Chapter 2 Stolen!
It was the middle of the next morning when the alarm went off. I was looking at the pictures for the display we were going to do next. It was going to show part of the old Repsom railway station.
An alarm was&n fitted to the rooms we were working in, but I could hear it ringing downstairs.
Anna came back from the coffee machine with two cups of coffee.
&What&s happening?&A asked.
&That&s the security alarm,&said Anna, quickly putting down the coffee.&Somebody must be stealing something!'
We looked at each other.'The necklace!'we said together.
WE both ran from the room, past the prate display in the next room. Then we hurried down the stairs to the old part of the museum. I saw Roger Fox, the security guard, pushing open the door of the big room. There was small sign fixed to the door.
The word C L O S E D was written on it.
Anna and followed Roger into the room. We looked at the display case in the center. It was broken. . .and empty.The Gilbertson diamond necklace had gone!
Roger's face went white. He looked up at the TV camera on the ceiling. There was a newspaper covering it.
'The TV screen for this room was dark,' Roger explained.'I knew something was worng,so I rang alarm and come to see.'
'Did the thief put the newspaper over the camera?'said Anna.
Roger nodded,looking worried.'Yes. I didn't notice immediately,' he said. 'I was taking money and giving tickets to people coming into the museum.'
'Where was Cora?'asked Anna.
'She went to the Ladies room a few minutes Before,'said Roger.
'I always take the ticket money when Cora isn't there. She watches the TV screen when I'm not there.'
'When did you first see the dark screen?' I asked.
'When Cora came back,'he said.'She noticed it and said,"Look Roger! Something's wrong!"That's when I was it.'
'What are you going to do?' asked Anna.
'I'm going to stop people leaving the museum,' he replied. 'One of them may be the thief. Willyou phone the police, Anna?'
'Of course,'said Anna,and hurried off.
Roger Fox ran off towards the main entrance.
I started at the empty display case. If the thief was a visitor to the museum, I thought, he or she will be gone by now.
Somebody came into the room behind me and I turned round.
It was Mr Yardley. 'I was just coming up to see you and Anna when I heard the alarm,' he said. 'What's happened?' Then he saw the empty display case and didn't have to answer him.
The police arrived at 11.20 a.m.Anna and I were in the main entrance room talking to Cora Turner. Linda, the gril who worked in the office at the top of the buildings, was there too.She was talking to Mr Yardley.
Roger Fox unlocked the museum doors and the policemen came in. Three were wearing uniforms, two more were in ordinary clothes. One of the men in ordinary clothes told us he was Detective Chief Inspector Craven.
'Nobody has left the building since 11.10 a.m.,'Roger Fox told him.'There were nineteen visitors in the museum when I locked the doors. They're all in the garden at the back. There's a wall around the garden and no back gate.Nobody can get out.'
'Where are all the people who work at the museum?' asked
Chief Inspector Craven. He was tall,thin man with a moustache.
'The two museum attendants are in the garden with the visitors,'said roger Fox.'Mr Balfour, the curator,has been out all morning.The rest of us are here, in this room.'
Chief Inspector Craven nodded to the other man in ordinary clothes.He and one of the policemen
wearing uniforms went out to the garden. The Chief Inspector looked around the entrance room at the rest of us
'I'll begin with some questions,' he said
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Detective Work
Chapter 1 The Necklace
It all started when I got at Repsom museum. I was sixteen years old and a student. I was studying history at school,but it was the summer holiday.At first, eight week without having to study seemed wonderful. But I wanted to earn some money, so I got the job at the museum. It was only fir six weeks.
Repson is a large town, by the sea. It's where I live. there is a new part with tall white buildings and modern offices.Then there is the old part of the town, with narrow streets and tiny shops. The museum is en the old part.
I was pleased to get the job because I have always been interested in history. in fact, I wanted to work at the museum when i left school.
That holiday, I was going to work with Anna Wain, a young woman about five years older than me. That was another thing that pleased me about the job!
'We'll be working in the new part of the museum,Paul,' Anna told me.'It's not open yet .We'll be making display, showing things that happened in Repson in the past'.
I knew it was going ti be an interesting job, and I was certain I was going to like working with Anna. I thought she was very pretty and friendly.
'We have six weeks to finish the work..' she said.'Then the new part of the museum will be opened by a man called Patrick Yardley. He's an important businessman in Repson. You'll meet him before the opening day because he likes to came and see how we're getting on.'
The Gilbertson necklace arrived at the museum the same say that I started work. It was a very old necklace and belonged to the Gilbertson family. The Gilbertson were a well-known-Mrs Eve Gilbertson.
'It's belonged to my family for over a hundred years,' Mrs Gilbertson told Mr Balfour, the museum curator. 'That's almost as long as the Gilbertson family have lived in Repsom. I hope you'll look after it.'
Mrs Gilbertson was letting the museum borrow the necklace. It was going on display in the old part of the museum. Some people believed the necklace was made in French queen>It was made of diamonds and was very beautiful.
'Is it valuable?'I asked.
'Mr Balfour said it's insured for hundred thousand pounds,'Anna told me.
I was surprised.'That's a lot of money,' I said.
We went ti see the necklace after lunch that day. It was very beautiful and diamonds shone brilliantly under the display lights.
It was in locked display case with a glass front. Derek Halliday, one of the museum attendants, was looking at in through the glass.
'Hi, Derek,' said Anna. 'Keeping an eye on our most valuable display?'
He laughed. 'That's right,' he said,'but I can' t be here all the time.' HE was about two years older than me and had long fair hair. HE was always pushing at the ceiling in a corner of the room.'See that TV camera?' she asked.'It's Filming everything that happens in this room .'
'Al the rooms in the old part of the museum have TV cameras,'said Derek Halliday. 'They'll be fitted the new part, too. There are TV screens downstairs, and a security guard watches them. Each screen shows a different room.'
'So he can see if a thief takes the nechlace?' I said
'Yes,' said Anna. 'Don't worry, Paul, nobody can steal it.'
But she was wrong
*
Two weeks later, Anna and I were working on a display showing the old Repson prison and police station. WE were making it look a hundred years old. There were policemen in their uniforms, and a
criminal being taken into a prison cell. The cell had a real lock on the door with a big key. The policemen and the criminal were wax dummies, but they looked real.
There were more wax dummies on the display already done. On one, there were pirates with a treasure cheat full of jewels. The two wax pirates looked as if they were carrying the treasure cheat up the beach. Behind them was a small boat, with another pirate sitting in it. another display was made to look like an old shop. A wax woman was standing behind the counter.
It was my job to help build the display. It was Anna's job to draw pictures of each one, so knew how they were going to look. Anna also made the clothes and dressed the wax dummies, and I did most of the painting. I was enjoying the work.
The other people working in the museum were friendly. There were two museum attendants, Ian Maxton and Derek Halliday. They walked round the old part of the museum; one of them upstairs, the other downstairs. They answered questions when people wanted to kwon something about a display. A girl called Linda Jones worked in the museum office at the top of the building. She was only a year older than me. Then there was Cora Turner, the lady who toe money from people coming into the museum. And Roger Fox, The security guard.
That afternoon, Patrick Yardley came in to see Anna and me. He was a tall, important-looking man with a dark beard, and was dressed in a blue suit.
'Are you going to finish by the end of the month?'he wanted to know.
'We'll finish,,'Anna told him.'Paul is a good worker.'
He watched us working for a few minutes, then went into the next room and looked at the pirate display for a long time.'I didn't know there were real pirates in Repsom.' he called out.
'There were,two hundred years ago.' replied Anna. 'They used to hide their treasure in the caves near the beach. Than a storm wrecked their ships on the rocks.'
'I didn't know that,'said Mr Yardley, coming back into the room we were working in.
He stayed and watched us for half an hour, then left.
'He looked worried,'I said.
'Some people say his business is in trouble,' said Anna. 'They say he needs money.'
'what's his business?'I asked
'He owns jewellery shops in different towns,'said Anna. 'They're always called"Jane's jewellery"-his wife's name is Jane.'
I nodded.'I know the,' I said ,'but I didn't know they belonged to Mr Yardley.'
We went back to work on the prison display. Anna was putting a moustache on the wax criminal. I was painting the walls of the prison.
'Don't lock me in!' I joked
'Prison is for criminals,' she said,laughing. She pointed at the wax dummy.'And he's the only criminal in this museum'
Anna was wrong again.
It all started when I got at Repsom museum. I was sixteen years old and a student. I was studying history at school,but it was the summer holiday.At first, eight week without having to study seemed wonderful. But I wanted to earn some money, so I got the job at the museum. It was only fir six weeks.
Repson is a large town, by the sea. It's where I live. there is a new part with tall white buildings and modern offices.Then there is the old part of the town, with narrow streets and tiny shops. The museum is en the old part.
I was pleased to get the job because I have always been interested in history. in fact, I wanted to work at the museum when i left school.
That holiday, I was going to work with Anna Wain, a young woman about five years older than me. That was another thing that pleased me about the job!
'We'll be working in the new part of the museum,Paul,' Anna told me.'It's not open yet .We'll be making display, showing things that happened in Repson in the past'.
I knew it was going ti be an interesting job, and I was certain I was going to like working with Anna. I thought she was very pretty and friendly.
'We have six weeks to finish the work..' she said.'Then the new part of the museum will be opened by a man called Patrick Yardley. He's an important businessman in Repson. You'll meet him before the opening day because he likes to came and see how we're getting on.'
The Gilbertson necklace arrived at the museum the same say that I started work. It was a very old necklace and belonged to the Gilbertson family. The Gilbertson were a well-known-Mrs Eve Gilbertson.
'It's belonged to my family for over a hundred years,' Mrs Gilbertson told Mr Balfour, the museum curator. 'That's almost as long as the Gilbertson family have lived in Repsom. I hope you'll look after it.'
Mrs Gilbertson was letting the museum borrow the necklace. It was going on display in the old part of the museum. Some people believed the necklace was made in French queen>It was made of diamonds and was very beautiful.
'Is it valuable?'I asked.
'Mr Balfour said it's insured for hundred thousand pounds,'Anna told me.
I was surprised.'That's a lot of money,' I said.
We went ti see the necklace after lunch that day. It was very beautiful and diamonds shone brilliantly under the display lights.
It was in locked display case with a glass front. Derek Halliday, one of the museum attendants, was looking at in through the glass.
'Hi, Derek,' said Anna. 'Keeping an eye on our most valuable display?'
He laughed. 'That's right,' he said,'but I can' t be here all the time.' HE was about two years older than me and had long fair hair. HE was always pushing at the ceiling in a corner of the room.'See that TV camera?' she asked.'It's Filming everything that happens in this room .'
'Al the rooms in the old part of the museum have TV cameras,'said Derek Halliday. 'They'll be fitted the new part, too. There are TV screens downstairs, and a security guard watches them. Each screen shows a different room.'
'So he can see if a thief takes the nechlace?' I said
'Yes,' said Anna. 'Don't worry, Paul, nobody can steal it.'
But she was wrong
*
Two weeks later, Anna and I were working on a display showing the old Repson prison and police station. WE were making it look a hundred years old. There were policemen in their uniforms, and a
criminal being taken into a prison cell. The cell had a real lock on the door with a big key. The policemen and the criminal were wax dummies, but they looked real.
There were more wax dummies on the display already done. On one, there were pirates with a treasure cheat full of jewels. The two wax pirates looked as if they were carrying the treasure cheat up the beach. Behind them was a small boat, with another pirate sitting in it. another display was made to look like an old shop. A wax woman was standing behind the counter.
It was my job to help build the display. It was Anna's job to draw pictures of each one, so knew how they were going to look. Anna also made the clothes and dressed the wax dummies, and I did most of the painting. I was enjoying the work.
The other people working in the museum were friendly. There were two museum attendants, Ian Maxton and Derek Halliday. They walked round the old part of the museum; one of them upstairs, the other downstairs. They answered questions when people wanted to kwon something about a display. A girl called Linda Jones worked in the museum office at the top of the building. She was only a year older than me. Then there was Cora Turner, the lady who toe money from people coming into the museum. And Roger Fox, The security guard.
That afternoon, Patrick Yardley came in to see Anna and me. He was a tall, important-looking man with a dark beard, and was dressed in a blue suit.
'Are you going to finish by the end of the month?'he wanted to know.
'We'll finish,,'Anna told him.'Paul is a good worker.'
He watched us working for a few minutes, then went into the next room and looked at the pirate display for a long time.'I didn't know there were real pirates in Repsom.' he called out.
'There were,two hundred years ago.' replied Anna. 'They used to hide their treasure in the caves near the beach. Than a storm wrecked their ships on the rocks.'
'I didn't know that,'said Mr Yardley, coming back into the room we were working in.
He stayed and watched us for half an hour, then left.
'He looked worried,'I said.
'Some people say his business is in trouble,' said Anna. 'They say he needs money.'
'what's his business?'I asked
'He owns jewellery shops in different towns,'said Anna. 'They're always called"Jane's jewellery"-his wife's name is Jane.'
I nodded.'I know the,' I said ,'but I didn't know they belonged to Mr Yardley.'
We went back to work on the prison display. Anna was putting a moustache on the wax criminal. I was painting the walls of the prison.
'Don't lock me in!' I joked
'Prison is for criminals,' she said,laughing. She pointed at the wax dummy.'And he's the only criminal in this museum'
Anna was wrong again.
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