This chapter should definitely be read with the theme from "Pink Panther" in the background, the anachronism notwithstanding.
I do not own either "Sailor Moon" or "To catch a thief". Neither "Pink Panther" for that matter.
Enjoy :)
Chapter 7 – The world outside your head
On a full moon night, London's smart public street lighting made the city a much safer place to travel around in. The gas light killed insects too frantic to know better than approach the incandescent orbs. The combined brightness also diminished the inclination to commit criminal deeds in the majority of less law-abiding people. Certainly any burglar worth his salt knew that shadows nurtured the genuine lucrative businesses. As he was in the possession of a sound intellect, Darien Shields was also aware of this fact, though his inclinations were not particularly criminally oriented. For the most part.
Tonight, Darien was grateful for the thick pea soup fog that covered the sky. He'd decided that there was no way in which he'd be able to sneak behind unsavory alleys and try his hand at picking the lock on the jewellery's shop back door. Even if he had the stomach for it, his height and bearing made it impossible for him to hide. So he decided to hide in plain sight. No one would suspect a gentleman walking the streets, carrying a cheery tune after the night's entertainments. No one would bat an eyelash at the said gentleman heading to a Mayfair store. These establishments had privileged customers who could call on their services anytime of the day or night, for that matter.
When he reached the shop door, Darien pretended to lightly knock and calmly wait for some attendant to open. Under the cover of the dim light, he tried his manufactured key in the lock. He'd been very lucky to be able to steal the original from a seller's pocket and a press it into a clay mold, thus creating the pattern for his copy. Or maybe luck had nothing to do with it and he owed his success to the filching lessons he'd taken from a somewhat disreputable acquaintance.
His key was not perfect and it took a few tries until he managed to open the old lever tumbler lock. As he opened the door and entered, he made sure not to disturb the bell hanging over it and secure it in a fixed position. Darien took a moment to let his eyes adjust to the darkness and then carefully made his way to the back room. He knew from his daytime incursion that the front cases displayed the fine, but not outlandishly expensive jewellery. The truly fine pieces were safely locked away.
'We've sold quite a lot of gems today.' The sound of a woman's voice startled Darien. The place was supposed to be empty, he'd had the place watched during the day and knew the exact moment the owners had departed. He silently approached the dark curtain separating the two chambers and wryly reminded himself that eavesdropping was a perfectly legitimate way of gathering information, just as stealing keys was.
'Selling all of these synthetic gems at a bargain price was a deviously marvelous idea. It worked perfectly'. A low masculine laughter accompanied this piece of tiding. It seemed that Darien had stumbled onto something quite interesting. He held his breath, hoping that the felons would further reveal themselves. Amazingly, they did not disappoint.
'Now we can take the rest of the real jewellery too. A shame that what we are looking for is not here'. This last was said with a definitely annoyed undertone.
The fine hairs on the back of Darien's neck prickled. The pair was looking for some kind of jewellery as well. It could be a coincidence, but he very much doubted it. When it came to illicit affairs, there was no such thing as a happenstance and he's learned to follow any lead that had a logical foundation. A jewellery store, fake gems and the search for a different kind of object, the clues did not get more logical than that. He did not have the chance to contemplate his findings. He heard a set of footsteps descending the back stairs, the person not bothering to disguise the noise.
Darien decided he's found quite enough for an evening's work. He needed to assimilate the information he'd gathered and decide on a plan of attack of sorts. For he would be attacking. Just as he was letting himself out the front door and quietly closing it, an impossibly young voice spoke in the dark.
'Mama?'
Author's note:
*An 1871 New York Times article refers to "London, particularly, where the population are periodically submerged in a fog of the consistency of pea soup...". Smog was a familiar and serious problem in the city from the 19th century to the mid 20th century.
*Double acting' lever tumbler locks were invented in 1778 by Robert Barron of England and are still currently used today.
*Numerous claims of diamond synthesis were documented between 1879 and 1928; most of those attempts were carefully analyzed but none were confirmed.