Page 20 of Deadly Murder (Angus Brodie and Mikaela Forsythe Murder Mystery #14)

It was a silent ride to Marlborough House in that way that Brodie had of turning things over in his thoughts such as how best to present what we had learned, and then the questions we now had for things the Prince of Wales had not previously shared.

I had retrieved Lily’s sketch from the wall of the office and given it to her before we left The Strand. She had tucked it into her bag with a solemn expression that suddenly disappeared at the sight of the uniformed guards and footmen dressed in formal livery as we arrived.

“Crivvens!” she exclaimed. “Do they dress like that every day?”

The coach came to a stop before the main entrance and a footman approached. Lily and I were assisted, then Brodie stepped down as well.

The night of the celebration for the Prince of Wales’s birthday, Marlborough House had been overflowing with arrivals, guests already within, dozens of liveried footmen to see to the needs of each.

This afternoon was quite different by contrast, although there were still a good many staff and servants going about their duties. Along with those who were there to meet with the Prince of Wales on some matter of official business.

The Queen was the monarch. Yet it was also known in certain circles that the Prince of Wales was kept informed on matters affecting the government, including the military and foreign developments.

We were escorted into the foyer where we were greeted by Sir Knollys.

“If you will be so good as to wait, I will inform His Highness that you have arrived.”

He then went to the library where we had previously met with Prince Edward.

A gentleman I recognized emerged from the library with a leather document case. He briefly nodded in acknowledgement.

“Lady Forsythe.”

I replied and explained as he departed.

“He is the Foreign Secretary. We met previously.”

He was immediately followed by Sir Knollys’s return.

“If you will please follow me.”

Prince Edward was cordial in his greeting as we arrived at the library. Then, at a nod, Sir Knollys departed, the door closing behind him.

“You have new information, Mr. Brodie?” His Highness inquired, once again dispensing with any formality.

“Aye,” Brodie replied, as Lily and I took seats before the desk. “And questions, sir,” he added.

Brodie then explained those we had spoken with, information we had obtained—or not, as in the case of the newspaper archives—and our visit to the St. James’s morgue.

“Continue,” His Highness said as he stood before the windows, his back turned toward us so that it was impossible for me to know his expression.

“We have additional information from the physician who attended the body of Lord Salisbery’s son, and we were able to view the second body from the evening past.”

“Go on.”

“There is a similarity in two of the wounds.”

Prince Edward turned. “Similarity? Might that indicate the same person is responsible?”

“It might verra well.” Brodie took out the sketches that Lily and I had made. He laid them at the desk.

“These two sketches were drawn after the incident the other evening. I made this one from my visit with the physician who assisted in the matter of Lord Salisbery’s son. He recognized the two drawings. As you can see, the one I made is almost identical.”

His Highness approached the desk once more and studied the sketches.

“Lady Forsythe was able to speak with a footman from White’s who had not been questioned previously.” Brodie continued with a look over at me.

I explained what I had learned about young Salisbery’s departure that evening, the coach that had arrived quickly just after Mr. Masterson had called for one, the stop the driver made at the street end not far from the club after departing, and the man seen departing the coach who was not young Salisbery.

“The footman who summoned the coach saw quite clearly as the weather was mild and there was no fog that night,” I continued.

“He described the man who departed the coach as having an obvious limp of the left leg. The driver then continued on, and the young man’s body was discovered when he arrived at his family residence. ”

His Highness nodded and I continued.

“The man who was seen running from Marlborough House by Miss Montgomery the other evening did have a limp in the left leg.

“There is something more,” I added.

Brodie and I had discussed what we would tell His Highness before leaving the office. We agreed that, from what we had learned, it did seem there was information the Prince of Wales had not shared with us. Brodie nodded for me to continue.

“Something that could be important to the case.”

Prince Edward nodded. “Please go on, Lady Forsythe.”

“The note that was left by the murderer here at Marlborough House had that disturbing message—‘ Now there are two .’ It does seem as if there will be more attacks. I learned information when we began our inquiries.” I deliberately did not mention that it came from my great aunt.

“However, when I attempted to unearth more about it, it seems that great care was taken to remove it from the newspapers.”

Brodie had cautioned me about what His Highness’s reaction might be to information that my great aunt had provided. Yet, with the reference in notes found on the two bodies, it did seem there could be a connection.

As we had discovered in the past, certain questions often best came from him with his experience as an inspector with the MET and his reputation in private inquiry cases.

And of course, there was the very real possibility that when asked, His Highness would simply show us the door and that would be the end of it.

Brodie was respectful of the man who stood across from us. Yet at the same time, he was direct with his next question.

“What can ye tell us, Yer Highness, about the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse? ”