Tommy started to protest the silly idea, but a warning glare from Sean shut him up. He and Adriana huddled together and put on the typical staged smiles for the camera. Sean tapped the red button on the screen a few times for posterity. He gazed beyond the device and into the throng. A familiar face revealed itself for a second and then disappeared into the tangled mess of people.
Sean kept smiling, pretending nothing was wrong. He didn’t want to let on that they knew the men were there. “They’re in the crowd behind you.”
The information threw Tommy for a loop and instantly made him uncomfortable.
“Don’t worry,” Sean said, trying to ease his friend’s mind. “Remember, too many witnesses. They won’t be dumb enough to try anything here.”
“We hope,” Tommy threw in his two cents.
Sean took a deep breath and stared at the looming stone construction. “It still doesn’t help us with the part about the toll. Unless we’re thinking about the riddle in the wrong way.”
Tommy stood close by. “What do you mean?”
“Well, typically, we think of a toll as something you pay to get through, like on a road or a bridge. What if it isn’t that kind of toll at all?”
“I don’t follow.” Tommy shook his head, clearly lost.
“Think about it,” Sean said. “What other way can the word toll be used?”
Tommy thought about it for a moment then answered. “I don’t know. I guess this whole mystery is taking its toll on me?”
Sean snorted out a laugh but indicated his friend was wrong with a slow twist of the head.
“A bell tolls,” Adriana said after a few more seconds of reflection.
“Exactly.”
“What does that have to do with this riddle?” Tommy asked. He followed Sean’s gaze and realized the answer.
At the top of Bargate, wedged between the ramparts on the southwest side, an old iron bell hung silently.
Chapter 18
Sean led the way to a wooden door just inside the far right entrance. A sign hung next to the door that read, “Keep out. Authorised personnel only.”
He reached out to grab the iron hoop attached to the door when Tommy stopped him. “Maybe we should get the proper authorities to give us access up there.”
Sean raised one eyebrow. “Seriously? Like who?”
“I dunno,” Tommy rolled his shoulders. “A park worker or something.”
Sean gave a quick look around and then pulled on the latch. “I don’t see anyone. If they ask how we got up there, I’ll tell them we tried to find someone.”
His friend sighed, but protested no longer.
The door came free fairly easily after a hard tug and a loud clank. “After you,” Sean said to Adriana, who cast Tommy an unworried grin as she crossed the threshold and bounded up a flight of stone steps, disappearing into the dark within.
“She doesn’t seem bothered by the sign,” Sean said with a smirk and followed after her.
Tommy lingered for a moment before letting out a long sigh. “I really don’t want to be arrested again,” he said to himself and stepped into the stairwell reluctantly.
The view from atop Bargate was less impressive than any of the three Americans would have imagined. The structure was higher than some of the surrounding buildings, but there were many others just as tall or taller. They weren’t there for the panorama though. Adriana moved quickly, careful to stay crouching low. The ramparts provided them enough cover so as not to be spotted from below. Sean and Tommy copied her technique. Moving along in that manner made the going slow, but it was worth it to keep out of sight from curious onlookers, or worse.
It was a short distance between the doorway and the bell, and they made it across without much difficulty. Adriana knelt down underneath the object and cocked her head sideways so she could see inside.
“Anything?” Tommy asked, nervously glancing back and forth along the walkway.
The British flag, high atop the flagpole, made a sudden whipping noise that almost caused him to jump out of his pants.
“Try and relax, man. You’ve definitely been in way worse spots,” Sean chided.
“True.” The statement seemed to calm him down somewhat.
Adriana pulled her phone out of her pocket and switched on the light. She stuck the device into the underside of the bell and took another look. “There’s something here. I’m going to take a picture of it. We can analyze it later.”
“Good call.”
She tapped the screen a few times, and a moment later, the light flashed inside the bell. She shot a quick glance down to the ground level to check if anyone had noticed. It didn’t seem like anyone was paying any attention. She put the phone back in her pocket and turned around. “Let’s get back to the car.”
Tommy twisted to go back the way they came, but a voice froze everyone in their place. “What are ya doin’ up here? Tourists are not permitted in this area.”
Their eyes converged across the top of the barbican to see a man in a police uniform. The guy had to be pushing sixty, probably resigned to security details like this one in the waning years of his career. Now he represented a huge problem.
“Stand up, all of ya,” he ordered in what Sean was certain was a Welsh accent.
Inch by inch, the three Americans stood up, careful to keep their hands away from their bodies.
“We just came up here to have a look around,” Sean explained in a calm tone. “We’re doing an archaeological study on this tower.” He wasn’t exactly lying, but he wasn’t telling the truth either. The less this guy knew, the better.
“Americans?” The man’s loose facial skin jiggled as he spoke.
“Yes, sir. We don’t have any authorization to be up here. We can get it if you need us to though.”
The policeman seemed to be considering the situation. “I’m going to need to see some identification. Don’t try any funny business.” He kept his hand firmly pressed against the radio on his shoulder, ready to call additional support if needed.
“That’s fine,” Sean tried to speak calmly. The last thing he wanted to do was startle the old man. “I have my passport in my jacket. May I take it out?”
The policeman nodded and took a few cautious steps in Sean’s direction. Sean ever so cautiously unzipped his jacket halfway down and reached inside. He took out his passport and held it out for the old man. Sean had the distinctly odd memory of going through the same kind of process when he was trying to feed a feral cat in his neighborhood as a child. If he moved too quickly, the beast would run off. In this case, they would probably end up in a Southampton jail cell.
A fleshy, wrinkled hand took the passport and retreated a step to keep a safe distance. The policeman, whose nametag read Martin, flipped open the little blue book and scanned the identification page. His eyes shifted from the book to Sean and back as he double checked to make sure it was really who the passport said it was.
After what seemed like five minutes of uncertainty, the policeman seemed to calm down and stepped forward again, handing the passport back to Sean. “The signs below clearly state that only authorized personnel are allowed up here, Mr. Wyatt. You do realize this means you’re trespassing?”
“Yes, sir. We realize that now.” Sean could see that Tommy and Adriana were happy to let him do the talking, which was also fine with him. Through the years, Sean had learned something about himself: he liked to be in control of tenuous situations like this one. Once too many mouths started yammering, things could spiral downhill quickly.