Thomas Bushell

Thomas Bushell was a colonel in the Royal American Mounted Police and the chief of the RAM's Upper California section. He was a compact, solidly made man of 48 with brown hair and mustache.

In the 1970s, Bushell served as a Lieutenant in the Royal North American Army. He served with his fellow Lieutenant Horace Bragg and was assigned Staff Sgt. Samuel Stanley as his senior non-com on the border with Nueva España. Several disputes arose during this period which resulted in border skirmishes. In one, Bushell was wounded attempting to rescue one of his men who was down. Both were saved by Stanley.

When the three were discharged, they joined the Royal American Mounted Police. Bushell married Irene Clarke but discovered her in the act of adultery with David Clarke when he returned home unexpectedly. Bushell divorced her but was devastated by it all and turned to drink to forget. He was on a downhill slide when Bragg (now Lt. General and commandant of the RAM) reassigned him to head the Upper California section so he could get a fresh start. Bushell managed to put his life into some semblance of order and proved to be effective as the section head but was still prone to go on occasional drinking binges.

The Theft
In 1995 The Two Georges was sent from its home in Britain to tour the North American Union. On July 15 the painting was placed on display in the mansion of the Governor of Upper California, John Burnett. This was a private display for select VIPs. As Governor Burnett rose to speak, several shots rang out. They killed "Honest" Dick, the Steamer King who had stepped outside to berate some picketing coal miners.

While the guests and the police guards were distracted three Sons of Liberty disguised in RAM uniforms entered the room the painting was being displayed in and overpowered the two real RAM guards at gunpoint. They rendered the guards unconscious with chloroform. The Sons left a note stating that "the colonies will be free" and "Washington was a traitor". They also left a mechanical phonograph with a shellac platter that played the jaunty, hateful tune "Yankee Doodle". They did not leave any fingerprints or other incriminating evidence.

Bushell spoke with his superior Lieutenant General Sir Horace Bragg by telephone. Sir Horace ordered Bushell to concentrate on the theft since the murder of "Honest" Dick was under the jurisdiction of the New Liverpool Police. Bushell also spoke by telephone with Governor-General Sir Martin Luther King. Sir Martin assured Bushell that the full resources of the NAU were behind him in his investigation and that as a symbol of that support both he and Sir Horace and their senior staff would travel by train to New Liverpool.

Bushell and Stanley commandeered two offices in the mansion and interviewed all witnesses: guests, house staff, police, and picketers. Nothing significant was immediately apparent but Bushell and Stanley took careful notes for future reference.

The Investigation in New Liverpool
The day after the theft Colonel Bushell telephoned Sir Horace's secretary Sally Reese and asked her to review the dossiers of the curators travelling with The Two Georges. While some of the individuals had mildly suspicious items in their files, the most suspicious remained Doctor Kathleen Flannery. However, nothing incriminating presented itself.

Colonel Bushell next went to the local branch office of the Independence Party and interviewed its chairman Morton Johnston. Again, while Colonel Bushell remained suspicious, Mr. Johnston did not incriminate himself or the Independence Party.

On returning to RAM headquarters, Colonel Bushell went to the records room and reviewed the files maintained on the Sons of Liberty. Some individuals in the files such as Peter Jarrold were in prison and so could not have been involved. Others, such as Andrew Kincaid, had died during the commission of crimes.

Bushell decided three individuals merited investigating. Titus Hackett and Franklin Mansfield were a pair of printers who produced an allegedly obscene publication (they had been acquitted) lampooning the marital troubles of the grandchildren of George, Duke of Kent. The pair seemed to have more intelligence than the typical run of Sons who were mostly street toughs and so may have been able to pull off such a theft. The third was such a tough, Joseph Watkins.

The next day, Colonel Bushell, along with two squads of RAMs, served a warrant on Hackett and Mansfield at their print shop. The RAMs discovered the makings of another lampoon and filed with the material invoices payable in Russian gold roubles from the Queen Charlotte Islands Board of Tourism. The Russian connection made Bushell suspicious, but did not provide any grounds to charge the printers.

Colonel Bushell and the two squads of RAMs then served a warrant on Watkins at his apartment. Tearing the place literally apart, Constable Clarence Malmsey discovered a Nagant, a Russian made rifle. This was the same make as the rifle that killed "Honest" Dick but next day the forensics report indicated the rifle had not been fired. However, the packaging containing the rifle indicated that it had been mailed from Skidegate in the Queen Charlotte Islands.

With two sets of suspects pointing to the QCI this definitely merited further investigation. However, before it could be started Sir Martin, Sir Horace and their staff arrived by special train. Colonel Bushell briefed them and was informed by Sir Martin that the investigation was under a deadline. The King-Emperor Charles III was due to arrive in Victoria August 16, the day after the painting had been scheduled to be returned to the All-Union Art Museum. Needless to say, it would not do for Charles to make a major address in front of a blank wall.

The next morning Colonel Bushell received a ransom demand for The Two Georges in the morning post. The Sons demanded 50 million pounds by August 15 or they would torch the painting. To prove the legitimacy of the claim, the demand included a photograph of the painting with a newspaper carrying a headline about the theft thrust into the frame. Major Michael Foster examined the ransom demand, the accompanying photograph and the envelope they came in but did not find any incriminating fingerprints. Likewise Captain Patricia Oliver failed to match the typewritten note with those known to have come from the Sons.

Bushell and Sir Horace met with Sir Martin and his chief of staff Sir David Clarke to discuss the ransom demand. Sir Martin listened to the discussion of the issue by the other three men and decided that the investigation would continue. However, if no progress had been made by the deadline the ransom would be paid.

The Investigation in the Queen Charlotte Islands
Colonel Bushell felt superfluous in New Liverpool since Sir Horace, as the senior officer, took over the investigation. He elected to continue the field investigation personally and so, with the reluctant permission of Sir Horace, set off to Skidegate in the QCI. Accompanying him were Captain Stanley and Lieutenant-Colonel Felix Crooke. The three first flew by the airship Empire Builder to Wellesley then by train to Prince George. There they changed trains to go to Prince Rupert and then by ferry to Skidegate.

Once there, Bushell interviewed Rob Pratson, the postmaster, who indicated that four men living in Buckley Bay had been mailing long, narrow packages all over the NAU. Bushell then approached Cmdr. Nathan Hairston of the Royal North American Navy Security Detachment for assistance. Hairston provided two squads of Royal Marines and transportation to Buckley Bay.

The next day Bushell, his companions and the Marines set out. They were dropped off by the HMS Grampus about five miles north of the town and then hiked unobserved to the abandoned logging town. One squad was sent around the town to the south so there would not be an easy escape route from the town. When the deployment was completed, the Marines and RAMs entered the town using move-and-support tactics.

As Bushell approached an abandoned grocer's shop that had smoke rising from the chimney, a voice rang out challenging them. Crooke broke cover, stood and replied that they were police and demanded that the occupants surrender. Rifle fire broke out and Crooke was killed instantly. The Marines immediately returned fire and after a short gun battle succeeded in killing three and wounding and capturing the fourth man. In addition to Crooke, two Marines were killed and four were wounded.

Bushell questioned the survivor but the man refused to answer his questions; instead he demanded to speak to a solicitor. Bushell and Stanley then searched the grocer's and found two dozen Nagant, several crates of ammunition and a small metal chest filled with Russian gold roubles. Not finding any documents, the two then went to the Sons' rubbish heap in another building. There they retrieved as many paper documents and letters as they could find. Later, examining these, they found something extraordinary an envelop mailed from The Six Nations.

On returning to Port Clements, Bushell telephoned his HQ in New Liverpool to report. He spoke with Major Gordon Rhodes who informed him that Capt. Oliver had traced the newspaper headline in the photograph of the stolen The Two Georges to that of the Doshoweh Sentinel, the chief English-language newspaper in The Six Nations. With two clues leading to the same place, Bushell elected to travel as quickly as possible to The Six Nations to further the investigation.