“Are you even a teacher?” asked Jack. “Is your name Catriona Murphy?”
The woman didn’t say a thing. She just smirked. Jack knew one thing. The “Miss Murphy” sitting in front of him was nothing like the one he knew. Maybe, thought Jack, she only pretended to be nice so that no one suspected her. Unfortunately, for Jack, she had another trick up her sleeve.
“Sorry, kid,” she said, standing up. She pulled a GPF’s Tornado from her vest. This was one of the gadgets she’d taken from Jack and Max on the boat.
As soon as Jack saw it, he panicked. He got up and started to run away.
The thief pointed it at him and pulled the trigger. Instantly, a rope shot out, zeroing in on Jack. It targeted his head and shoulders first, then swirled around his ankles. Unable to move his feet, Jack tripped and fell to the ground with a THUD. The only things that weren’t covered by rope were Jack’s eyes and mouth.
“You won’t get away with this!” he shouted.
The woman looked at him and laughed.
“I already have.” She sneered.
She scrambled up the rope ladder, pulled it inside the chopper, and disappeared.
Jack watched helplessly as the door to the helicopter closed. Then the woman and the Book of Kells vanished into the dark and stormy clouds above.
Chapter 17
The Lessons Learned
“Arrrgh!” yelled Jack in frustration.
He couldn’t believe it. He and Max had been tricked. They’d also broken every rule the GPF told them to follow.
Don’t trust anyone.
Follow the facts.
Never assume.
Always be on guard.
At every step of the way, the woman had outplayed them.
Max’s face appeared over the edge of the hill. He made his way over to Jack. Max pulled out a pocketknife from the left heel of his boot and cut Jack free.
“You okay?” asked Max.
“Yeah,” said Jack. He was lying, of course. His stomach was killing him.
Jack told his brother everything that had happened. Max was shocked.
“I can’t believe it,” said Max. “I never would have suspected Miss Murphy.”
“She was counting on that,” said Jack. “Everyone assumed the crook was a guy.”
Max shook his head. “We should have known better,” he said.
The boys sat there for a moment, thinking about what to do next. They had no way of getting home or contacting the GPF. For all they knew, their Book Bags and Watch Phones were at the bottom of the River Liffey.
“Let’s start walking,” said Max. “Maybe we’ll find someone along the way.”
Chapter 18
The Return of the Boys
They trudged through the rain for an hour. Eventually, they ran into a couple out walking their dog. They borrowed the couple’s cell phone and called the GPF. The GPF contacted the authorities and gave them a description of the woman. They also told them about the helicopter and the direction it was headed.
Mr. Pink was sent to collect the boys. He drove them back to Dublin and the Lucky Leprechaun hotel.
There, they found Ms. Humphries and the others eating a late lunch in the downstairs café. When Jack, Max, and their “dad” arrived, everyone—including Ms. Humphries—was surprised.
Mr. Pink explained that his wife had made a full and “miraculous” recovery. He asked whether his sons could rejoin the trip. Ms. Humphries gave him another form to sign. After Mr. Pink scribbled an “X,” Jack and Max were welcomed back into the group. Mr. Pink left the boys with the others. By now, Jack and Max were starving.
Just then, there was a news flash on the hotel TV. The same female reporter from before appeared excitedly on the screen.
We’ve just received word that the police have confirmed the identity of the thief. A woman posing as a school teacher from Surrey Academy in England is suspected of stealing the Book of Kells. She brought her students on a field trip to Dublin as an excuse to carry out her elaborate plan.
This caught the attention of Ms. Humphries and the other students. Their eyes shot toward the TV.
This is a photo of the woman.
A photo flashed on the screen. It was a picture of Miss Murphy.
Ms. Humphries’s fork fell out of her hand. Beth Williams’s food spilled out of her mouth.
She was working under the alias of Catriona Murphy. If anyone has any information about the whereabouts of this woman, please contact the Irish police. She is still in possession of the Book of Kells. The authorities are keen to apprehend her.
Ms. Humphries looked back to the table of students. She was thinking of what to say. She composed herself and picked up her fork.
“I never liked her anyway,” she said, shoveling a bit of food into her mouth. “A little too perfect, if you ask me.”
Chapter 19
The News Flash
Over the next several days, Jack and Max and the others visited the famous sites of Dublin. They saw Dublin Castle and St. Patrick’s Cathedral. They even visited the Leprechaun Museum.
As soon as they returned to their home in England, Jack and Max raced upstairs to Jack’s room. They logged into Jack’s GPF Tablet, and pulled up the GPF’s secure site. They were hoping that the woman had been caught. Unfortunately, it wasn’t good news.
GPF NEWS FLASH
Despite the efforts of some of our best agents, the GPF has yet to locate either the Book of Kells or the woman who stole it. The GPF is working closely with the CIA and MI6 to hunt her down.
Jack logged out. Max could tell his brother was frustrated.
“It’s not your fault,” said Max, placing his hand on Jack’s shoulder. “We did our best.”
Jack knew that. He knew that nobody—not even a GPF agent—was perfect. But he couldn’t get that woman out of his mind. Jack turned to his brother.
“If it’s the last thing I do,” said Jack, “I’ll find her and bring her to justice. She won’t get away from me again.”
Chapter 20
The Mastermind’s Accomplice
There was a knock at the door. The Mastermind, who had been reading the morning’s paper, looked up. The door creaked open. His secretary, Linda, stuck her head inside.
“Someone to see you, sir,” said Linda.
The Mastermind raised one of his white eyebrows. He nodded to tell Linda to let the person in.
The door opened wide. A female figure brushed passed Linda. She was twenty-five years old with short black hair. It was Miss Murphy, although that wasn’t her real name.
“Come in,” said Mastermind. His finger beckoned her in.
She took her backpack off her back and placed it on top of his desk. She unzipped it, revealing the Book of Kells inside. His eyes twinkled.
“Excellent work,” he said, pulling a couple of thin gloves out of his pocket. He put them on so he wouldn’t damage the book.
He pulled the book out and opened it. He carefully turned the pages one at a time, gazing at the illuminated drawings inside. They were glittering in gold.
“Excellent work, indeed,” he said.
“It wasn’t easy,” said the woman. “I had a couple of agents on my tail.”
The man’s eyes narrowed.
“Agents?” he asked, concerned.
The woman nodded. “Jack and Max Stalwart,” she said. “They were my students. I think they work for the GPF.”
She pulled one of the boys’ Watch Phones out of her vest.
She showed it to the man. He took it into his hand. He recognized it immediately.
“You’re right,” he said to her. “This is a GPF device.”
“Obviously,” she said, “I managed to get away.”
“Well done,” he said. “I’ve hired others who haven’t been so lucky.”
He thought back to his foiled attempt at taking the Emerald Buddha in Thailand. The people that he hired for that job were a bunch of buffoons.
“What did the boy
s look like?” asked the man.
The woman pulled a photograph out of one of her pockets. She laid it on the desk and pointed to Jack and Max at the back.
“That’s them at the back,” she said.
“Do you mind if I take this?” he asked, his finger pointing to the photo.
“It’s all yours,” she said.
The man slipped the photo in his shirt pocket.
“So what about the money?” she asked.
The man pulled an envelope out of one of the desk drawers. He handed it to her. She checked to make sure the $300,000 was there. It was.
“Nice doing business with you,” she said as she stuffed it away.
“Likewise,” said the man. “I’m hoping that we can work together again soon.”
“Sure thing,” said the woman. “You know where to find me.”
“I do,” said the man.
The woman left the office.
The Mastermind carefully lifted the Book of Kells and placed it on a nearby shelf. It was now among some of the other treasure he’d collected—a priceless Picasso painting, a Russian Fabergé egg, and a shipwreck treasure.
The Mastermind took the photo from his pocket, and studied the two boys.
A quick call to his “mole” inside the GPF would confirm if they were indeed agents. There were also ways to find out whether they’d been in Thailand.
Either way, the Mastermind had come to the conclusion that Jack and Max Stalwart were pests. As far as he was concerned there was only one way to deal with pests… and that was to exterminate them.
Chapter 1
The Coded Letter
In a filthy Mexican jail cell, a prisoner sat on his bed holding a letter that he’d received that day. The note was written in childlike handwriting. There were twelve pink pony stickers scattered across the page. Anyone who looked at the note would think it was written by a little girl. But the prisoner knew better. It was a message from a member of his adult gang.
He pulled the first sticker off the page. The word “MEET” was written on the page underneath. Under the second sticker was the word “AT.” The third sticker revealed the time “11:30 p.m.”
After removing the rest of the stickers, the man studied the message.
Meet at 11:30 p.m. tonight. Gas station 5 miles due west. Gold awaits.
The prisoner grunted with pleasure.
BANG!
The door to the cellblock clanged open against the wall behind it. A skinny prison guard sporting a handlebar mustache entered the cellblock. He walked down the hallway and checked in on each of the ten prisoners. The inmate stuffed the note into this trouser pocket before the guard arrived at his cell.
“Lights out in five minutes!” shouted the guard in Spanish.
The prisoner nodded to the man. He’d already been in the prison for sixty days. He knew the schedule. At 10 p.m. every night, the lights went out. Most of the prisoners used the time to sleep. But not this prisoner. He used the nighttime hours to prepare his escape.
As soon as he’d arrived, the man had stolen a spoon from the prison cafeteria. Every night since, he’d used it to scrape at the soft wall near the floor of his cell. Just last week, he’d managed to make a hole big enough to fit through. Now that his gang was ready for him, all the prisoner had to do was escape.
CLICK.
The lights went out.
The prisoner waited for the other inmates to fall asleep. Then he moved the bedside table that was covering the hole to the side. He got down on his hands and knees and slithered through it. Once outside, he began to run.
In front of him was a tall barbed wire fence. A spotlight from above was zigzagging across the grounds. He waited for the light to move somewhere else, then he bolted for the fence.
He climbed it and thrust his body over the barbs. They ripped at his clothes and sliced into his skin. But the prisoner didn’t care. He was Callous Carl, the toughest treasure hunter on the planet. As soon as his feet hit the ground, he ran across the Mexican desert and toward the lights of the gas station ahead.
THE SECRET AGENTS JACK AND MAX STALWART SERIES
Book 1—The Battle for the Emerald Buddha (Thailand)
Book 2—The Adventure in the Amazon (Brazil)
Book 3—The Fate of the Irish Treasure (Ireland)
Book 4—The Race for Gold Rush Treasure Califonia (USA)
THE SECRET AGENT JACK STALWART SERIES
Book 1—The Escape of the Deadly Dinosaur New York (USA)
Book 2—The Search for the Sunken Treasure (Australia)
Book 3—The Mystery of the Mona Lisa (France)
Book 4—The Caper of the Crown Jewels (England)
Book 5—The Secret of the Sacred Temple (Cambodia)
Book 6—The Pursuit of the Ivory Poachers (Kenya)
Book 7—The Puzzle of the Missing Panda (China)
Book 8—Peril at the Grand Prix (Italy)
Book 9—The Deadly Race to Space (Russia)
Book 10—The Quest for Aztec Gold (Mexico)
Book 11—The Theft of the Samurai Sword (Japan)
Book 12—The Fight for the Frozen Land (Arctic)
Book 13—The Hunt for the Yeti Skull (Nepal)
Book 14—The Mission to Find Max (Egypt)
For more information visit www.elizabethsingerhunt.com
Join Jack and Max in their other adventures…
The Fate of the Irish Treasure: Ireland Page 4
