Churchyard and Hawke by E.V. Thompson Page A

three hundred guests at the ball, coming from perhaps as many as a hundred homes scattered all across Cornwall. With the constables we are going to need at Laneglos to ensure nothing goes wrong there we won’t be left with enough men to visit even half those houses - and it’s the Hoxton men who’ll be involved in the housebreaking. Knowing them as we do, it would be dangerous to send less than half-a-dozen constables to any house that’s being burgled. Our only hope is that we succeed in catching them on board the boat at Looe and are able to keep them there until Sunday, at least.’
    ‘The scale of the whole plan is breathtaking,’ Tom commented, thoughtfully, ‘and the more I learn about it, the less inclined I am to believe it’s all been planned by Alfie Banks. He’s a crafty criminal - but not a clever one.’
    ‘I agree with you . . . I think Dolly does too, but I believe her when she says she doesn’t know who is behind the whole plan - and we certainly won’t get anything from Alfie, even if we succeed in arresting him. At the moment he’s committed no crime in Cornwall - and he’s smart enough to be aware of that!’
    ‘Do you think we’ll find anything on the boat that might incriminate him.’
    ‘Perhaps . . . but time is running out for us. We’ll raid the boat as early as can be arranged in the morning and hope we make some kind of breakthrough - but it needs to happen quickly. The ball takes place tomorrow night.’

CHAPTER 12
    By the morning of the day of the ball, Amos had succeeded in assembling thirty constables to carry out the raid on the London boat docked at Looe. Among them were a number of recently recruited men who were still undergoing training at the Bodmin police headquarters. Amos hoped enthusiasm would make up for their inexperience.
    The constables carried only their regulation batons but he, Tom, Harvey and three inspectors were armed with handguns, Amos warning the policemen that these were only to be used in the most extreme circumstances.
    It was mid-morning when three over-crowded carriages carrying the policemen trundled into Looe and headed for the harbour. The tide was in and it was swiftly ascertained that the London paddle-steamer, Mermaid, was moored alongside the quay, riding high in the water at a berth close to the mouth of the tidal river from which the fishing town drew its name.
    During the night Amos had sent a constable ahead of the police party with an urgent letter for Looe’s Chief Coastguard officer and he was waiting for them in the yard of the coastguard station with a small party of his officers. He confirmed that a manned coastguard boat was in position on the river, its crew ready to play a part in whatever ensued.
    The senior coastguard also reported that since receiving Amos’s message observations had been kept on Mermaid, during which time a number of men had left the vessel. Unfortunately there had been insufficient coastguard officers available to follow any except the last two, both of whom were at present buying fresh provisions in the small fishing town and were being watched by one of his men.
    Two constables, accompanied by a coastguard, set off to arrest these two and Amos wasted no time taking the rest of his constables to Mermaid’s berth and boarding the vessel immediately.
    The men - and one woman - on board were taken completely by surprise and offered no resistance to the Cornish policemen! Within a matter of minutes they had all been handcuffed and mustered on the upper deck, many loudly demanding to know what they were supposed to have done to warrant such treatment.
    There was a brief flurry of excitement when one man attempted to elude the policemen by diving fully clothed into the river. He was promptly hauled on board the coastguard boat and swiftly returned to the Mermaid and handed over to Amos and his men.
    He was recognized by Tom as an escaped fraudster from a London prison. His presence on the Mermaid gave the lie