Page 87 of Traitors Gate

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‘That was a close-run thing,’ said Lamont as he looked across the road to see the official party heading towards the Tower less than a couple of minutes away. ‘All hell is about to break loose, so we can’t afford to hang about.’

Harris swung into All Hallows by the Tower, relieved to see there were no other cars in the church’s little back yard.

He was the first out and had opened the boot of the Jaguar before Lamont and Collins could join him. Harris unlocked both boxes, lifted the crown out of the smaller one, and lowered it gently into his Tower of London shopping bag, which he then handed to Lamont.

Harris slammed down the boot but didn’t lock it.

‘My guess,’ said Lamont, looking back towards the Tower, ‘is that we’ve only got a few minutes before every copper in the Met will be looking for us. So let’s get moving.’

Harris didn’t need any encouragement. ‘Nothing personal,’ he said, ‘but I hope I never see any of you again.’ He nipped across the road and hailed a taxi going in the opposite direction while Lamont and Collins headed for Tower Hill station. Nine stops on the Circle line. Average time, seventeen minutes.

Lamont felt Harris had earned his vast fee, but wondered would he ever get to spend it.

Neither of them noticed the fourth member of the team slip out of the Jaguar, the Old Harrovian tie discarded, to be replaced with a dog collar and black shirt. He walked to St Paul’s, entered the cathedral by the West Door, fell on his knees and began to pray.

CHAPTER 24

THE GOLDEN HOUR

WILLIAM ANDPAUL HAD WORKEDit out within moments of comparing notes.

A woman pushing a stroller slowly across the road with no sign of a child. The Constable who was too young to be wearing a Falklands Medal Ribbon. The road sweeper that shouldn’t have been cleaning the streets at that time of day. A taxi driver who hung back for a little too long when he came to a roundabout, and, most telling of all, a grey Jaguar followed by a Land Rover both with blacked-out windows and number plates bearing the letter P.

William quickly produced his warrant card and ordered the Yeoman to open the gates immediately and warn the Governor it was a red alert. The Yeoman guard ran back to his sentry box and called the Governor on his private line. Something he’d never done before.

William phoned the commander back at the Yard to betold by his secretary he was in a meeting and not to be disturbed.

‘Get him out now, Angela!’ said William as he watched the Lord Chamberlain climbing out of his car and heading towards him.

58 MINUTES

‘City airport,’ said Harris as he pulled the taxi door closed. He slipped into the far corner so the cabbie couldn’t see him in his rear-view mirror. Two police cars, sirens blaring, shot past them on the other side of the road. He turned away.

‘What’s their problem?’ said the cabbie.

‘No idea,’ said Harris, fervently hoping it wasn’t about to become his problem.

57 MINUTES

William didn’t waste any words when he called the commander and told him what had happened. He wasn’t surprised by the Hawk’s immediate response.

‘No one, and I mean no one, must be allowed to leave the Tower, under any circumstances,’ said the commander. ‘And don’t allow anyone else to enter the grounds without my permission.’

‘But the horse has already bolted, sir,’ Paul reminded him. ‘Shouldn’t we be looking for the rider?’

‘Someone on the inside might well have been responsible for opening the stable door,’ snapped the Hawk. ‘William, you start by interviewing everyone who works at the Tower, from the Resident Governor to the ravens. I’ll have a dozen officers, including Rebecca and Jackie, to assist you withinminutes. Begin with those working in the Jewel House. I’ll order a full background check on every one of them. Do any of them have previous or are currently experiencing financial difficulties? Look under every stone and remember Locard’s principle – every contact leaves a trace. If we don’t find the crown, and quickly, this outrage will embarrass not only the Royal Family but also the new government, while humiliating the Metropolitan Police who will certainly be held responsible, and rightly so.’

‘I’m sorry to interrupt you, sir,’ said Paul. ‘But if we do that, I think it will only cause even more problems.’

‘Like what?’

‘If we start interrogating everyone in sight, the whole world will soon know why the Tower is swarming with police.’

‘Fair point,’ admitted the commander. ‘Any ideas?’

‘Yes, sir,’ said William. ‘I’ll suggest someone on the staff has run off with yesterday’s takings, which I suspect will be quite a large sum of money. That lot are old-school, very proud, and wouldn’t want it to get out that one of them is a thief.’

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