[Inspector Faro 14] - Faro and the Royals by Alanna Knight

Author:Alanna Knight [Knight, Alanna]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781845020453
Amazon: 1845020456
Goodreads: 2267085
Publisher: Black and White
Published: 2005-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11

Vince was not at home. Much in need of his stepson's buoyant presence to banish his anguished thoughts, Faro had to wait until breakfast next morning to relate Stuart Millar's story of King Solomon's Rod.

Vince was intrigued, knowing something of the Templars from his Freemason friends. 'I'm told that the oldest Scottish lodge at Kilwinning was founded by Robert the Bruce for the reception of those Knights Templars who had fled from persecution in Europe. A Templars contingent fought at the king's side, you know, on the field at Bannockburn.'

'After inflicting such a crushing victory over King Edward II, one would presume that their future was guaranteed,' said Faro.

'True. But there was more to it than that. Edward's army was considered invincible and some said that his was no normal defeat of a powerful army. Rumour had it that witchcraft and magic were involved -'

Faro laughed. 'Not unknown sentiments for losers to indulge in. They have to have a better excuse than telling their people they just weren't good enough to beat the enemy.'

'I agree. But rumour also claimed that the Templars had some holy relic, which they carried before their king. Certainly it was extraordinary that, even in the heat of battle and some fairly bloody hand-to-hand fighting, neither the Bruce nor any of their number suffered a single scratch.'

'Ah!' said Faro.

Vince looked at him quickly. 'You're thinking perhaps it was the Luck o' Lethie. You might be right at that, since the serpent's head goes back to the very origins of the Templars movement. I've often wondered -'

'And what have you wondered?'

'Well, about Solomon's Tower. As you know, it was built on the ruins of a twelfth-century religious house. And that could well have been a Templar chapel. A rich and powerful international brotherhood of religious warriors, Stepfather. Don't let us underestimate them.'

'A secret society so strong that popes aware of their power had tried to suppress it,' said Faro. 'A society important enough to be taken under the King of Scotland's protection. Gives one food for thought, doesn't it?'

Vince nodded. 'Especially when you now tell me there's a shrine-like upper room in the Mad Bart's cat-ridden establishment. What blasphemy.'

All Faro's training, combined with an extra sense that had served him well in the past, now compelled him to believe that the disappearance of the Grand Duchess was no coincidence, but the outcome of some international intrigue.

As Vince's first patient of the day was announced by Mrs Brook, Faro considered what he hadn't told his stepson.

Was Sir Hedley involved, his pose as an eccentric recluse a screen for less innocent activities?

But aware of Vince's loathing for Sir Hedley, he decided to keep such speculations, as yet wholly without sufficient evidence to support them, to himself.

'I won't be at home tonight, Stepfather. I'm staying at Owen's place. And I must get in a few rounds of golf,' Vince added, with a speculative sight at a rather threatening sky, 'if I'm to reduce my handicap in time for this Perth tournament.

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