The tiara had been stolen. There was a furore in the palace. The King and the Queen were looking disturbed. The maids were crying. The attendants and the footmen looked anxious. The cook was having hysterics in the kitchen. The butler sat in the pantry holding his head.
The soldiers had been asked to search through all the rooms to locate the missing tiara.
“How could you be so careless, Ginevra?” scolded the Queen. The Queen only called her Ginevra when she was really angry with her. Otherwise, she was Ginny.
“I know I put it away last night after the ball, mother,” said Ginny.
The Queen asked, “But where did you put it away?”
“I was so tired that I can’t really remember, but I normally put all the jewellery back into the jewel box,” replied Ginny. “Well, it’s not there now!” said the Queen, “And the whole palace is being turned upside down searching for it!”
Ginny hung her head and looked miserable. There was nothing she could think of saying just then, except to mumble, “I’m sorry!”
The King asked his minister to call Mr Gumley, the police detective. The minister looked horrified. A police detective in the palace! How dreadful!
Mr Gumley arrived that evening. He wore an old suit and his shoes looked as if he hadn’t polished them for a week. He had a walrus moustache and when he was thinking hard, he had a habit of pulling it as if he would yank it right off!
The King looked at him and wondered if he could find even an elephant in the palace, let alone a diamond tiara. But Mr Gumley was an excellent detective. He began by talking to everyone in the palace, starting with the Princess. Then he told them all to get out of his way while he searched the palace from the attic to the basement. Two days later, the King beamed at him. The tiara was back in the jewel box. “It wasn’t too difficult, Sir,” explained Mr Gumley, “You see; it was the maid and the fourth footman who put me on the right track.
“The maid told me that the Princess had returned late from the ball and had not called her. Instead, she had simply flung her clothes and things around before falling asleep.”
“So what did the fourth footman do?” asked the King. “Oh, he was the one who happened to pick the Princess’ dancing shoes up and put them in the pantry for polishing. But when the tiara went missing, no one thought about polishing the shoes. When I looked at them, I found the tiara shoved into the right shoe. Simple!”
Ginny looked embarrassed but smiled thankfully at Mr Gumley as she waved him goodbye.
