With a sigh, Thaddeus looked up at the window belonging to what his landlady generously termed his “suite”. It was really just one room with a water closet next to it, but it was all he could afford and at least it was close to the police station. The young policeman saw that he was out of luck – his window was shut, and most likely locked. Mrs Carmichael was very particular about security, and very suspicious of fresh air. He looked at the door again, and the bell pull hanging beside it. It was no good – he’d have to ring it, even though getting her out of bed would probably mean a burned breakfast as punishment in the morning.
He regretted pulling the bell as soon as he heard her angry footsteps in the hallway. He should have just gone back to the station. He could have slept in his chair…
The door was wrenched open a crack. A poker, a candle and one eye appeared around it.
“It’s me, Mrs Carmichael. I am most terribly sorry. I –”
“Mr Rec!” The door was flung wide. His landlady crossed her arms over her nightgown and looked him up and down, eyes narrowed. “And where, might I ask, is your key?”
“On my desk,” Thaddeus began again. “I’m sorry, but –”
“Your desk,” repeated Mrs Carmichael accusingly, as if he’d somehow said something disgusting. She didn’t approve of his work with the police. Detecting, she had told him once, was nothing but nosing about in other people’s business. It seemed that such a thing should only be done from behind one’s curtains, if her habits were anything to go by. Not that he’d dared to remark as much to her.
Thaddeus stepped forward. He wanted to get out of the rain, but she didn’t seem inclined to move. “May I –”
“Mr Rec,” Mrs Carmichael said in outraged tones, as he stepped into the light. “Have you – have you been brawling?”
Thaddeus looked down at himself. He still had sawdust clinging to his knees, his shoes were scuffed, and the sleeve of his coat arm was torn.
“Oh,” he said. “No – no, of course not. I was at the circus. There was this girl, you see. She fell. Or at least, I thought she had, so I was trying to –”
Mrs Carmichael rolled her eyes before turning away. “The circus. A girl. Of course. Heaven forbid you be anywhere reputable. Honestly, if you had a mother I would send you home for a drubbing. That’d sort you out, and no mistake. Come along, if you please, Mr Rec. I don’t want to catch a chill in that nasty night air. And besides – some of us have real work to do in the morning.”
She disappeared down the hallway, taking the yellow light of the candle with her. Thaddeus shut the door behind him and sighed as he drew the bolt before trudging up the stairs to the second floor. What an evening. He’d only gone to the circus for work. Well, for potential work, anyway. He had noticed – Thaddeus had a knack for noticing things – that the number of petty crimes always went up when the circus was in town. He’d thought it would do no harm to take a look at the grounds and the people, especially now, with the Shah’s visit. So he’d done a bit of a patrol, just to see if he could get a whiff of any shenanigans before they happened.
None of the other detectives had been willing to join him. They all thought he was too young to be part of their team anyway, and mocked his ideas at every opportunity. Besides, it was time for their dinners, and it was a miserable night to be out and about. Thaddeus had gone anyway, alone. He’d been standing outside the big top making notes when he’d heard a whisper that the final act was the most amazing anyone had ever seen. Astounding, the whisper had said. Not to be missed. He’d stuck his head inside, just out of curiosity.
And there she was. A girl who seemed to fly without wings, as perfectly as a bird. He’d been instantly fascinated, and couldn’t help pushing his way to a seat in the front row, just to watch her. And when she’d fallen –
Even the thought of it made his heart freeze in his chest. The memory of her plummeting to the ground was horrifying. Before he’d known what he was doing, he’d been over the barrier and running, desperate to catch her … to save her.
The door to his room clicked shut behind him and Thaddeus leaned against it, raising his eyes to the ceiling. Of course it was a trick. They were circus folk – their whole lives were about tricks. He should have known better. She probably had a wire attached so she couldn’t reach the ground anyway, for goodness’ sake. What a fool! She was probably laughing at him right now, standing around the campfire with the rest of them. Still, he wondered who she was and where she had come from. He thought her accent had been French, but he couldn’t be sure over the noise of the crowd. And she spoke such good English. Where had she learned that? He’d looked for the posters outside, but on the line for her act all it said was ‘Little Bird’.
Shaking himself, Thaddeus pushed away from the door and glanced at his clock, ticking away quietly on the mantel. It was almost one in the morning, but he knew he wouldn’t sleep.
Thaddeus glanced at his workbench. On it were the night-glasses he’d been working on with the Professor – their latest joint invention. Thaddeus was convinced that a modern police force needed modern machines, and his friend the Professor agreed with him. He wasn’t really a professor – that had just been his nickname ever since Thaddeus had known him. In fact, Thaddeus wasn’t even sure what the man’s real name was, as for some reason, the Professor preferred people not to know. He was a mechanical genius and ever since they’d met, he and Thaddeus had shared their ideas for weird and wonderful gadgets.
The night-glasses, though – they were another level of brilliance altogether. If they managed to perfect their invention, Thaddeus and the Professor believed that they could make it possible to see in the dark, just as if it were day, even if a person was in a pitch-black room. If they got it right, the darkest corners of London’s dingiest streets and dens would be visible to the police. It would be a revolution.
The glasses weren’t perfect yet, but they would be soon. In fact, Thaddeus had been hoping they’d be ready for the Shah’s arrival. The other coppers kept insisting that the Koh-i Noor and the Darya-ye Noor were ‘as safe as houses’ inside the Tower, but Thaddeus wasn’t so sure. The gems weren’t being kept in the Jewel House, which was specially reinforced. Queen Victoria wanted to make a proper occasion out of the visit, and had decreed that both stones be put on display in the Long Hall. It made Thaddeus very nervous indeed, especially since her Majesty had also decided to throw a week of receptions for the richest and most important people in the land to show off the jewels.
None of the other men in the city’s detective division were concerned – they just laughed when he brought up the idea that someone would try to steal one or both of the jewels. No one believed that anyone could break into the great Tower of London, and even if they did, the place was crawling with police and Tower guards, watching the gems every moment of every day.
But Thaddeus just had a feeling. A hunch, you could call it. It had been keeping him awake for weeks, through all the preparations for the Shah’s visit. And now, now that the gems were here, in London…
He shrugged off his damp coat. Sitting down at his workbench, he lit the Bunsen burner. It wasn’t really that late, after all. He could do a little more work on the glasses. Maybe he could get them working properly in time for the first reception tomorrow.
As he worked, the night ticked onwards into day.
Two
In Plain Sight
“I am not wearing that!”
Claudette, kneeling on the floor of her caravan, looked up at Rémy with raised eyebrows. Morning sunlight from the open windows dappled her face. “And why not? What is wrong with it?”
“It is… it is…” Rémy threw her hands into the air. “A dress! A long one!”
Her friend sighed and pushed another pin into place on the hem of the old gown before standing up to admire her handiwork. “Well done. I was not at all sure you kne
w what such a thing was.”
Rémy crossed her arms. “It’s horrible… and uncomfortable. I won’t wear it.”
“So what? You are going to walk into this reception – a reception that the Queen of England herself may be at – looking like the ragamuffin orphan that you are?” Claudette pointed to Rémy’s current outfit – a pair of tattered trousers that were too short, coupled with a rough blouse and belt. “This is not how young women usually dress, Rémy.”
“It’s stupid,” Rémy said, sulkily, “all of it. Why does he want to make me do this, anyway? As if I do not know what I’m doing.”
“Well, I for one am glad, ma chérie. I think once you go there, you will realize that what Gustave asks is the right thing. For once. Now, try it on. I need to see if I have fitted it correctly.”
“No.”
Claudette tutted. “You are forgetting the good side of having so many skirts, Little Bird.”
Rémy frowned. As far as she could see, the only thing that skirts did was stop you from running away properly. “What do you mean?”
Claudette lifted the wine-coloured material to show one of the petticoats underneath. She had stitched several pockets into it, and pointed to each one. “Lock-picks. Rope. Penknife. Scarf…”
Rémy stared, and then began to laugh. “Very well,” she said. “I will try it your way. Just this once.”
Claudette smiled, satisfied. “And what will you say? Once you get to the door? How will you make them let you in?”
Rémy shrugged. “I have not quite worked that out yet. But I’m sure I’ll think of something.”
* * *
Later, Rémy stood in the Long Hall, slightly stunned by the rich swirl of music and the beauty of the noble men and women that filled the room. She looked down at herself and was suddenly relieved that Claudette’s nimble fingers were as quick and sure with a needle as they were with a stranger’s wallet. She felt out of place, but at least she didn’t look it.
Rémy looked down at the old man whose hand was still tucked into the crook of her elbow. He had been her ticket into the Tower. She had arrived at the gate imagining that entry would be, if not easy, then at least not impossible. If she couldn’t get through the gate, Rémy thought, she could find a wall low enough to scale even in the long skirts that swamped her agile legs. She’d simply join the reception inside by a more circuitous route. But the imposing sight of the Tower had stopped her dead. The thick walls seemed to be layered, each against the other, higher and higher, and each more impervious than the one before. The stones were rough, yes, but there was no hope of climbing them. Vast pools of flickering light from the huge, burning torches pinned to the walls created some shadows, but not nearly enough.
She’d been contemplating her options when a carriage had driven up, the footman jumping down to help an old man onto the uneven roadway leading to the gate. He was dressed in a fine suit and shook off the attentions of his servant, despite his obvious need of help. And so Rémy, in a flash of inspiration, had offered her arm. She had learned early that old men will take help from young women far more easily than from other men. She walked with him to the gate, heart beating a fearful pattern despite her outward smiles. The old man chattered away in his ancient voice – he enjoyed her accent, he told her, it added an extra air of refinement to a young lady of good breeding, such as herself. Still, the guard who stopped them at the gate obviously hadn’t been as sure of her ‘breeding’.
“Tickets, please,” he’d said, looking at Rémy suspiciously.
She’d pretended to search her pockets. “I… I must have left mine inside,” she stuttered, with feigned confusion. “I came out, you see – for some fresh air. If you just let me in, I will find my father…”
The guard shook his head. “No entry without tickets. Sir?”
The old man had presented his own invitation and was glowering at the guard.
“My Lord,” the guard corrected immediately, as he looked at the name on the ticket. “My apologies, Lord Abernathy, I did not realize…”
“This young lady is with me,” her companion had said firmly. “Honestly man, don’t you know who this is?” Lord Abernathy had turned to her, a slight twinkle in his eye, and just for a moment Rémy wondered whether, somehow, he knew what she was really up to. “Tell him, my dear,” he’d urged. “He will soon regret his rudeness.”
“I… I am Rémy Brunel,” she said, raising her chin as if she were on the wire. “Of Cordes-sur-Ciel. I am here with my father, and…”
“That is enough, my dear.” Lord Abernathy had raised an eyebrow at the guard. “Well, my lad?”
The guard looked her up and down again, but obviously wasn’t keen to raise the wrath of a lord. “Very well. Welcome to the Tower of London, Lord Abernathy, my lady… Brunel. Enjoy your evening.”
And so it was that Rémy, for the first – and probably the last time in her life – had entered a room on the arm of a lord.
“Can I get something for you, my Lord?” She asked now. “A glass of wine? Water? A chair?”
He smiled again, rheumy eyes still blue enough to twinkle, and shook his head. “My dear,” he said, “I am sure you have other places you would prefer to be. Thank you for your kind assistance, but I do not expect your company to persist for the entire evening. Go now. Enjoy yourself. Perhaps I will see you later. And give my regards to your father.”
Rémy curtsied. “I will be sure to. Good evening, my Lord.”
When she straightened, Lord Abernathy was already making his way, feebly, through the throng of people. Rémy turned away, surveying the crowded room. In fact, the Long Hall was not just one room but two, connected by a wide corridor that had been added in the past century. The alteration had created a large, long gallery of whitewashed walls and polished wooden floors, with the two rooms at either end providing larger spaces for guests to mill about in. It was in each of these rooms that the famed diamonds had been exhibited, facing each other at either end. Rémy wanted to look at both stones, but knew she had to concentrate on the Darya-ye Noor. She approached the small crowd gathered around it, patiently waiting her turn until she had made her way to the front.
It was worth the wait. The Shah of Persia’s Ocean of Light stole Rémy’s breath with her first glimpse. It was large – the largest Rémy had ever seen – and cut into a pillow shape. It was the Ocean’s colour, though, that really took Rémy by surprise. She had been expecting it to be clear, translucent, or perhaps the pale yellow of champagne that some good diamonds were. But the Darya-ye Noor instead shone a delicate and beautiful rose pink, enhanced by the black velvet pillow on which it lay. Rémy was hypnotized by the diamond’s shine, by the way it reflected every flicker of light that came its way in a halo of miniature rainbows.
The jostling around her snapped Rémy out of her daydream. She was here to work and could not afford to delay – Gustave was still expecting her back for the finale performance tonight. He knew that the crowd were mostly there to see her act, and besides, her nightly turn on the high wire was good cover for her other activities. How could she be a thief if she was performing every night in front of hundreds of people?
Rémy quickly ran her eyes over the stone’s surroundings. It was enclosed by a glass case on a black marble plinth. The stone and its pillow stood on a small mechanical pillar that had been built to rotate. Its cogs and gears were clearly visible beneath the velvet, working to constantly turn the stone to the light. Rémy leaned closer, wondering if the clockwork mechanism hid some kind of alarm bell that would sound when the stone was removed, but she could see nothing of the kind.
An elbow dug into her ribs – the hopeful admirers behind her were becoming impatient. Rémy turned and made her way out of the scrum. She’d seen what she needed to of the stone’s housing. Now she had to work out how to penetrate the Tower itself.
It woul
dn’t be easy, that was for sure. Even once she was inside the outer wall – and at the moment Rémy had no idea how she would achieve that feat – she’d have to find a way into the Long Hall. She looked up. The two rooms that housed the exhibits had flat ceilings interrupted only by ornate carvings. But the corridor that connected them was partly gabled with a flat centre – and looking up, Rémy could see skylights in the highest part of the roof, large enough that the smoky clouds of London were visible above the glass. One of them was open, letting fresh air into the stuffy reception. Rémy wove through the knots of guests towards Queen Victoria’s diamond, looking up at those distant windows. They’d be too high for most people to consider, but for her…
By the time she had reached the other end of the corridor, she had decided. That was her way into the stone room. Now all she had to do was see what was up there on the roof and work out how to get into the tower itself.
Rémy had been so absorbed in her contemplation of the skylights that she at first didn’t notice the change in guests as she approached the Koh-i Noor. But, suddenly, Rémy became aware of cautious eyes scanning the crowd. She retired to the edge of the room, deftly collecting a glass of champagne from one of the silver trays being offered by the Tower’s liveried butlers. As she sipped, she watched. Yes – in this part of the hall she could count at least twenty police officers, trying their best to blend in as they surreptitiously watched the guests. She’d seen none surrounding the Shah of Persia’s diamond. Gustave had been right again. It was the Mountain they were protecting, not the Ocean.
Rémy looked up at the skylights again, wondering how sturdy the roof was. She needed to find out, since it seemed to her that it would be the only way in.
Slipping out of the Long Hall, Rémy moved quickly. She had to find the servants’ passageways – there must be an exit to the roof somewhere, but it would be for the staff only. Someone must have opened that window, after all – it would be impossible to do from the inside, even with a very long pole. She entered a quiet corridor. About halfway along, she found a door, its plain wooden surface disturbed only by a keyhole. Rémy stood still for a moment, listening to the low burble of chatter from the Long Hall, but all seemed silent beyond the door.
The Diamond Thief Page 2
