The Caper of the Crown Jewels Read Free Page B

would they do it?” asked Jack.
    â€œYou got me,” said Charles. “It would take a miracle. The only time anyone’s been able to pull off a stunt like this was on the ninth of May 1671. Colonel Blood was his name,” he said, “and he did it by dressing up like a vicar. He brought along a pal named Thomas Parrot and the two of them made off with the jewels before being caught—” Charles stopped himself as soon as he realized what he’d said.
    Jack was stunned. He couldn’t believe his ears. He’d been fooled. They’d allbeen fooled! He looked through his Notebook once again. The name the vicar had given him was Father Type. Blood has different groups like Type A and Type B. His young assistant was Edward Pigeon—which was very similar to Thomas Parrot!
    The two men were playing games with Jack from the start. He stamped his feet on the ground and growled in frustration. Father Type and Thomas Pigeon had pulled off the unimaginable. They had stolen the Crown Jewels and Jack, Tommy, and Charles had unknowingly let them escape.

Chapter 7:
The Discovery
    But who were these guys and where were the jewels? The men definitely didn’t have them when they left.
    Jack looked down at the Encryption Notebook. Father Type and Edward Pigeon had said they worked at Southwark Cathedral. Deciding that was as good a place to start as any, Jack pulled out his map of London. Southwark Cathedral wasn’t far away.
    Pressing the ENCRYPT button on hisNotebook, Jack said a quick goodbye to Tommy and Charles, making sure he had Tommy’s contact details in case of an emergency. He hurried out of the Jewel House, past Traitors’ Gate, down Water Lane, and under the spiky gate.
    Once outside the Tower, he jumped on a massive red double-decker bus and found a seat on the upper deck. Jack figured the view from there was as good as any. As the bus lurched forward and began to move through the streets of London, he kept his eyes open for Father Type, Edward Pigeon, or any other clue that might help solve the crime.
    The bus chugged across Tower Bridge and over to the other side of the River Thames, which was one of the biggest rivers in England. As they drove along Tooley Street, Jack could see Southwark Cathedral straight ahead. It was a beautiful church with a small garden at the front where visitors could stop and have a drink or an ice cream. Jack hopped off the bus and walked briskly towards it. He entered the church and looked around.

    To his left was what Jack had been hoping for—a notice board. He walked over and scanned through the pictures of the clergy. Unfortunately—but unsurprisingly—there wasn’t a picture of anyone resembling Father Type. He looked for one like Edward Pigeon. Nothing there either.
    Jack exited the church and paused outside. He thought back to his conversation with the two men. Father Type had said that they worked “off Tooley Street” which Jack took to mean Southwark Cathedral. It was the closest church to that street that he could think of. A basic mistake, he thought. He had given the criminal an answer he could use; he should have let the man provide the information himself.
    Although they obviously had nothing todo with the church, maybe the two men really did work off Tooley Street. Making tracks, Jack left the church garden and headed for that road. Once on it, he could see a sign for one of London’s most popular attractions, the London Dungeon.
    He stopped and looked at the advertisement for the dungeon’s latest exhibits: EXPERIENCE THE GREAT PLAGUE! WITNESS THE GREAT FIRE OF LONDON! Although it was an unlikely place to find these men, Jack bought a ticket and went inside. He quickly looked around and when he was satisfied there was no sign of them, left the dungeon and carried on.
    Soon he saw a poster advertising a show at the Magic Theater. He remembered this place from when he came to see Ivan the Incredible