The Caper of the Crown Jewels (4 page)

“Fantastic!” shouted Jack. “My friends at school are going to love this one!” At that, there was a knock on the door.

“How's the homework going?” said a familiar voice from the other side. It was Jack's mum checking up on his progress.

“Uh, all right, Mum,” said Jack, putting the coin in his pocket and racing back to his desk.

“That's great, honey,” his mum said through the door. “Don't forget to brush your teeth before you go to bed.”

“OK, Mum,” said Jack. He hoped his mum wouldn't ask to come in.

She didn't, and when he was sure that she'd made her way back downstairs, Jack pulled the coin out of his trouser pocket. “Now,” he said, “let's practice that trick again.”

At that moment, Jack's miniature globe began to spin on top of his bedside table. Hearing this, Jack put his magic book away. There were more important things to concentrate on now. It was 7:30
PM
.

Jack was a Secret Agent for the Global Protection Force. The Global Protection Force, or GPF, was a worldwide group of young secret agents determined to fight crime and protect the world's most
precious treasures. When Jack was sworn in by the GPF a couple of years ago, he chose as his globe a little one called Whizzy. Although Whizzy couldn't talk, he could give Jack clues about his next mission by spitting jigsaw pieces from his mouth. Since it was precisely 7:30
PM
, that's exactly what Whizzy was going to do.

Whizzy coughed: “Ahem!” A small jigsaw piece flew out of his mouth and across the room. It bounced off the wall and landed on the floor. Jack bent over and looked to see whether he recognized the shape of the country.

“No way,” said Jack. “I can't believe it!” he added, looking at its unmistakable form. “That's where I live.”

Jack raced to the Magic Map on his bedroom wall. It was a brilliant map of the world, with every country in bright colors. Jack placed the jigsaw piece exactly where he knew it belonged and watched as the name “England” appeared on the map.

From inside the country, a red light began to glow. Jack pulled his Book Bag out from under his bed and checked his Watch Phone for the code of the day. After receiving it, he punched the word—Q-U-E-E-N—into the bag's lock. Almost instantly, it opened, revealing what was tucked inside.

In addition to the usual gadgets, there was the Encryption Notebook, the Ear Amp, and the Tornado. The GPF had just added the Heli-Spacer, a device that enabled you to fly using your hands to control your direction. Although Jack hadn't needed it yet, he was hoping he'd get a chance to use it on this mission.

Jack closed his Book Bag and ran over to the map. As the light from inside the country grew to fill his room, he smiled and yelled, “Off to England!”

With those words, the red light burst, swallowing him into the Magic Map.

As soon as Jack arrived, he was aware of something sinister above him. He quickly hit the ground, rolled over twice, and got himself out of harm's way. Looking up, Jack noticed a row of iron spikes hanging inside a rounded arch.

“Don't worry,” said a male voice from behind him. “The only way that portcullis comes down is if I let it down.” Jack knew that the word
portcullis
meant a gate or grating that slid up and down.

Jack whipped round. Standing nearby
was a man dressed in a long blue jacket with a red crown and two letters—
E
and
R
—embroidered on its chest. He also had a red and gold badge attached to his arm. Because of the way he was dressed, Jack knew not only what the man was but also where he was. The man was a Yeoman Warder, a legendary protector of the Tower of London.

“You must be Jack,” he said. “The GPF said they'd be sending you. My name is Tommy,” he added. “I'm one of the Yeoman Warders.”

Jack took a good look at Tommy—the GPF trained him to look at details. He was middle-aged, of average build, and had grey hairs sprouting within his brown beard.

“Nice to meet you,” said Jack, excited to be speaking to a real Yeoman Warder. He was fascinated by the history of the Tower of London and had been there several times with his mum and dad. He knew that Yeoman Warders were sometimes called
Beefeaters
because in the old days they were probably paid their wages in beef.

Jack looked past Tommy to the cobblestone street ahead. Because he'd been here before, he knew that the Tower
of London was a popular tourist attraction. Hundreds of tourists usually filled the streets. Today, however, there was no one around.

“What's wrong?” asked Jack, figuring something bad must have happened if there weren't any visitors.

“Well,” said Tommy, taking off his hat and scratching his bald head. “We have a slight problem.” Before Jack could respond, he added, “Someone has stolen the Crown Jewels. And between you and me”—he leaned towards Jack—“the Queen's not pleased.”

“What?” said Jack, who was completely shocked. “I can't believe someone's stolen the Crown Jewels!”

“Neither can I,” said Tommy, his face looking serious.

“Have you contacted Scotland Yard or MI5?” asked Jack, referring to the country's finest law-enforcement agencies.

“Not yet,” he said. “The Queen's given the Warders four hours to locate the crooks before she notifies them herself.”

“How could this have happened?” asked Jack.

“I don't know,” said Tommy. “It's very embarrassing. The Jewel House is locked up tighter than you would believe. We have some pretty hi-tech security equipment in there,” he added. “The jewels were there one second and gone the next. We've even looked at the footage from the security cameras.”