Royal Blood by Rhys Bowen

Author:Rhys Bowen
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Weddings, Crime & mystery, Fiction, Women Sleuths, Crime & Thriller, Mystery & Detective - Women Sleuths, Aristocracy (Social class), Horror, Mystery fiction, Humorous fiction, English Mystery & Suspense Fiction, Mystery, English Science Fiction And Fantasy, Mystery & Detective - Series, Transylvania (Romania), Detective, Vampires, Mystery & Detective, Humorous, Fantasy - Paranormal, Fiction - Mystery, Paranormal, General, Fantasy, Suspense, Occult & Supernatural
ISBN: 9780425234464
Publisher: Penguin Group USA
Published: 2010-09-15T06:09:47.445000+00:00

Chapter 18

Still Thursday, November 17

Still snowed in.

They all stared at me, as if I were putting a new thought into their heads.

Then Anton gave an uneasy chuckle. “As to that, the only two people who were glad to see the last of him were Nicholas and myself, and we are not stupid enough to risk our country’s future by bumping him off.”

“I can’t think of anyone else here who actually knew the man, let alone would have had a motive to want him dead,” Nicholas said.

“There are always ongoing feuds and hatreds seething in the Balkans,” Darcy said. “Who is to say that one of the servants here does not come from an area where they have a longtime feud with Macedonia, or whose family has not suffered at the hands of Pirin?”

Dragomir shook his head. “That is most unlikely,” he said. “These men belong to the castle, not the royal family. Local men. They live and work here year-round. Our men are Transylvanian through and through.”

“Money can always buy loyalty,” Darcy said. “The people of this area live a harsh life. If an instigator or anarchist were to pay them enough money, which of them might not be tempted to slip a little pill into food or drink?”

“That, of course, is the big question, isn’t it?” I said. “How was the poison administered? We were all sitting together at table. We all ate the same food and drink.”

The others nodded thoughtfully.

There was a sound from outside the archway and a servant appeared saying something to Count Dragomir. Dragomir looked up. “This man says that Prince Siegfried sent him to see what was happening. The prince was about to come in himself. He was annoyed at being told to stay away.”

Nicholas stepped forward to block the man’s view of Pirin’s body. “Please tell the prince that Field Marshal Pirin is being taken to his room,” he said to Dragomir in French. “He appears to have suffered a heart attack and there is regrettably nothing that anyone can do, other than wait and see if he pulls through. Sleep and perfect quiet are what he needs.”

Dragomir repeated this and the man withdrew. Dragomir turned back to us. “I have asked the two men in question to present themselves. They will carry the field marshal’s body to his room.”

“Excellent,” Nicholas said.

“But what about the tables?” Dragomir asked, looking through at them. “Our men will become suspicious if they are left untouched. They will know that something is wrong.”

“That’s true,” Darcy said. “Then we will rescue Pirin’s plate and glasses while we can, and they can take the rest. We have to assume that the poison was designed for one person and not randomly sprinkled on some part of the meal.”

“The meal was at an end, anyway,” Anton said. “Besides, I don’t see how anyone could have poisoned the food. It was served to all of us from the same platters. The risk of setting aside one slice of poisoned meat or one poisoned potato to be put on a particular plate is too great.

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