GREAT BRITAIN: Bertie & Barry

Friends of Bertie Holliday admired his taste in jewelry. It was natural enough; his business card read “Dealer in precious stones.” He had a lavishly furnished flat in London and a country home on an island in the Thames at Old Windsor. Bertie rode to hounds, cruised the river in his yacht, and was a familiar figure at the nearby Ascot track. Some of the best people went to his cocktail parties.

Like his Berkshire neighbors, Bertie talked worriedly about the growing number of jewelry robberies. One of the most sensational hauls was in October 1946, when thieves entered Ednam Lodge at nearby Sunningdale, where the Duke and Duchess of Windsor were staying, got away with $80,000 of the duchess’ jewelry. Since then there had been a whole series of jewel burglaries in Sunningdale and nearby towns.

Among Scotland Yard’s suspects was a man named Barry Fieldsend. Last month in London the Yard brought Fieldsend before a magistrate, charged him with unlawful possession of jewels worth £10,000. He was released on £2,500 bail and ordered to appear in court this week.

A fortnight before Fieldsend’s trial date, Bertie Holliday registered at the Wheatsheaf Hotel, Virginia Water, Surrey, asked to be called at 9 o’clock next morning. When a maid tried to waken him, she found him dead; he had shot himself with a pistol-walking stick. Detectives checked the suicide, found that they had their jewel thief; Fieldsend was Holliday, and Barry had killed Bertie.