‘Good, that’s excellent news.’
‘There is one name that has come up as a possible person of interest in our enquiries,’ he said guardedly.
‘Yes?’ Tommy asked, eagerly.
‘Rose.’
‘First or last name?’
‘It could be either. You have Rose Cadoret who was in Kabul with you?’
The Master nodded. ‘Completely trustworthy. There’s absolutely no way she would be involved in anything nefarious — well, it would be a complete surprise to me.’
‘I’m afraid that as a police officer, nothing is ever a surprise to me, Sir — er — Tommy.’
‘I’ll make some discreet enquiries about Rose Cadoret. I don’t recall anyone else with either the first or last name “Rose” in the Royal Household.’
‘Thank you, I’d appreciate that.’
‘Are your Sussex enquiries taking us anywhere closer? Any leads, suspects? I’m due to see both Their Majesties later this afternoon to give them a full update. Of course, the big question they are going to be asking is whether the deaths of Sir Peregrine Greaves and Geoffrey Bailey are connected or not. I’m actually on my way to see Superintendent Mosse now — do you have anything I can pass on to them?’
‘I’ve nothing new in terms of suspects, but we do have some intel that a very valuable miniature painting in the Royal Collection may have been stolen — or is about to be.’
‘What?’ the Master gasped, and Grace heard it. ‘This is credible information, Roy?’
‘Yes. I trust the source.’
‘Which — which painting?’
‘By Hans Holbein — Hans Holbein the Younger. It’s a miniature of Anne of Cleves. I can give you the RCIN number.’
‘No, don’t worry, I’m pretty sure I know where the picture is — it was one of many taken down for safety during the renovations and it’s in storage down in the vaults under the Palace. God, if you are right, this is unbelievable — outrageous.’
‘I am right.’
‘So on top of the murder of Sir Peregrine, which may or may not have been a failed assassination attempt on The Queen, then the brutal murder of a footman, we now have an art thief within the Royal Household? Where did you get this information from, Roy?’
‘I’d prefer to tell you when I see you, I don’t think it’s sensible to tell you over an open phone line.’
‘Yes, good thinking, very wise.’ He was silent for a moment, then he asked, ‘Roy, was your source able to say whether they think this is a one-off instance targeting this one picture — or are these buggers, whoever they are, going for others, too?’
Keeping his cards tight to his chest, Grace replied, lying, ‘This is the only item I’m aware of.’
‘I’ll alert Lorraine McKnight, the Director of the Royal Collection, immediately. You say it may already have been stolen?’
‘My source wasn’t clear on this.’
‘I’ll get the guards to check all vehicles leaving the Palace, and all people carrying bags large enough to contain the painting — which isn’t very large at all — as soon as I’m off this call — but—’
‘Actually, Sir Tommy,’ Grace interrupted him. ‘I think we need to tread very carefully, and keep this information just entre nous. We don’t want to tip anyone off that we know about the plans for the picture. If it is still in the Palace then you have a very good chance of catching the thieves red-handed. Just make a discreet or seemingly innocuous enquiry — come up with some pretext why you want to see the picture, so you don’t raise any flags.’
‘Good point, Roy. But one thing puzzles me.’
‘Which is?’
‘Well, I don’t know how much the thieves have thought this through. The late Queen Elizabeth was particularly fond of this picture. It was she who made me aware of it, and of its significance. Hans Holbein the Younger’s miniature of Anne of Cleves is, frankly, one of the best known and most important paintings in the world — particularly due to its political significance. Every auction house and art dealer on the planet would know it immediately — they wouldn’t touch it with a barge pole, they’d know it was stolen from the Royal Collection. So I don’t quite understand what’s going on — unless these people think they are going to ransom it back to us.’
In the background, Grace heard a faint sound he recognized. He glanced at his watch: 3 p.m. exactly. ‘I’ve had previous dealings with the criminal side of the art world,’ he said. ‘I don’t fully share your view about everyone not touching it. But it would be very helpful if we could start by establishing if the painting is still at the Palace or has already been stolen. If you could find that out urgently.’
‘And then set a trap if it’s still here?’ Sir Tommy said.
‘That’s exactly what I’m thinking.’
‘Absolutely,’ the Master replied. ‘I’m on it.’
81
Tuesday 28 November 2023
Grace slipped his phone back in his pocket and filled Branson in on his conversation with Sir Tommy.
‘Boss, why did you hold back and not tell him what Shannon said, that this isn’t the first auction of items from the Royal Collection?’
‘Sir Tommy’s a nice guy, well-meaning and helpful. But at the moment we have to jump on whoever the thieves within the Royal Household are. Sir Tommy’s not a detective and if he starts digging around for us, we risk the people we’re after running for the hills.’
The DI nodded.
‘We’ve got Shannon joining the bidding. Let’s see what she comes up with. She’s already said something extremely interesting that has got me thinking about Sir Peregrine in a different light.’
Clipping in his seatbelt, Branson said, ‘Are you thinking what I’m thinking?’
‘Code?’
He nodded, grimly. ‘Shannon said that the skills required could come from someone with a Military Intelligence background. Sir Peregrine’s military background was in Naval Intelligence, right?’
‘That’s what Lady Greaves told us.’
A lightbulb had popped on somewhere deep inside Grace’s brain in their meeting with Shannon Kendall. Not a searingly bright one, but a glimmer, nonetheless. And steadily getting brighter. ‘Shit,’ he said, then fell silent, deep in thought.
Branson looked at him, waiting for him to say something further, but the Detective Superintendent remained silent, his eyes closed.
‘Shall I head on down to HQ, boss?’ he asked.
There was no response.
Branson waited for some moments, then started the engine and reversed out of the parking space. As he did so, Grace suddenly raised a pointed finger. ‘Could this shed new light on Sir Peregrine’s death?’
‘What’s your line of thinking — although I think I’ve guessed it?’
‘We already know Sir Peregrine was into ciphers — using his old military code in his diary. Let’s hypothesize he was up to speed with modern computer code. Had he rumbled the conspiracy and was doing his own investigations on the dark web into who the conspirators were? And was that why he was murdered, to silence him? Or...?’ He looked questioningly at his colleague.
‘Or was he one of them — one of the conspirators? Is that what you’re saying?’ Branson looked dubious.
‘Up until now, we thought we had a clear motive for Sir Peregrine being the shooter’s intended target, from his coded entry in his diary. Now we potentially have a second one.’
Branson drove in silence for some moments then he said, ‘Peregrine on the trail of the conspirators, or Peregrine not quite the loyal household servant Their Majesties believed?’
‘We’ve heard about his “proclivities”, thanks to the decoding of his diary. But what else can we glean from what he wrote?’ Grace glanced down at his phone, pulled up the decoded script and scanned through it, reading aloud various parts of significance to him.