Gatwick Bear and the Secret Plans (6 page)

“
Knees Up Mother Brown
, eh? Must be some code behind that. But, we'll crack it, you can bet ya bottom dollar. What did they do after that?”

“Then they went into a sweet shop to buy chocolates. Then something strange happened. I was perched here and watching them when a big white van blocked my view. When it moved out of the way, the next thing I saw was Gatwick down a big hole and the little white bear lying on her belly, arms dangling into the pit. Gatwick started hooking bags and boxes, and finally himself, to a fishing rod operated by the little white bear”.

“So she was fishing all these containers out, very suspect”, Sam squawked. Jet nodded in agreement.

Jet went on: “Then they sat down and put all these gold bars into the little white bear's new suitcase”.

“Well, what d'ya know! Recruitin' spies and financin' terrorist activities. Wait till I tell Bird Dog. Great work, man. See ya around”.

With that he flew off, anxious to report all this new information to Stud and Bird Dog.

The next day the following article was splattered over the front page of the Lugano City News:

RECORD BANK ROBBERY IN LUGANO CITY!

Thieves in Lugano City have stolen up to 75 million francs, in cash and gold bars, after tunnelling into a bank in what police say could be Switzerland's biggest bank heist ever!

A 200m long tunnel into the bank was dug from the pavement by workmen carrying out roadworks. It seems that thieves took advantage of this ready-made route straight into the bank vaults. Witnesses stated that they did not know how many men had been working on the site.

It is not clear when the theft happened. The robbery was not discovered until Monday morning when the post girl opened the offices after the weekend break, so it must have happened sometime during the week before.

Neighbours revealed to reporters that van loads of material were removed each day. “They've been digging there for three months”, said one witness.

The Chief Inspector told the news agency: “Some gang must have taken advantage of the roadworks. This was a sophisticated gang with expert knowledge. It's clear that they used hi-tech equipment to get the haul out. Our police force is inspecting CCTV footage from cameras placed in the area all around the bank, including rooftops nearby. We believe vital information will come from the footage. Also, the forensic department of the federal police bureau are hard at work”.

The spokesperson for the bank declared that the value of the stolen bank notes and gold bars had not been determined exactly. However, sources rumoured the heist may have been the biggest bank robbery in Switzerland's history. The gang worked with talcum powder to make fingerprinting difficult. Before the robbers left the vaults, they sprayed:
‘
Catch us if you can' on the walls.

Sam reported everything that Jet had seen back to Stud.

“Hey, tell Bird Dog to get on up here. I need to tell him what to do next”, Stud ordered Sam.

Bird Dog got into the lift right away and went up to Stud.

“Come on in. We've had some interestin' developments here in that Gatwick guy's case. Ya wouldn't guess what he's been up to. Wait till I tell ya. Listen here...”

So, Stud told Bird Dog the whole story.

“Gee, that's some mighty development, sir: recruitin' spies and financin' his activities in illicit ways. Ya mean to say like, he carried out a bank robbery with his accomplice? We gotta work out a plan here”.

“We've gotta get that box, see what's in that there thing. That Gatwick guy is just a low-level player. We gotta get to the bottom of this. We can't kidnap him yet, we needa see where he leads us, see who he's workin' for. Well, what d'ya know? Who would've guessed he was such a smart nut?”, Stud said shaking his head.

 

“Sir, I think we gotta get that box, without Gatwick realisin' we got it, or he'll start suspectin' somethin'. Then we won't be able to get to the high-level players”, Bird Dog said.

“Knock it off, willya? How the hella ya gonna do that, you big dumb head!” Stud shouted.

“Hold on, sir, it's no good freakin' out. Why don't we make a box just like the one he's got there and then swap 'em over?”

“Hey, keep knocking”, Stud said enthusiastically.

“Yea, we get Sam to fill our box with paper and get him to take it to Jet. When the Gatwick fella abandons his box for a moment, we change 'em over. We gotta picture of the box. That raven's so good at aerial shots. All we gotta do is make a copy”.

“Great, ya a hellava smart guy. I give ya permission to carry that out. Keep me posted”.

“Yes, sir”, and with that Bird Dog moved towards the door, walking backwards in case Stud threw anything at him on his way out.

After nearly losing all their chocolate down the hole, Gatwick and Little Sister took the bus back to Lugano City Airport. Gatwick had told Little Sister that airports were good places to sleep in; they were clean, warm, safe and shiny. And, what's more they had muffins. But, Gatwick didn't really feel like eating muffins now. He had just finished off the box of chocolates with Little Sister. They were feeling wheezy, or was it woozy? Whichever, that's how they felt.

They got back on the airport bus. The driver was so pleased to see Gatwick again.

“Hello, my friend. So you got you a girl now”. You a coola operator as they say in the song.

Gatwick didn't know the song, he only knew
Knees Up Mother Brown
.

The bus driver continued: “I'll help you with thata box, it's such heavy, with your fishing rod and your little sister in there. Oh, you are so simpatico”.

Gatwick took a bank note out of his box and gave it to the driver. When Gatwick opened the box, the driver saw that it was full of money.

“Hey, you didn't tell me you hada all thata money in there. I think you poor bear”.

“I won a lot of money by scratching a card with my wooden spoon”, Gatwick explained.

“Hey, you thinka I stupid or something”, the driver got red in the face with anger.

“Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you. Really, I didn't”.

Little Sister didn't like this man's attitude. It was no way to speak to her big brother.

“Well, this time you pay. You pay for you, for your friend and for every bag you have!”

Gatwick didn't mind. The thought of not paying never came into his mind. Gatwick handed the banknote over to the driver and, at last, they set off for the airport. The bus swung round the bends and, as it did, Gatwick and Little Sister held on tight and felt even more wheezy, or was it woozy? Anyway, they probably felt both by now. On arrival, the driver folded his arms on his big pot belly and didn't lift a finger to help them with their luggage. So Gatwick and Little Sister took one piece down at a time, Gatwick holding one end and Little Sister the other. They thanked the driver very much, then headed for departures. There they sat, on a hard bench, watching people go by and, nearly without realising it, they munched their way through yet another box of chocolates between them. Night started falling and all the flights for the day had left. The airport became very still and quiet. A security man started switching the lights off. He noticed the two cubs and walked over to them saying:

“I'm so sorry, but you have to leave. The airport is shutting down for the night”.

Gatwick couldn't believe the furry ears on his round head. Gatwick Airport never closed! Would they have to sleep outside?

“There's an excellent airport hotel, two minutes on foot from here. It's a five-star: the Grand Hotel. Come with me, I'll show you which way to go”.

So, Gatwick and Little Sister followed him out of the airport and waddled down the path towards the hotel following the man's directions. The bears didn't even know that hotels existed, let alone one as nice as this. The two furry creatures couldn't believe their eyes. The entrance doors were of glass and rimmed with gold, they slid open automatically to welcome the bears in. Gatwick and Little Sister found themselves standing in a spacious entrance hall. They stood in the middle of the hall and threw their heads backwards to look up at the gigantic crystal chandelier sparkling over them. The oh-so-polished floor they were standing on was in beautiful Italian marble. And, in the middle of the huge reception area was a lively fountain with water shooting up and breaking up into transparent drops as it danced into the silvery pool. A man was smiling at them from behind the shiny wood-panelled reception desk:

“Good evening, sir; good evening, madam. How can I help you?” he said.

Gatwick told the man that they had just come from Lugano City Airport. The security man there had directed them to this hotel. They needed somewhere to stay for the night.

“Then you have come to the right place”, the man answered. “We have an indoor swimming pool, an award-winning restaurant, as well as an American grill room. Each room is hand decorated. Would you like a suite?”

Well that was music to Gatwick's ears. He'd stopped feeling sick. Of course, he'd like a sweet. Little Sister said she'd like one, too.

“We only have one free: the roof-garden suite. You can share it. It splits into two quite well”, he told them.

They thought that sharing a sweet would be fine. Though they weren't sure what a roof-garden sweet looked like or what flavour it was.

“Could you describe it to us, please?” Little Sister asked.

“It's beautiful and extremely elegant in soothing pastel shades and covered in richly coloured layers of fabric. Very cool in summer and warm in winter. Everyone enjoys it very much – it's a memorable experience”.

Both together the bears shouted: “We'll have it!”.

The receptionist continued: “The room has a view looking out onto the mountains and landscaped Italian sunken gardens. There are two en suite bathrooms with an en suite jacuzzi, small living room, four-poster beds with brass fittings and water mattresses, flat-screen TV...”

“That's OK”, interrupted Gatwick, getting bored with the list. “We don't mind what's in it. We only want a place to sleep for the night because we got thrown out of the airport. So we don't mind what it's like”.

“Ah, and if you decide to extend your stay, you will receive a ten percent discount”. Gatwick knew what
‘
ten' was, but he had no idea what
‘
percent' meant – maybe they were sweets, too! The receptionist, still smiling, gave them a key each and signalled the porter to carry their cases up. They went up in the mirrored lift and stepped out into the plush corridor when the doors opened to the sound of
‘
ding'. Down the corridor they stomped until they came to a polished wooden door with golden knocker and handle.

In the meantime, the bus driver had arrived home to his wife. “What hava you made for me, my bella?” he asked his wife, recognising the smell of pasta bolognese wafting in from the kitchen.

“Pasta bolognese, amore mio. Mada wida my own handsa”, she said, as she wiped her hands on her apron.

“Thatsa what I like”, he said to please  her.

“Dida you hear about de robbery today at the banka?

“No, tell me whata happened”.

“Looka here, you canna read in de Lugano City News”, she said thrusting the paper under his nose.

“Oh, mamma mia, I know who dida dis. It wasa dose bear I took to de airport! He only hada silva shillin when he arrive and hada full box ofa money and a girl when he went!”

“Oh, mamma mia, mamma mia”, shouted his wife. “You musta calla de polis this minute”.

She passed him the phone. The police had shut down for the night. He'd phone them first thing in the morning, when he got up for his late shift at 11 o'clock, and tell them everything he knew.

Gatwick and Little Sister were busy making themselves comfortable in their suite. Little Sister went through all the trinkets in the bathroom. She put on the plastic shower cap, then went and sat on the water bed and started playing around with the remote control. Gatwick was having fun trying to work out which light switch turned on which light. When he had understood that, he started tampering with the air-conditioning. “Is the air all right for you Little Sister, or would you like it cooler?” asked the ever-considerate Gatwick.

Little Sister was watching Strictly Come Dancing. Oh, she did like those gowns. And, she just adored the way the dancers twirled and swirled about, so elegant and light-footed. Gatwick was still fiddling about with the air-conditioning. He thought he'd give up because, whatever he did, it didn't seem to make any difference to the room temperature. So he tried opening the safe he'd found in one of the wardrobes. He pressed his ear against the dial and heard it clicking. He liked the sound. So he kept turning the dial backwards and forwards going faster and faster... until he heard a loud click of the lock and the safe sprang open.