Victoria Smith sighed as her partner, Riley Ford, continued to whistle show tunes.

The boy didn’t have a musical bone in his body-she knew he did it to spite her.
“Can you stop?” she asked irritably. The cramped airplane seat did nothing to
improve her mood. Riley paused in mid-“Dancing Queen” to shoot her an amused look.
“What?” he teased. “Her Worship doesn’t like Mamma Mia?”
“Stop it,” she huffed impatiently. “Have you even through the file Max gave us?”
Max was their boss at Scotland Yard. Yesterday afternoon, they had been
assigned to go question three suspects for stealing one of the Crown Jewels from the
Tower. The only evidence from the theft was this: the thief was tall, because he/she had
climbed one of the gates to get into the Jewel room. The thief had to be extremely
wealthy, because to gain the information the criminal had, he/she would have had to
either bribe or kill many people.
“First suspect is Sean Washington,” Victoria informed him as she flipped through
the folder. “He’s an underground trader, gotten busted for drugs, both using and selling.
He sells much more than just drugs, but the Yard doesn’t have any solid evidence, so he
goes free every time.”
“Second up, we’ve got Mimi Dawson. She’s twenty-seven, married Lawrence
Taylor, who was sixty-nine, and dying of lung cancer.” Riley smirked at that, but made
no comment. “Her new boyfriend, Joe Raggio, has been arrested multiple times for theft,
drugs, and countless other things. He might’ve hidden behind her to get the jewels.”
“Last, and possibly best, is Victor Rossini. He’s an Italian Mafia spawn-a
principe della Mafia, or prince of the Mafia, so to speak. Spoiled little thing-likes to
collect valuable items to decorate his various houses. Of course, whenever he’s caught
stealing from the Louvre-which, by the way, is almost never-he bribes the government
and gets away with a slap on the wrist.”
Victoria arched her eyebrow in challenge.
“What do you think, Agent Ford?”
“I think, Agent Smith, that this will prove to be a very entertaining trip.” She
laughed loudly, and then glanced outside the plane window.
“We’re here,” she announced rather ominously.
 First, they tracked down Mimi Dawson. She was in shop buying custom-made
Louboutins with a six inch heel to make the woman appear taller than her 5”4. Riley and
Victoria managed to persuade her to stop shopping-with her late husband’s money,
naturally- and chat with them.
“So,” Victoria stated casually. “The Crown Jewels were stolen last Monday from
the Tower.”
Mimi gasped. “Oh! But the gems were so pretty…. Who stole them, officers?”
“Agent, actually,” Riley corrected. “And we’re not quite sure who the criminal is
yet.”
“How dreadful. Burglary is increasing across Europe! Why, just the other day my
dearest friend, Vivian Taylor-perhaps you’ve heard of her in the papers? The poor dear
has gone through so much this year…”
And so the conversation continued, with Mimi wandering off topic again and
again, with Susie’s impending marriage, or Daphne’s scandalous conversation with
Hugh.
The two agents departed from Prague and took another flight to Italy to meet with
Victor Rossini.
Victor was found lounging on a Sicily beach, all of his 6”1 sprawled atop the
white sand. He seemed a bit grumpy at being interrupted, but he agreed to answer their
questions.
“Have you heard that the Crown Jewels have been stolen from the Tower?” Riley
said, his tone and expressions one of intrigue.
“No, I had not.” Victor said. “Does Scotland Yard know who was responsible for
it? It must be tragic for our Queen.”
“The Yard is working on it. Queen Elizabeth is quite distraught.” Victoria spoke
up, scrutinizing the man’s face.
Victor offered sympathy, but informed them that he had to be going. He had an
appointment to get his portrait painted. The pair said good-bye and went off to find Sean
Washington.
Sean had relocated himself in Chicago, so Riley and Victoria visited the States.
 “I wonder if their Big Mac is different from ours…” Riley speculated as they
boarded the plane.
They landed quickly, and were soon on their way to Sean’s apartment.
His place was a small, cluttered mess. Sean offered them both chairs, then
grabbed a beer.
“So, what do you guys want?” he asked after taking a long sip.
“Not much. Did you know that the Crown Jewels have been stolen?” Victoria
asked.
“Can’t say I did. Security must be pretty lax if they’re letting that stuff slip in
England.” Sean seemed surprised, but showed no signs of guilt.
Sean didn’t mention anything else, so after talking a bit longer, Victoria and Riley
were on a plane back to London.
Victoria smiled at Riley across the aisle.
“Mission accomplished.” She said. They high-fived.

Solution
The next day, Victor Rossini was arrested for stealing the Crown Jewels. Mimi
Dawson was too short; she wouldn’t have been able to climb the gate. Sean didn’t have
the money or resources to pull it off, as Victoria and Riley while they were at his
cramped apartment.
Victor was sent to Alcatraz for life.