He did the work quite to my satisfaction, but before it was well finished I made a portentous discovery--several of my diamonds were missing.

There could be no doubt about it, for I knew the number to a nicety, and had counted them over and over again.

Neither could there be any doubt that Kidd was the thief.
Besides my wife, myself, and one or two of our servants, no one else had been in the room; and our own people would not have taken the trouble to pick up a diamond from the ground, much less steal one from my house.
My first impulse was to accuse Kidd of the theft and have him searched.
And then I reflected that I was almost as much to blame as himself.
Assuming that he knew something of the value of precious stones, I had exposed him to temptation by leaving so many and of so great value in an open drawer.

He might well suppose that I set no store by them, and that half a dozen or so would never be missed.

So I decided to keep silence for the present and keep a watch on Mr.Kidd's movements.