There was no doubt that Joey was doing a great job at his assigned post. He was standing casually in the doorway, staring at three sparrows hopping in the road. Nobody would have suspected that he was guarding a spot where a crime had been committed.
“And over there is Joey,” Mr Blossom explained in a hushed voice when they got near.
“Hmm, an interesting boy,” Mr Nosegoode declared, observing Joey carefully.
He had clearly been intrigued by Joey a few minutes earlier, when the clockmaker mentioned that he had an apprentice. The detective had even asked for a brief description of the boy’s character. After hearing what Mr Blossom had to say, he posed an awkward question: “Has it occurred to you that Joey…? Well, you understand what I’m getting at.”
Mr Blossom nodded and then hesitated.
“Yes,” he admitted a moment later. “The thought did occur to me, but I’ve dismissed it. I don’t think Joey would be capable of such a thing. It’s true that he’s no angel and that he’s got his faults, but I don’t think he could commit a theft like this. And anyway, why would he want to steal a music box? It has no value for him at all. He was very surprised when he learnt what had happened.”
Mr Blossom pondered something in silence and then added, as if to convince himself, “No, it’s not possible. Joey couldn’t have done it.”
“No, no, of course not,” Mr Nosegoode agreed quickly.
They reached the front of the workshop and stopped. The arrival of the famous detective made quite an impression on Joey. Clearly, he hadn’t expected the master clockmaker to ask such an illustrious figure for help. So, when this illustrious figure reached out his hand to shake Joey’s, the boy blushed deeply.
“Have you noticed anything suspicious?” Mr Nosegoode asked him.
“No.”
The detective cast a glance around them.
“We’re very lucky that the street is deserted. Otherwise we’d soon have a crowd of onlookers on our hands, and that’s something I’d rather avoid. I’m a bit worried about the woman in the window across the street, who is definitely paying far too much attention to our humble selves… But there is little to be done about it. We can put up with one spectator.”
With these words, he opened his briefcase, pulled out a powerful magnifying glass and went up to the door. He looked at it briefly and said, “The thief wasn’t very inventive. An ordinary crowbar was used to break the lock. The mark is very clear. But a crowbar mark is not enough. We must find other clues.”
He lifted the magnifying glass up to his eyes again and began to examine the door carefully.
“Yes…” he muttered. “Yes, we must find other clues. Ah, here’s one: a piece of thread! A black silk thread… It’s caught on a splinter made by the crowbar, so it must have been left behind by the thief. I already have an idea of where it might have come from. But, for now, let’s put it in an envelope. Maybe this thread will lead us to a solution…”
Mr Nosegoode unhooked the thread carefully, placed it inside an envelope and went back to examining the door.
“I have reason to suspect that the thief didn’t leave any fingerprints,” he said. “Let’s check if I’m correct. Mr Blossom, when was the last time this door was washed?”
“Joey washed it yesterday after we closed up,” the clockmaker answered. “We do a thorough clean every Wednesday.”
“Very good. This means that we should find only your fingerprints and Joey’s, and possibly the thief’s. We’ll know in a minute if this is true.”
The detective leant over his briefcase and took out a small box, a brush and a roll of tape. The box contained white powder, with which Ambrosius dusted the door in a few spots. He then swept these spots with the brush and examined them under the magnifying glass.
“I see only two kinds of fingerprints,” he remarked. “I’m sure these are yours and your apprentice’s, but it won’t hurt to preserve them, just in case.”
He pressed pieces of tape against the areas he had dusted, then peeled the tape away and put the pieces in another envelope. An exact image of the fingerprints was preserved on the tape.
“Now we can go inside,” he announced. “I’ll lead the way, if I may.”
Mr Nosegoode stepped over the threshold, followed by Mr Blossom and Joey. Cody slipped in behind them, sat down by the wall and continued to follow everything diligently.
After casting his eyes all around the workshop, Ambrosius concentrated his attention on the floor. He must have noticed something interesting because he crouched down and gazed intently at one spot.
“Mr Blossom.” He turned to the clockmaker. “Is this footprint yours?”
Mr Blossom crouched down next to the detective. He looked at the shoe print visible on the freshly polished floor and shook his head. “No, I don’t own shoes like that.”
“What about you, young man?”
Joey said it wasn’t his footprint either.
“In that case, we can conclude that it must be the thief’s. Let’s copy it. It might come in handy.”
Mr Nosegoode opened his notebook and sketched the pattern of the sole.
“And now,” he said, closing his notebook, “could you tell me precisely where the stolen music box was standing yesterday?”
Mr Blossom pointed straight ahead. “It was over there, on that shelf.”
“It’s not a particularly noticeable spot,” Mr Nosegoode remarked. Not taking his eyes off the floor, he walked over to the shelf. He stopped in front of it, swept it with his eyes and reached out his hand to grab something.
“Does this belong to you, Mr Blossom?” he asked.
In his open palm was a matchbox.
The clockmaker checked his pockets.
“No, my matches are right here.”
Mr Nosegoode looked over at Joey.
“I… I don’t carry matches at all. I… I don’t smoke,” replied the apprentice, visibly flustered.
“Well, this means the thief has left us another souvenir,” said Ambrosius, pretending not to notice Joey’s discomfort. “It’s a valuable one, too,” he added, examining something written on the box.
Nobody could observe what that something was because Mr Nosegoode quickly put the matchbox into his briefcase.
“We should be able to find more traces,” he said. He looked around again and exclaimed, “Here’s another!”
He bent over and picked up a spent match from the floor. He glanced back down.
“Only one?” He considered this for a moment. “Interesting, very interesting…”
The match followed the box into the briefcase.
Mr Nosegoode wandered around the workshop for a while, looking here and there, but he didn’t find anything else. At last, he sat down in a chair and declared, “Now I’d like to ask both of you a few questions.”
Mr Blossom and Joey also sat down. Cody pricked up his ears, and the old detective began the questioning.
“Can you please tell me if there was anyone else present when the chemist came in with the music box?”
“No,” came a decisive answer.
“Did anyone else express any interest in it later?”
“Yes,” the master and his apprentice answered at the same time.
Mr Nosegoode shifted anxiously.
“Who?” he asked.
“A man with a black beard,” the clockmaker said. “A stranger, not from these parts. He came here yesterday and asked me to replace his watch glass. When I got down to work, he started looking around the shelves as if he were in a museum, not in a clockmaker’s workshop. Then I heard his voice: ‘Excuse me, is this toy for sale?’ I looked up and saw him pointing to the music box. ‘No, it’s not,’ I answered. ‘The owner dropped it off to be repaired.’ To which he said, ‘That’s too bad. I’m interested in these kinds of things, and I like to buy them when I can.’ That’s what he said. Yesterday I didn’t pay the least bit of attention to his words, but now… Do you think it’s him?”
“It’s far too early to think anything,” the detective answered evasively.
Although this piece of information about Blackbeard did not appear to make a very strong impression on Mr Nosegoode, it had a huge effect on Cody. The dog was triumphant. He stretched out his tail proudly. Seeking Ambrosius’s eyes, he seemed to be saying, “Well, you see, I was right! I wasn’t deceived by that fake beard. I can’t be deceived so easily!”
But Ambrosius wasn’t paying any attention to Cody.
“Apart from this stranger, did anybody else seem interested in the music box?” he continued.
Mr Blossom scratched his forehead. “I don’t think so…” he said, trying to remember. “I don’t think so…”
“One last question: apart from you and Joey, who knew that the music box had been fixed yesterday?”
“Only the chemist.”
“When did you tell him?”
“Yesterday afternoon. He sent his nephew to check on it. I told the boy that the music box was ready, and he was very glad to hear it. ‘My uncle can hardly wait,’ he said as he was leaving. But the chemist never came. If only he had come yesterday, this would never have happened… And now what? No doubt he’ll come today. What am I going to say to him? That his music box has been stolen?”
“You don’t need to worry,” the detective said calmly. “I’m going to be talking to Mr Swallowtail very shortly, and I will inform him myself about the theft. I will also reassure him that he will soon have his music box back.”
“Thank you so much.”
Mr Nosegoode got up. Closing his briefcase, he continued, “It’s only a matter of time before the thief is identified. The guilty person left far too many traces. All I’m missing is the key to this mystery. I’m hoping to find that key at the chemist’s, which is where I’m going next.”
He said goodbye and left the workshop with Cody.
Once they were out on the street, the dog burst out, “Really, Ambrosius! I don’t understand you. What do you mean by ‘It’s only a matter of time before the thief is identified’? What is there to think about? We know who the thief is already.”
“We do?”
“Of course. It’s crystal clear who stole the music box.”
“Is it now? Not to me.”
“To me it is.”
“I’m afraid your nose has let you down,” Ambrosius replied.
“Don’t you joke about my nose!” Cody said in an offended tone. “You know very well how useful it has proved in the past. And I do know who the thief is. In fact, you don’t need a nose for that – you just need a head.”
Ambrosius smiled indulgently.
“Oh, Cody, Cody… You’re too hasty in your judgements. This case is not as simple as you seem to think. But I’d rather not talk about it until later. Especially since we have a good reason to be silent.”
“What reason? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Look behind you!”
Cody glanced back – and shivers ran down his spine. Walking just a few steps behind them was… Blackbeard!
