Dance with Death by Will Thomas

Author:Will Thomas [Thomas, Will]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Publishing Group

* * *

We arrived in Whitehall the following morning at seven-thirty precisely. The Guv is nothing if not punctual. He examined the morning post and attacked the first newspaper. It all concerned the royal wedding: who would attend and in what order they would appear in the procession, what the bride would be wearing, and whether the service would be long or short. The bookmakers said long.

“When are we going to the palace?” I asked the Guv.

“No earlier than ten, I should say,” he answered. “Most royals sleep late, then dawdle over their breakfast. I thought we might beard Mr. Pierce in his den first and put the matter before him.”

“It seems as good a plan as any,” I replied.

“I am pleased it meets with your approval, Mr. Llewelyn. Let us go and see if we can roust him from his chair. It is a good day to walk.”

It was, indeed. The sun was out in Whitehall Street, but there were pockets of cool air in the shadows. Once we reached the Home Office we climbed the stair and asked for directions to Pierce’s office.

Hesketh Pierce was in shirtsleeves with a cup of coffee in his hands when we arrived and knocked upon his door. He looked rumpled. I couldn’t help thinking the man kept almost royal hours.

“Gentlemen,” he said, running a hand over his slick, pomaded hair. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

I looked about. Every inch of his office was taken up with maps—large ones of London, small ones marked with the parade route in red ink. One in particular caught Barker’s attention, a map of Kensington Palace itself.

“Mr. Pierce, Mr. Llewelyn has come across a piece of information that you might find useful,” Barker said. “We wish to trade it for a letter giving us official permission to investigate this case. We cannot go about claiming to be working for the tsar or Her Majesty’s government or the Home Office if we have no proof. It slows the process.”

Pierce looked down his patrician, Cambridge-educated nose at us. “No.”

“Very well. When I find whoever has hired an assassin to kill the tsarevich, I will be certain to tell The Times, the Daily Mail, and every other newspaper who asks how the Home Office was not in any way helpful to our enquiry.”

Pierce took a sip of his coffee and retrieved a silver case, extracting a cigarette. It took three strikes to get his Vesta lit, which is always demoralizing. Finally, he lit his cigarette and drew the smoke into his lungs. He was using the time to consider the request. The Guv did have an impressive record.

“How viable is this information?” Pierce asked.

“Not very, I admit, but it is necessary for you to investigate since we have no permission to do so.”

“I will consider it.”

“Very well,” Barker said. “I will give you the information and rely upon the Home Office to do the proper thing. Have you ever heard a rumor about a tunnel connecting the palace

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.