Chapter Thirty-Eight

Tess was waiting for them when they got back to the office, and her brows rose as they told her about the latest development.

"I don't suppose even you know a way of strolling into the Tower of London unchallenged?" she said to Harry.

His lips twitched. "Afraid not. But I'm fairly sure I could come up with one, given time."

"It would be easier to get a tour, though, wouldn't it?" Ellie said.

Daisy wrinkled her nose. "Not necessarily. It used to be easy to get a tour. They'd let in anyone who asked, for a small fee. Devlin went every day for a whole week to study the antique weaponry when he was sixteen. But they increased the security last year after an incident."

"What happened?"

"A woman viewing the crown jewels reached through the bars, grabbed the state crown, and tried to smash it to bits. Now, the warden only conducts a few tours a week, for a maximum of six people at a time. You have to put your name in a drawing and see if you get picked."

"It would be hard to look for those documents with other witnesses," Tess mused. "If it was just the warden, he could be distracted, but having strangers there would make it trickier."

"Is it possible to get a private tour?" Harry asked.

"Occasionally, if one knows the right people, or has the right leverage."

"Someone of a criminal bent might suggest bribery or blackmail," he murmured. "But I know you ladies frown on tactics like that."

"We do indeed." Ellie tapped her pen against her lips.

"The Lord Chamberlain's office is responsible for the upkeep of the crown jewels," Tess said. "Perhaps that's a way in?"

Ellie nodded. "Francis Ingram-Seymour-Conway, the Lord Chamberlain, is a friend of my father's. I'll write and ask him for a tour. I'll say I'm researching a family descendent, the Earl of Arundel. That would provide a reason to see inside the cells and look for the name scratched on the wall."

"Excellent," Daisy said. "And we might as well apply for a regular tour via the lottery as well. If any of us manage to get a place, we can think of an alternative plan."

A knock on the front door interrupted them, and Tess stood. "That will be the man from the jewelers. Mr. Rundell said he'd send someone to see if our gemstone is real."

Ellie pulled the jewel in question from the drawer and placed it in the center of her desk, while Harry slid easily into one of the armchairs by the fire.

Tess returned with a pleasant-looking gentleman of perhaps thirty-five years old named George Fox, who was apparently superintendent of the jewelry workshops at Ludgate Hill.

She introduced Harry as "Henri Bonheur, a friend of Mr. King's."

"This is the stone in question," Ellie said, holding it up.

"It's certainly the right size and shape," Fox said approvingly. "But appearances can be deceptive."

He withdrew a jeweler's magnifying glass from his coat pocket and set it into his eye, then held the stone up to the light, inspecting it with calm thoroughness.

"You're checking to see if it's paste, or colored glass?" Ellie asked.

"I am. Real aquamarines show different colors when viewed from different angles. And they typically don't contain any visible flaws or bubbles. This also feels cool to the touch, which is another test to differentiate glass or paste from a true gem."

"So it's real?" Daisy asked.

Fox gave a smile. "It is indeed."

Ellie's shoulders relaxed and she sent a glance over at Harry. He didn't seem remotely surprised; he'd probably known the stone was genuine the minute he'd seen it, given his intimate acquaintance with precious gems.

Fox patted his pockets again and withdrew a piece of paper. "Mr. Rundell authorized me to give you this bank draft as payment if the stone was real."

Tess glanced at it and sent him a wide smile. "Thank you. I'll be sure to relay Mr. Rundell's appreciation to Mr. King. He'll be delighted to have another happy customer."

Fox placed the aquamarine in a small velvet bag. "Do you know the story behind this particular gem?"

"I'm afraid I don't."

Fox lowered his tone as if to impart a juicy piece of gossip. "Can you keep a secret?"

Tess shared an amused glance with first Ellie then Daisy. "Better than anyone you know, Mr. Fox."

"Most people don't know this, but a large proportion of the jewels used in any royal coronation don't actually belong to the royal family. They're almost all borrowed, hired for a four percent fee, from various jewelers. As soon as the pageantry is finished, they're removed from their settings and returned."

"I had no idea," Daisy murmured.

Fox nodded sagely. "This stone was in King George's coronation crown, some fifty years ago. It was not one that had been borrowed, however. It was part of the permanent royal collection. One of Rundell's silversmiths had been tasked with removing the hired gems from the crown after the ceremony, but he took the opportunity to swap this aquamarine with a glass replica that he'd made. The substitution was only noticed months later, during a routine cleaning, by which time the culprit had fled the country.

"Old Mr. Rundell was mortified that a once-trusted employee had sullied their reputation. He and Bridge secretly paid the king two hundred pounds for the stone, and vowed to get it back, no matter how long it took."

Fox gave a wry smile. "And now, finally, it's back in their possession. Mr. Rundell will be ecstatic."

"Will he sell it back to the king?" Ellie asked curiously.

"Oh no. He plans to give it to the crown. As a noble subject, he wants to return the missing jewel for the glory of England."

Harry gave a cynical smile. "That's very patriotic."

"It's not entirely altruistic," Fox chuckled. "We receive an excellent income from all the royal commissions the prince regent sends our way. It makes good business sense to stay in his good graces with a benevolent gift every now and then."

Harry snorted. "Of course."

When Fox had gone, Ellie composed a letter to the Lord Chamberlain's Office requesting a private tour of the Tower. "I'm not sure how long it might take to get a reply. It could be days, or even weeks."

Harry rolled his shoulders. "I suppose we'll just have to be patient. I've been without a name for so long, a little bit longer won't make any difference."

The following week dragged by with the speed of honey falling from a spoon. Two new cases came in: a request to investigate the theft of a painting during a country house party in Kent, and a complaint from a woman who suspected that her absent husband had married another woman, therefore committing bigamy.

Ellie would normally have relished the thought of diving into either one of those cases, but concentration eluded her.

Harry seemed to be keeping his distance. He didn't call at King her knife embedded itself in the frame of a charming painting of Venice that Tess had hung on the wall.

Tess appeared in the doorway. "You've been granted a tour of the Tower?"

"Yes! With the Keeper of the Jewel House, a gentleman by the name of Edmund Swifte."

"When?" Daisy demanded.

Ellie checked the letter again. "I'm to present myself, and one guest, at the Lion's Gate entrance at nine o'clock on Friday night. I'll write and tell Harry."

"You mean you don't want Tess or me to go with you?" Daisy teased.

"Well, you have to admit that finding the documents is more important to Harry than to either of you. And while you're both excellent partners when it comes to being sneaky and creating diversions, I think we can all agree that Harry is the master."

Tess laughed. "That he is."

Harry's reply was short and sweet.

I'll be ready. H