THE SHOPLIFTERS "Madam, would you mind going with me for a few moments to the office on the third floor ?" Constance Dunlap had been out on a shopping excursion.

She had stopped at the jewelry counter of Stacy's to have a ring repaired and had gone on to the leather goods department to purchase something else.
The woman who spoke to her was a quietly dressed young person, quite inconspicuous, with a keen eye that seemed to take in everything within a radius of a wide-angled lens at a glance.
She leaned over and before Constance could express even surprise, added in a whisper, "Look in your bag." Constance looked hastily, then realized what had happened.

The ring was gone! It gave her quite a shock, too, for the ring, a fine diamond, was a present from her husband, one of the few pieces of jewelry, treasured not only for its intrinsic value but as a remembrance of Carlton and the supreme sacrifice he had made for her.
She had noticed nothing in the crowd, nothing more than she had noticed scores of times before.

The woman watched her puzzled look.
"I've been following you," she said.

"By this time the other store detectives must have caught the shoplifter and bag-opener who touched you.