Lemuel De Bra
Blue eyes and diamonds
"Blue eyes and diamonds by Lemuel De Bra" is a short crime caper written in the late 1920s. It centers on a society wife''s risky scheme to fake a jewel robbery to cover her gambling losses, entangling a straight-arrow detective and her well-meaning husband in a clever, lighthearted twist on theft and trust. Betty Danford, having pawned her diamond wedding necklace and replaced it with paste, begs Detective Harry Milholland—an old suitor—to arrange a staged burglary to “steal” the fake and keep her secret. Her plan unravels when her husband, Chester, reveals he has quietly redeemed the real necklace and hidden it back in her dressing table. Panicked, Betty rushes to stop the planned theft, only to witness what looks like a thief flinging the necklace into the river. The sting is then revealed: Harry had told Chester, they orchestrated a fake confrontation, and the tossed necklace was only the paste copy. With the truth out and the real diamonds safe, Betty faces a gentle moral reckoning, reconciles with her husband, and the tale ends on a playful, affectionate note.