4. Welcome to the Palace!

4 Welcome to the Palace! Back at their hotel, the Lambchops got dressed for the ball. Arthur and Stanley put on the suits that made them look like twins, and Mrs. Lambchop put on a sparkly dress. Mr. Lambchop wore a suit, too, but it had a strange jacket. It looked short in the front and long in the back. "It's called a tailcoat," he told the boys. "Because the back looks like a tail?" Arthur joked.

Nobody joked when they met up with Detective Bates. He was wearing a plaid skirt with knee socks! "It's a called a kilt," he told the boys. "My family is from Scotland. Where we come from, this is what men wear for special occasions." Stanley smiled politely, as if he saw detectives in kilts every day. Lucy's auntie would be proud of his manners, he thought.

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Detective Bates led them out of the hotel and started walking toward the palace. "I will be right there with you the whole time," he explained. "You can count on me to protect you if anything happens. But I will also be acting like a regular guest at the ball." He put a hand in the pocket of his kilt and drew out a small black tube. "Now, Stonley, this is for you," he said. Stanley turned it over and flicked on a switch. A thin beam of light came out of one end, almost blinding him. "It is disguised as a pen, but this tool has a special purpose," Detective Bates explained. "This ultraviolet light can help you detect imitation gemstones in one glance. Under this light, a real jewel will look clear, but a fake one will have cloudy spots."

"So I should use this if I find the Windsor Ring?" Stanley asked. "Bright chop!" said Detective Bates. "Yes, you can run a test right there at the ball. The world's best jewelers rely on lights like this one. Maybe Lady Laura has a ring that just happens to look like the Windsor Ring. Or maybe she has stolen the real one from under the queen's nose. Today we will learn the truth!" Just then, they arrived at a massive gate. Behind it was a stone building with several sets of pillars. "Welcome to Buckingham Palace!" announced Detective Bates. "Headquarters of the royal family, and home of the queen!" Stanley gulped. It was an impressive building with hundreds of windows, but it was kind of plain.

"Where are the towers?" Arthur asked. "Where is the moat?" He said just what Stanley was thinking. This was not the way Stanley had expected a palace to look. Stanley felt nervous as the gate opened to let them in. Now he knew how to use the ultraviolet light, but how was he supposed to find any jewels in the first place? Detective Bates had not told him much about that. He did not know how to be a spy. He did not even know what people did at a ball! Detective Bates was ahead of him now, chatting with Mr. Lambchop. Stanley knew that good manners meant he couldn't interrupt with tons of questions. He took a deep breath and