The fog billowing behind them guaranteed that the trailer couldn't be pursued. Jigen and Goemon followed a tracker they kept for Lupin, Jigen at the wheel and Goemon in the passenger seat, to Lupin's location. They were surprised to find he was at a rocky mass of shore several yards from the bridge.
Encountering a sopping wet and shivering Lupin, Goemon and Jigen quickly sprang into action. They helped pull off all but his underclothes, tossed the wet garments into the back of the trailer, and grabbed several blankets originally used to pad the statue. Whatever caused the crunching sound had disappeared, likely resolved after they moved some things around to get the blankets.
Continuing to shiver violently, Lupin sat between Jigen and Goemon and clumsily wrapped the blankets around himself, leaving only his eyes and hair exposed. Stretching out his arm, Lupin cranked the heat to full blast as Jigen guided the trailer hideout-ward.
"So you decided to take a late-night dip?" Jigen joked, addressing the lump of blankets to the left side of him.
"Not especially," Lupin retorted through chattering teeth, voice muffled from the blankets. "The vehicle was right behind me and I jumped. Didn't even check to see if it was police. Thought we were toast."
"We used a fog bomb to evade them," Goemon replied quietly.
"Was strange, especially since the roads have been dead since we left," Jigen remarked.
"Can this thing go up any higher?" Lupin groaned, trying to adjust the car heat, his speech strained from the shivering. Jigen and Goemon, who started to swelter on either side of him, said no.
Keeping one hand on the wheel, Jigen peeled his hat from his head and pressed it on top of Lupin's still-wet head.
"It'll keep heat from escaping your head," Jigen explained. "Don't want you to get hypothermia."
"Thanks," Lupin responded weakly. Following another shuffle of blankets, Lupin had completely covered himself, hat and all. They drove the rest of the way back in silence.
Lupin sneezed. Again.
He glanced warily at the table across from him. The diamond, which had been excavated from the statue of Father Thames, was placed in the middle of the table. It would need to be polished, removing the vestiges of stone that stuck to it, but he would do that later. For a split second, he wondered if the hundreds-year-old jewel in front of him was worth feeling this miserable.
What was most likely was that he picked up a cold while traveling from Tokyo to London. The dip in the Thames and the near encounter with hypothermia didn't help. However, Lupin couldn't help but wonder if this was the work of a curse by Old Father Thames himself, whose scowl in stone seemed that much more ominous when Lupin faced him under the floorboards of the storage shed outside their hideout.
After launching into yet another sneezing fit, Lupin blew his nose and placed the handkerchief on top of a growing pile of handkerchiefs on a corner table beside him. He had finally warmed up after falling into the river, but he kept on a thick sweater and a pair of sweatpants with a blanket across his lap.
Goemon and Jigen were sitting on a couch while Lupin was on a recliner. Goemon, sitting straight and cross-kneed, was polishing and testing the Zantuskan, a task he reserved for daytime hours. The maintenance tools he used for the weapon were placed neatly on the table, across from the diamond. He still had the bandages on his fingers, but he seemed better able to balance the sword without pain.
Jigen had taken off his jacket and was at the far end of the couch, boots on the table, reading a book that was there when they had first arrived and savoring an afternoon whiskey.
Unlike yesterday, there were only clouds outside. It seemed like as good of a day as any to take it easy.
"You going to be OK for Wimbeldon, Lupin?" Jigen asked, looking up from his book.
Jigen's question jogged Lupin's memory. Lupin picked up a flask on the corner table and poured a generous amount into a cup of hot tea. He took a long sip. He kept the flask with the other first aid supplies at his hideouts. The flask contained a potent whiskey with added herbs and ginger. Lupin had been drinking it throughout the day, though it wasn't helping much. Hopefully, a few more sips would zonk him out enough to sleep through the night. Have to love a curse.
"Yeah, I'll be fine."
In a few days was when they would be breaking into the Wimbledon Centre Court. Unlike the other two heists, this one would be in the early morning, when the overnight security team would switch with the daytime security personnel. A regular occupant of the premier box was rumored to have hidden a stash worth hundreds of thousands of euros under his seat. For the hell of it, the occupant would add to the pile of money every time he attended a tennis match.
In disguise as security officers and under the guise of checking the premier box for the incoming guests' safety, Lupin, Jigen and Goemon planned to enter the box, take the stash and run, being sure to disable the CCTVs and security system in the premier box beforehand.
Lupin looked up at the ceiling, muddleheaded and unable to breathe through his nose. He had been thinking about the vehicle that nearly struck him last night. As for who it was, it could have been anyone. The list of people the three of them have pissed off was endless. Was it Zenigata? Though Pops was not above taking them by surprise, he normally would have relished the chance to reveal himself, likely by shouting and chasing Lupin on foot. He also wasn't the type to attempt to hit people with cars.
While they didn't have to worry about the London Police quite yet (they still haven't found a suspect for the Buckingham Palace break-in, and the news had just started getting out about the Father Thames statue), they would need to be alert if there was someone after them.
Lupin sneezed, leaping to his feet when he suddenly heard gunshots.