The Case of the Disappearing (& Reappearing) Egg
-(B) In 1899, Czar Nicholas Fyodorovna gave his wife, Czarina Alexandra, the Bouquet of Lilies Clock Egg (also known as the Madonna Lily Egg) as an Easter gift. This was quite the tradition, giving these extravagant eggs, started by the Czar Alexander III in 1885 as presents for his wife at Easter time. Every year a jeweled egg would be created for the Czar’s wife (and later Mother, in Nicholas II’s case), with a surprise inside. There were some 50 eggs made, with 40 or so surviving presently, that were created for the Czarinas.
-(C) Prime Minister Nicholas was planning the most extravagant party, with the Egg … and his daughter, as the centerpieces of the event. The food was Easter-themed, with dishes containing eggs at the forefront. Decorations included chicks and little bunnies and a thick case was prepared for the Faberge egg. Due to how expensive and important this egg was meant it would remain heavily guarded before and during Rebecca’s party, with no one knowing exactly when the egg would arrive or leave.
-(D) The night of Rebecca’s party brought people from miles and miles around, hoping to catch a glimpse of the beautiful egg in its arrival. The guest list was very strict, only two hundred people allowed to enter the Prime Minister’s home. No longer was this simply a party for Rebecca’s birthday; this had turned into a media circus with only the children of the wealthiest and most affluent leaders in attendance.
-(E) In the center of the dining hall, housed inside a glass case sat the beautiful Madonna Lily Egg. With its diamond encrusted sides and belt of diamond Roman numerals, the egg seemed to scream ‘expensive’ and the guards flanking the case reinforced the importance of keeping the Czarina’s former gift safe. The night progressed relatively calmly, with photographs being taken with the egg (in its case, of course).
-(F) The lights in Nicholas’s house flickered once, before completely going out and the building was completely engulfed in darkness. Women screamed, men pulled their wives a little closer, and the wait staff dropped serving trays. The lights came back on, only to reveal that the Faberge egg was gone. The pedestal was empty, but there were no signs of disturbance. No glass cuts or breaks were apparent to the case. The supervising guard jumped to attention (a little late) and ordered a search to the building and that no one be allowed to leave the premises. Before his orders could be completely heeded, the lights went out again. Obviously this was something no one in the party could get used to because screams once again erupted from the guests. As the lights returned to their illuminated state, the guests looked expectantly at the case and were pleased to find that the Madonna Lily Egg was returned to its pedestal.
-(G) Rebecca’s party ended rather quickly, with the benefactors of the Egg eager to remove the event and deliver it to the safety of a vaulted safe in the city of London.
-(H) It was when the egg arrived at its overnight resting place that the guards realized that the egg they were protecting was not the egg they had left the Kremlin with. Created from fake materials, the egg was an amazing replica of the Madonna Egg, right on down to the diamond hand clock and the red-gold scrolls on the sides.
- (I) All the guests had disbanded shortly after the egg left the party and would need to be questioned by the guards. It was then that Rebecca, daughter of the British Prime Minister, decided to take matters into her own hands. Knowing who had stolen the egg put her in a such an awkward position, forcing her to chose whether to submit to the law or protect her loved ones. Remembering that London was teeming with Sherlock imitators and wannabes, Rebecca called for the one man she knew would never be able to solve the case, but would try his hardest to do so. Detective Alexander would snoop the scene, move somethings around, question the wrong people and create a story that would appease the public without sending anyone important to prison. Perhaps some poor man would be convicted, then maybe tortured to admittance.
Ending: Hoping to sell the Egg on the Black Market, the Prime Minister had arranged for the Faberge Egg to be removed from its case, then swapped out for an imitation. He had disappeared during the light flickering, but had returned before anyone could honestly know he was missing.
By playing off the Victorian sleuth, I decided to create him as someone who was not as smart as he thinks he is. The characters around him know he is not as effective as he should be, but continue to hire him to cover their own tracks. For me, this reinforces the need for privacy that the Victorians are known for. Like in the Purloined Letter, many of the characters in the story know about the missing egg and who has it and why they have it, but do not share what they know. It's all about the coverup, in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the twist of what I can only call the “necessity of public relations” toward the end of your piece. I like the fact that one character knows the crime/criminal, and then hires another to be sure that her knowledge remains hidden while simultaneously assuaging public tension. Of course, it’s a bit morally corrupt to allow some “poor man” to be tortured to achieve this effect… but perhaps this serves to emphasize the lack of a clear line b/w good and evil (righteous and corrupt) in this story. And, of course, it’s no surprise that the corruption is ultimately found in the high end of a political family—and thus the story is “all about the coverup”! While I agree w/ your explanation about the sleuth that isn’t as smart as he thinks he is, it seemed to me that the real focus was on those who aided and abetted the criminal. And this is what, finally, highlights the Victorians’ pursuit (yet lack) of privacy. Nice work.
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