Malice at the Palace (The Royal Spyness Series Book 9)

 

 

This was clearly a room of a man who liked his comforts. Thick Axminster carpet with a white bearskin rug in front of a marble fireplace. There were old prints on the walls and Chinese vases on a shelf. In one corner was a drinks cabinet stacked with bottles and gleaming glasses, and a glass-topped table displayed a collection of paperweights. To my delight a low table was set with a tea tray. I realized I hadn’t eaten all day (unless one counted the dry and unappetizing cheese sandwich I’d bought at Worthing Station).

 

“I expect you’d like some tea,” Sir Jeremy said. “Do take a seat. Beastly old day, isn’t it? I don’t know why anyone stays in England during November.”

 

I sat in one of the big red leather armchairs. It was so big and so soft that it was hard to sit upright and when Sir Jeremy handed me a cup of tea I had a moment’s panic that I’d tip over backward and deposit the contents all over myself and the chair. I managed to put the cup down on the table and perched myself at the front of the chair to avoid future accidents. Sir Jeremy let me work my way through some smoked salmon sandwiches, a scone and a slice of Dundee cake before I realized that he was an important man and probably didn’t want to waste his time watching me eat.

 

“I should probably tell you why I called you,” I said.

 

“No rush. I’m expecting another visitor,” he said.

 

Almost on cue the doorbell rang. I heard a manservant’s voice say, “Good evening, sir. Sir Jeremy is in the sitting room.”

 

And to my surprise the visitor was Darcy.

 

“You made it.” Sir Jeremy held out his hand. “I believe you two know each other. Take a seat, O’Mara. Tea or are you ready to move on to whiskey?”

 

“Nothing right now, thank you, sir,” Darcy said. He pulled up a padded upright chair beside me and gave me a cheeky little smile, one that said, “You didn’t expect to see me here, did you?”

 

“Lady Georgiana, I invited O’Mara to join us as he might be able to look into some aspects of this case that would not be possible for you. He had already been observing Miss Carrington’s connections to drug trafficking as part of an ongoing project for my department.”

 

I nodded.

 

Sir Jeremy turned back to Darcy. “But as yet you’ve not found what we’re looking for?”

 

“Not yet, sir. We know about the smaller players but we still don’t know how the drugs get into the country.”

 

“Too bad she died when she did. She needed a regular supply. She might well have led us to the big boys.” He sighed, then got up, walked across to the drinks table and poured himself a generous amount of Scotch. He came back to his chair and sat down before he said, “Lady Georgiana has some news for us, I believe.”

 

“I have,” I said, and I recounted my visit to Worthing, and to Bobo’s mother. I was pleased to note that both men looked impressed.

 

“So now you’ll be able to take a look at the birth certificate and see if she listed the father,” I said. “Oh, and a servant told me that she planned to keep the child at a house outside London.”

 

“Well done,” Sir Jeremy said. “I don’t really know where we go from here. We’re still fishing around in the dark as to how she died, aren’t we? Was it the father of the child? Was it to do with her drug habit? Someone had a very good reason for killing her and dumping her body at Kensington Palace.”

 

“And there’s still Countess Irmtraut,” I said.

 

Sir Jeremy shook his head. “She might well be capable of violence but I don’t think she’s capable of lying. She was most outraged and insistent and I can usually tell when someone isn’t telling the truth.”

 

“There is one more move we can make,” I said. “There is a wall safe in Bobo’s apartment. I discovered it.”

 

Sir Jeremy looked at Darcy, inquiring whetherhe knew that I had been breaking and entering. Darcy’s face remained impassive.

 

“My grandfather is a former London policeman,” I went on. “I asked him if he could find someone who could open a safe. He thought he knew an ex-convict who was an expert with safes, but the man wouldn’t do it.”

 

Sir Jeremy put down his whiskey glass, shaking his head. “Lady Georgiana, you never fail to surprise me,” he said. “You calmly talk about dead bodies and now finding an ex-convict to crack a safe. Most young ladies in your position would have swooned at the mention of such things.”

 

“I suppose I take after my Rannoch ancestors,” I said. “They were known to be fearless and reckless. And I’ve had my share of being involved in unpleasant matters.”