Chapter 48: The COVID 19 Virus And Slippery's Generous Help
As I am writing this the COVID 19 virus has hit London and the entire world. With Sandra's and Kevin's help, Beryl and Sid have been able to set up a 'virtual pub' online. Jane and Matteo along with Sarah and Carlos were out delivering food, wines, spirits, plus bottled and canned beers. Help was also given to anyone who needed it for free. Full protection was worn at all times during these delivery trips of course.
The Bull was closed until further notice. The Pub had stayed open during the London Blitz, the nightly bombing by the Luftwaffe during World War 2. It missed being bombed several times.
There were outbreaks of cholera, smallpox, typhus, and yellow fever, during the early 19th century, in London, during the life of the highwayman. He luckily missed all of these and the Bull always stayed open.
But not now for the second time in the long history of the Bull Public House, it was closed. The first was under that ultra puritan Oliver Cromwell. Yes, with these other measures, there was a bit of an income stream for Beryl and Sid. They were able to keep on all their staff as well.
With this, Old Slippery had almost vanished again. However, not quite, he did reappear. The barmaids also lived on the premises. So Beryl being Beryl always kept them busy. Yes, one of the barmaids cleaning his chair did bring him back. After his usual lascivious inspection of the barmaid, he pointed to the left-hand corner of the Lounge Bar floor. He then spiraled around like a corkscrew and shot off downstairs to the Cellar Restaurant Bar below.
Sid followed him down, very puzzled by all of this. There he was, Old Slippery pointing down again at the left-hand corner of the floor. The original stone slabs had been restored. The Old Ghost stretched out his thin index finger and pointed to one large stone in particular. The ghost started smiling and rubbing his hands. He then started lifting up both his hand. Old Slippery then spoke directly to Sid telepathically.
Sid heard the Right Hon Jake Horatio Higginbottom's nasal upper-class Regency English accent.
"Below, dear decedent, you will find many riches. Verily, forsooth, this will tide you over during this current time of woe."
Sid was taken aback but got the message. There were rumours that the Old Ghost had hidden a treasure chest someone in the then Bull Inn. He had some sense it seemed. He was known for 'blowing' all his 'ill-gotten gains' immediately on the ladies and other delights. So this was a 'turn up for the books', Sid thought.
However, there were a number of dilemmas. The first one was the size of the stone. No way, even with a crowbar, could Sid lift this slab on his own. There was a lockdown throughout London. How would he get help? Ah, what about calling Detective Chief Inspector John Higgins? He would know a way around this. Needless to say Old Slippery was reading Sid's mind. A wry smile spread across his face. Yet again, 'another chip off the old block', the Old Ghost thought to himself.
Sure enough, the Detective Chief Inspector convinced his superiors that there was an emergency at the Bull. He got together a few burly young officers. He knew they would keep 'stumm'.
They arrived shortly afterward all wearing full protective gear and got to work straight away. They managed to get a large crowbar under the side of the slab. They then lifted up the slab.
There were four young police officers involved. They had to strip to the waist, despite the need for protective clothing due to the virus. This had not gone unnoticed. The three new young barmaids sneaked down along with Beryl. These four young policemen had superb physiques, with excellent 'four-pack abs'. All in all a great show of male 'eye candy'.
Needless to say Old Slippery had noticed these four young gentlemen. There he was, sitting in his downstairs seat, drooling. Yes, he liked the ladies, but young men as well. This had not gone unnoticed. The licentious behaviour of the Regency was giving way to the so-called 'morality' of the Victorian period. Buggery\Sodomy was then a 'capital crime'. that meant you could be hung for it. One of the many crimes that helped Old Slippery to the gallows. Ah but now he could fully indulge his ghostly fantasies which seemed as strong as ever.
Yet another example of the Old Highwayman's moral duality, which has been a constant theme throughout this tale. On the one hand, there he was helping Beryl find his treasure, on the second hand there he was full-on 'lusting' after the young officers.
The Detective Chief Inspector was getting a little tired of all these pheromones flooding the Cellar Restaurant Bar. What he had organized was far from legal in the present shutdown due to the COVID 19 virus. It was pretty 'way dodgy' anyway, using uniformed officers to look for buried treasure. He started to chivy people along, and reminded Old Slipper of his predicament, telepathically. Sid came down and stopped all the fun the ladies were having including his wife, and got them all back upstairs to the Lounge Bar Restaurant.
There was another reason the 'Chief' wanted everybody out of the way. He could trust these four young lads implicitly though. He was right.
One the stone slab was pulled over, there it was. The classic wooden treasure trove trunk. This was not in good condition and was clearly very rotten.
However, what was inside was truly amazing. There were gold coins of all kinds. Plus emeralds, diamonds, and rubies mixed in with everything else plus many other precious stones. Lockets, rings, bracelets, and other items of jewellery. Many of these were in gold and silver.
To say that the Detective Chief Inspector was staggered was an extreme understatement. He took a hand full of gold coins and jewellery. He told the four officers and Sid to witness this. These were duly photographed and each item would be recorded in detail later. The 'Chief' knew he could sell these items fairly easily, given the contacts he had. Then all the money would go to Sid and Beryl. Was this legal? A touch 'iffy' to put it mildly?
The rest of the treasure was carefully packed in plastic containers. The Detective Chief Inspector had the sense to anticipate this eventuality. Everything was carefully repacked and placed in what remained of the original chest. Then after a lot of effort, the original stone slab was replaced.
Old Slippery was watching very intently. He seemed very happy with what had happened. The Detective Chief Inspector was still concerned with any of this coming out. His young uniformed helpers would not be the problem. Maybe one of the barmaids would pick something up and inadvertently pass this on? A hint would be enough given the money involved. It was then that Old Slippery, The Chief, and Sid had a three-way telepathic conversation. The gist of this was, if anybody tried to steal the treasure, it would be up to Old Slippery to deal with this. But please discreetly. If there were any fatalities, say if the robbers could end up arguing and killing each, as an example? The Old Ghost was more than capable of using group mind control over people like this.
There would be real problems explaining why they were there in the first place. The Chief thought that 'going after the cape and sword again' could cover this. The subject of the treasure would then not be brought up. No ambiguities in any killings so Old Slippery could not be directly implicated.
Devious, yes very, but necessary. Getting all the 'treasure' dealt with would be some way down the line given the present 'virus' situation. However, Sid and Beryl would have more than enough to get along with in the meantime, given the gold coins the Chief had pulled out.