THE THIRTY MINUTE CASE

The calling bell rang precisely twice with determined urgency, radiating as the faint sound of hope amidst the devastated household of the Archers.

"Must be the police..open the door Sebastian", Lady Archer ordered, wiping her forehead with her laced handkerchief.

"Yes ma'am"

Sebastian opened the door and a short, burly man walked past him inside to face the people gathered in the large living area. The man wore a leather jacket and ripped jeans, and a sunglass hung from the breast pocket. His skin had the tint of light tan. He carried a small briefcase which was more likely to pass as a handbag.

The Archer family, who were expecting to see a swarm of formal black uniforms were taken aback. Before the helpless, duty bound Sebastian could think of how he could address the situation, the man was marching promptly towards a middle aged man with ageing black hair.

"Mr. Benjamin Archer I presume? Ian Horse, professionally referred to as a detective."

There was a second's silence. Turning towards his family to share his surprise would seem rude, so Benjamin tried to cover it up in his tone.

"I apologise for failing to recognise you, Mr. Horse."

They shook hands.

"It's alright, sir. Appearances are deceptive. Most gentlemen are even more surprised at first acquaintance. I'm not too late I assume. Colonel Dickinson had ringed me up. Would you show me the place where the necklace was kept?"

“Certainly”

Mr. Archer blushed a little in embarrassment at the knowledge that his surprise had been grasped by the man, as he guided the swift footed detective to the locker room in the second floor where all the family wealth was stored, apparently not safely..

"No one misplaced anything I assume?"

"Just to look for the necklace, we turned the house upside down in anxiety, but I can guarantee that all was restored where it originally was. I made sure of that before calling the police."

On the way the detective fired many questions and got to know all the details that the police was yet to gain. Mr. Archer's story stood thus-The diamond necklace, the costliest among the family heirloom was a birthday gift to Mr. Archer's then eighteen year old grandmother from her only aunt, which had been passed on to Mr. Archer's wife on their wedding day. Since then, the precious ornament lay either in the locker or in the days of conferences and parties hung boastingly around Mrs. Archer's neck, for it was her favourite piece of ornament among the abundant she owned. Until two hours back, just when the couple were dressing up for a dance party, Stefannie's shrill scream was heard, and on further discovery it became known among the household that the diamond necklace was missing..thorough search was carried out with no fruit, even though Stefannie was adamant on the fact that she was sure that the necklace was kept nowhere else but the locker when it was last seen. Mr. Archer had added that it was unlikely that his wife was mistaking the fact, because the necklace used to roam from the locker to Stefannie's neck and back to the locker, nowhere in between.

"But the strange part is that no other ornament or jewel has disappeared..there are jewels worth much more than the necklace and so many other valuables, but the thief decided to take that very necklace.."

"We might take a thief into account only after we have solid proof of a theft." declared the detective, taking in every bit of detail around him.

"But there's nothing to prove, of course there has been a theft..my wife remembers the day we first met in college, thirty eight years back clearly to this day..she can't possibly be wrong about three weeks ago."

"That ought to be the last occasion involving the necklace?"

"No, it wasn't..,It was about.. two months ago."

"Then what about three weeks ago?"

Benjamin looked around a little hastily.

"You see, we just cannot trust the servants..so Stefannie and I personally check the locker once every month."

"Does any outsider, including servants know a little too much about the locker by chance?"

"Not as far as my knowledge goes..but I think I've been proved wrong already."

"Is everyone in your family down there?"

"All except for my older nephew Martin who is studying abroad."

The detective took in every bit of the information precisely, professionally adept at making the most out of it.

"Why was everyone in the hall at the moment of my arrival?"

"Actually, we had heard a sound when we were searching for the necklace..we had assembled downstairs to find out what had happened."

"And?"

"We could not trace the origin. It had died away as soon as we had heard it."

They passed the corridor and entered a room towards the left hand side. The locker came into view. It was obviously locked. The detective examined the room while Mr. Hunter stood at the door, looking on with hopeful eyes. The detective came to him.

"The necklace obviously has additional utility if no other valuable was misplaced. Would you mind if I check the content?"

"Oh surely"

The locker creaked open and all of it came into view.

"Is that part absolutely confirmed and reconfirmed that only a necklace is missing?"

"Yes, checked three times myself."

He closed the locker.

"Any special reason for claiming it to be a theft? Do you suspect anyone?"

Mr.Archer tensed as he quickly glanced around and whispered while pointing at a nearby wall painting,

"Yes..I think it was our maid Sabine."

"Why do you suspect that?"

"Because she was the closest to my wife and accompanies her almost everywhere in the house..from kitchen to the garden and back." He kept on pointing at the painting.

"But you trust your family not to let out secrets?"

"I do I do, but I think the maid has somehow managed to steal the necklace and is hiding it."

"Why do you think she would take such a risk?"

"Because once she had been caught red handed stealing some money from the drawer. I had seen it myself, yet Stefannie would not believe it was her..she trusts her too..CAREFUL!!!"

Horse had stumbled over and a statue fell down and smashed into pieces.

"I'm extremely sorry ..I will clean that up. I'll compensate.."he kneeled down to gather the pieces.

"It's okay..sir..the maid will clean that up..please don't worry about it..are you hurt??"

"Not a bit compared to the statue.."

Mr. Archer telephoned downstairs and summoned the maid. Meanwhile Sebastian had come upstairs with two glasses of fresh lime juice.

"Thank you..hot day indeed..my apology again for the statue"

Horse took a sip.

“Hmm..valid reason against the maid..”

"Do you believe that the necklace has been stolen, now?" Archer asked,eyeing around in his nervous manner .

" To each word..pray we go downstairs now.."

"Surely"

They walked downstairs. The four other Archers included Stefannie Archer, Mr. Archer's two younger brothers and a married sister. All of them had the same story to tell.

The detective put his hands in his jeans pockets and stood before the window..eyes closed.."

"I won't be able to eat anything before I find out what became of the necklace" Mrs. Archer was heard complaining in a muttering tone. Clearly, she did not take the appearance of the detective very appreciatively. Mr. Archer was trying to hush her.

"You might have your lunch very soon then, Mrs. Archer..but probably not peacefully, I'm afraid" The detective’s composed voice echoed in the large room.

"What??Mr. Horse.. I'm pretty sure Sabine is innocent..she is not involved in this, you can take my word." Stefannie knew where this was going, and she was adamant to save her faithful companion at all costs.

"I'm not saying she isn't innocent."

"Well!!Who stole the necklace then??Where is it??!"

“I need to take a few details from the neighborhood for producing proof, if my theory be correct. You will have to excuse me for twenty minutes, I’m afraid.”

And with that the detective walked out of the front door.

“Twenty minutes! The thief will reach the airport in that time and safely check in by then!” Rita Archer Morris exclaimed in frustration.

“Interesting..” Frank Archer looked on.

“Weird man I know, but worth it Stefannie..he’s not who we thought him to be.” Mr. Archer tried to console his lady.

“I could see that..did you see his attire?!”Stefannie responded bitterly and a bit too loudly.

About hundred meters away, that same attire was stripped off and replaced by a new makeover..he was unrecognizable. 

Next day, The Daily Mail reported of ‘a coincidental second robbery’.