1 00:00:15,410 --> 00:00:22,370 Speaker 1: Pushkin. Tim here with an exciting announcement about the Cautionary Club, 2 00:00:22,690 --> 00:00:26,850 Speaker 1: our Patreon community for Cautionary Tales listeners. So many of 3 00:00:26,850 --> 00:00:30,210 Speaker 1: you joined our live table read earlier this year that 4 00:00:30,330 --> 00:00:33,610 Speaker 1: we're doing it again. Join me and I production team 5 00:00:33,770 --> 00:00:37,690 Speaker 1: for a live reading of an unreleased episode about the 6 00:00:37,730 --> 00:00:43,410 Speaker 1: people who almost invented the iPhone fifteen years early and 7 00:00:43,450 --> 00:00:46,770 Speaker 1: the surprising reasons they failed. This will be a chance 8 00:00:46,850 --> 00:00:49,010 Speaker 1: for you to see how the stories we tell are 9 00:00:49,010 --> 00:00:53,490 Speaker 1: developed in real time and ask your burning questions about 10 00:00:53,490 --> 00:00:57,010 Speaker 1: cautionary Tales. It's on the eighth of July at five 11 00:00:57,050 --> 00:01:01,090 Speaker 1: pm UK or noon Eastern. If you join the Patreon 12 00:01:01,170 --> 00:01:03,770 Speaker 1: before then, or if you're already a member, you'll get 13 00:01:03,770 --> 00:01:10,170 Speaker 1: your exclusive invitation. Head to Patreon dot com slash Cautionary Club. 14 00:01:10,450 --> 00:01:14,050 Speaker 1: That's Patreon, p A T R e O N dot 15 00:01:14,090 --> 00:01:23,450 Speaker 1: com slash Cautionary Club. Dublin Castle nineteen oh three, the 16 00:01:23,530 --> 00:01:27,770 Speaker 1: seat of government in Ireland, then still ruled by Britain. 17 00:01:28,730 --> 00:01:34,330 Speaker 1: Workman dragging a heavy safe across a hallway. It's three 18 00:01:34,370 --> 00:01:39,410 Speaker 1: feet wide, made from sturdy steel by the prestigious ratner 19 00:01:39,530 --> 00:01:46,050 Speaker 1: company thief Proof, or so it says inside the safe. 20 00:01:46,650 --> 00:01:53,890 Speaker 1: The Irish Crown jewels, exquisitely crafted, ostentatiously made from diamonds, 21 00:01:54,250 --> 00:02:00,650 Speaker 1: emeralds and rubies. When the King of the United Kingdom 22 00:02:00,690 --> 00:02:03,450 Speaker 1: of Great Britain and Ireland came to Ireland for some 23 00:02:03,890 --> 00:02:08,850 Speaker 1: grand ceremonial occasion, these jewels would be worn. They were worth, 24 00:02:08,890 --> 00:02:14,170 Speaker 1: in today's money, several million dollars. The workers are heaving 25 00:02:14,370 --> 00:02:18,330 Speaker 1: the safe towards the strong room. They've just built an 26 00:02:18,530 --> 00:02:22,130 Speaker 1: extra layer of protection for the safe and the jewels, 27 00:02:22,490 --> 00:02:26,850 Speaker 1: along with various other valuables and documents. The walls to 28 00:02:26,890 --> 00:02:31,050 Speaker 1: the strong room are thick and reinforced. The door is 29 00:02:31,090 --> 00:02:35,610 Speaker 1: made from steel, two tons of it. Now time to 30 00:02:35,610 --> 00:02:41,730 Speaker 1: put the safe in the strong room. Ah, the safe 31 00:02:41,970 --> 00:02:45,330 Speaker 1: doesn't quite fit through the doorway, at least this way around. 32 00:02:45,690 --> 00:02:52,730 Speaker 1: Let's try swiveling it ninety degrees hmm, not that way either, 33 00:02:53,890 --> 00:03:02,370 Speaker 1: maybe at an angle. Well, this is embarrassing. The plans 34 00:03:02,450 --> 00:03:07,650 Speaker 1: for the strong room are unfolded, and with some trepidation, 35 00:03:08,530 --> 00:03:12,570 Speaker 1: the door is measured. But it's exactly the width that's 36 00:03:12,610 --> 00:03:17,330 Speaker 1: supposed to be. No mistake there. Apparently nobody thought to 37 00:03:17,450 --> 00:03:22,010 Speaker 1: measure the safe before drawing up the plans, or what 38 00:03:22,170 --> 00:03:25,250 Speaker 1: might have been even more sensible to put the safe 39 00:03:25,290 --> 00:03:28,090 Speaker 1: in the space that would become the strong room and 40 00:03:28,130 --> 00:03:32,730 Speaker 1: build the walls around it. The man in charge, Sir 41 00:03:32,970 --> 00:03:39,490 Speaker 1: Arthur Vickers, considers his options. They could take down a wall, 42 00:03:40,090 --> 00:03:42,770 Speaker 1: and they've only just put them up. They could buy 43 00:03:42,930 --> 00:03:46,610 Speaker 1: a narrower safe, but they've already spent a fortune on 44 00:03:46,730 --> 00:03:50,810 Speaker 1: this refurbishment. Maybe they could just leave the safe in 45 00:03:50,850 --> 00:03:55,610 Speaker 1: another room, the library, over the hallway from the strong Room. 46 00:03:55,810 --> 00:03:59,330 Speaker 1: The safe is thief proof after all, and the only 47 00:03:59,370 --> 00:04:01,730 Speaker 1: people who come into this part of the castle are 48 00:04:01,770 --> 00:04:09,690 Speaker 1: the colleagues and friends of Sir Arthur Vickers. It'll be fine. 49 00:04:09,930 --> 00:04:15,370 Speaker 1: Sir Arthur Vickers has some grand titles. He's the Ulster 50 00:04:15,570 --> 00:04:19,130 Speaker 1: King of Arms, the Registrar and night Attendant of the 51 00:04:19,170 --> 00:04:24,410 Speaker 1: most Illustrious Order of Saint Patrick. Two years after the 52 00:04:24,570 --> 00:04:28,810 Speaker 1: strong Room door debarcle in nineteen oh five, Vickers is 53 00:04:28,850 --> 00:04:32,090 Speaker 1: making some amendments to the Statute of the Order of 54 00:04:32,130 --> 00:04:38,010 Speaker 1: Saint Patrick, which formally sets out the responsibilities of his role, 55 00:04:39,410 --> 00:04:44,010 Speaker 1: among them to ensure the crown jewels are deposited for 56 00:04:44,170 --> 00:04:47,770 Speaker 1: safe keeping in a steel safe in the Strong Room. 57 00:04:48,370 --> 00:04:50,930 Speaker 1: That had been written when the strong Room was being built. 58 00:04:51,690 --> 00:04:54,930 Speaker 1: The safe is still very much not in the strong room, 59 00:04:55,490 --> 00:04:58,970 Speaker 1: so mightn't it be wise to strike out those words 60 00:04:59,010 --> 00:05:04,930 Speaker 1: from his actual job description. No need, he decides it'll 61 00:05:04,970 --> 00:05:09,530 Speaker 1: be fine. Two years after that in nineteen ohight seven, 62 00:05:10,890 --> 00:05:17,210 Speaker 1: Well you can probably guess what happens. Then. I'm Tim 63 00:05:17,290 --> 00:05:48,410 Speaker 1: Harford and you're listening to cautionary tales. Arthur Vickers was 64 00:05:48,570 --> 00:05:54,170 Speaker 1: fascinated by the genealogy of aristocratic Irish families, an arcane 65 00:05:54,330 --> 00:05:58,570 Speaker 1: subject to find fascinating, perhaps, but his enthusiasm landed him 66 00:05:58,570 --> 00:06:02,570 Speaker 1: a comfortable job as Ulster, King of Arms, Night Attendant 67 00:06:02,650 --> 00:06:07,170 Speaker 1: and Registrar of the Order of Saint Patrick. Vickers reported 68 00:06:07,370 --> 00:06:10,890 Speaker 1: directly to his Majesty the King, and the job was 69 00:06:10,890 --> 00:06:15,010 Speaker 1: his for life, provided he didn't do anything stupid enough 70 00:06:15,050 --> 00:06:19,570 Speaker 1: to force the King to reconsider. The salary wasn't huge, 71 00:06:19,810 --> 00:06:23,610 Speaker 1: but enough to allow Vickers to lease a grand looking townhouse, 72 00:06:24,050 --> 00:06:29,010 Speaker 1: an employer, cook, a coachman, and a manservant. At forty 73 00:06:29,050 --> 00:06:33,530 Speaker 1: four years old, Vickers was very much the established bachelor, 74 00:06:34,090 --> 00:06:37,890 Speaker 1: which is to say Vickers was widely rumored to be gay. 75 00:06:39,010 --> 00:06:43,530 Speaker 1: He also had a housemate, another bachelor, Although the young 76 00:06:43,570 --> 00:06:46,570 Speaker 1: man spent a lot of time in London on business. 77 00:06:47,450 --> 00:06:51,890 Speaker 1: Vicker's job. He was in charge of tracing family trees 78 00:06:52,010 --> 00:06:56,730 Speaker 1: and deciding who qualified for what privileges in the labyrinthine 79 00:06:56,770 --> 00:07:02,010 Speaker 1: world of Irish gentry, the lords and ladies, earls and barons. 80 00:07:02,610 --> 00:07:06,210 Speaker 1: Who was merely an honorable who got to be a 81 00:07:06,370 --> 00:07:11,010 Speaker 1: right honorable or a most honorable? Who was allowed to 82 00:07:11,170 --> 00:07:16,850 Speaker 1: use a coronet on their family's heraldic crest. Important stuff. 83 00:07:17,850 --> 00:07:21,890 Speaker 1: Vickers was deeply conscious of what distinguished a Knight of 84 00:07:21,930 --> 00:07:24,850 Speaker 1: the Garter from a Knight of the Order of the 85 00:07:24,890 --> 00:07:29,210 Speaker 1: Bath or a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order. 86 00:07:29,770 --> 00:07:35,130 Speaker 1: That's what Vickers was himself and proud of it. When 87 00:07:35,170 --> 00:07:39,010 Speaker 1: the King visited the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, who governed 88 00:07:39,050 --> 00:07:43,010 Speaker 1: on Britain's behalf, it was Vickers who made sure all 89 00:07:43,130 --> 00:07:48,730 Speaker 1: the ceremonial aspects of the visit ran smoothly. Oh and 90 00:07:49,570 --> 00:07:52,010 Speaker 1: of course he had to make sure that the crown 91 00:07:52,090 --> 00:07:54,690 Speaker 1: jewels were kept in a steel safe in the strong room. 92 00:07:56,890 --> 00:08:01,050 Speaker 1: It doesn't sound too onerous, and Vickers rarely rolled up 93 00:08:01,090 --> 00:08:04,970 Speaker 1: at his suite of rooms in Dublin Castle before eleven am. 94 00:08:05,690 --> 00:08:09,610 Speaker 1: Those rooms included his own office, the strong room, and 95 00:08:09,690 --> 00:08:14,050 Speaker 1: the library. That's where the safe was. The library also 96 00:08:14,250 --> 00:08:18,290 Speaker 1: served as an antechamber for visitors, so people were often 97 00:08:18,650 --> 00:08:23,010 Speaker 1: in and out, not ideal for a room containing the 98 00:08:23,130 --> 00:08:28,530 Speaker 1: Crown jewels, but the office messenger, mister Styvey, sat right 99 00:08:28,610 --> 00:08:33,930 Speaker 1: outside in the hallway. Admittedly, Styvey couldn't actually see the 100 00:08:34,050 --> 00:08:37,170 Speaker 1: safe from where he sat or one of the two 101 00:08:37,250 --> 00:08:41,570 Speaker 1: doors into the library, and he wasn't always there, but 102 00:08:41,690 --> 00:08:48,570 Speaker 1: still it'd be fine. The first sign of trouble came 103 00:08:48,610 --> 00:08:52,850 Speaker 1: on a Wednesday in July nineteen oh seven, one week 104 00:08:53,010 --> 00:08:56,690 Speaker 1: before the King was due to visit on an important matter, 105 00:08:57,650 --> 00:09:00,970 Speaker 1: investing a new lord as a Knight of Saint Patrick. 106 00:09:01,970 --> 00:09:04,170 Speaker 1: It was the kind of occasion for which Vickers had 107 00:09:04,210 --> 00:09:07,130 Speaker 1: to be on top of all the MINUTIAI, such as 108 00:09:07,250 --> 00:09:09,930 Speaker 1: making sure the engraving was up to date on the 109 00:09:10,010 --> 00:09:13,010 Speaker 1: gold collars worn by the Knights of the Order of 110 00:09:13,010 --> 00:09:19,050 Speaker 1: Saint Patrick. Vickers had a lot on his mind. Vickers 111 00:09:19,130 --> 00:09:23,330 Speaker 1: arrived at his usual leisurely hour and was accosted by 112 00:09:23,330 --> 00:09:27,090 Speaker 1: a worried mister Stivee. He'd been talking to the cleaning 113 00:09:27,210 --> 00:09:31,450 Speaker 1: lady when she had arrived that morning. She was always 114 00:09:31,490 --> 00:09:34,970 Speaker 1: the first she had found that the front door into 115 00:09:34,970 --> 00:09:41,010 Speaker 1: the office building hadn't been locked, Vickers absently replied, did 116 00:09:41,050 --> 00:09:47,170 Speaker 1: you Yes, said Stivee, but Vickers did not appear concerned. 117 00:09:48,330 --> 00:09:52,650 Speaker 1: Stivee was nonplussed. He'd expected his boss to alert the 118 00:09:52,730 --> 00:09:58,410 Speaker 1: police and investigate if anything had been taken, but Stivee 119 00:09:58,490 --> 00:10:02,130 Speaker 1: was an ex navy man who understood chains of command. 120 00:10:03,050 --> 00:10:05,450 Speaker 1: He'd told his boss it was up to the boss 121 00:10:05,490 --> 00:10:08,570 Speaker 1: to decide what, if anything, to do with that information. 122 00:10:10,170 --> 00:10:14,850 Speaker 1: Three days later, four days before the King's visit, the 123 00:10:14,930 --> 00:10:19,490 Speaker 1: cleaning lady had an even bigger shock. This time she 124 00:10:19,650 --> 00:10:22,690 Speaker 1: arrived to find that the huge steel door to the 125 00:10:22,810 --> 00:10:28,450 Speaker 1: strong room was hanging open once again. She informed Styvee. 126 00:10:29,810 --> 00:10:35,010 Speaker 1: When Vickers turned up, Styvey passed on the alarming news, 127 00:10:35,130 --> 00:10:39,130 Speaker 1: or at least Styvey thought it was alarming. Vickers, though, 128 00:10:39,490 --> 00:10:45,450 Speaker 1: seemed distracted. That's so he said, and went straight into 129 00:10:45,530 --> 00:10:51,530 Speaker 1: his office. It was Saturday. Styvee always left early on 130 00:10:51,570 --> 00:10:54,690 Speaker 1: a Saturday, but not before checking if Vickers had any 131 00:10:54,770 --> 00:10:58,970 Speaker 1: last job that needed doing. Can you put this in 132 00:10:59,010 --> 00:11:02,810 Speaker 1: the safe, says Vickers. He hands Stivey one of the 133 00:11:02,890 --> 00:11:07,010 Speaker 1: newly engraved golden collars of the Order of Saint Patrick 134 00:11:07,650 --> 00:11:10,810 Speaker 1: just received back from a low called jewler. He also 135 00:11:10,890 --> 00:11:15,290 Speaker 1: hands him the key to the safe. Stivey is surprised. 136 00:11:16,010 --> 00:11:20,810 Speaker 1: He's never before been asked to open the safe. He 137 00:11:20,930 --> 00:11:24,490 Speaker 1: goes into the library, slides the key into the lock 138 00:11:25,530 --> 00:11:32,050 Speaker 1: and tries to turn it. It doesn't move. Hmm. He 139 00:11:32,170 --> 00:11:36,850 Speaker 1: tries the other way, and now the key turns. He 140 00:11:36,930 --> 00:11:44,410 Speaker 1: pulls the handle, the door doesn't open. He understands he 141 00:11:44,530 --> 00:11:53,010 Speaker 1: hasn't just unlocked the safe, He's just locked it. Stivey 142 00:11:53,250 --> 00:11:55,650 Speaker 1: rushes back to tell Vickers that the safe had been 143 00:11:55,850 --> 00:12:01,730 Speaker 1: unlocked this time. Vickers pays attention, what do you mean. 144 00:12:02,890 --> 00:12:06,330 Speaker 1: Vickers hurries to the safe, unlocks it and pulls the 145 00:12:06,370 --> 00:12:13,130 Speaker 1: door open. My god, he says, they're gone. The jewels 146 00:12:13,170 --> 00:12:19,970 Speaker 1: are gone. When the police arrived to investigate, Vickers tells 147 00:12:20,010 --> 00:12:23,570 Speaker 1: them he has no idea how this could have happened. 148 00:12:23,770 --> 00:12:27,610 Speaker 1: He never lets the keys out of sight, well except 149 00:12:27,650 --> 00:12:30,650 Speaker 1: when they're in his coat pocket and he takes his 150 00:12:30,730 --> 00:12:33,570 Speaker 1: coat off and leaves it somewhere, Or that one time 151 00:12:33,650 --> 00:12:36,370 Speaker 1: he forgot his keys at home and his coachman brought 152 00:12:36,370 --> 00:12:40,730 Speaker 1: them in for him. He doesn't mention what's later reported 153 00:12:40,770 --> 00:12:44,010 Speaker 1: to have happened one night a few months earlier, at 154 00:12:44,090 --> 00:12:47,970 Speaker 1: one of the after hours parties he sometimes threw in 155 00:12:48,050 --> 00:12:53,250 Speaker 1: his office for other young men. Vickers passed out drunk 156 00:12:53,810 --> 00:12:58,050 Speaker 1: and one of the men proposed a practical joke. They 157 00:12:58,090 --> 00:13:02,930 Speaker 1: took vickers keys from his pocket, removed the Crown jewels 158 00:13:02,970 --> 00:13:07,970 Speaker 1: from the safe and put the keys back. The next morning, 159 00:13:08,530 --> 00:13:11,810 Speaker 1: a hung over a Vicars received a parcel through the 160 00:13:11,930 --> 00:13:18,210 Speaker 1: post and opened it to find, to his astonishment, the 161 00:13:18,330 --> 00:13:23,570 Speaker 1: Crown jewels. No, he doesn't mention that to the police, 162 00:13:24,090 --> 00:13:27,850 Speaker 1: but he does say hopefully I would not be a 163 00:13:27,890 --> 00:13:30,770 Speaker 1: bit surprised that they would be returned to my house 164 00:13:30,850 --> 00:13:39,770 Speaker 1: by parcel post tomorrow morning. Well maybe, Sir Arthur, maybe 165 00:13:39,810 --> 00:13:48,330 Speaker 1: cautionary tales will be back after the break. Sir Arthur 166 00:13:48,450 --> 00:13:53,010 Speaker 1: Vickers was widely rumored to be gay, not that gay 167 00:13:53,170 --> 00:13:56,850 Speaker 1: had its current meaning in nineteen oh seven. Even the 168 00:13:56,890 --> 00:14:02,170 Speaker 1: word homosexual wasn't widely used. Whatever you called it, consensual 169 00:14:02,250 --> 00:14:05,610 Speaker 1: sex between adult men was very much against the law. 170 00:14:06,330 --> 00:14:10,650 Speaker 1: A generation earlier, in eighteen eighty four, Sir Arthur's own 171 00:14:10,770 --> 00:14:14,890 Speaker 1: workplace had been the center of the Dublin Castle scandal. 172 00:14:15,290 --> 00:14:19,370 Speaker 1: A senior official and army captain were among a group 173 00:14:19,410 --> 00:14:23,450 Speaker 1: of men who stood criminal trial for their homosexual activities. 174 00:14:24,410 --> 00:14:30,170 Speaker 1: The scandal rocked the British administration. Dublin Castle was portrayed 175 00:14:30,210 --> 00:14:34,850 Speaker 1: as a hotbed of this terrible vice, this crime that 176 00:14:35,090 --> 00:14:41,570 Speaker 1: was loathsome, impure and revolting the lowest depth of detestable depravity. 177 00:14:43,530 --> 00:14:48,370 Speaker 1: A decade later, in eighteen ninety five, the celebrated Irish 178 00:14:48,410 --> 00:14:54,130 Speaker 1: playwright Oscar Wilde was convicted in London of gross indecency 179 00:14:54,770 --> 00:15:00,090 Speaker 1: and sentenced to two years hard labor. And yet Sir 180 00:15:00,210 --> 00:15:04,290 Speaker 1: Arthur Vickers shared his house with another man who was 181 00:15:04,410 --> 00:15:08,730 Speaker 1: well known to be gay. He employed servants who has 182 00:15:08,770 --> 00:15:13,690 Speaker 1: served do knew exactly what was happening. So Arthur frequently 183 00:15:13,730 --> 00:15:17,570 Speaker 1: held after work drinks in his office with more gay men. 184 00:15:18,610 --> 00:15:24,450 Speaker 1: Wasn't he taking a terrible risk? Well, yes and no. 185 00:15:25,650 --> 00:15:30,650 Speaker 1: The sociologist Ari Addut points out that homosexuality norms were 186 00:15:30,730 --> 00:15:36,490 Speaker 1: only rarely and reluctantly enforced. For many years before Oscar 187 00:15:36,530 --> 00:15:39,890 Speaker 1: Wilde's trial, it was common knowledge that he was gay. 188 00:15:40,330 --> 00:15:44,050 Speaker 1: He hardly tried to hide it with his flamboyant dress 189 00:15:44,130 --> 00:15:50,530 Speaker 1: and green carnation buttonniere public flirting and waxing lyrical about 190 00:15:50,730 --> 00:15:56,290 Speaker 1: male beauty and Socratic love. Yet his plays were wildly popular, 191 00:15:56,690 --> 00:16:00,330 Speaker 1: and he moved in the most fashionable high society circles. 192 00:16:01,130 --> 00:16:04,610 Speaker 1: As a adute says, on the face of it, that's 193 00:16:04,650 --> 00:16:09,690 Speaker 1: a puzzle. Why would audiences and authorities a commodate those 194 00:16:09,730 --> 00:16:14,010 Speaker 1: who are widely known to commit a transgression deemed repulsive 195 00:16:14,090 --> 00:16:19,970 Speaker 1: by society and criminal by law. Allow me to set 196 00:16:20,010 --> 00:16:23,930 Speaker 1: that puzzle aside for later, and invite you first to 197 00:16:24,050 --> 00:16:28,210 Speaker 1: spend some time with one of Oscar Wilde's great friends, 198 00:16:28,850 --> 00:16:34,010 Speaker 1: Lord Ronald Gower, an inspiration for Wilde's character Lord Henry 199 00:16:34,050 --> 00:16:39,570 Speaker 1: Wootton in his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray. Lord 200 00:16:39,690 --> 00:16:42,970 Speaker 1: Ronald Gower made some attempt to be discreet about his 201 00:16:43,050 --> 00:16:48,490 Speaker 1: homosexuality by legally adopting his much younger lover to give 202 00:16:48,490 --> 00:16:52,570 Speaker 1: them an ostensible reason for living together. At his country house. 203 00:16:53,330 --> 00:16:58,090 Speaker 1: Gower and his adopted son through weekend parties for his 204 00:16:58,210 --> 00:17:03,450 Speaker 1: close friends, mostly men, though a wealthy widow was also 205 00:17:03,530 --> 00:17:08,610 Speaker 1: a much loved fixture. Lord Ronald Gower was a sculptor. 206 00:17:09,290 --> 00:17:13,410 Speaker 1: He labored for twelve years on an installation that still 207 00:17:13,490 --> 00:17:18,090 Speaker 1: overlooks the river in Stratford upon avon bronze sculptures of 208 00:17:18,130 --> 00:17:23,410 Speaker 1: William Shakespeare and four of his major characters. Gower didn't 209 00:17:23,450 --> 00:17:27,370 Speaker 1: get paid for this. He financed it himself. He could 210 00:17:27,370 --> 00:17:30,930 Speaker 1: do that because he was an aristocrat and very rich. 211 00:17:31,690 --> 00:17:36,850 Speaker 1: At least he was very rich until he met Frank Shackleton. 212 00:17:39,090 --> 00:17:45,250 Speaker 1: Francis Frank Shackleton was the brother of the famous Antarctic explorer, 213 00:17:45,610 --> 00:17:51,010 Speaker 1: Sir Ernest Shackleton. Thirty years younger than Gower, Frank was 214 00:17:51,050 --> 00:17:53,530 Speaker 1: an irishman who spent a lot of time in London. 215 00:17:54,490 --> 00:17:58,050 Speaker 1: He did something finance related in the city and frequented 216 00:17:58,090 --> 00:18:02,890 Speaker 1: all the fashionable London clubs. One who knew him described 217 00:18:02,930 --> 00:18:10,330 Speaker 1: Shackleton as extremely good looking and extremely Depravedackleton became part 218 00:18:10,410 --> 00:18:15,530 Speaker 1: of Lord Gower's intimate circle, a regular at his weekend parties. 219 00:18:16,490 --> 00:18:20,090 Speaker 1: Gower became so close to Shackleton that he bestowed upon 220 00:18:20,170 --> 00:18:27,930 Speaker 1: him a pet nickname, My Old Foozle. In nineteen oh seven, 221 00:18:28,330 --> 00:18:33,690 Speaker 1: Gower's investment manager died. He asked his Old Foozle to 222 00:18:33,770 --> 00:18:37,850 Speaker 1: take over. Why not, young Shackleton, it seemed was good 223 00:18:37,890 --> 00:18:42,730 Speaker 1: at business. Gower's wealthy widow friend also entrusted Shackleton with 224 00:18:42,770 --> 00:18:46,490 Speaker 1: her money. She had taken a shine to him. Dear 225 00:18:46,570 --> 00:18:50,610 Speaker 1: little Francis, she writes in one letter, you are very 226 00:18:50,650 --> 00:18:53,850 Speaker 1: dear to me. She later said she thought she and 227 00:18:53,930 --> 00:19:01,170 Speaker 1: Shackleton enjoyed a relationship akin to mother and son. Much 228 00:19:01,170 --> 00:19:05,450 Speaker 1: of their money, many millions in today's terms, was invested 229 00:19:05,490 --> 00:19:10,930 Speaker 1: in railway shares. It gave a steady income, But Shackleton said, 230 00:19:11,490 --> 00:19:15,170 Speaker 1: what about the rise of the motor car? They trusted 231 00:19:15,210 --> 00:19:20,570 Speaker 1: Shackleton to invest in something better instead. Gower found money 232 00:19:20,610 --> 00:19:25,570 Speaker 1: matters tedious, so he gave Shackleton power of attorney. That 233 00:19:25,690 --> 00:19:29,970 Speaker 1: way he wouldn't have the hassle of approving every last transaction. 234 00:19:32,970 --> 00:19:38,090 Speaker 1: Frank Shackleton had a secret. He'd risked all his own 235 00:19:38,130 --> 00:19:41,810 Speaker 1: money on a tract of land in Mexico. He was 236 00:19:41,850 --> 00:19:44,610 Speaker 1: sure it had the resources to make him rich, but 237 00:19:44,890 --> 00:19:50,370 Speaker 1: it needed more upfront investment, more than Shackleton himself could raise. 238 00:19:51,250 --> 00:19:54,650 Speaker 1: He put Gower's and the widow's money into an elaborate 239 00:19:54,770 --> 00:19:58,730 Speaker 1: scheme of worthless shell companies to try to convince his 240 00:19:58,890 --> 00:20:03,770 Speaker 1: bank and brokers to keep extending his credit and underwriting 241 00:20:03,850 --> 00:20:09,010 Speaker 1: his risks. Lord Gower had no idea he was back 242 00:20:09,370 --> 00:20:14,410 Speaker 1: rolling Shackleton's Mexican adventure until in nineteen ten he received 243 00:20:14,450 --> 00:20:20,570 Speaker 1: a summons for unpaid debts. Shackleton had mortgaged Gower's properties. 244 00:20:21,090 --> 00:20:25,370 Speaker 1: He had been intercepting Gower's mail to stop him finding out. 245 00:20:26,850 --> 00:20:32,970 Speaker 1: Soon after Shackleton's brokers pulled the plug, Gower's adopted son 246 00:20:33,090 --> 00:20:38,850 Speaker 1: and wealthy widow friend went to Shackleton's bankruptcy hearings. If 247 00:20:38,890 --> 00:20:43,650 Speaker 1: they'd expected contrition, they were in for a shock. Shackleton 248 00:20:43,730 --> 00:20:49,170 Speaker 1: walked up to them and grinned. The adopted son was furious. 249 00:20:50,050 --> 00:20:55,490 Speaker 1: He yelled at Shackleton, thief. Before anyone could sue Shackleton 250 00:20:55,610 --> 00:21:04,650 Speaker 1: for defrauding them, he skipped the country. Frank Shackleton then suave, plausible, 251 00:21:05,610 --> 00:21:12,170 Speaker 1: secretly desperate for money, and utterly without moral scruples. Oh 252 00:21:12,490 --> 00:21:17,410 Speaker 1: and one other thing about Shackleton. Back in nineteen oh seven, 253 00:21:18,130 --> 00:21:21,970 Speaker 1: he used to split his time between London and Dublin, 254 00:21:23,010 --> 00:21:26,370 Speaker 1: where he shared the lease on a grand looking townhouse 255 00:21:26,530 --> 00:21:35,090 Speaker 1: with his good friend, Sir Arthur Vickers. Sir Arthur Vickers 256 00:21:35,210 --> 00:21:40,410 Speaker 1: waited anxiously for the arrival of the parcel post Alas 257 00:21:40,810 --> 00:21:45,090 Speaker 1: it did not contain the Irish Crown jewels, the local 258 00:21:45,130 --> 00:21:50,850 Speaker 1: police continued their investigation. They asked Vickers when was the 259 00:21:50,970 --> 00:21:54,850 Speaker 1: last time he had opened the safe? Just over three 260 00:21:54,970 --> 00:21:58,530 Speaker 1: weeks earlier, he worked out the jewels could have been 261 00:21:58,570 --> 00:22:02,810 Speaker 1: taken at any point in that time. The police brought 262 00:22:02,850 --> 00:22:06,250 Speaker 1: in experts to examine the locks on the safe and 263 00:22:06,330 --> 00:22:10,090 Speaker 1: the strong room door. They said if the locks had 264 00:22:10,090 --> 00:22:15,530 Speaker 1: been picked there'd be telltale scratches. There were none that 265 00:22:15,690 --> 00:22:20,010 Speaker 1: meant they'd been opened with a key. Only one man 266 00:22:20,410 --> 00:22:25,010 Speaker 1: possessed the original keys to the safe, Sir Arthur Vickers. 267 00:22:27,570 --> 00:22:30,090 Speaker 1: There were two ways one might make a copy of 268 00:22:30,130 --> 00:22:34,010 Speaker 1: a key. You could quickly make a wax impression of 269 00:22:34,050 --> 00:22:36,930 Speaker 1: the original, or you could take the original to a 270 00:22:36,970 --> 00:22:41,170 Speaker 1: locksmith and have them take their time about it. If 271 00:22:41,170 --> 00:22:43,810 Speaker 1: the safe had been opened by the kind of crude 272 00:22:43,850 --> 00:22:47,410 Speaker 1: copy you might get from a wax impression, they'd again 273 00:22:47,690 --> 00:22:52,570 Speaker 1: be telltale signs. There were none. Whoever had opened the 274 00:22:52,650 --> 00:22:56,570 Speaker 1: safe had either used an original key, or at some 275 00:22:56,730 --> 00:23:00,410 Speaker 1: point had gained possession of an original for long enough 276 00:23:00,450 --> 00:23:06,890 Speaker 1: to make a perfect copy. Who might that be? Vickers 277 00:23:06,930 --> 00:23:12,330 Speaker 1: thought for a moment, and unwise suggested his coachman, After 278 00:23:12,370 --> 00:23:15,650 Speaker 1: all that one time he did have access to the keys. 279 00:23:15,970 --> 00:23:20,410 Speaker 1: When Vickers forgot them at home, police interrogated the coachman, 280 00:23:21,010 --> 00:23:25,130 Speaker 1: who was outraged that his boss had accused him. They 281 00:23:25,170 --> 00:23:28,490 Speaker 1: found nothing to suggest the coachman had done it. But 282 00:23:28,570 --> 00:23:33,410 Speaker 1: the coachman did tell them lots of interesting information about 283 00:23:33,450 --> 00:23:37,970 Speaker 1: the comings and goings of men in the vicar's Shackleton household. 284 00:23:40,570 --> 00:23:45,010 Speaker 1: The British Government sent in an inspector from Scotland Yard, 285 00:23:45,330 --> 00:23:50,810 Speaker 1: their top crime investigation agency. He quickly zeroed in on 286 00:23:50,970 --> 00:23:55,850 Speaker 1: another suggestive piece of evidence. What had been left behind 287 00:23:56,210 --> 00:24:00,370 Speaker 1: in the safe. A ribbon was there. It had been 288 00:24:00,410 --> 00:24:03,570 Speaker 1: attached to the Crown jewels and would have taken quite 289 00:24:03,650 --> 00:24:09,050 Speaker 1: some time to remove. Several gold collars were also stuff 290 00:24:09,330 --> 00:24:12,970 Speaker 1: and from the safe. They had been wrapped in tissue 291 00:24:12,970 --> 00:24:17,690 Speaker 1: paper and stored in boxes, and the boxes and tissue 292 00:24:17,730 --> 00:24:22,890 Speaker 1: paper had been neatly put back. Whoever took the jewels 293 00:24:22,930 --> 00:24:28,730 Speaker 1: clearly hadn't been in a rush. This was no opportunistic heist, 294 00:24:29,250 --> 00:24:33,530 Speaker 1: said the inspector. Any regular thief would swipe the valuables 295 00:24:33,530 --> 00:24:38,370 Speaker 1: and get away. Whoever took the jewels was not only 296 00:24:38,530 --> 00:24:41,890 Speaker 1: close enough to Vickers to have access to his keys, 297 00:24:42,690 --> 00:24:47,050 Speaker 1: but also comfortable enough in Dublin Castle to take their time. 298 00:24:49,610 --> 00:24:53,770 Speaker 1: It had to be one of vickers colleagues or friends 299 00:24:55,090 --> 00:25:02,610 Speaker 1: or housemate. Cautionary tales will be back in a moment. 300 00:25:09,170 --> 00:25:14,290 Speaker 1: Sociologist Ariy Adute posed a puzzle, why did London high 301 00:25:14,330 --> 00:25:19,410 Speaker 1: society accept and celebrate Oscar Wilde when everyone knew he 302 00:25:19,530 --> 00:25:25,290 Speaker 1: was gay? That puzzle has a flip side. After years 303 00:25:25,290 --> 00:25:29,970 Speaker 1: of acceptance, why was wild suddenly punished so harshly for 304 00:25:30,290 --> 00:25:35,050 Speaker 1: something that everyone already knew about? In eighteen ninety five, 305 00:25:35,930 --> 00:25:39,490 Speaker 1: the father of one of Wilde's lovers publicly called him 306 00:25:39,490 --> 00:25:44,610 Speaker 1: a sodomite. Wild chose to sue for libel. He thought 307 00:25:44,610 --> 00:25:50,170 Speaker 1: the allegation would be hard to prove. He lost. That 308 00:25:50,290 --> 00:25:54,330 Speaker 1: put pressure on the government to put wild on criminal trial. 309 00:25:55,290 --> 00:25:58,050 Speaker 1: They didn't want to. The Prime Minister at the time 310 00:25:58,290 --> 00:26:02,730 Speaker 1: was thought to be gay, who knew what embarrassing details 311 00:26:02,810 --> 00:26:07,090 Speaker 1: might come out. They quietly encouraged wild to leave the 312 00:26:07,210 --> 00:26:11,850 Speaker 1: country in the hope that it all blow over. Wild 313 00:26:11,970 --> 00:26:18,730 Speaker 1: refused and ended up in prison. Our Adute used Wilde's 314 00:26:18,770 --> 00:26:23,570 Speaker 1: case to develop a general theory of scandal. It's one 315 00:26:23,650 --> 00:26:27,210 Speaker 1: thing for a transgression, such as being gay in the 316 00:26:27,290 --> 00:26:31,690 Speaker 1: eighteen nineties, to be commonly known. It's another thing for 317 00:26:31,770 --> 00:26:37,610 Speaker 1: the transgression to be actively publicized. Publicity creates costs for others. 318 00:26:38,370 --> 00:26:41,170 Speaker 1: It makes the authorities look weak. If they don't act, 319 00:26:41,450 --> 00:26:46,410 Speaker 1: but if they do act, perhaps some inconvenient information will 320 00:26:46,570 --> 00:26:52,130 Speaker 1: end up being exposed. A Dute defines scandal as the 321 00:26:52,210 --> 00:26:58,010 Speaker 1: disruptive publicity of transgression. His theory helps to explain why 322 00:26:58,130 --> 00:27:03,410 Speaker 1: well connected individuals can behave transgressively for years in ways 323 00:27:03,450 --> 00:27:08,290 Speaker 1: that are hardly a secret. Then something happens to trigger publicity, 324 00:27:09,170 --> 00:27:12,370 Speaker 1: and suddenly there's a scandal with fallout that can be 325 00:27:12,450 --> 00:27:17,970 Speaker 1: hard to control. The week before the King's visit to 326 00:27:18,050 --> 00:27:22,370 Speaker 1: Dublin in nineteen oh seven, Frank Shackleton was at a 327 00:27:22,450 --> 00:27:27,010 Speaker 1: high society dinner party in London. So Arthur Vickers came 328 00:27:27,130 --> 00:27:31,530 Speaker 1: up in conversation and the Irish Crown Jewels were mentioned. 329 00:27:32,610 --> 00:27:36,890 Speaker 1: Shackleton chipped in, I should never be surprised to hear 330 00:27:36,930 --> 00:27:41,010 Speaker 1: that they were stolen someday. What makes you say that, Frank, 331 00:27:42,130 --> 00:27:46,370 Speaker 1: I have never considered them safe and what do you know? 332 00:27:47,050 --> 00:27:51,210 Speaker 1: Just a couple of days later, the Crown Jewels were 333 00:27:51,250 --> 00:28:01,210 Speaker 1: reported stolen with hindsight. Shackleton's remark raised some eyebrows. Back 334 00:28:01,250 --> 00:28:04,890 Speaker 1: in Dublin, Shackleton was happy to expand on what it 335 00:28:04,890 --> 00:28:10,250 Speaker 1: had meant. At a private inquiry into vickers security measures. 336 00:28:10,530 --> 00:28:16,050 Speaker 1: He was his usual urbane and confident self. Certainly I 337 00:28:16,130 --> 00:28:18,050 Speaker 1: could have gone into his room when he was in 338 00:28:18,090 --> 00:28:21,170 Speaker 1: the bath and taken those keys. I could have walked 339 00:28:21,170 --> 00:28:24,490 Speaker 1: away with that key and replaced it quite easily. Anyone 340 00:28:24,490 --> 00:28:29,050 Speaker 1: could have done that. He explained why he thought security 341 00:28:29,250 --> 00:28:33,410 Speaker 1: was lax at Dublin Castle. Often he'd gone to visit 342 00:28:33,490 --> 00:28:37,610 Speaker 1: Sir Arthur and walked into the suite of rooms unnoticed 343 00:28:38,010 --> 00:28:42,250 Speaker 1: as mister Stivey wasn't there. One could then sneak down 344 00:28:42,330 --> 00:28:46,010 Speaker 1: to the cellar to hide, sift through the contents of 345 00:28:46,050 --> 00:28:50,210 Speaker 1: the safe at one's leisure overnight, and simply walk out 346 00:28:50,250 --> 00:28:55,530 Speaker 1: again the next daytime. Provided your face was familiar, no 347 00:28:55,610 --> 00:29:02,730 Speaker 1: one would suspect a thing, Shackleton added, with a disarming smile. 348 00:29:03,610 --> 00:29:06,930 Speaker 1: I don't want to pile up a case against myself. 349 00:29:08,130 --> 00:29:13,050 Speaker 1: Not that Shackleton himself could be accused. He had alibis 350 00:29:13,570 --> 00:29:16,970 Speaker 1: before the jewels were stolen. He had been in England 351 00:29:17,250 --> 00:29:25,330 Speaker 1: for weeks. As the police investigation continued, Sir Arthur Vickers 352 00:29:25,410 --> 00:29:29,610 Speaker 1: asked if he could borrow the safe key back. He 353 00:29:29,730 --> 00:29:33,930 Speaker 1: explained that he had received an interesting message from a psychic. 354 00:29:34,970 --> 00:29:39,370 Speaker 1: She'd been having visions about the Crown Jewels if she 355 00:29:39,410 --> 00:29:43,970 Speaker 1: could touch something related to the case, she said she 356 00:29:44,090 --> 00:29:48,130 Speaker 1: might be able to locate them. As Sir Arthur later 357 00:29:48,210 --> 00:29:51,050 Speaker 1: mentioned that he had been discussing the case with a relative, 358 00:29:51,610 --> 00:29:58,050 Speaker 1: another Irish Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the famous author of 359 00:29:58,090 --> 00:30:03,450 Speaker 1: the Sherlock Holmes mysteries and a great believer in supernatural phenomena. 360 00:30:04,370 --> 00:30:08,890 Speaker 1: The mystic came to vickers home, held the key and 361 00:30:09,170 --> 00:30:15,530 Speaker 1: heard into a trance state, and announced the missing jewels 362 00:30:15,810 --> 00:30:21,250 Speaker 1: are hidden near a tombstone, not far from the entrance 363 00:30:21,410 --> 00:30:29,290 Speaker 1: to an old and disused churchyard in the direction of Clonsilla. 364 00:30:29,610 --> 00:30:33,290 Speaker 1: The next day, the police accompanied Vickers on the road 365 00:30:33,330 --> 00:30:38,970 Speaker 1: to Clonsilla, a village outside Dublin. They passed two churchyards 366 00:30:39,050 --> 00:30:42,890 Speaker 1: which might fit the psychic's description, and spent the whole 367 00:30:43,090 --> 00:30:48,370 Speaker 1: day searching in vain for any signs of recent digging. 368 00:30:49,370 --> 00:30:55,050 Speaker 1: A newspaper described this line of inquiry as an outrageous 369 00:30:55,090 --> 00:31:03,330 Speaker 1: display of utter stupidity. While the local police were exploring tombstones, 370 00:31:04,010 --> 00:31:11,330 Speaker 1: the inspector from Scotland Yard was writing up his report, said, well, 371 00:31:11,330 --> 00:31:14,610 Speaker 1: we don't know what it said because the report was 372 00:31:14,690 --> 00:31:19,250 Speaker 1: never made public. The inspector never talked about it, and 373 00:31:19,330 --> 00:31:25,970 Speaker 1: no copies exist, the jewels were never found. Nobody was 374 00:31:26,010 --> 00:31:32,050 Speaker 1: ever brought to trial. Historians still debate who did it. 375 00:31:32,250 --> 00:31:35,690 Speaker 1: Some think the heist was related to politics. The Irish 376 00:31:35,770 --> 00:31:40,530 Speaker 1: Nationalists were pushing for home rule, the Unionists determined to 377 00:31:40,610 --> 00:31:46,210 Speaker 1: keep Ireland ruled from Britain. Various motives are conceivable, but 378 00:31:46,810 --> 00:31:52,130 Speaker 1: others inclined to the theory that seems most obvious. It 379 00:31:52,170 --> 00:31:56,370 Speaker 1: was Frank Shackleton, the man who was later revealed to 380 00:31:56,410 --> 00:32:01,130 Speaker 1: be in desperate financial straits and a moral enough to 381 00:32:01,330 --> 00:32:06,010 Speaker 1: steal from a wealthy widow who loved him like a son. 382 00:32:07,610 --> 00:32:12,410 Speaker 1: But hold on, how did Shackleton do it? If he 383 00:32:12,530 --> 00:32:18,970 Speaker 1: was in London. Shackleton had a lover, an army officer. 384 00:32:20,010 --> 00:32:24,970 Speaker 1: Both were reportedly present at that drinks party in Vicker's office, 385 00:32:25,370 --> 00:32:29,650 Speaker 1: where another man had played the prank of taking Vicker's keys, 386 00:32:30,010 --> 00:32:33,890 Speaker 1: removing the jewels from the safe and sending them back 387 00:32:33,930 --> 00:32:39,530 Speaker 1: through parcel post. The lover was well known around Dublin Castle. 388 00:32:40,210 --> 00:32:44,650 Speaker 1: He'd have attracted no attention, slipping in and out of 389 00:32:44,770 --> 00:32:49,130 Speaker 1: vickers rooms and hiding out in the cellar overnight, just 390 00:32:49,170 --> 00:32:55,610 Speaker 1: as Shackleton himself had brazenly described. This theory would explain 391 00:32:55,810 --> 00:33:02,210 Speaker 1: the otherwise curious detail of the unlocked doors. Shackleton was 392 00:33:02,330 --> 00:33:05,610 Speaker 1: due to travel back to Dublin for the King's visit. 393 00:33:06,530 --> 00:33:10,170 Speaker 1: The theft of the jewels had to be discovered while 394 00:33:10,290 --> 00:33:14,330 Speaker 1: Shackleton was still in London, so he'd be above suspicion. 395 00:33:15,610 --> 00:33:20,210 Speaker 1: When Vickers initially failed to notice the theft, the lover 396 00:33:20,690 --> 00:33:24,930 Speaker 1: slipped back in to unlock the front door. Surely that 397 00:33:24,970 --> 00:33:28,450 Speaker 1: would precipitate a search that would reveal the jewels were missing. 398 00:33:29,530 --> 00:33:33,090 Speaker 1: When it didn't, he left a more obvious hint by 399 00:33:33,170 --> 00:33:37,610 Speaker 1: opening the strong room door. Do we have proof that 400 00:33:37,650 --> 00:33:42,690 Speaker 1: the lover did it well? He did confess years later, 401 00:33:43,610 --> 00:33:47,530 Speaker 1: although that's perhaps not as conclusive as it might seem, 402 00:33:47,850 --> 00:33:52,090 Speaker 1: as he was by then a wreck an alcoholic in 403 00:33:52,130 --> 00:33:58,410 Speaker 1: prison for killing a policeman. The most seductive evidence for 404 00:33:58,490 --> 00:34:05,650 Speaker 1: Shackleton's guilt is aary Adut's theory of scandal. If Shackleton 405 00:34:05,850 --> 00:34:10,570 Speaker 1: stood trial for stealing the jewels, what in embarrassing details 406 00:34:10,650 --> 00:34:15,650 Speaker 1: might come out? Well, For a start, the identity of 407 00:34:15,690 --> 00:34:19,090 Speaker 1: the man at the drinks party who played the practical 408 00:34:19,210 --> 00:34:23,130 Speaker 1: joke of borrowing the jewels. He was none other than 409 00:34:23,170 --> 00:34:27,370 Speaker 1: the son of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. He was 410 00:34:27,650 --> 00:34:31,930 Speaker 1: widely rumored to be gay. The Lord Lieutenant didn't want 411 00:34:32,010 --> 00:34:37,530 Speaker 1: that to be actively publicized. That was awkward. The King 412 00:34:37,850 --> 00:34:42,130 Speaker 1: was furious about the theft. He wanted answers. The Lord 413 00:34:42,210 --> 00:34:49,810 Speaker 1: Lieutenant explained the King about Shackleton and those intimate weekend 414 00:34:49,970 --> 00:34:56,770 Speaker 1: gatherings at Lord Ronald Gower's house, and who else regularly attended. 415 00:34:57,770 --> 00:35:02,130 Speaker 1: The King's brother in law. King Edward is reported to 416 00:35:02,210 --> 00:35:06,890 Speaker 1: have digested the implications, then banged the table and yelled, 417 00:35:07,610 --> 00:35:13,970 Speaker 1: I will have no scandal. The investigation into the jewel 418 00:35:14,050 --> 00:35:20,130 Speaker 1: heist quietly went nowhere. It reveals an ironic twist in 419 00:35:20,210 --> 00:35:25,050 Speaker 1: the theory of scandal. Transgressive behavior can make you vulnerable, 420 00:35:25,290 --> 00:35:29,010 Speaker 1: as Oscar Wilde discovered, but if you're well enough connected, 421 00:35:29,450 --> 00:35:34,530 Speaker 1: those very transgressions can sometimes become a source of protection too. 422 00:35:36,490 --> 00:35:40,050 Speaker 1: There had to be some kind of consequence, and it 423 00:35:40,170 --> 00:35:44,890 Speaker 1: fell on Sir Arthur Vickers. The King had him sacked 424 00:35:45,530 --> 00:35:49,690 Speaker 1: for failing to fulfill the very clear duty in his 425 00:35:50,050 --> 00:35:55,210 Speaker 1: job description of keeping the jewels in a safe in 426 00:35:55,290 --> 00:36:03,610 Speaker 1: the strong room. In nineteen ten, when Frank Shackleton's brokers 427 00:36:03,690 --> 00:36:08,690 Speaker 1: informed him they would no longer underwrite his Mexican investments. 428 00:36:09,290 --> 00:36:15,010 Speaker 1: They gave an intriguing reason, owing to a variety of circumstances, 429 00:36:15,290 --> 00:36:18,450 Speaker 1: of which the death of King Edward was by no 430 00:36:18,650 --> 00:36:23,410 Speaker 1: means the least. Had the King quietly let it be 431 00:36:23,530 --> 00:36:26,810 Speaker 1: known in the city that he wanted Shackleton to be protected, 432 00:36:27,850 --> 00:36:34,050 Speaker 1: then once the king died, they cut him loose. Shackleton 433 00:36:34,410 --> 00:36:38,850 Speaker 1: fled the country, but was tracked down to Portuguese West 434 00:36:38,890 --> 00:36:43,930 Speaker 1: Africa what's now Angola, and brought back to stand trial 435 00:36:44,090 --> 00:36:50,370 Speaker 1: for fraud. The judge wandered aloud what his nickname Fosele meant, 436 00:36:50,890 --> 00:36:55,610 Speaker 1: a golfing term it seemed. He dryly remarked that maybe 437 00:36:55,930 --> 00:36:59,930 Speaker 1: someone who takes another's property would be a better definition. 438 00:37:01,370 --> 00:37:07,210 Speaker 1: Shackleton served fifteen months in prison, changed his name not 439 00:37:07,490 --> 00:37:12,410 Speaker 1: to mister Fozle, moved to a genteel English seaside town 440 00:37:13,370 --> 00:37:21,010 Speaker 1: and opened an antique shop. Sir Arthur Vickers never got 441 00:37:21,050 --> 00:37:25,570 Speaker 1: over his bitterness. He retired to a family property in 442 00:37:25,730 --> 00:37:29,690 Speaker 1: rural County Kerry, and at the age of fifty three, 443 00:37:30,050 --> 00:37:36,210 Speaker 1: surprised everyone by marrying an old friend called Gertrude. After 444 00:37:36,250 --> 00:37:40,170 Speaker 1: the First World War, as the battle for Irish home 445 00:37:40,290 --> 00:37:45,330 Speaker 1: rule turned violent, Vickers was either brave or foolish enough 446 00:37:45,410 --> 00:37:50,370 Speaker 1: to take a stand against the local armed nationalists. He 447 00:37:50,450 --> 00:37:58,490 Speaker 1: was dragged from his bed and shot. Vickers left a 448 00:37:58,570 --> 00:38:04,570 Speaker 1: will in which he disposed of his worldly goods and remarked, 449 00:38:05,650 --> 00:38:08,290 Speaker 1: I might have had more to dispose of had it 450 00:38:08,370 --> 00:38:10,570 Speaker 1: not been for the out rageous way in which I 451 00:38:10,690 --> 00:38:14,010 Speaker 1: was treated Over the loss of the Irish Crown jewels. 452 00:38:14,610 --> 00:38:18,250 Speaker 1: I was made a scapegoat. They shielded the real culprit 453 00:38:18,330 --> 00:38:23,610 Speaker 1: and thief, Francis R. Shackleton. My whole life and work 454 00:38:24,130 --> 00:38:26,930 Speaker 1: was ruined by the wicked and blaggedly acts of the 455 00:38:26,970 --> 00:38:34,890 Speaker 1: Irish government. In nineteen oh eight, a new Sherlock Holmes 456 00:38:35,050 --> 00:38:40,490 Speaker 1: short story appeared in print. The Adventure of the Bruce 457 00:38:40,690 --> 00:38:48,010 Speaker 1: Partington plans a handsome, plausible protagonist secretly in debt copies 458 00:38:48,090 --> 00:38:52,250 Speaker 1: the keys of an intimate to steal something valuable from 459 00:38:52,250 --> 00:38:59,730 Speaker 1: a government office. Where could that plot idea have come from? 460 00:38:59,890 --> 00:39:05,970 Speaker 1: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle concluded his tale with Sherlock forcing 461 00:39:06,130 --> 00:39:12,090 Speaker 1: the wretched perpetrator to come clean. The theory of scandal 462 00:39:12,770 --> 00:39:26,890 Speaker 1: denied that pleasure to poor Sir Arthur Vickers. A quick 463 00:39:26,890 --> 00:39:31,290 Speaker 1: announcement before the credits, We're having another live event on 464 00:39:31,330 --> 00:39:35,250 Speaker 1: our Patreon. We're inviting members of our Cautionary Club to 465 00:39:35,370 --> 00:39:38,410 Speaker 1: join us for one of our episode table reads, where 466 00:39:38,490 --> 00:39:40,570 Speaker 1: I read a draft of an episode and we give 467 00:39:40,610 --> 00:39:43,890 Speaker 1: feedback and make suggestions. It's a chance to get a 468 00:39:43,890 --> 00:39:47,170 Speaker 1: sneak preview of an episode, hear how our stories develop, 469 00:39:47,250 --> 00:39:50,290 Speaker 1: and ask me or the team questions of your own. 470 00:39:50,450 --> 00:39:53,170 Speaker 1: It's on the eighth of July at five pm UK 471 00:39:53,490 --> 00:39:57,090 Speaker 1: or noon Eastern. If you join the Patreon before then, 472 00:39:57,290 --> 00:40:00,730 Speaker 1: or if you're already a member, you'll get your exclusive invitation. 473 00:40:01,250 --> 00:40:04,530 Speaker 1: You'll also have access to all the other benefits, an 474 00:40:04,570 --> 00:40:08,570 Speaker 1: extra Cautionary tale every month, a bonus video interview, and 475 00:40:08,770 --> 00:40:11,850 Speaker 1: a new sign up now. To get the live table 476 00:40:11,890 --> 00:40:15,810 Speaker 1: read details and join the club, head to patreon dot 477 00:40:15,850 --> 00:40:20,410 Speaker 1: com slash Cautionary Club. That's Patreon, p A t R 478 00:40:20,490 --> 00:40:28,770 Speaker 1: e o N dot com slash Cautionary Club. Key sources 479 00:40:28,810 --> 00:40:32,490 Speaker 1: for this episode were Vicious Circle, the Case of the 480 00:40:32,530 --> 00:40:37,610 Speaker 1: Missing Irish Crown Jewels by Francis Bamford and Viola Banks, 481 00:40:37,690 --> 00:40:42,610 Speaker 1: and the Stealing of the Irish Crown Jewels an Unsolved 482 00:40:42,650 --> 00:40:49,690 Speaker 1: Crime by Miles Dungan. Cautionary Tales is presented by me 483 00:40:49,970 --> 00:40:53,770 Speaker 1: Tim Harford. It's produced by Georgia Mills and Marilyn Rust. 484 00:40:54,170 --> 00:40:56,970 Speaker 1: The sound design and original music are the work of 485 00:40:57,170 --> 00:41:01,170 Speaker 1: Pascal Wise. The show also wouldn't have been possible without 486 00:41:01,170 --> 00:41:05,330 Speaker 1: the work of Jacob Weisberg, Greta Cohne, Corn Gilliard, Fisher 487 00:41:05,570 --> 00:41:10,170 Speaker 1: benderd A. F. Haffrey, Eric Sandler, Christina Sullivan, Kira Posey, 488 00:41:10,370 --> 00:41:15,690 Speaker 1: and Owen Miller. Cautionary Tales is a production of Pushkin Industries. 489 00:41:16,090 --> 00:41:19,610 Speaker 1: If you like the show, please remember to share, rate, 490 00:41:19,810 --> 00:41:22,410 Speaker 1: and review. It really does make a difference to us, 491 00:41:23,090 --> 00:41:26,370 Speaker 1: and if you want to hear it, add free and 492 00:41:26,450 --> 00:41:31,330 Speaker 1: receive a bonus audio episode, video episode, and members only 493 00:41:31,370 --> 00:41:35,770 Speaker 1: newsletter every month. Why not join the Cautionary Club. To 494 00:41:35,850 --> 00:41:40,090 Speaker 1: sign up, head to patreon dot com slash Cautionary Club. 495 00:41:40,250 --> 00:41:44,170 Speaker 1: That's Patreon, p A, t R e o N dot 496 00:41:44,210 --> 00:41:46,970 Speaker 1: com slash Cautionary Club.