The Caper of the Crown Jewels (6 page)

When he was ready, he approached the vicar and the young man.

“Hi there,” said Jack. “My name is Jack Stalwart.” He turned to the vicar first. “Can I have your name?” he asked.

“Father Type,” he answered, smiling.

Jack turned to the younger man. “And yours?” he asked.

“Edward Pigeon,” he replied.

“Thanks,” said Jack, making a few notes on their appearance. Father Type, in particular, had a familiar look about him.

“Would you mind stepping over here while I ask you a few more questions?” He wanted to make sure that they had some privacy and led the men over to a side room where the Queen's priceless coronation robe hung in a massive glass case.

“Where do you work?” Jack asked, carrying on with the interrogation.

“We both work just off of Tooley Street,” said the vicar.

Jack thought about churches near Tooley Street in London. “At Southwark Cathedral?” he asked, remembering the location of that famous church.

“Yes, that's right,” said Father Type, nodding. “At Southwark Cathedral.”

“I was wondering,” said Jack, turning to the vicar first, “if you could describe exactly what you saw.”

“Nothing significant, my child,” replied Father Type. “We were on the walkway like everyone else,” he explained, “adoring the Queen's precious jewels. All of a sudden, the lights went out and when they came back on, the jewels were gone. It gave me quite a fright, really,” he added, shaking his head.

Jack turned to Edward Pigeon. “Did you see the same thing as Father Type?” he asked the young man.

“Yes,” said Edward. “Pity really—I only saw the jewels for a few seconds before they vanished.”

Jack thanked both men for their time and called the mother and daughter over. He introduced himself, took their details, and asked whether they had noticed anything important.

“Well,” said the mother, “I do remember hearing something when the lights went out. It sounded as though someone was whispering something.”

“Do you remember whether it was a man or a woman?” asked Jack.

“It was a man, I think,” she answered, “although the voice was a bit high-pitched. So I suppose it could have been either.”

“And what about you?” said Jack, turning to the young girl. “What do you remember?”

“Nothing,” said the girl. She hid herself in her mother's skirt.

Thinking he'd got all he was going to
get out of these two, Jack called the elderly couple over.

“Hi there,” he said. He introduced himself and noted down both their names and their contact details. “Can you tell me
whether you saw or heard anything significant before the Crown Jewels went missing?'

“I didn't hear anything, but I certainly smelled something,” said the man.

This was interesting, thought Jack. He made a note of it in his Notebook.

“What did it smell like?” he asked.

“Something sweet,” said the woman. “Kind of like berries.”

“Is there anything else you can remember?” asked Jack.

“Nothing,” said the man. The woman agreed.

Jack looked at his Notebook and reviewed the information he'd gathered so far on his suspects:

He then made a note of the sequence of events:

After securing what Jack thought was enough information about the suspects, he and Tommy let them leave the Tower of London.

“What did I tell you, Jack?” said Tommy, turning to him. “It's a head-scratcher, isn't it?”

“Sure is,” said Jack. There were no obvious suspects and no obvious means by which the jewels had been stolen.

Tommy looked at his watch, and then looked at Jack. “We need to find the crooks soon,” he said. “With three hours left, we're running out of time.”

Jack looked at his Encryption Notebook again and reviewed his notes.
Smell of something sweet, probably ladies perfume. Sound of man or woman whispering in the dark.
He sniffed the air. He didn't smell anything sweet. He listened closely. He couldn't hear anything unusual.

He walked over to the cases again and looked inside. Jack could tell from the indentation in the pillow that the crown itself was fairly large. The scepter was
long with a pointed end and the orb was big and round. Whoever took them would need to put them in something big.

Jack found Tommy, who was in the other room, chatting to another Beefeater. Tommy introduced the other man as Charles.

“Pleased to meet you, Charles,” said Jack. “I'm trying to narrow down all the different ways someone could have taken the jewels out of their cases,” he explained. “Could someone have taken them from above?” Jack was thinking that perhaps the tops had been dismantled ahead of time and lifted off without anyone knowing it.

“Nope,” said Charles. “Not possible. Every morning and night the case is checked from top to bottom to make sure it's intact. Besides,” he added, “it's made of impenetrable steel. It would be almost impossible to cut through it anyway.”

“What about from below?” asked Jack, who was running out of options. If it wasn't from the top or the sides, then it had to be from underneath.

“No chance there either,” said Tommy. “Each jewel sits on a pillow which then sits on a stand. The stand is a moveable
platform that travels down to the Jewel Master's quarters on the lower ground level. Once there, the Jewel Master takes off the jewel, cleans it and then places it back on the pillow. He then returns it up to the case.

“You see,” he continued, “no one but the Jewel Master has access to the jewels. The only way to lower and raise that platform is if you have an access code. And only the Jewel Master knows it. And before you think that he's had anything to
do with this, consider that he's nearly eighty years old and has worked here for over fifty-five years. Besides,” he added, “he's on holiday with his daughter in Greece and the room is under surveillance. We've checked that camera, too.”

“Well, if someone were going to steal the Crown Jewels, how would they do it?” asked Jack.

“You got me,” said Charles. “It would take a miracle. The only time anyone's been able to pull off a stunt like this was on the ninth of May 1671. Colonel Blood was his name,” he said, “and he did it by dressing up like a vicar. He brought along a pal named Thomas Parrot and the two of them made off with the jewels before being caught—” Charles stopped himself as soon as he realized what he'd said.

Jack was stunned. He couldn't believe his ears. He'd been fooled. They'd all
been fooled! He looked through his Notebook once again. The name the vicar had given him was Father Type. Blood has different groups like Type A and Type B. His young assistant was Edward Pigeon—which was very similar to Thomas Parrot!

The two men were playing games with Jack from the start. He stamped his feet on the ground and growled in frustration. Father Type and Thomas Pigeon had pulled off the unimaginable. They had stolen the Crown Jewels and Jack, Tommy, and Charles had unknowingly let them escape.