The Romanov Code by Gavin Collinson

Author:Gavin Collinson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: WelBeck

-53-

I begin by recounting everything I know about Ekaterina Romanova. Sophie asks, ‘Is she really one of the Romanovs?’

‘She’s distantly related to the Tzar and Tzarina, which sounds impressive, but if you extend the family tree wide enough, so are literally hundreds, maybe thousands, of other people. She seems to think it confers some kind of honour on her. And also some kind of obligation. Hence her involvement in the Romanov Foundation.’

Stacey gets straight to the point. ‘Do you trust her? I mean, do you believe everything she’s told you about Mr Pitkin, Fenton and the rest?’

‘Do I trust her? That’s easy. No. Do I think she’s told me the truth? Substantially, yes.’

Frank adds, ‘But the best lies are always heavily couched in truth.’

I nod. ‘Exactly. I think the vast majority of what she’s said is accurate. But I also sense there’s stuff she’s not telling me. And that her narrative has been . . . edited, shall we say.’

Sophie says, ‘But we’re going after Fenton?’

‘Oh, yes.’

‘Fabulous!’ she continues. ‘That’s where I come in. I’ll have my friend in Special Branch run the checks you spoke about. Should be a doddle.’

‘It won’t be a doddle!’ I tell her, trying not to bite her head off. ‘It’ll take time and a lot of cross-checking.’ Her casualness worries me, but I add gently, ‘Thanks for doing this.’

‘My absolute pleasure.’

Franks asks, ‘Could Tania not give us a hand?’

Tania Wilde was a useful contact within Special Branch who’s assisted me in the past. ‘She’s moved on, I’m afraid. Promoted to Thames House.’

‘That’s bloody inconvenient.’

‘Selfish, I’d call it.’

We organise for Sophie to pass on her findings to Stacey, who’ll investigate and confirm the identity of the individual she targets. When we’ve found out what Fenton is calling himself these days, and where he is, I’ll take over.

Frank finishes his Bloody Mary. ‘What do you want me to do, lad?’

I bring Sophie up to date on the situation regarding Alexander Paige, but before she can express her horror at my predicament, I say to Frank, ‘If you wouldn’t mind, I’d like you to ask a few questions. See if you can find out who Paige has hired to do the job on me. What’s being planned. There’s a pub in Custom House that might be a good place to start.’

‘Aye. I know the one. I’ll get on it as soon as we’re done here.’

‘Thanks. And, Sophie, I know it looked a bit like Frank was setting you homework, but he asked you to look into the Romanovs. You once mentioned something about research being vital for a lot of the work you do, so we thought—’

She interrupts me with a bright, ‘It was fun to do! I’ve studied Russian history, so it wasn’t terribly onerous.’

‘Thank you.’

‘I’ll begin at the beginning,’ she tells us.

She’s clearly knowledgeable about the subject and gives us a potted summary of the events that culminated in the revolutions of 1917.

‘To be honest, the names are different, but the events triggering any revolution are invariably similar.

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