An Unforeseen Roadblock

The note read:

"Dear Mr. Graves,

I am writing to you on behalf of the British Museum. After reviewing the findings of the expedition that returned your missing crown, we have determined that it is in fact a fake.

"We are aware that you are currently in possession of the real crown, which was stolen by Charles Trelawney, who has been working with one Dr. Adolphus Waite and his assistant John Carter. We are also aware that they are planning something very soon, though we haven't been able to determine what exactly their plan is. We do know that they will be meeting in Paris next week at some sort of gathering. If you would like to take back your crown and prevent whatever they are planning from happening we would like to help. The last thing we want is for some artifact to be destroyed or for someone to get hurt."

The letter had been sent by courier just a few hours after he'd arrived at his room in Paris. He'd been here for almost two weeks now, and he hadn't heard anything from anyone other than a few letters from his friends back home telling him how things were going. At this point, he was ready to return home himself, but he knew he needed to stay until he could reclaim his crown; not just because it was valuable and important, but because it was an important part of history. He had no idea why anyone would want to destroy it, but if they tried then he would stop them - even if it cost him his life.

He'd been searching for a couple days now and still hadn't found any sign of where Trelawney might be holding his meetings at. He suspected that there were probably several people involved with whatever scheme was being put together, so finding them all before the meeting could prove difficult. He decided that his best bet would be to follow Trelawney once he arrived in Paris; if he showed up early enough then perhaps he could even find out where the meeting was being held before it began and sneak in without having to worry about security or getting caught...

As Graves finished eating dinner at a small cafe near the hotel where Trelawney was staying at, he heard a commotion outside and saw a man being led away by members of the French police on either side while the rest of them stood guard around him. A group of reporters followed closely behind shouting questions at the man as they walked by him, ignoring the police officers as they tried desperately to keep them away. Graves quickly got up and ran outside after them into the street, hoping that this might be Trelawney making an appearance early so that he could follow him back to wherever they were planning on having their meeting...

When Graves caught up with them one of the officers turned around and shouted "Attention! This area is off limits!" in French before shoving him aside and continuing with their prisoner down the street towards a waiting police vehicle parked nearby. As Graves regained his balance and looked up at them walking away from him, he noticed something about their prisoner seemed familiar... as if he'd seen him somewhere before... but where? It didn't take long for him to realize where...

A couple hours later Graves sat on his hotel bed staring through the window across the street at Trelawney's hotel room high above looking out over the city below while sipping at a glass of whiskey with ice sitting on the table next to him while wearing his suit jacket; he wanted to look presentable when confronting this thief face-to-face in person - especially since he had already stolen not just one but two royal crowns from good men trying their best to protect England's heritage...