The Mammoth Book of Perfect Crimes and Impossible Mysteries Part 50

Cardinal York spoke in a tired tone.

"A thief has broken into these apartments and made off with jewellery worth a great fortune."

Volpe's eyes widened but he said nothing. After a moment, the Cardinal continued.

"The jewellery was my personal property, family property, bequeathed to me by my brother, Charles."

Volpe knew well of the dissolute and drunken Prince Charles Edward, pretender to the English throne who had died of apoplexy in Rome some ten years before.

"Eminence, what manner of jewellery has gone missing?"

"The wealth of over three centuries of my family's history as Kings of Scotland and then of England and Ireland," replied the old Cardinal. "Among them, the great Stuart Sapphire. I brought them safely from Frascati, as my grandfather had also brought them safely when he was forced to flee into exile. Before that my great-uncle had hidden them safely when his father was executed by his subjects."

Volpe tried to restrain a grim smile.

"Eminence, your family have borne many misfortunes," he remarked with what he hoped was sympathy.

"The Stuart Crown Jewels are beyond mere commercial wealth," intervened Lord Glenbuchat. "They are the symbols of His Majesty's rightful claims to the throne that has been usurped by the family of the Duke of Brunswick-Luneberg-Celle, the so-called House of Hanover. The jewels must be found and the culprit punished."

"Eminence, I shall do my utmost to bring this matter to a satisfactory and immediate conclusion," Volpe a.s.sured the old Cardinal, addressing him rather than turning to Lord Glenbuchat.

The old man sighed and waved his hand to the Marquess.

"I have had my chamberlain, Lord Glenbuchat, make out a list of the items that are missing."

"You say that these apartments were broken into?" Volpe queried. "May I see where the entrance was forced?"

Cardinal York coughed nervously.

"I did not mean to be taken literally," he said as if in bad temper. "There was no sign of anyone actually breaking into these chambers, was there, Glenbuchat?"

The Marchese shook his head.

"No doors nor windows bore signs of forced entry nor even the secret cabinet in which the jewels were kept for safety."

Volpe frowned.

"I presume that the doors to these apartments are locked when there is no one present?"

"Of course, though there is usually myself or my chamberlain here. If we are not, there is my bodyguard, Colonel O'Sullivan, and my manservant, Iain."

"These have access to the chamber where the jewels were kept?"

The Cardinal nodded.

"No one else?"

"None that have free access to these rooms."

"If someone will be so good as to show me where these jewels were kept . . . ?" asked Volpe after a moment's reflection.

Cardinal York glanced to his chamberlain.

Lord Glenbuchat took Volpe by the arm and led him to another door.

"This is His Majesty's bedchamber," he confided. Volpe could not get used to the form of address. He supposed that, to his followers, the Cardinal was totally accepted as the rightful king. Glenbuchat had opened the door and pointed to the key in the lock.

"This key is always in the possession of His Majesty or myself when His Majesty was not in this room. The room was always kept locked because of the presence of the jewels."

"There is only one key?"

"So I am told by the abbot of this monastery."

"And where were the jewels kept?"

Lord Glenbuchat led the way into the chamber, which was covered with frescoes from the time of Palladio who had built the church of San Giorgio Maggiore. Most of them were framed either in the ornate cornices of the ceiling or with raised plasterwork on the walls. There were copies of Tintoretto paintings such as the"Gathering of Manna" which had been executed by his students. The room was also sumptuously furnished. Volpe saw that there was one window, a small one that he knew only gave access of view to an inner courtyard, some ten metres below.

The Marchese went to the head of the bed, by the right hand side and leaned forward, pressing a panel, which slid aside and reveal a small iron door. He reached for a key on the table and unlocked the door, swinging it open to reveal a tiny metal safe beyond. Apart from some papers, it was empty.

"This is where the jewels were kept," he said, standing aside.

Count Volpe glanced quickly at the safe. It would tell him nothing, except that the lock had not been forced.

"Where was the key kept?" he asked.

"So far as we knew, it was with His Majesty the entire time."

"There being no other key?"

"Again I was a.s.sured by the abbot that there was none."

Volpe moved to the window and noticed the latches were secured. He opened it and peered out. It was only a tiny window, no bigger than to allow one's head to be put through. Certainly no one could exit nor gain access through this aperture, even if they had a ladder long enough to reach up from the courtyard.

"Who knew of this secret panel and the safe?"

"Apart from His Majesty and myself as chancellor, only Colonel O'Sullivan and the manservant."

"I presume the previous occupants of this chamber and, of course, the abbot, would know of the safe," Volpe dryly pointed out.

"But they would not have known of the valuables that had been placed there," replied Lord Glenbuchat.

Volpe conceded that it was a point.

"Who knew about these jewels? I do not mean their exact location but of their existence?"

"Of the existence of the Stuart Crown Jewels? I would say, countless people. Now and then emissaries from the usurper Hanoverian court came to make offers to His Late Majesty, when I served him."

"His Late Majesty?" frowned Volpe.

"Charles the Third," replied Glenbuchat irritably. "And, when his brother succeeded, twice they came with offers. The House of Hanover would like possession of the jewels in order to boost the legitimacy of their claims. But the exact whereabouts was only known to we of the household. Indeed, Colonel O'Sullivan deemed it best, when we fled from Frascati, to put it abroad that the French had taken the jewels when they sacked the villa at Frascati."

Volpe was thoughtful.

"Are you saying that no one outside the four of you knew that these jewels were here in the monastery?"

"That I am."

"Then this makes my work either very easy or very hard."

Lord Glenbuchat turned with a quizzical gaze.

"Let us return to His . . . His Eminence," Volpe suggested. "I would like to hear when the jewels were last seen and when and how they were discovered to be missing."

The elderly Cardinal was still sitting before the fire but now there was a young man in attendance to him, serving a pewter goblet whose contents proved to be with mulled wine. Volpe presumed, with accuracy, that this was the Cardinal's servant, Iain, and sought confirmation after he had withdrawn from the room.

"Now, Eminence, would you recall for me the last time you saw the jewels secured in your room?"

Cardinal York pursed his lips.

"I think I ascertained their safety late yesterday."

"It was in the evening, Majesty," added Glenbuchat quickly. "You will recall the evening Angelus was sounding but you had felt a distemper, deciding to retire early for the night."

"Ah, so I did, so I did."

"And why were the jewels inspected?" queried Volpe.

"Some papers had arrived, which I felt that His Majesty should lock away for safekeeping until we were able to deal with them."

"Papers?"

"A report from our chief agent in London which was not for eyes other than myself and His Majesty," replied Glenbuchat.

"And did they also disappear?"

"They did not. Only the jewels."

"So, Eminence, you retired to bed early last night . . . and then what?"

"My servant Iain had brought me some hot brandy and, having partaken of it, I fell asleep and was not roused until this morning."

Volpe unconsciously stroked his chin in thought.

"So you were not disturbed during the night?"

"I slept soundly."

"And, Marchese, you told me it was the custom for His Eminence's bedchamber to be secured?"

Glenbuchat nodded.

"There have been, from time to time, agents of the Hanoverians who might believe a.s.sa.s.sination was a solution to the claims of His Majesty to the throne of England. This is the first time in years that we have been in a more public place than in the confines of the villa at Frascati. We have to be vigilant. Indeed, you must know that there are some representatives of the clergy attending this conclave who declare their allegiance to the Hanoverian usurpers. Even the Irish bishops have had their allegiance bought by promises of seminaries and an easing of the Penal Laws against the Catholic population in Ireland.

"The Archbishop of Dublin, for example, Troy, is bending over backwards claiming that only those expressing loyalty to the Hanoverian Kings in London should be promoted as Irish bishops. He has condemned the uprising of the Irish last year and is even preaching legislative union of Ireland with England and Scotland. If such is the position of Irish Catholics, then the Stuart cause is lost forever. Such supporters of Archbishop Troy have the effrontery to come here to Venice to support the election of the new Holy Father."

It was clear that Lord Glenbuchat was impa.s.sioned with his cause.

"So the bedchamber was secured?"

"We ensure that His Majesty secures his bedchamber door from the inside. And when he retires for the night O'Sullivan or Iain take it in turn to stay outside the door."

"And this was faithfully carried out last night?"

"It was."

"So when were the jewels discovered missing?"

"About mid-morning," replied Glenbuchat.

"In what circ.u.mstances?"

It was the Cardinal who answered.

"I arose early and Iain helped me to dress so that I could go to the church to attend the early morning Angelus and ma.s.s. As I left my chamber, I locked the door behind me, as was my custom. When I returned I opened the chamber door so that Iain could clean my bedchamber and prepare the bed."

"You were in the chamber when this was being done?"

The Cardinal shook his head.

"I was sitting here with Lord Glenbuchat on matters of business. I dictated some letters, for his lords.h.i.+p acts in the position of my secretary as well as chancellor." The old man smiled wanly. "Thus have the Kings of England and Scotland in exile fallen on hard times."

"It was the secret report from our agent which prompted me to open the safe," added Glenbuchat. "I saw the jewellery box was gone. We questioned the household first. His Majesty was reluctant to send for outside a.s.sistance in case the news was spread abroad. But I hope we have your a.s.surance of discretion."

If it was an implied question, Volpe chose to ignore it.

"So, what you are saying is that the theft must have occurred in the hours when His Eminence left the bedchamber and went to attend early morning ma.s.s and the time when he returned to this apartment, there being no other opportunity for anyone to enter the chamber and remove the jewels?"

Glenbuchat shrugged helplessly.

"It would seem so. But His Majesty had taken both keys. Iain was here, as was I, awaiting the return of His Majesty. O'Sullivan had accompanied His Majesty to the ma.s.s as bodyguard. So we would have surely heard if anyone had forced an entry and remember that there were no signs of a forced entry."

"No, whoever took the jewels had a key," agreed Volpe.

"And we have been a.s.sured that there was no other key. Neither key to the safe nor to the bedchamber."

"With your permission, Eminence, I would like a word with your servant, Iain, and also with Colonel O'Sullivan," Volpe said rising.

"They can tell you nothing more than what my lord Glenbuchat and myself have furnished you with," the old Cardinal pointed out.