The Graveyard Pearl

"This place gives me the creeps," muttered River to herself, as she shone the narrow beam of her torch around the darkened graveyard. She could see nothing but row upon row of dark grey tombstones.

Not for the first time River wondered why she was doing this. She and Carlton were supposed to locate a priceless black pearl, but she had never expected that it would involve creeping through graveyards in the middle of the night. They were supposed to approach the house undetected through the graveyard, sneak into the church through the back window, search the coffins made by Jack Frazer, find the pearl, and get out before anyone saw them. That was, unless they got caught by the bodies in the graveyard, or the ghosts, or the vampires, or -

A low moan came from in front of her, and a huge black shape appeared from the shadows. It stumbled towards her, stretching out its hands, its face illuminated from below casting a shadow on its white face and sunken eyes.

Its face...

“Sir?” River called, and shone her torch directly in the spectre’s face. She was half relieved and half annoyed to make out Carlton in the gloom, shaking with silent laughter.

“That wasn’t funny!” she hissed, as he moved out of the beam of her light. “Now for god’s sake, grow up!”

“You should have seen your face,” he chuckled.

“Shut up and grow up,” she snapped. “Let’s do this, and get out of here as soon as possible.”

“Scared, are you?” he taunted.

“Only of the fact that I might end up killing you before the night is over,” she retorted.

Despite their continual bickering, the pair made a good team. It wasn’t long before they had reached the church, forced open a low window at the back and made their way through to the place where the coffins were kept.

“Great,” sighed River sarcastically, as they found not one but three coffins in the back room. “And I suppose we have to search all of them.”

Carlton gave her a grin as he prised the lid off the first one. “Hope you’re not squeamish, then.”

The first coffin belonged to a Mr Taylor, an elderly man who had been ill for several years before he passed away a few days ago. His wrinkled face at peace now, his cheeks sagging a little. Whilst River held the torch and the coffin lid, Carlton quickly rifled through the man’s suit pockets, making his search as thorough as possible.

“Nope,” he sighed, as he came up empty-handed. “Time for the next one.”

The middle coffin, according to the brass plaque on the top, contained the body of a Miss A. Alcott. She was dressed in a brightly-coloured orange dress, covered with flowers. A large brass peace symbol hung around her neck, and a large amber stone sat in a ring on her finger. Carlton searched the coffin thoroughly too, though the search was quicker as Miss Alcott had no pockets.

Having found nothing, they turned to the third coffin. However, it was empty inside, except for a small note:

To be filled by a Dr Reed, on 14^th --JF 

“Ominous,” noted River. “The 14^th is tomorrow. Do you think this Jack Frazer is as innocent as he seems?”

“Nothing so sinister,” replied Carlton. “Reed is my doctor. He died of cancer last week, but the coffin won’t be filled until after the autopsy is finished tomorrow. However, you’re right, it doesn’t appear that Frazer is as innocent as he seems.”

“Why not?”

Carlton indicated a groove next to the name plaque on the front. Sliding a knife in, he slipped the panel off the front, revealing a small hollow.

It was empty.

“Dammit,” cursed Carlton. “I was sure it was in here.”

“Maybe someone else got here before we did,” suggested River. “Can we even be sure that Frazer stole it in the first place?"

Carlton shrugged.

“And all this for something smaller than a fingernail,” sighed River.

“Fingernail,” gasped Carlton. “That’s it, River, you’ve got it!”

“Got what?”

Carlton grinned. “I know where the pearl is,” he practically sang.

Answer (highlight to read): The pearl was hidden inside Miss A. Alcott's ring. The ring was what is known as a poison ring; the stone slides out to reveal a hidden chamber.