Chapter 34 Chapter 34: The Pigeon Flies

Daniel Cooper and the two detectives assigned to the listening post overhear Tracy and Jeff talking over breakfast. "Would you like some sweet rolls, Jeff? How about coffee?" "No, thank you." Daniel Cooper thought this was their last breakfast together. "You know what I'm so excited about? Our yacht trip." "Today is a big day and you can't stop thinking about traveling on a yacht. Why?" "Because it's just the two of us traveling. You think I'm crazy?" "Of course. But you're my little madman." "kiss Me."

The sound of kissing. She should tense up, Cooper thought.I want her to tense up. "To a certain extent, I don't want to leave here, Jeff." "I said it should be seen that way, honey. We'll never be worse than we've been through it." Tracy's laugh. "you are right." At nine o'clock in the morning, the conversation was still going on, and Cooper thought, they should be ready to go.It's time for them to seize the last few minutes and discuss a plan of action.Where's Monty?Where did they meet him? Jeff said, "Shouldn't you tell the concierge something before you go and count our rent, honey? I'm going to be busy in a minute."

"Of course. He's very kind. Why aren't there concierges in America?" "I suppose it's just a European custom. Do you know how it came about?" "have no idea." "In 1627, the French Emperor Illing built a prison in Paris and put a nobleman in charge. He gave him a title, which means 'Count Candle', with a salary of two pounds, plus ashes from the emperor's fireplace. Later, he was in charge of the prison. People in prisons or castles were called what we now call porters, and this term was later extended to people working in hotels and restaurants."

What the hell are they talking about, Cooper wondered.It's already nine thirty.It's time for them to go. Tracy's voice: "Don't tell me where you heard it from—an old date of yours was a very nice concierge." A very strange woman's voice: "Good morning, miss, sir." Jeff's voice: "There's never been a pretty concierge." The woman's puzzled voice: "Why is there no one here?" Tracy's voice: "I bet you'll hook up if there's one." "What's going on downstairs?" Cooper asked. The two detectives looked at each other. "I don't know either. The maid was called by the lady on the phone. She came in to clean, but she couldn't figure it out—talks, but no people."

"What?" Cooper stood up, rushed out the door, and went straight downstairs.After a while, he and two other detectives burst into Tracy's room.There was no one in the room except the ignorant maid.On a coffee table in front of the sofa, there is a spinning tape recorder. Jeff's voice: "I don't think I'll drink that coffee. Is the coffee still hot?" Tracy's voice: "Hmmm..." Cooper and the detective were dumbfounded and couldn't believe their eyes. "I—I don't understand," stammered a detective. Cooper shouted: "What's the emergency number?"

"222222." Cooper hurried to the telephone to dial. Jeff's voice still coming from the tape recorder: "You know, I really think their coffee is better than ours. I don't know how they make it." Cooper grabbed the phone and yelled, "Daniel Cooper. Get me Sheriff Van Duren, tell him Whitney and Stevens are missing, and tell him to go to the garage immediately and see if their truck is on." Run away. I'm going to the bank right away!" He slammed the microphone down. Tracy's voice: "Have you ever had coffee boiled with an egg shell? That's really..."

Cooper was already running out the door. Sheriff Van Duren said, "It's okay. The truck has left the garage. They're coming here." Van Duren, Cooper, and two detectives were on the roof of a building opposite the Amro Bank, which served as a command point. "When they find out they've been tapped, they'll probably decide to move ahead with their plan of action, but don't worry, my friend. Look," said the sheriff, pushing Cooper toward the wide-field binoculars mounted on the roof.Downstairs in the street, a man in the uniform of a janitor is carefully wiping the nameplate of the bank...a street scavenger is sweeping...a newspaper seller is standing on the corner...three repairmen are work.All of these people carry tiny walkie-talkies.

Van Duren called into the walkie-talkie, "Number one?" The doorman said, "Yes, Sheriff." "Number two?" "I hear your voice, sir." This is from Scavenger. "Number Three?" The newspaper peddler looked up. "Number four?" The repairmen stopped what they were doing, and one of them said into the walkie-talkie: "Everything is ready, sir." The sheriff turned to Cooper: "Don't worry. The gold ingots are safe and sound in the bank. They can't take the gold if they don't come. Once they enter the bank, all the streets on both sides are blocked, so they can't escape." He glanced at his watch. "The truck will be here soon."

The atmosphere in the bank is also becoming more and more tense.The staff were greeted in advance, the guards were also ordered to help load the gold ingots as soon as the trucks arrived.Everyone has to cooperate well. Detectives in disguise outside the bank were busy, while secretly watching for the arrival of trucks. On the roof, Sergeant Van Duren asked for the tenth time, "See that damn truck?" "No." Detective Sergeant Whitcomb glanced at his watch. "They're thirteen minutes late. If they..." There was a chirping sound from the walkie-talkie: "Sheriff! The truck has shown up! It has passed Rosen Street and is heading towards the bank. You will be able to see it from the roof in a short while."

The whole atmosphere became tense as if electrified. Sheriff Van Duren quickly issued an order through the walkie-talkie: "Attention all points, the fish have entered the net, let them in." A gray armored vehicle stopped in front of the bank.Cooper and Van Duren saw two uniformed guards jump out of the truck and walk into the bank. "And her? Where's Tracy Whitney?" Daniel Cooper asked loudly. "That's all right," Inspector Van Duren reassured him, "as long as the gold is here, she won't be far." Even if she wasn't there, Daniel Cooper thought, it didn't matter.The tapes were enough to prove her guilt.

Nervous clerks helped two uniformed guards remove gold ingots from the vault, load them on flatbeds, and push them in front of trucks.From the rooftop across the street, Cooper and Van Duren stared intently at the group in the distance. Loading took eight minutes.When the truck's door was locked and the two sat in the driver's seat, Sergeant Van Duren immediately shouted into the walkie-talkie: "All points, surround and intercept! Surround!" For a time, the group of demons danced wildly.The janitor, the newsman, the repairman, and a slew of detectives, pistols drawn, charged at the trucks, and traffic was curfewed at both ends of the avenue. Sheriff Van Duren turned to Daniel Cooper and grinned widely: "Should you be satisfied with the arrest on the spot? Let's outflank it." It's over at last, Cooper thought. They hurried out into the street.Two uniformed guards face a wall, hands raised, surrounded by a group of armed detectives.Daniel Cooper and Sheriff Van Duren parted the crowd and came to the two men. "Turn around, you've been arrested," Van Duren said. The two men turned pale with fright and turned to face the crowd.Daniel Cooper and Sheriff Van Duren stared at them blankly, groaning inwardly.The two were complete strangers who had never met face to face. "Who--who are you?" asked Inspector Van Duren. "I—we are the guards sent by the security company." One of them stammered. "Please don't shoot. Don't shoot." Sheriff Van Duren turned to Cooper. "Something must have gone wrong with their plan," he said angrily. "They canceled." Daniel Cooper only felt a surge of malice in his heart, into his chest, into his throat, and when he really wanted to say something, his voice changed. "No, nothing went wrong." "what did you say?" "They had no intention of getting the gold at all, the whole plan was just a bait." "That's impossible! Look, we've taken pictures of the truck, the yacht, the uniforms..." "Don't you understand? They do. They already know we're on the trail." Sheriff Van Duren turned pale. "Oh, my God! Where are they?" Tracy and Jeff arrive at the Netherland diamond factory on Boles Porter Avenue in the Costa district.Jeff put on a full beard, padded his cheeks and nose with foam, and changed shape.He was wearing a tracksuit and carrying a rucksack.Tracy wore a black wig, a pair of sunglasses, heavy makeup, and a baggy maternity dress.She was carrying a large suitcase and a round package wrapped in brown paper.The two entered the reception room and joined a carload of tourists led by a guide. "...Now, please follow me, ladies and gentlemen, you will see our workers working on diamonds, and you will have an opportunity to buy some of our finest diamonds." Under the guidance of the guide, the visitors walked into the gates of the factory.Tracy went with the crowd, while Jeff dragged in last.After everyone left, he turned around abruptly and ran down a flight of stairs to the basement.He opened the canvas bag and took out a set of oil-stained overalls and a small tool box.He put on his overalls, went to the switchboard, and looked at his watch. Upstairs, Tracy walked from one room to another with the visiting crowd, and the guide explained to them the various processes from the mined natural gemstones to the processed and polished diamonds.Tracy glanced at her watch now and then.The entire visit was already five minutes behind schedule.She wished secretly that the guide would go faster. The visit was finally over and they came to the showroom.The guide walked to a pedestal surrounded by ropes. "Inside this glass case," he declared proudly, "is the Rucalan Diamond, one of the most famous diamonds in the world. A famous actor bought it and presented it to his movie star." Wife. This diamond is worth ten million dollars, so we use state-of-the-art security..." The lights suddenly went out.At the same time, the alarm was sounded, and steel shutters were seen ping-pong-pong falling, sealing all the doors and exits in the room.Some of the visitors screamed. "Please be quiet, everyone!" the guide shouted at the top of his voice. "Don't worry. It's just a failure of the electrical system. After a while, the backup generators will..." All the lights went back on. "Look," the guide reassured everyone. "Don't worry." Pointing to the steel shutters, a German tourist in a leather jacket asks: "What are these for?" "This is a safety precaution," explained the guide.He took out a key with a strange shape, stuffed it into a socket on the wall and turned it, and the steel plate on the door and window slowly rose again.The phone on the desk rang, and the guide picked up the receiver. "This is Hendrick. Thank you, Captain. No, everything is fine. An alarm malfunction. Maybe a short circuit. I'll get someone to check right away. Yes, sir." He hung up and turned to face the crowd. "I'm very sorry, ladies and gentlemen. It's better to be as careful as possible when dealing with such precious diamonds. Now, those who are interested in buying our diamonds..." The lights went out again.The alarm bell rang again, and the steel shutter fell again. A woman in the crowd yelled, "Let's get out of here, Harry." "Don't you yell, will you, Diana?" growled her husband angrily. Downstairs in the basement, Jeff stood at the switchboard and listened to the shouts of the crowd upstairs.He waited a moment, then closed the switch again.The lights upstairs flickered a few times and came on again. "Ladies and gentlemen," cried the guide desperately. "It's just something wrong with the circuit." He took out the key and stuffed it into the hole in the wall again, and the steel window panel rose again. The phone rang again.The guide picked up the microphone. "This is Hendrick. No, Captain. Yes. We'll fix it as soon as possible. Thank you." A door to the showroom opened, and in came Jeff, his tool box on his back and a work hat pushed back on his head. He found a guide. "What's wrong? Some say there's a malfunction in the circuit." "The lights flickered on and off," said the guide, "please fix it as soon as possible." He turned to face the crowd again, with a smile on his face. "Should we come this way, you can buy some very good diamonds at very reasonable prices." The crowd of visitors gradually moved to each display case.Taking advantage of his unsuspecting, Jeff took out a small cylindrical object from his overalls, pulled the pin on it, and threw it behind the pedestal of the Rucalan diamond. There was a puff of smoke and sparks from the little thing. Jeff yelled to the guide, "Hey! Problem solved, the wires under the floor are shorted." A woman exclaimed: "It's on fire!" "Everyone, please be quiet!" the guide yelled. "Don't panic, stay calm." He whistled to Jeff. "Fix it! Fix it!" "No problem," Jeff said unhurriedly.He walked towards the ropes surrounding the pedestal. "No!" The guide shouted. "You can't come near!" Jeff shrugged. "That's great. You can fix it." After saying that, he wanted to leave. The smoke rose more and more urgently.The crowd began to commotion again. "Wait!" pleaded the guide. "Please wait a moment." He hurried to the phone and dialed a number. "Captain? This is Hendrick, and I ask you to turn off the alarm for a while, there is a glitch here. Yes, sir." He turned to Jeff. "How much time do you need?" "Five minutes," Jeff said. "Five minutes." The guide repeated over the phone. "Thank you." He hung up the phone. "The alarm system will go off in the next second. For God's sake, hurry up! We never turn off the alarm system!" "My friend, I only have two hands." After waiting ten seconds, Jeff stepped into the rope and stood by the pedestal.Hendrick gestured to the armed guard, who nodded and kept his eyes fixed on Jeff. Jeff was busy behind the pedestal.The dejected guide turned to the crowd again. "Ladies and gentlemen, as I said just now, we have some bargain diamonds on display here. Credit cards and traveler's checks can be used," he giggled, "cash is also acceptable." Tracy was standing at the counter. "Do you buy diamonds?" she asked aloud. The guide didn't understand. "what?" "My husband, who works in mining, just came back from South Africa and asked me to sell these." As she spoke, she opened the suitcase she was carrying with her, but the mouth of the suitcase was facing downwards, only to hear a clattering sound, and a pile of colorful diamonds cascaded down to the floor like a cascade, rolling all over the floor. "Ah, my diamond!" Tracy exclaimed. "Help!" Everyone was stunned for a moment, and there was no sound, but then, it was like a hell exploded into a mess.The polite crowd just now turned into a mob in an instant.People fell to the ground, rolling and crawling to pull the diamonds, fighting for each other, each not giving way. "I grabbed a few..." "Go grab some, John..." "Let go, this is mine..." The guides and guards didn't know what to say.The greedy crowd pushed them aside, trying to stuff diamonds into their pockets and wallets. The guard yelled hoarsely: "Get out of the way! Stop!" He was knocked to the ground before he finished speaking. A carload of Italian tourists also came to the showroom, and as soon as they saw this situation, they also joined in the fight. The guard tried to struggle to get up and sound the siren, but the crowd made it impossible for him to stand.People stepped on him one after another.The whole world suddenly became crazy and unreasonable.It's a never-ending nightmare. When the bewildered guard finally got up, brushed aside the noisy crowd, and staggered to the pedestal, he was stunned and couldn't believe his eyes. The Lukalan diamonds are gone. The pregnant woman and the electrician also disappeared. A few blocks down the road, Tracy ducked into the restroom of the Usta Park public restroom to change.She carried the package wrapped in brown paper and walked to a park bench.Everything is going according to plan.She laughed aloud as she thought of the greedy gangs scrambling for worthless zircon crystals.Jeff came up to her, wearing a dark gray suit and beard long gone.Tracy stood up abruptly.Jeff approached with a smile on his face. "I love you," he said, taking out the Rucalan diamond from his coat pocket and quietly handing it to Tracy. "Feed this to your friends, baby. See you later." Tracy watched him go.Tears glistened in her eyes.They are inseparable, but now they have to fly to Brazil separately.From then on, the two of them will depend on each other for the rest of their lives. Tracy looked around and saw that no one was following her, so she opened the package in her hand.Inside the package was a birdcage containing a blue-gray pigeon.Three days earlier it had been delivered to the American Travelers Check Office, where Tracy had gone to collect it.She put another pigeon out of the window and watched it flap its wings awkwardly away.Now Tracy took a small chamois pocket from the wallet and stuffed the diamonds in it.She took the pigeon out of the cage and carefully tied the small bag to the pigeon's leg. "Good girl, Margo. Take it home." Suddenly, a policeman in uniform appeared out of nowhere. "Hold on! Do you know what you're doing?" Tracy's heart skipped a beat. "What--what's the matter, Inspector?" He stared at the cage, furious. "You know what's going on. It's one thing to feed these pigeons, but it's against the law to take them back and put them in cages. Now, let the pigeons go, or I'll arrest you." Tracy let out a sigh of relief. "If you say so, Mr. Constable." She took the pigeon up in her hands and let it fly away.She watched the pigeons fly higher and higher with a smile on her face.The pigeon circled once and then flew to London, two hundred and thirty miles west.Gunther had told her that the average speed of a carrier pigeon was forty miles an hour, which meant that it would take Margo back to him in less than six hours. "Don't do it next time," the policeman warned Tracy. "I'm quitting," Tracy replied sternly. "Never again." Towards evening, Tracy arrived at Schiphol Airport.She walked towards the entrance of the plane bound for Brazil.Daniel Cooper stood in a corner and watched her with a look of misery in his eyes.Tracy Whitney stole the Rucalan diamond.When Cooper heard the report of the loss, he already understood in his heart.This is undoubtedly her consistent style, extraordinary courage and imagination.However, this is really helpless.Sheriff Van Duren showed the showroom guard a picture of Tracy and Jeff. "No. Never saw them both. The diamond thief had a beard, and he had a much fatter face and a big nose, and the woman who brought the diamonds was dark-haired and pregnant." There was no trace of the Rucalan diamond, although Jeff and Tracy had been thoroughly searched, including their luggage. "The diamond must still be in Amsterdam," Inspector Van Duren said firmly to Cooper. "We will find it." No, you can't find it, Cooper thought bitterly.She has switched pigeons.The diamond has been carried across the border by a carrier pigeon. Cooper watched helplessly as Tracy Whitney walked through the airport's concourse.She was the first opponent to defeat him.Because of her, he will never stand up again. When Tracy walked to the boarding gate, she couldn't help hesitating for a moment. She turned around and met Cooper's eyes.She knew very well that he followed her all over Europe like a god of vengeance.This person is indeed somewhat strange, both terrifying and pathetic.For some reason, Tracy felt a little sorry for him.She waved to him slightly as a farewell, and then turned and boarded the plane. Daniel Cooper puts his hand in his pocket and touches his written resignation. This is a Pan Am luxury Boeing 747 airliner, and Tracy is sitting in seat 4B of the first class cabin.Her heart still cannot be calm.In a few hours she would be with Jeff.They will be married in Brazil.No more pranks, Tracy thought, but I won't miss the shenanigans any more.I know I won't.The life ahead as Mrs. Jeff Stevens is exciting and exciting enough. "Sorry." Tracy raised her head, only to see a middle-aged man with a big belly and wanton standing beside her.He glanced toward the window seat. "That's my seat, dear." Tracy curled her legs and let him pass.The hem of her skirt was lifted up, and he eyed her legs enviously. "Flying to catch the weather, huh?" There was a palpable flattering tone in his voice. Tracy turned away.She had no intention of striking up a conversation with the fellow passengers.She has too many things to think about.A whole new life.Somewhere they will settle down as law-abiding citizens.The well-known and respected Mr. and Mrs. Stevens. Her companion shoved her lightly. "Since we are sitting next to each other on this trip, my dear lady, why don't you and I get acquainted? My name is Maximilian Bilbon." (End of the book)