A Donation of Murder by Felicity Young

civilians. A child was murdered.’
    â€˜But the thieving beggars were killed, and that’s the main thing. You lost the necklace though — not good, not good at all, Pike.’
    â€˜No, sir,’ Pike answered, hands behind his back, rocking on his heels. ‘Was anything else stolen in the heist?’
    â€˜No, that’s it — but quite enough, I would have thought.’ Shepherd picked up a photograph and shoved it at Pike. ‘That’s it, the La Peregrina necklace. Worth at least thirty thousand pounds.’
    Pike inspected the photograph. The pearl was pear-shaped and huge. It hung like a pendant from a decorative white metal foliate, attached to a simple chain link necklace interspersed with smaller pearls. He frowned. It was an attractive piece, but he couldn’t imagine it to be thirty thousand pounds’ worth.
    â€˜Probably worth a lot more now,’ Shepherd continued, increasing Pike’s bafflement. ‘The King is interested in it, you see, wanted to surprise the Queen on her birthday.’
    The King? Good heavens ! Pike’s hand moved to the knot of his tie. ‘Who owns it now, and what was it doing at Sachs’s jewellery shop?’ he asked.
    â€˜It’s owned by the Duke of Abercorn. He’s spitting chips, as you can imagine. It was undergoing repairs, kept falling off the setting apparently and needed quite a bit of work. The King was to be given a viewing next week and the Duke was hoping for a decision then.’
    No wonder Abercorn was spitting chips. No wonder Shepherd looked as if someone was about to light a firecracker on his tail.
    â€˜We need to get it back. You need to get it back,’ Shepherd said, jabbing a finger into Pike’s chest. ‘So, tell me, Chief Inspector, how you plan to do it.’
    Pike racked his brains. He didn’t need Shepherd’s tone to tell him how important the case was.
    â€˜First, I need to consolidate the witness interviews, especially the jeweller’s, Mr Sachs,’ Pike said. ‘We need to find out how the thieves operated. I need to identify the dead men and their associated fences and putter-uppers. I also need to find out the whereabouts of Tommy “the Tadpole” Beauchamp, the only member of the gang formally identified. The boy’s a known associate of the Anchor Men. I suspect they are behind this. None of the other London gangs are this daring or this organised.’
    Shepherd frowned. ‘Surely you don’t think John Giblett’s involved? Rumour has it he’s retired, and anyway, this is hardly his style. He’s always kept violence to a minimum.’
    Pike shook his head. ‘He used to keep violence to a minimum, but his modus operandi has changed over the last year or so. Last year’s robbery of the Brighton train, sir, you remember that? One guard killed and another injured. And then there was the Croydon jewellery shop, where the elderly jeweller was beaten to a pulp despite his cooperation with the thieves.’
    â€˜It’s never been proved that the Anchor men were behind either of those.’
    â€˜No, the investigations are still ongoing. But I recently spoke to one of the officers in charge who told me a couple of Giblett’s associates are under suspicion. Both these robberies match Giblett’s style in the massive preparation involved, and I think it’s highly likely he’s also behind this Hatton Gardens robbery.’
    Pike paused for breath, wondering how much more convincing Shepherd needed. His scathing sneer suggested more.
    â€˜He stole the Ascot Cup, didn’t he?’ Pike continued. ‘They say that while the Cup was in his possession he used it as a punchbowl. This necklace seems like a natural progression to me. Thieving’s a game to him. A man like Giblett doesn’t retire, evenif he is as rich as Croesus. The money’s of secondary importance, it’s the thrill of