Red Herrings Act 3

Red Herrings :

Act Three - Herrings shaken, not stirred

 

Sunday, early Morning.

The Chief Inspectors Superior, roused out of bed by the baron in his castle, called his subordinate at 4:20 in the Sunday morning. The screws were royally applied to the whole affair, he demanded full reports first in thing morning and continuing on a regular basis as developments were made, up until the kidnapped girls were recovered.

 

 

The Chief Inspector and his team were back at the investigation by 8 am the next morn .

A run through the Interpol computers came up with a only few isolated events of jewels disappearing while being worn.

A few dances, shopping malls and theatres… but only one or two pieces at a time, nothing ever reported missing from one function on this large a scale. But no descriptions of any of the thieves were obtained, and no arrest reports filed ! So there was a complete dead-end end to that line of inquiry!

 

There was also received back word back about any matches to his descriptions of the Priest, dark skinned man, two ladies, and the members of the filming crew from the interviewed guests the evening before. Interpol’s collection of known thieves and kidnappers turned up no close hits, although a list of suspected jewel thieves known to be in the area was given, further murking the already muddied up waters a bit….

 

He handed the lists over to a Detective inspector and his team to trace down any leads.

 

Now, in the Chief inspectors view, that meant they were a probably after a group of solo thieves who had come up with the idea of collaboration of skills for this event, with a bit of kidnapping on the side. And probably also had managed to stay under the radar, up until now! Which hopefully meant they were younger, and more likely to eventually make a mistake !

 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

The Chief Inspector than dispatched a Detective Sargent and 4 constables, along with and a dog handler with a German Shepard trained to smell blood and cadavers, back out to St. Andrews to give the grounds a thorough going over in daylight.

 

There was nothing further to report until 9:am, when the Detective sergeant sent out to check round the hotels had finally located the actor and the actress at the hotel both were staying at. He was in route now with the pair.

 

Each one, upon arrival, was placed into separate guarded interview rooms.

 

The information both gave was unfortunately quite limited.

 

The Chief Inspector interviewed the actor first:

 

Yes he knew the director, a mid -level talent usually found working in small series. He lived in London, like the actor did.

 

Yes he knew the director’s London address, but no , he did not know where the director and his crew were spending the weekend in town. Theirs had had been short scripts, with no real, need for rehearsals or meetings. It was only for a test shoot, wasn’t it? So they had only met when the limo had deposited them at the filming site.

 

The actress was staying in the same hotel, and the Limo had collected and dropped them both off. They had been alone in the Limo, the director and his assistant had ridden in the jumper seat of the black van driven by one of the camera men. No, he never saw them loading anything in the van. Much too busy signing autographs, wasn’t he?

 

No, other than the director, he had never met or worked with any other members of the film crew.

 

No, he had never been at St. Davids before, and had not known any of the guests there.

 

No, he had been too focused on his job to pay any attention to what was going on amongst the guests. He did not see anything unusual.

 

He read over the descriptions of the troupe of thieves, but did not admit to having noticed then=m either.

 

Bloody twit, the Chief Inspector though gruffly to himself as he departed the interview, to damn full of himself!

 

The Actress was than interviewed:

 

She was a heartbreaker, not overly intelligent, whose main acting credentials apparently were her legs!

She also much gave the same answers as the actor, with a couple of notable exceptions…

 

She had only done a few plays on the Eastend , and a small part in a tv commercial. This was her first time doing any type of filming for a movie. No she was not contacted by the director personally, her agent had told her about it and had arranged everything.

 

No, she never heard where the director or his crew were staying, or had ever met or worked with any of em prior to the weekend.

 

She had met all of them, including the actor, for the first time that night at St. Davids.

 

Of course she had met the actor first on the Limo drive she corrected herself giggling. No, there had been no rehearsals, the scripts had been simple, and add libbing had been encouraged. since it was only a test shoot with a limited budget, there was to be no dress rehearsals!

 

Just to be paid for an evening’s work and hotel fare, that was all the job entailed.

 

She had been at St. Davids before, as a young girl out for a holiday with her parents, had taken the tour of the historic building and grounds.

 

She also had not really seen anything out of the ordinary going on amongst the guests.

 

When she had gone through the descriptions she did remember the dark skinned gentleman who she thought looked rather dashing in his tux, and had actually looked out for him during the autograph signing. But he had failed to make an appearance.

 

Though she thought she had glimpsed him standing off talking to a lady in a green gown in a corner of the garden as she was waiting to sign autographs . But she could not be sure, she giggled nervously...she had looked at the spot while leaving she admitted coyly, but no one was there.

Could she give a description of the lady he was talking too. No she giggled, it had been the dark skinned man she was hoping would have asked for her autograph, not them!

 

Did you see or meet any priests.

She had remembered seeing a couple of priests, She knew one had met them at the door, but really could not describe him.

All priests looked the same, don’t they now? , she giggled once again, causing the female constable observer to wince as she stood at attention behind the actress.

 

Did any of the priests ask for your autograph ? Nope, none of them, but that would have been a lark now, wouldn’t it have? She giggled again.

 

But of course, it had been a priest who had supplied the pens and paper, hadn’t it.

 

Yes she said after some thought, but giggled, don’t think I would recognize him ever again!

 

They both, of course tried asking their own questions, but were met with tight lipped silence from the Chief inspector.

 

Dead ends, the both of them

They were advised not to leave the area until further notice and released.

 

The Chief Inspector sat in his office pondering…

So, was there a reason a pair of lesser known actors had been recruited. And was it important that neither of them had met or worked with the filming crew before. How much time was actually spent on giving out the autographs? It had been the, or a , priest who had started the autograph session. Was another reason for it, a more sinister one perhaps?

 

So the Director and his crew were still mysteriously missing, and what part of all this did they play?

 

He decided that they needed to be the major focus of the investigation…especially since the suspected thieves as of yet, had not been identified.

 

And after all he reasoned, their van was the only vehicle seen in the area to have been able to conceal 3 kidnap victims!

 

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The Chief Inspector immediately dispatched the sergeant and a constable to the directors townhouse in London, after contacting Scotland Yard to send a man around and detain the Director, or to hold the area if no one was home until his sergeant detective arrived on scene.

 

 

He told the Detective Sergeant, that once the director and crew were rounded up, to make sure he acquired the film… It may came in handy to see what the cameras may have caught in regards to whom was doing to what to whom in the background!

 

 

Meanwhile the three victims whom had phoned in that night before, arrived promptly at ten as requested.

 

The inspector interviewed each of the couples separately:

^^

 

The first couple came in, a retired colonel and his rather quiet lady.

The colonel tried to do all the talking for both of them, but he was quickly hushed, and his wife, obviously no used to being able to speak in public, managed to wrench out a few syllables.

She had worn a diamond brooch shaped like a robin in flight. A body and wings of diamonds, with red ruby eyes and a red ruby breast. It had belonged to her husband’s mother, one piece of a rather large collection she had inherited some many years back.

They had no children, or close relatives, so they had been there alone. She had gone out to watch the filming in the gardens whilst her husband had been in the smoking area upstairs.

No she had not been in any contact with the film crew…

At first she really did not remember anything else out of the ordinary. But after the Chief Inspector had given her a brief description of the all the suspects, she did recall a rather pleasant priest who apparently had been tripped into her. She had been talking to him when her husband had come with her wrap, and had ever so gallantly helped her on with it. At this her husband snorted.

The Chief Inspector than tried to ask the colonel(ret) some questions, but the man stubbornly refused to admit that he had had time to bother observing anything his fellow guests were doing!

Neither one recalled when the last time they had seen the brooch, not missing it until up in their rooms getting ready to retire.

^^

 

The second couple came in, a bit younger than the first, in their forties.

 

The husband was an investment banker, a rather stuffy, slick specimen with a thin moustache and a gold capped toothy smile. He had spent most of the evening chatting it up with clients and potential clients. With him it was always business, and his wife was frequently left alone to her own devices.

 

His wife was a tallish lady, quite regal in appearance, poise and manner. She had lost her rather valuable bracelet. She looked sad when she mentioned her lose, her husband just smiled, no worries love, jut buy another, like falling of a horse, the sooner you get back on, the better you will feel!

 

She had been one of the ones asked to dance in the background and as her husband was not available, had danced with a man whose description fitted with the dark skinned male wearing the fancy tux to a tea.

 

But she had also been out in the gardens and had remembered talking to a pretty blonde in red taffeta. No, she had not been bumped, and the lady had been a keen on her necklace, holding it up , with her permission, for a better look. Never mentioned or looked at the bracelet?

 

 

Do you have any idea when the last time you remembered seeing your bracelet my dear? The Chief Inspector asked curiously.

 

The wife though long and hard over this, no she admitted, couldn’t remember. But than my mind was on the filming wasn’t it.

 

So, did you see the two of em together then, the dark skinned Romeo and the lady in red taffeta? No she had not, but she had seen the darker skinned man talking to a younger lady girl wearing a red satin gown.

 

She gave a description, and it matched that if one of the missing twins, right down to her sparkling jewels.

 

Where did you see them talking he asked mildly interested ( would not do to scare her off the question) The girl was standing talking to one of the film crew, man with a camera, the man in the tux was standing behind her, also asking questions….

 

A few more questions produced nothing more of interest, though the Chief Inspector felt that he may at long last be starting to untangle the thorny problem that was his case!

 

^^

 

The third and last couple proved to be no lesser snobs than the first.

 

The husband was a rather pompous barrister, man in his late 50’s. He sat down with a stern look placed upon his face, listening intently to make sure all questions were prompt and to the point.

 

His wife was a rather pretty thing, chirpy, with big blue eyes and reddish hair, short ,only about 4’11 and quite a bit younger than the fuming barrister, just barely into her thirties, an autumn spring romance if ever there was…

She had started out twittering her story with a high pitched voice that was almost comical:

 

Her and her husband had danced a bit, before the Barrister’s knee had flamed up and he sought refuge in the smoking lounge, where he stayed until his wife had collected him early, so he could take his medication before turning in..

 

Since she was already wearing her wrap, he had not noticed the missing diamond pendent with its diamond chain from around her throat.

 

Yes, the wife remembered seeing a priest entering with the film crew, and he had actually appeared at her shoulder son after her husband had left and engaged her in friendly conversation.

 

The wife remembered having danced with a few gentleman during the filming… one of which again matched the description of the Dark skinned Romeo.

 

He had stood a good 2 heads taller than her, and she remembered how low he had to bend over to talk to her. He had been ever so nice, and had taken her to collect her wrap, and had helped her on with it.

 

What was your warp the inspector asked?

A white Russian sable cape, with diamond clasps. A gift from her husband, like the pendent….

 

Nice gifts, thought the chief Inspector dryly, wonder what indiscretions the barrister bloke was paying for ! He thought to himself.

 

The wife had left right after the filming. Though she would have like to have met the actor. She had seen him entering with a priest, and had seen the priest as her dance partner was helping her into the sable warp wrap. On a lark she thought about staying and asking the priest if he could arrange meeting the actor for her.

 

She had gone up to him, and had asked him that very same question. He apologized, but said it was not his right to ask him for such a favor. He had been very pleasant about it all, and had complimented her on her attire.

 

So you showed him what you were wearing. Yes she giggles, I had unfastened me cape so he could get a better look, and I was hoping it would help me make my case. Was that bad of me, trying something like that on a Priest? She chirped coyly.

 

Her husband snorted his displeasure.

 

Did you notice atoll if you were still wearing your pendent, no she admitted blushing, I was too nervous about asking the priest my question . He had helped her button back up, and that was the end of it.

 

She had gone upstairs to collect her husband, and the chauffer drove them home soon afterwards…

 

The husband just grunted, what she said, when the Chief Inspector tried to delicately question the Barrister.

 

He let them both go, entering his office to find a pair of sergeants writing out their reports.

 

 

The first one reported that none of the hotels checked in the area had the name or description of the director, his assistant or the two cameramen, which in the detectives eyes, made it all the more suspicious about what part they all had played in the kidnappings.

 

 

The second sergeant was in from the task force sent to scour the grounds.

 

No further evidence of the thefts, or of missing girls was uncovered. No scuffle marks, loose jewels, or even a broken branch was found to give a Clue as to what had transpired that evening, or what had happened to the vanished girls..

 

There was a set of tyre marks leading from the parking lot past the small stone house with the green door. They were suspicious because they appeared to have been made in a hurry, cutting through the lawn to take a short cut. Plaster castes had been made of those imprints..

 

So nothing really new to put a decent spin on the case, The Chief Inspector thought bleakly..

 

It was a rather downtrodden Chief Inspector who called in with his bi - hourly update.

 

He promptly had his head chewed off and served to him on a platter….

 

Do you mean lad, that three ultra-wealthy girls with important ultra- wealthy parents, and a small fortune in jewels had all vanished, totally and completely, with no evidence to speak of!?

 

Blimey lad, what have you been playin at, cause it certainly aint the game of detecting!

 

Not atoll satisfactory Inspector, not atoll !!!

 

Listen ere now, place every available man on this case, follow down every thread you can find, no matter how thin!

 

And if those girls are not back with their families within the next 24 hours, you will be demoted so fast your head will spin laddie, and I will find someone to take your sorry place who knows how to run a proper investigation!!!!

 

It does no good mate, the Chief Inspector’s Superior roared at him through the phone, to eliminate where the girls aren’t, and who has not got them, we need to know where they are and in whose clutches!!!!!!

 

With that the phone was slammed down on the other end, and the C.I. leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. He knew he needed to find answers or heads would have to roll, his being first, knocking down the others like so many bowling nine pins!!

 

He opened his eyes wide and sat straight up… And why the bloody ‘ell has there been no ransom demand!?

 

 

Or had there? He reached for the phone, sending extra men around to the Manor and the Castle telling them to lie low and follow anyone who comes and goes from the house…

 

Two hours later he still did not have the answer to that particular question about the unsent ransom notes, but he was to find the answer to another perturbing question, and the first real break in the case….!

 

Two hours later, The two police officers sent by the Chief Inspector had arrived at the directors London town house only to find it deserted. As they stood at the back of the Townhouse talking to an officer form London, a sports car could be heard crunching along the long graveled driveway in front ……………….

 

 

End of Act 3

 

“Quand on rencontre un mystère, on croit généralement être scélérats cachés “

Author Unknown

 

To be Continued 😉

 

Done