers to...


A) children's understanding that spoken language can be broken down into sounds.
B) children's understanding that there is a correspondence between sounds and letters.
C) children's understanding that word-sounds follow organized rules.
D) children's understanding that the visual depiction of words translates in to specific
word sounds.

8. Which of the following provides the clearest example of phonemic mediation.


A) Visual cues from the story help children sound out words and determine their
meaning.
B) Contextual cues from the story help children sound out words and determine their
meaning.
C) Children sound out words and determine whether the word makes sense in the
sentence.
D) Children sound out words and determine whether the graphemes associated with the
spoken word make sense in the context of the sentence.

9. Which of the following provides the best example of a pseuodoword?


A) Dog-fly
B) amnirate
C) vbrasiuugks
D) incinerate

10. Based on information presented in the text, children with reading problems show the
best outcomes when...
A) they show significant increases in activity in the right frontal cortex.
B) they participate in whole word reading instruction.
C) they participate in direct instruction in phomemic awareness and phonics.
D) they participate in whole language reading instruction.

Page 2
11. Which of the following is NOT one of the weaknesses of the research studies supporting
Reading Recovery?
A) Attrition in these studies was very high.
B) Teachers who administered Reading Recovery had more training than teachers in
the control group.
C) Reading Recovery shows less efficacy when used with children who have reading
problems.
D) Reading Recovery shows less efficacy when used with ethnic minority children
who have reading problems.

12. Before asking her students to read a story about hieroglyphics, a teacher presents her
students with information about ancient papyrus and the history of writing. Then, she
asks them to recall all that they know about ancient Egypt. Which of the following
statements is true?
A) The teacher is using "cooperative learning" to improve reading fluency.
B) The teacher is using "cooperative learning" to improve reading comprehension.
C) The teacher is using "activating background knowledge" to improve reading
fluency.
D) The teacher is using "activating background knowledge" to improve reading
comprehension.

13. Self-Regulated Strategy Development is an evidence-based intervention used to


improve children's....
A) Basic reading skills
B) Reading fluency skills
C) Reading comprehension skills
D) Writing skills

14. Which of the following procedures does NOT reflect higher-order math skills?
A) Use of the counting-on strategy
B) Use of direct retrieval
C) Mathematical problem-solving
D) Awareness of numerosity

15. According to Geary and Hoard's (2005) developmental model for Mathematics
Disorder, children's difficulty with mathematics may be due to all of the following
EXCEPT:
A) children's language skills.
B) children's sensory integration skills.
C) children's visual-spatial skills.

Page 3
Short Answer/Essay Questions:

Define:

• According to DSM-5, list the four main diagnostic criteria for Specific Learning
Disorder?

• What is the concordance between monozygotic twins for Reading Disorder?

• What is the concordance between monozygotic twins for Mathematics Disorder?

• Define: basic reading skills, reading fluency, reading comprehension.

• What is the “double-deficit” model?

• Define: numerosity, counting-on strategy, direct retrieval.

Comprehend:

• Explain how the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (Public Law 94-142)
defines a “specific learning disability.”

• What are the three main academic areas in which children can manifest a Specific
Learning Disorder?

• Why do some children with learning disabilities develop behavior problems?

• Explain how the left occipital-temporal cortex, Wernicke’s area, and Broca’s area are
involved in reading.

• According to the text, what are the three steps children must master to become proficient
writers? How do children with writing problems have difficulty in each of these three
areas?

• Explain how math skills develop in typically developing children?

• According to Geary and Hoard (2005), how are children’s language skills important to
their ability to solve math problems?

Analyze:

• Compare and contrast the DSM-5 definition of a Specific Learning Disorder and IDEA’s
concept of a specific learning disability.

Page 4
• Genetics accounts for much of the variance in children’s likelihood of developing
learning problems. How might the environment play a role in the development of learning
disabilities in children?

• Explain the terms “phoneme awareness” and “phonics.” How do children’s phonics skills
depend on their early phoneme awareness?

• Contrast the brain activity of youth with and without reading disabilities as they attempt
to sound-out words. What brain regions do they use?

• Compare and contrast the Butterworth’s (2005) defective number module hypothesis with
Geary and Hoard’s (2005) developmental model for mathematics disabilities.

Apply:

• Imagine that you are school psychologist. You suspect that a 2nd grade student in your
school has a reading disability. How might you use the RTI method to determine whether
he has a learning disability? How might you use the comprehensive assessment method
to determine whether he has a learning disability?

• Travis is a 2nd-grade student who shows marked problems with reading and writing. He
has problems recognizing simple words, cannot sound out new words, and had trouble
printing. His skills are similar to a typically-developing student in Kindergarten. At the
end of the 2nd grade, Travis’ teacher recommends that she and his mother “keep an eye on
him” to see if he continues to have problems in the 3rd grade, next year. If Travis does not
receive help for his academic problems, what is his prognosis?

• How might you use direct instruction to teach a child to read The Three Little Pigs? To
write a letter to a friend? To solve a two-digit addition problem?

• To improve the reading fluency of children in her 4th-grade class, Mrs. Garciacano lets
her students read silently to themselves for 20 minutes each afternoon. To what extent
will her tactic improve their reading fluency?

• Your 5th-grade daughter has trouble with reading comprehension. Although she reads the
information in her textbooks, she seems to forget the information or inaccurately recalls it
during exams. Identify three ways to improve her reading comprehension.

• Your 5th-grade son has difficulty with writing book reports for school. How might you
use Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) to help him become a better writer?

• Imagine that you are a special education teacher for a public school. How might you use
direct instruction, self-instruction, and mediated/assisted instruction to teach your
students multiplication?

Page 5
Evaluate:

• Many professionals identify children with learning disabilities using the IQ-Achievement
discrepancy method. Describe the IQ-Achievement discrepancy approach and explain
why it is usually not the best method to identify learning disabilities in children.

• Some people diagnose children with learning disabilities based on relative weaknesses in
academic skills, rather than absolute (i.e., normative) deficits in academic skills. For
example, a child with an IQ of 115 (one standard deviation above average) may earn a
reading achievement score of 100 (average) and be diagnosed with a reading disability.
What might be problematic about diagnosing a child based on a relative (not normative)
weaknesses like this?

• In community based samples, the prevalence of learning disabilities is equal for boys and
girls. In clinic samples, however, the prevalence of learning disabilities is higher for boys
than for girls. Why?

• Why are ethnic minority youth and children from socioeconomically disadvantaged
families more likely to develop learning disabilities? How might a clinician determine if
a child’s learning problems are attributable to a learning disability or social-cultural
factors?

• What is the evidence for and against the use of explicit (direct) instruction to teach
phoneme awareness and phonics for children with reading disabilities? Would you want
your child to be taught to read using this method?

• What is the evidence for and against the use of whole word or whole language instruction
(e.g., Reading Recovery) for children with reading disabilities? Would you want your
child to be taught to read using this method?

Page 6
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other, and when we know that the picture which Mr. Charles B. Tupper
bought was the original, because that was the one that was produced in
court, we must come to the conclusion that the one which was stolen from
the château in France could only have been the copy."

"Why, yes," I admitted, "but then again we have been told that the
grandfather of the present Duc de Rochechouart bought the picture from the
artist himself, and that it has been in the uninterrupted possession of his
family ever since."

"And I am willing to admit that the picture was in the uninterrupted


possession of the Duc de Rochechouart until the present holder of the title
or some one who had access to it in the same way as himself sold it to Mr.
Charles B. Tupper in June, 1919."

"But you don't mean——"

"Surely," the funny creature went on with his dry cackle, "it was not such
a very difficult little bit of dishonesty to perpetrate, seeing that Mme. la
Duchesse was such an accomplished artist. Can you not imagine the lady
being like many of us, very short of money, and then hearing of Mr. Charles
B. Tupper, the American business man who was searching Europe through
for a world-famous masterpiece; can you not see her during one of her
husband's pleasure trips to Paris or elsewhere setting to work to make an
exact replica of 'La Fiancée'? We know that it always hung in her studio
until the day when it was moved to the dining-hall. Think how easy it was
for her to substitute her own copy for the original. The only difficulty would
be the conveying of the picture to Paris, but an artist knows how to take a
canvas off its stretcher, to roll it up and re-strain it.

"Here I think that she must have had a confederate, probably some
down-at-heel friend of her artistic days, a man whom she paid lavishly both
for his help and his silence. Who that man was I suppose we shall never
know. The so-called Matthieu Vignard and his 'blousey wife,' as Mr.
Kleeberger picturesquely described her, have completely disappeared; no
trace of them was ever found. They hired the studio at Montmartre for one
month, paid the concierge the rent in advance, and at the end of that time
they decamped and have never been heard of since, but unless I am much
mistaken, they must at the present moment be carrying on a very lucrative
little blackmailing business, because it must have been Vignard who
conveyed the picture to Paris in the same way as we know it was he who
first approached Charles B. Tupper and ultimately sold him the picture."

"But surely," I objected, for the funny creature had paused a moment,
and I could not deny that his arguments were sound, "surely it would have
been more practical to have sold the copy—which we suppose must have
been perfect—to Mr. Tupper who was a layman and an outsider, and to
have kept the original in the château, as the Duc was even then negotiating
for its sale, and most of the art dealers were coming to have a look at it."

He did not reply immediately but remained for a while deeply absorbed
in the contemplation of his beloved bit of string.

"That," he admitted with complacent condescension, "would be a sound


argument if we admit at once that the Duchesse knew for a certainty that her
husband intended to sell 'La Fiancée.' But my contention is that at the time
that she sold the picture to Mr. Tupper she had no idea that the Duc had any
such intentions. No doubt when she knew this for a fact, she must have
been beside herself with horror; no doubt also that she had a hard fight with
her own terror before she made a clean breast of her misdeed to her
husband. Apparently she did not do this until the very last moment, until the
day when the picture was actually taken out of her studio and placed upon
an easel in the dining-hall for closer inspection. Then discovery was
imminent and we must suppose that she made a full confession.

"The Duc, like a gallant gentleman, at once set his wits thinking how
best to save his wife's reputation without endangering his own. To have
admitted to Mr. Aaron Jacobs and to the other experts and art dealers who
had come to see the masterpiece that a Duc de Rochechouart was trying to
sell a spurious imitation whilst having already disposed of the original was,
of course, unthinkable; and thus the idea presented itself to their Graces that
the copy must be made to disappear effectually. A favourable circumstance
for the success of this scheme was the garden fête which was to take place
that afternoon, when the house would be full of guests, of strangers and of
servants, when surveillance would be slack and the comings and goings of
the master of the house would easily pass unperceived.
"The Duc, in my opinion, chose the one quarter of an hour when he was
alone in the house to cut the picture out of its frame. He then hid the canvas
sufficiently skilfully that it was never found. Probably he thought at the
time that there the matter would end, but equally probably he never gave
the future another thought. His own position was unassailable seeing he was
not insured against loss, and it was the present alone that mattered: the fact
that a Duc de Rochechouart was trying to sell a spurious picture for half a
million dollars. To many French men and women ever since the war,
America is a far country, and no doubt the Duc and Duchesse both hoped
that the whole transaction, including the Ingres masterpiece, would soon lie
buried somewhere at the bottom of the sea.

"Fate and Lady Polchester proved too strong for them; they ordained that
'La Fiancée' should be brought back to Europe, and that the whole of its
exciting history be revived. But fate proved kind in the end, and I think that
you will agree with me that two such daring and resourceful adventurers as
their Graces deserve the extra half million dollars which, thanks to Lady
Polchester's generosity and ostentation, they got so unexpected.

"Soon afterwards you will remember that the Duc and Duchesse de
Rochechouart sold their château on the Oise together with the bulk of their
collection of pictures and furniture.

"They now live in Sweden, I understand, where the Duchesse has many
friends and relations and where the law of libel will not trouble you much if
you publish my deductions in your valuable magazine.

"Think it all out," the Old Man in the Corner concluded glibly, "and from
every point of view, and you will see that there is not a single flaw in my
argument. I have given you the only possible solution of the mystery of the
Ingres masterpiece."

"You may be right——" I murmured thoughtfully.

"I know I am," he answered dryly.


III

THE MYSTERY OF THE PEARL NECKLACE

§1

The Old Man in the Corner had a very curious theory about that
mysterious affair of the pearl necklace, and though it all occurred a few
years ago, I am tempted to put his deductions down on record, because, as
far as I know, neither the police of this or any other country, nor the public,
have ever found a satisfactory solution for what was undoubtedly a strange
and mystifying adventure.

I remembered the case quite well when first he spoke to me about it one
afternoon in what had become my favourite tea-haunt in Fleet Street; the
only thing I was not quite certain of was the identity of the august
personage to whom the pearl necklace was to be presented. I did know, of
course, that she belonged to one of the reigning families of Europe and that
she had been an active and somewhat hotheaded and bitter opponent of the
Communist movement in her own country, in consequence of which both
she and her exalted husband had been the object of more than one
murderous attack by the other side.

It was on the occasion of the august lady's almost miraculous escape


from a peculiarly well-planned and brutal assault that a number of ladies in
England subscribed the sum of fifteen thousand pounds for the purchase of
an exquisite pearl necklace to be presented to her as a congratulatory gift.

Rightly or wrongly, the donors of this princely gift feared that a certain
well-known political organisation on the Continent would strive by every
means in its power, fair or foul, to prevent this token of English good-will
from reaching the recipient, and also, as it chanced to happen, there had
been during the past few months a large number of thefts of valuables on
Continental railways, and it became a question who should be entrusted by
the committee of subscribers with the perilous risk of taking the necklace
over for presentation; the trouble being further enhanced by the fact that in
those days the Insurance Companies barred one or two European countries
from their comprehensive policies against theft and petty larceny, and that it
was to one of those countries thus barred that the bearer of the fifteen
thousand pound necklace would have to journey.

Imagine the excitement, the anxiety, which reigned in the hearts of the
thousands of middle-class English women who had subscribed their mite to
the gift! Their committee sat behind closed doors discussing the claims of
various volunteers who were ready to undertake the journey: these worthy
folk were quite convinced that certain well-known leaders of anarchical
organisations would be on the lookout for the booty and would have special
facilities for the theft of it at the frontier during the course of those endless
customs and passport formalities for which that particular country was ever
famous.

Finally the committee's choice fell upon a certain Captain Arthur


Saunders, nephew of Sir Montague Bowden, who was chairman of the
ladies' committee. Captain Saunders had, it seems, travelled abroad a great
deal, and his wife was foreign—Swedish so it was understood; it was
thought that if he went abroad now in the company of his wife, the object of
their journey might be thought to be a visit to Mrs. Saunders's relations, and
the conveying of the pearl necklace to its destination might thus remain
more or less a secret.

The choice was approved of by all the subscribers, and it was decided
that Captain and Mrs. Saunders. should start by the ten a.m. train for Paris
on the sixteenth of March. Captain Saunders was to call the previous
afternoon at a certain bank in Charing Cross, where the necklace was
deposited, and there receive it as an almost sacred trust from the hands of
the manager. Further, it was arranged that Mrs. Saunders should,
immediately on arrival in Paris, send a wire to Mrs. Berners, a great friend
of hers who was the secretary of the committee, and in fact that she should
keep the committee informed of Captain Saunders's well-being at all the
more important points of their journey.

And thus they started.

But no news came from Paris on the sixteenth. At first no anxiety was
felt on that score, every one being ready to surmise that the Calais-Paris
train had been late in, and that the Saunderses had perhaps only barely time
to clear their luggage at the customs and catch the train de luxe which
would take them on, via Cologne, without a chance of sending the promised
telegram. But soon after midday of the seventeenth, Sir Montague Bowden
had a wire from Mrs. Saunders from Paris saying: "Arthur disappeared
since last night. Desperately anxious. Please come at once. Have booked
room for you here. Mary. Hotel Majestic."

The news was terrifying; however, Sir Montague Bowden, with


commendable zeal, at once wired to Mary announcing his immediate
departure for Paris, and as it was then too late for him to catch the afternoon
Continental train, he started by the evening one, travelling all night and
arriving at the Hotel Majestic in the early morning.

As soon as he had had a bath and some breakfast he went in search of


information. He found that the French police already had the "affaire" in
hand, but that they had not so far the slightest clue to the mysterious
disappearance of le Capitaine Saunders. He found the management of the
Majestic in a state of offended dignity, and Mrs. Saunders, in one that
verged on hysteria, but fortunately, he also found at the hotel a Mr.
Haasberg, brother of Mrs. Saunders, a Swedish business man of remarkable
coolness and clearness of judgment, who promptly put him au fait with
what had occurred.

It seems that Mr. Haasberg was settled in business in Paris, and that he
had hoped to catch a glimpse of his sister and brother-in-law on the evening
of the sixteenth at the Gare du Nord on their way through to the East, but
that on that very morning he had received a telegram from Mary asking him
to book a couple of rooms—a bedroom and a sitting-room—for one night
for them at the Hotel Majestic. This Mr. Haasberg did, glad enough that he
would see something more of his sister than he had been led to hope.
On the afternoon of the sixteenth he was kept late at business, and was
unable to meet the Saunderses at the station, but towards nine o'clock he
walked round to the Majestic, hoping to find them in. Their room was on
the third floor. Mr. Haasberg went up in the lift, and as soon as he reached
No. 301 he became aware of a buzz of conversation coming from within,
which, however, ceased as soon as he had pushed open the door.

On entering the room he saw that Captain Saunders had a visitor, a tall,
thick-set man, who wore an old-fashioned, heavy moustache and large,
gold-rimmed spectacles. At sight of Mr. Haasberg the man clapped his hat
—a bowler—on his head, pulled his coat-collar over his ears, and with a
hasty: "Well, s'long, old man. I'll wait till to-morrow!" spoken with a strong
foreign accent, he walked rapidly out of the room and down the corridor.

Haasberg stood for a moment in the doorway to watch the disappearing


personage, but he did this without any ulterior motive or thought of
suspicion; then he turned back into the room and greeted his brother-in-law.

Saunders seemed to Haasberg to be nervous and ill-at-ease; in response


to the latter's inquiry after Mary, he explained that she had remained in her
room as he had a man to see on business. Haasberg made some casual
remark about this visitor, and then Mary Saunders came in. She, too,
appeared troubled and agitated, and as soon as she had greeted her brother,
she turned to her husband and asked very eagerly:

"Well, has he gone?"

Saunders, giving a significant glance in Haasberg's direction, replied


with an obvious effort at indifference:

"Yes, yes, he's gone. But he said he would be back to-morrow."

At which Mary seemed to give a sigh of relief.

Scenting some uncomfortable mystery, Haasberg questioned her, and


also Saunders, about their visitor, but could not elicit any satisfactory
explanation.
"Oh, there is nothing mysterious about old Pasquier," was all that either
of them would say.

"He is an old pal of Arthur's," Mary added lightly, "but he is such an


awful bore that I got Arthur to say that I was out, so that he might get rid of
him more quickly."

Somehow Haasberg felt that these explanations were very lame. He


could not get it out of his head, that there was something mysterious about
the visitor, and knowing the purpose of the Saunderses' journey, he thought
it as well to give them a very serious word of warning about Continental
hotels generally, and to suggest that they should, after this stay in Paris, go
straight through in the train de luxe and never halt again until the fifteen
thousand pound necklace was safely in the hands of the august lady for
whom it was intended. But both Arthur and Mary laughed at these words of
warning.

"My dear fellow," Arthur said, seemingly rather in a huff, "we are not
such mugs as you think us. Mary and I have travelled on the Continent at
least as much as you have, and are fully alive to the dangers attendant upon
our mission. As a matter of fact, the moment we arrived, I gave the
necklace in its own padlocked tin box, just as I brought it over from
England, in charge of the hotel management, who immediately locked it up
in their strong-room, so even if good old Pasquier had designs on it—which
I can assure you he has not—he would stand no chance of getting hold of it.
And now, sit down, there's a good chap, and talk of something else."

Only half reassured, Haasberg sat down and had a chat. But he did not
stay long. Mary was obviously tired, and soon said good-night. Arthur
offered to accompany his brother-in-law to the latter's lodgings in the Rue
de Moncigny.

"I would like a walk," he said, "before going to bed."

So the two men walked out together, and Haasberg finally said good-
night to Arthur just outside his own lodgings. It was then close upon ten
o'clock. The little party had agreed to spend the next day together, as the
train de luxe did not go until the evening, and Haasberg had promised to
take a holiday from business. Before going to bed he attended to some
urgent correspondence, and had just finished a letter when his telephone
bell rang. To his horror he heard his sister's voice speaking.

"Don't keep Arthur up so late, Herman," she said. "I am dog tired, and
can't go to sleep until he returns."

"Arthur?" he replied. "But Arthur left me at my door two hours ago!"

"He has not returned," she insisted, "and I am getting anxious."

"Of course you are, but he can't be long now. He must have turned into a
café and forgot the time. Do ring me up as soon as he comes in."

Unable to rest, however, and once more vaguely anxious, Haasberg went
hastily back to the Majestic. He found Mary nearly distracted with anxiety,
and as he himself felt anything but reassured, he did not know how to
comfort her.

At one time he went down into the hall to ascertain whether anything
was known on the hotel about Saunders's movements earlier in the evening;
but at this hour of the night there were only the night porter and the
watchman about, and they knew nothing of what had occurred before they
came on duty.

There was nothing for it but to await the morning as calmly as possible.
This was difficult enough, as Mary Saunders was evidently in a terrible
state of agitation. She was quite certain that something tragic had happened
to her husband, but Haasberg tried in vain to get her to speak of the
mysterious visitor who had from the first aroused his own suspicions. Mary
persisted in asserting that the visitor was just an old pal of Arthur's and that
no suspicion of any kind could possibly rest upon him.

In the early morning Haasberg went off to the nearest commissariat of


police. They took the matter in hand without delay, and within the hour had
obtained some valuable information from the personnel of the hotel. To
begin with, it was established that at about ten minutes past ten the previous
evening, that is to say a quarter of an hour or so after Haasberg had parted
from Arthur Saunders outside his own lodgings, the latter had returned to
the Majestic, and at once asked for the tin box which he had deposited in
the bureau. There was some difficulty in acceding to his request, because
the clerk who was in charge of the keys of the strong-room could not at
once be found. However, M. le Capitaine was so insistent that search was
made for the clerk, who presently appeared with the keys, and after the
usual formalities, handed over the tin box to Saunders, who signed a receipt
for it in the book. Haasberg had since then identified the signature which
was quite clear and incontestable.

Saunders then went upstairs, refusing to take the lift, and five minutes
later he came down again, nodded to the hall porter, and went out of the
hotel. No one had seen him since, but during the course of the morning, the
valet on the fourth floor had found an empty tin box in the gentlemen's
cloakroom. This box was produced, and to her unutterable horror Mary
Saunders recognised it as the one which had held the pearl necklace.

The whole of this evidence as it gradually came to light was a staggering


blow both to Mary and to Haasberg himself, because until this moment
neither of them had thought that the necklace was in jeopardy: they both
believed that it was safely locked up in the strong-room of the hotel.

Haasberg now feared the worst. He blamed himself terribly for not
having made more certain of the mysterious visitor's identity. He had not
yet come to the point of accusing his brother-in-law in his mind of a
conspiracy to steal the necklace, but frankly, at this stage, he did not know
what to think. Saunders's conduct had—to say the least—been throughout
extremely puzzling. Why had he elected to spend the night in Paris, when
all arrangements had been made for him and his wife to travel straight
through? Who was the mysterious visitor with the walrus moustache,
vaguely referred to by both Arthur and Mary as "old Pasquier"? And above
all why had Arthur withdrawn the necklace from the hotel strong-room
where it was quite safe, and, with it in his pocket, walked about the streets
of Paris at that hour of the night?

Haasberg was quite convinced that "old Pasquier" knew something about
the whole affair, but, strangely enough, Mary persisted in asserting that he
was quite harmless and an old friend of Arthur's who was beyond suspicion.
When further pressed with questions, she declared that she had no idea
where the man lodged, and that, in fact, she believed that he had left Paris
the self-same evening en route for Brussels, where he was settled in
business.

Enquiry amongst the personnel of the hotel revealed the fact that Captain
Saunders's visitor had been seen by the hall porter when he came soon after
half-past eight, and asked whether le Capitaine Saunders had finished
dinner; his question being answered in the affirmative, he went upstairs,
refusing to take the lift. Half an hour or so later he was seen by one of the
waiters in the lounge hurriedly crossing the hall, and finally by the two boys
in attendance at the swing doors when he went out of the hotel. All agreed
that the man was very tall and thick-set, that he wore a heavy moustache
and a pair of gold-rimmed spectacles. He had on a bowler hat and an
overcoat with the collar pulled right up to his ears. The hall porter, who
himself spoke English fairly well, was under the impression that the man
was not English, although he made his enquiries in that language.

In addition to all these investigations, the commissaire de police, on his


second visit to the hotel, was able to assure Haasberg that all the
commissariats in and around Paris had been communicated with by
telephone so as to ascertain whether any man answering to Saunders's
description had been injured during the night in a street accident, and taken
in somewhere for shelter; also that a description of the necklace had already
been sent round to all the Monts-de-Piété throughout the country. The
police were also sharply on the lookout for the man with the walrus
moustache, but so far without success.

And Mary Saunders obstinately persisted in her denial of any knowledge


about him. "Arthur," she said, "sometimes saw 'old Pasquier' in London";
but she did not know anything about him, neither what his nationality was,
nor where he lodged. She did not know when he had left London, nor where
he could be found in Paris. All that she knew, so she said, was that his name
was Pasquier, and that he was in business in Brussels; she therefore
concluded that he was Belgian.

Even to her own brother she would not say more, although he succeeded
in making her understand how strange her attitude must appear both to the
police and to her friends, and what harm she was doing to her husband, but
at this she burst into floods of tears and swore that she knew nothing about
Pasquier's whereabouts, and that she believed him to be innocent of any
attempt to steal the necklace or to injure Arthur.

There was nothing more to be said for the present and Haasberg sent the
telegram in his sister's name to Sir Montague Bowden because he felt that
some one less busy than himself should look after the affair and be a
comfort to Mary, whose mental condition appeared pitiable in the extreme.

In this first interview he was able to assure Sir Montague that everything
had been done to trace the whereabouts of Arthur Saunders, and also of the
necklace of which the unfortunate man had been the custodian; and it was
actually while the two men were talking the whole case over that Haasberg
received an intimation from the police that they believed the missing man
had been found: at any rate would Monsieur give himself the trouble to
come round to the commissariat at once.

This, of course, Haasberg did, accompanied by Sir Montague, and at the


commissariat to their horror they found the unfortunate Saunders in a
terrible condition. Briefly the commissaire explained to them that about a
quarter past ten last night an agent de police, making his rounds, saw a man
crouching in the angle of a narrow blind alley that leads out of the Rue de
Moncigny. On being shaken up by the agent the man struggled to his feet,
but he appeared quite dazed and unable to reply to any questions that were
put to him. He was then conveyed to the nearest commissariat, where he
spent the night.

He was obviously suffering from loss of memory, and could give no


account of himself, nor were any papers of identification found upon him,
not even a visiting card, but close behind him, on the pavement where he
was crouching, the agent had picked up a handkerchief which was saturated
with chloroform. The handkerchief bore the initials A.S. The man, of
course, was Arthur Saunders. What had happened to him it was impossible
to ascertain. He certainly did not appear to be physically hurt, although
from time to time when Mr. Haasberg or Sir Montague tried to question
him, he passed his hand across the back of his head, and an expression of
pathetic puzzlement came into his eyes.
His two friends, after the usual formalities of identification, were
allowed to take him back to the Hotel Majestic where he was restored to the
arms of his anxious wife; the English doctor, hastily summoned, could not
find any trace of injury about the body, only the head appeared rather tender
when touched. The doctor's theory was that Saunders had probably been
sandbagged first, and then rendered more completely insensible by means
of the chloroformed handkerchief, and that excitement, anxiety and the
blow on the head had caused temporary loss of memory which quietude and
good nursing would soon put right.

In the meanwhile, of the fifteen thousand pound necklace there was not
the slightest trace.

§2

Unfortunately the disappearance of so valuable a piece of jewellery was


one of those cases that could not be kept from public knowledge. The
matter was of course in the hands of the French police and they had put
themselves in communication with their English confrères, and the
consternation—not to say the indignation—amongst the good ladies who
had subscribed the money for the gift to the august lady was unbounded.

Everybody was blaming everybody else; the choice of Captain Saunders


as the accredited messenger was now severely criticised; pointed questions
were asked as to his antecedents, as to his wife's foreign relations, and it
was soon found that very little was known about either.

Of course everybody knew that he was Sir Montague Bowden's nephew,


and that, thanks to his uncle's influence, he had obtained a remunerative and
rather important post in the office of one of the big Insurance Companies.
But what his career had been before that no one knew. Some people said
that he had fought in South Africa and later on had been correspondent for
one of the great dailies during the Russo-Japanese war; altogether there
seemed no doubt that he had been something of a rolling stone.
Rather tardily the committee was taken severely to task for having
entrusted so important a mission to a man who was either a coward or a
thief, or both, for at first no one doubted that Saunders had met a
confederate in Paris and had handed over the necklace to him, whilst he
himself enacted a farce of being waylaid, chloroformed and robbed, and
subsequently of losing his memory.

But presently another version of the mystery was started by some


amateur detective, and it found credence with quite a good many people.
This was that Sir Montague Bowden had connived at the theft with Mrs.
Saunders's relations; that the man with the walrus moustache did not exist at
all or was in very truth a harmless old friend of Captain Saunders, and that
it was Haasberg who had induced his brother-in-law to withdraw the
necklace from the hotel strong-room and to bring it to the Rue de
Moncigny; that in fact it was that same perfidious Swede who had waylaid
the credulous Englishman, chloroformed and robbed him of the precious
necklace.

In the meanwhile the police in England had, of course, been


communicated with by their French confrères, but before they could move
in the matter or enjoin discretion on all concerned, an enterprising young
man on the staff of the Express Post had interviewed Miss Elizabeth Spicer,
who was the parlour-maid at the Saunderses' flat in Sloane Street.

That young lady, it seems, had something to say about a gentleman


named Pasquier, who was not an infrequent visitor at the flat. She described
him as a fine, tall gentleman, who wore large gold-rimmed spectacles, and a
full military moustache. It seems that the last time Miss Elizabeth saw him
was two days before her master and mistress's departure for abroad. Mr.
Pasquier called late that evening and stayed till past ten o'clock. When
Elizabeth was rung for in order to show him out, he was saying good-bye to
the captain in the hall, and she heard him say, "in his funny foreign way," as
she put it:

"Well, I shall be in Paris as soon as you. Tink it over, my friend."

And on the top of that came a story told by Henry Tidy, Sir Montague
Bowden's butler. According to him Captain Saunders called at Sir
Montague Bowden's house in Lowndes Street on the afternoon of the
fifteenth. The two gentlemen remained closeted together in the library for
nearly an hour, when Tidy was summoned to show the visitor out. Sir
Montague, it seems, went to the front door with his nephew, and as the
latter finally wished him good-bye, Sir Montague said to him:

"My dear boy, you can take it from me that there's nothing to worry
about, and in any case I am afraid that it is too late to make any fresh
arrangements."

"It's because of Mary," the captain rejoined. "She has made herself quite
ill over it."

"The journey will do her good," Sir Montague went on pleasantly, "but if
I were you I would have a good talk with your brother-in-law. He must
know his Paris well. Take my advice and spend the night at the Majestic.
You can always get rooms there."

This conversation Tidy heard quite distinctly, and he related the whole
incident both to the journalist and to the police. After that the amateur
investigators of crime were divided into two camps: there were those who
persisted in thinking that Pasquier and Saunders, and probably Mrs.
Saunders also, had conspired together to steal the necklace, and that
Saunders had acted the farce of being waylaid and robbed, and losing his
memory; they based their deductions on Elizabeth Spicer's evidence and on
Mary Saunders's extraordinary persistence in trying to shield the mysterious
Pasquier.

But other people, getting hold of Henry Tidy's story, deduced from it that
it was indeed Sir Montague Bowden who had planned the whole thing in
conjunction with Haasberg, since it was he who had persuaded Saunders to
spend the night in Paris, thus giving his accomplice the opportunity of
assaulting Saunders and stealing the necklace. To these wise-acres "old
Pasquier" was indeed a harmless old pal of Arthur's, whose presence that
evening at the Majestic was either a fable invented by Haasberg, or one
quite innocent in purpose. In vain did Sir Montague try to explain away
Tidy's evidence. Arthur, he said, had certainly called upon him that last
afternoon, but what he seemed worried about was his wife's health; he
feared that she would not be strong enough to undertake the long journey
without a break, so Sir Montague advised him to spend the night in Paris
and in any case to talk the matter over with Mary's brother.

The conversation overheard by Tidy could certainly admit of this


explanation, but it did not satisfy the many amateur detectives who
preferred to see a criminal in the chairman of the committee rather than a
harmless old gentleman, as eager as themselves to find a solution to the
mystery. And while people argued and wrangled there was no news of the
necklace, and none of the man with the walrus moustache. No doubt that
worthy had by now shaved off his hirsute adornment and grown a beard. He
had certainly succeeded in evading the police; whether he had gone to
Brussels or succeeded in crossing the German frontier no one could say, his
disappearance certainly bore out the theory of his being the guilty party
with the connivance of Saunders, as against the Bowden-Haasberg theory.

As for the necklace it had probably been already taken to pieces and the
pearls would presently be disposed of one by one to some unscrupulous
Continental dealers, when the first hue and cry after them had died away.

Captain Saunders was said to be slowly recovering from his loss of


memory and subsequent breakdown. Every one at home was waiting to hear
what explanation he would give of his amazing conduct in taking the
necklace out of the hotel strong-room late that night and sallying forth with
it into the streets of Paris at that hour. The explanation came after about a
fortnight of suspense in a letter from Mary to her friend Mrs. Berners.

Arthur, she said, had told her that on the fateful evening, after he parted
from Mr. Haasberg in the Rue de Moncigny, he had felt restless and anxious
about what the latter had told him on the subject of foreign hotels, and he
was suddenly seized with the idea that the necklace was not safe in the care
of the management of the Majestic, because there would come a moment
when he would have to claim the tin box, and this would probably be
handed over to him when the hall of the hotel was crowded, and the eyes of
expert thieves would then follow his every movement. Therefore he went
back to the hotel, claimed the tin box, and as the latter was large and
cumbersome he got rid of it in one of the cloak-rooms of the hotel, slipped
the necklace, in its velvet case, in the pocket of his overcoat, and went out
with the intention of asking Haasberg to take care of it for him, and only to
hand it back to him when on the following evening the train de luxe was on
the point of starting. He had been in sight of Haasberg's lodgings when,
without the slightest warning, a dull blow on the back of his head, coming
he knew not whence, robbed him of consciousness.

This explanation, however, was voted almost unanimously to be very


lame, and it was, on the whole, as well that the Saunderses had decided to
remain abroad for a time. The ladies especially—and above all those who
had put their money together for the necklace—were very bitter against
him. On the other hand Sir Montague Bowden was having a very rough
time of it; he had already had one or two very unpleasant word-tussles with
some outspoken friends of his, and there was talk of a slander action that
would certainly be a cause célèbre when it came on.

Thus the arguments went on in endless succession until one day—well


do I remember the excitement that spread throughout the town as soon as
the incident became known—there was a terrible row in one of the big
clubs in Piccadilly. Sir Montague Bowden was insulted by one of his fellow
members: he was called a thief, and asked what share he was getting out of
the sale of the necklace. Of course the man who spoke in this unwarranted
fashion was drunk at the time, but nevertheless it was a terrible position for
Sir Montague, because as his opponent grew more and more abusive and he
himself more and more indignant, he realised that he had practically no
friends who would stand by him in the dispute. Some of the members tried
to stop the row, and others appeared indifferent, but no one sided with him,
or returned abuse for abuse on his behalf.

It was in the very midst of this most unedifying scene—one perhaps


unparalleled in the annals of London club life—that a club servant entered
the room, and handed a telegram to Sir Montague Bowden.

Even the most sceptical there, and those whose brains were almost
fuddled with the wrangling and the noise, declared afterwards that a
mysterious Providence had ordained that the telegram should arrive at that
precise moment. It had been sent to Sir Montague's private house in
Lowndes Street; his secretary had opened it and sent it on to the club. As
soon as Sir Montague had mastered its contents he communicated them to
the members of the club, and it seems that there never had been such
excitement displayed in any assembly of sober Englishmen as was shown in
that club room on this momentous occasion.

The telegram had come all the way from the other end of Europe, and
had been sent by the august lady in whose hands the priceless necklace,
about which there was so much pother in England and France, had just been
safely placed. It ran thus:

"Deeply touched by exquisite present just received through kind offices


of Captain Saunders, from English ladies. Kind thoughts and beautiful
necklace equally precious. Kindly convey my grateful thanks to all
subscribers."

Having read out the telegram, Sir Montague Bowden demanded an


apology from those who had impugned his honour, and I understand that he
got an unqualified one. After that, male tongues were let loose; the wildest
conjectures flew about as to the probable solution of what appeared a more
curious mystery than ever. By evening the papers had got hold of the
incident, and all those who were interested in the affair shook their heads
and looked portentously wise.

But the hero of the hour was certainly Captain Saunders. From having
been voted either a knave or a fool, or both, he was declared all at once to
be possessed of all the qualities which had made England great: prudence,
astuteness, and tenacity. However, as a matter of fact, nobody knew what
had actually happened; the august lady had the necklace and Captain
Saunders was returning to England without a stain on his character, but as
to how these two eminently satisfactory results had come about not even the
wise-acres could say. Captain and Mrs. Saunders arrived in England a few
days later; every one was agog with curiosity, and the poor things had
hardly stepped out of the train before they were besieged by newspaper men
and pressed with questions.
The next morning the Express Post and the Daily Thunderer came out
with exclusive interviews with Captain Saunders, who had made no secret
of the extraordinary adventure which had once more placed him in
possession of the necklace. It seems that he and his wife on coming out of
the Madeleine Church on Easter Sunday were hustled at the top of the steps
by a man whose face they did not see, and who pushed past them very
hastily and roughly. Arthur Saunders at once thought of his pockets, and
looked to see if his notecase had not disappeared. To his boundless
astonishment his hand came in contact with a long, hard parcel in the
outside pocket of his overcoat, and this parcel proved to be the velvet case
containing the missing necklace.

Both he and his wife were flabbergasted at this discovery, and, scarcely
believing in this amazing piece of good luck, they managed with the help of
Mr. Haasberg, despite its being Easter Sunday, to obtain an interview with
one of the great jewellers in the Rue de la Paix, who, well knowing the
history of the missing necklace, was able to assure them that they had
indeed been lucky enough to regain possession of their treasure. That same
evening they left by the train de luxe, having been fortunate enough to
secure seats; needless to say that the necklace was safely stowed away
inside Captain Saunders's breast pocket.

All was indeed well that ended so well. But the history of the
disappearance and reappearance of the pearl necklace has remained a
baffling mystery to this day. Neither the Saunderses nor Mr. Haasberg ever
departed one iota from the circumstantial story which they had originally
told, and no one ever heard another word about the man with the walrus
moustache and the gold-rimmed spectacles: the French police are still after
him in connection with the assault on le Capitaine Saunders, but no trace of
him was ever found.

To some people this was a conclusive proof of guilt, but then, having
stolen the necklace, why should he have restored it? Though the pearls were
very beautiful and there were a great number of them beautifully matched,
there was nothing abnormal about them either in size or colour; there never
could be any difficulty for an expert thief to dispose of the pearls to
Continental dealers. The same argument would of course apply to Mr.
Haasberg, whom some wiseacres still persisted in accusing. If he stole the
necklace why should he have restored it? Nothing could be easier than for a
business man who travelled a great deal on the Continent to sell a parcel of
pearls. And there always remained the unanswered question: Why did
Saunders take the pearls out of the strong-room, and where was he taking
them to when he was assaulted and robbed?

Did the man with the walrus moustache really call at the Majestic that
night? And if he was innocent, why did he disappear? Why, why, why?

§3

The case had very much interested me at the time, but the mystery was a
nine days' wonder as far as I was concerned, and soon far more important
matters than the temporary disappearance of a few rows of pearls occupied
public attention.

It was really only last year when I renewed my acquaintance with the
Old Man in the Corner, that I bethought myself once more of the mystery of
the pearl necklace, and I felt the desire to hear what the spook-like
creature's theory was upon the subject.

"The pearl necklace?" he said with a cackle. "Ah, yes, it caused a good
bit of stir in its day. But people talked such a lot of irresponsible nonsense
that thinking minds had not a chance of arriving at a sensible conclusion."

"No," I rejoined amiably. "But you did."

"Yes, you are right there," he replied, "I knew well enough where the
puzzle lay, but it was not my business to put the police on the right track.
And if I had I should have been the cause of making two innocent and
clever people suffer more severely than the guilty party."

"Will you condescend to explain?" I asked, with an indulgent smile.

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