“On the night of the ball,” he admitted dully. “As soon as the jewels are taken they are to be handed over to Bamber.”
“Bamber plans to steal them himself?” Jeb frowned.
“No. That Carney woman is stealing them. She is to meet me later that night to hand them over, and I am going to then hand them on to Bamber.”
&nb
sp; “Who has Carney’s sister?” Jeb had to force himself not to say her name. As far as he was concerned, if he had to stand over Sophia with his gun drawn right up until the end of the Squire’s ball then he would just to stop Bamber getting his hands on her.
“So, is Bamber coming back from London then?”
Myers looked at Barnaby. “No, Bamber is already here. He is going to wait for the jewels and take them straight to London. He will then come back for the regular stuff as usual.”
Even though he and Barnaby pushed and pushed for nearly an hour more, Myers refused to tell them anything more. The mention of the thefts in London had sealed the man’s lips faster than a gag, and there was nothing they could do to get him to change his mind and open up again.
Barnaby signalled to Marcus and Joseph. They pushed away from the wall and walked toward Myers, who began to look terrified.
“What are you doing?”
“Time to go,” Jeb murmured, unmoved by the worry on the man’s face.
“Where am I going? What are you going to do to me?” Myers looked panic stricken as he was hauled bodily out of his chair and manhandled toward the door. “Wait!” He leaned backward until his captors had no choice but to stop. He turned to look at Jeb. “Don’t go sticking your nose into Sayers’ business. He ain’t the kind of bloke you mess with.”
“Sayers has no idea who has taken on,” Barnaby challenged. “We are the law, and you have just landed yourself in a whole heap of trouble, so I suggest that if you are a religious man you begin to pray for mercy.”
Marcus and Joseph hauled him out of the door before he could say anything else. When the door was closed behind him Jeb turned toward his friend, Barnaby.
“Sophia needs a guard,” he murmured.
“We don’t have enough men. We have to keep watch here in case Bamber turns up. We have to watch Carney’s house to see if anyone is watching the place, and we have to investigate the Squire’s house, and his jewels. Everyone is busy. There isn’t enough time to call in reinforcements. I am sorry Jeb, but we have to focus our attention on finding Bamber and getting the blasted man off the streets. Sophia needs to just stay indoors with the door locked. We will have men watching the house. It is the best we can do right now.”
“Do you think that will be enough?” Jeb demanded sharply. He knew Barnaby was right, but still didn’t like the fact that he couldn’t protect Sophia personally. “This is Sayers’ gang we are talking about.”
“We need to cover all of the houses, not just one, I am afraid. If Bamber appears anywhere, we can snatch him before he gets anywhere near the Carney house. Besides, do you really think you will be allowed to stay in the house until the Squire’s ball?”
Jeb wrinkled his nose up and knew Barnaby was right. Delilah had barely been hospitable the last time Jeb had called by. She would not be agreeable to him staying there indefinitely, even if it was to protect Sophia. With that in mind, Jeb knew he had to concede defeat.
“If Bamber goes anywhere near that house, he has to be taken out in whatever way is necessary. He is not to get his hands on Sophia,” Jeb warned darkly.
“He won’t,” Barnaby promised. “Now, about those jewels of the Squire’s. I think someone in the aristocracy must have seen the Squire’s wife wearing them, suspected they had value, and fed the information back to Sayers or Bamber.”
“Do you think they are stolen to order?” Jeb asked thoughtfully.
“It could be they are stolen for a reason. Someone needs a particular type of gemstone or something. I believe that we must consider that they will be reformed into different jewellery. Or it could be the gems they want.”
Jeb nodded. “It is important we capture someone in possession of the jewels once they are stolen. If they disappear into Bamber’s network they are likely never to be seen again.”
Barnaby agreed. “It may be the reason why we never see any of the items again. It isn’t the goods they want, it is the precious metals and gems they provide once they are broken up.”
“What about the paintings, though?”
“Private collectors?” Barnaby shook his head. “I am only guessing but if someone purchases a valuable piece of art that has been stolen they are not likely to want to hang it on their wall for the world to see. The paintings could be sent abroad. Someone in Europe might want them, or they could be sold to private collectors who are prepared to keep them out of sight. Who knows?”
“Until we can get our hands on Bamber, or Sayers, we are never going to know.”
“I know. We are looking for a needle in a haystack trying to find any of the stolen items again.” Barnaby yawned widely. “At the moment, I think we would do better to focus our attention on that network of people Myers has working for him. We have details of who he has employed. I will give him a day or two to contemplate his future in prison and will then pay him a visit to get details of where they live. Hopefully, he will be a little more co-operative once the enormity of his situation sinks in, especially if it lightens his sentence a little.”
Jeb threw him a dark look. “His sentence shouldn’t be lightened at all. I am still not convinced he didn’t kill Mrs Banks or Tabitha himself but is just blaming Bamber because he doubts we can capture him.”