Page 102 of Traitors Gate

William could feel beads of sweat forming on his forehead and could only just stop his legs from buckling, as he tried to remain calm.

‘It was the weight of the crown that gave the game away,’ continued the Lord Chamberlain, ‘which is why Her Majesty described it as a “lightweight”.

‘The 1937 Imperial State Crown contains 2868 diamonds, 17 sapphires, 11 emeralds and 269 pearls, which rest on a frame of solid gold. This monstrosity,’ said the Lord Chamberlain pointing at the crown, ‘is gold-plated. The stones are glass and the pearls certainly weren’t found in a shell. I’ll spare you the details of the 317 carat Cullinan II Diamond, the pride of South Africa, the St Edward’s Sapphire that dates back to 1042, and the Black Prince’s Ruby that Henry V is said to have worn in his helmet at the Battle of Agincourt. Not to mention the four drop pearl earrings that were a gift from Catherine de Medici to Mary Queen of Scots when she married the Dauphin.’

William could only hope the Lord Chamberlain had a secret trap door that, with the touch of a button, would spring open and put him out of his misery.

‘I have no doubt,’ the Lord Chamberlain added, looking back at the crown, ‘this is a work of consummate skill but paid for by a rogue who should be banished from the kingdom. And I suspect you know only too well who that rogue is,’ he said, placing the substitute back in its box. ‘So please take this pale imitation away and display it in the Black Museum where it belongs, or you can replace it with the Imperial State Crown before sunrise. The choice is yours.’

William couldn’t think of a suitable reply.

‘However,’ continued the Lord Chamberlain. ‘As the Tower of London will be open to the public at ten o’clock tomorrow morning, I venture to suggest that time is not on your side, so I won’t hold you up any longer, Superintendent.’

William grabbed the box, ran out of the office, down the stairs and back across the parade ground. He’d reached the car even before Danny had the chance to open the back door. He grabbed the phone in the armrest and said firmly, ‘Put me through to the governor of the Scrubs.’

The few minutes he had to wait felt like hours, but eventually a voice came on the line.

‘What can I do for you, Superintendent?’ asked the governor.

‘Lock up Miles Faulkner in solitary, now!’

CHAPTER 26

‘CANISPEAK TOMRBooth Watson?’

‘May I ask who’s calling?’

‘My name’s Tulip. I share a cell with Mr Faulkner, and he asked me to pass on an important message to his brief.’

‘I’ll put you through, Mr Tulip.’

Tulip kept an eye on the second hand of his watch while he waited.

‘Booth Watson.’

‘Good afternoon’, guv, my name’s—’

‘I know who you are,’ snapped Booth Watson. ‘But what I can’t work out is why it’s not my illustrious client on the other end of the line.’

‘He’s been banged up in solitary, guv, but he thought that might happen so he gave me a message to pass on to you.’

‘Which is?’ asked Booth Watson as he opened a yellow pad and picked up a Biro.

‘If they haven’t released me by tomorrow mornin’, let the editor of theDaily Mailknow where the speckled band is,’ said Tulip. ‘And tell Mr Dacre, if he doesn’t believe you, he can always visit the Tower and see for himself.’

Booth Watson wrote down every word, before he said, ‘Well done, Tulip. If you should pick up anything else that might be of interest, don’t hesitate to phone me back.’

‘I would, guv, but I’m only allowed one three-minute call a day, so I can’t—’ The phone went dead.

• • •

The commander switched off the tape recorder. ‘So, what did we learn from that conversation?’ he asked as he looked around the table.

‘Since the call came from the Scrubs,’ said Paul, ‘both of them would be aware it was being recorded.’

‘Agreed,’ said the Hawk. ‘And?’

‘Faulkner’s mouthpiece will leak the story to theDaily Mail, telling them the crown was not returned to the Tower this afternoon,’ said William, trying to remain calm, ‘and add if they don’t believe him, they should go and check for themselves, which leaves us with only a few hours to find out where it is.’

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