The Missing Dovedale Topaz Portrait

Lady Amelia Dovedale's likeness, shown in the celebrated Dovedale topaz parure, is meant to command the Cheltenham Gallery when the town gathers for tomorrow's unveiling.

Five golden topazes are painted so precisely that a jeweller could set real stones from the canvas alone.

This morning the great gilt frame hangs empty, while the parure itself remains locked away and not a stone has been disturbed.

Lady Verity Crowe and her husband, Lord Alexander, must reckon with a drugged night porter, a cocoa tin traced with gold dust, a loupe claimed by no jeweller, and one very particular frame-maker.

Someone has taken a picture of the jewels while leaving the jewels behind, and the reason must come clear before the unveiling waltz begins.