"Hurry up, I think I hear footsteps, coming down the stairs!", Jimmy
says through the door.
Janet starts for the door, but Poirot stops her. He puts his
finger to his lips and motions for her to come closer.
He whispers. "Walk over to the door very quietly. Lock it from the
inside, Young Janet."
Janet looks puzzled.
"Why?", she whispers back.
"Just do it. I will explain."
Janet steps quietly to the door, locks it and walks
back to the cloak room.
"Okay, now we must be very quiet. I think that Jimmy will
double cross us. I don't trust him. Now, go over to the window
and open it. I will hand you the real Ruby of the Spanish Princess
and tell me, do you have any friends you can trust, absolutely?"
Janet thinks a minute.
"Yes, I think so. "
"Well, you will have to hope you can trust them because you
must go to their house and contact the museum curator. You
must arrange to meet him and return the Ruby to the museum. If you
go to the museum now, the police will surely catch you. We must
be as clever as they are. You know I am going to be in jail for a while.
Here is a number for my secretary in London. Call her for me
and tell her I need help. She can help me get a good lawyer, even
here in USA, even if she has to fly my own lawyer from London! Miss
Lemon will do it, for Hercule Poirot!"
"Okay, okay, stop the drama. I understand. ", Janet whispers.
Poirot opens the window quietly and helps Janet out of the building.
He then hands over the Ruby of the Spanish Princess to Janet.
"Guard it with your life, Young Janet. I know you can do it. And don't
forget to call Miss Lemon for me."
"Why don't you come out the window too, I am sure you can. Try!"
"Okay, I will. I was just concerned for your safety."
A knock at the door.
"Why is the door locked? Let me in!", Jimmy shouts.
"Oh, it is just a safety precaution, Jimmy, Just a minute.", Poirot
shouts back.
Poirot climbs out the window and joins Janet as they
make their way to the woods behind the high school. They
wait and watch and just as Poirot predicted, the police arrived
and rushed inside the high school.
"See, I told you Jimmy would double cross us! His Dad probably
told him to make up that story and wait for us along the
path. We have to be more careful !", Poirot explains.
It is late afternoon and it has started to rain. The path is thick
with brush and flowers that make Poirot sneeze. "Flowers! Wet
flowers yet! I know I am going to get a cold and sneeze!"
"Yes, probably. We are almost at my friend Claire's house. I can trust
her and she will understand. Everything will be okay once we get
there. We must hurry. I am not sure how long the lock on the door
will hold. I am sure the police will be on the lookout for us and
whatever story Jimmy cooked up is probably good if the police
are after us !"
Poirot sneezes into his handkerchief.
"How much further to your friend's house?"
"It's over there. Let's go around to the back door."
They hurry to the back door and knock.
Claire's mother answers the door. "Is Claire here? It's really
important."
"Yes, she's here. Claire? Janet is at the back door. She needs
to talk to you.. Come on in, will you?"
Poirot and Janet walk inside.
"Hi Janet! What is so important and why do you have Hercule
Poirot with you? Isn't he famous or something?"
"Yes, I am a famous detective but right now we need your
help Claire. Will you help us?"
Claire nods. "Sure, what do you need, Monsieur Poirot. You
can trust me."
"We need to stay here a while and if the police arrive and
ask any questions, you know nothing. That is easy, isn't it?", Poirot
asks Claire.
"Sure, no problem. "
"Also, I need to use your telephone. Where is it?"
Claire bring Poirot to the telephone.
"Janet, look up the number for the museum first of all."
A few minutes pass as she finds the number and dials it
for Poirot.
"Is this the museum curator?"
"Yes".
"This is Janet. I am calling for Hercule Poirot to give you
an update. We have the Ruby of the Spanish Princess in our
possession but are unable to come to the museum. We need
to meet you at the park at 9 pm tonight. Are you alone?"
"Yes, I am alone, Janet."
"Good. Monsieur Poirot feared the police would be surrounding
the museum as we had to retrieve the ruby in a most unusual way.
We will explain later. If the police ask you where we are, you know
nothing. Understand?"
"Yes, I understand.", the museum curator says. "Nine o'clock
at the park. I will be there."
He finishes the telephone call just as the police arrive
at the museum.
The police do not talk to him right away but search each room
for any sign of Hercule Poirot or Janet.
"We have just received a telephone call from the high school
that might interest you. It seems that the Ruby of the Spanish Princess
was hidden there for a short while. It seems your famous
detective from London, Hercule Poirot, might be the thief."
The museum curator just laughed.
"I think not! He is a famous detective from London. Why would
he ruin his good name by trying to steal this ruby? Besides
why would he come all the way to small town America to a science
fair and get mixed up with a museum robbery that has him doing
detective work if he was stealing the Ruby of the Spanish Princess.
Wouldn't it just be easier to take it and hop on a plane to
who knows where? Why hang around to get caught? It makes
no sense.! Besides, he is trying to help save the museum from
closing! Now , why don't you go out and find the real thieves
instead of blaming Poirot!"
"I am sure you understand we are just doing our job here!", the
police officer reminds him as he continues to search
the museum for any signs of Poirot or Janet.
The police officer goes back outside and walks around the museum. Another officer notices the footprints by the back window.
The curator is amused.
"Let them look around. Hercule Poirot has
the Ruby of the Spanish Princess and at 9 o'clock
it will be safe once again. I will make sure to get
extra guards to keep it safe. I just have to find a way
to get to the park without the police following me.....
to be continued....
