Murder Most Royal — читать онлайн бесплатно полностью

‘I still do,’ he muttered. ‘And by the way, Simon’s back. He wanted to surprise you. And by the look on your face, he did. Ha!’

‘I hope you had a pleasant holiday?’ she asked.

‘Magnificent, Your Majesty. Just what the doctor ordered. Thank you very much.’

‘And yet you’re here so soon?’

He straightened somewhat, perhaps catching the glint of steel behind her question, and blustered something about how good it was to be back in the saddle, which was an odd phrase to use for one of the few members of her Private Office who didn’t ride.

‘I’m sorry I wasn’t around to help you when the unfortunate hand was found.’

‘I seem to recall that you were, remotely,’ the Queen said, with the same edge to her voice.

Sir Simon missed the edge. ‘Talking to the chief constable, you mean, ma’am? It wasn’t a problem, I assure you.’

The Queen explained to him that it was, rather, and he was slightly chastened. However, he soon perked up when he explained he’d been catching up with Bloomfield again this morning.

‘There was a packet of drugs missing from the bag on the beach, ma’am, judging from the way it was packed. His officers are making enquiries about what happened to it. But if anyone offers you cheap cocaine, you’ll know where it came from.’

‘Very funny, Simon.’

He straightened his face. ‘And there’s an update on where the plastic bag went in the water. The currents and tides in the Wash are a complicated study. I won’t bother you with—’

‘No, do,’ the Queen said. ‘I’m interested.’

He seemed surprised.

‘Certainly. Well, if I’ve understood it correctly, then generally, there’s a tidal drift on this coast that runs from north to south, but among the swirling waters of the bay, on our little stretch of the Wash it ends up running south to north. The forensic team modelling suggests the bag’s likely to have been deposited in the Great Ouse near King’s Lynn, a couple of days before the storm. That would make it some time between the nineteenth and twenty-first of December, four to six days after Mr St Cyr disappeared. The hand was in good condition before it went into the water, so the question is, where it – and he – was during those four to six days.’

‘I see. Do they have any thoughts?’

‘It looks as though it might have been in cold storage. It makes it harder to work out at which point it was detached. And that still leaves the question of why. Bloomfield is edging towards thinking that it might be a professional job after all.