Grace smiled. ‘Good work!’ It had taken him a great deal of persuading the authorities to get Shannon released from prison, and there was a lot riding, reputational-wise, for him – on her delivering. His instincts had been right, and what he had just heard from Shannon was helping to confirm them. This information, together with Cadoret’s name in the diary, felt like they were getting closer.

  Shannon continued. ‘Rose Cadoret’s on a salary of £78k. She has an apartment in south-west London, in Putney, with a mortgage that costs her £24k per annum as well as an annual service charge of £6k. She gives her mother an annual £5k top-up on her state pension. She has an HP payment of £8k per annum on her Fiat 500 Abarth car. A raft of standing orders – a gym membership, magazines, a vitamin supplement supplier called Foodstate. All of these tot up to almost £3k per annum. She has total fixed outgoings, without food, travel, holidays, of around £40k. After tax of around £12k, her income is now down to below £20k. So she’s not likely to be saving much, right?’

  ‘Doesn’t sound like it, no,’ Grace replied. ‘If anything at all.’

  ‘She doesn’t have a deposit account. Nor does she have any account with a stockbroker or wealth manager or IFA. What I’m saying by that is that she doesn’t have a savings stash anywhere – at least not that I’ve been able to find, so far.’

  ‘OK.’

  ‘But unless she won on the lottery or won big at gambling somewhere – and nothing I’ve found so far indicates to me that she is a gambler – there’s something I can’t explain, and it needs explaining.’

  ‘Tell me?’

  ‘Five weeks ago an amount of £180k was deposited into her bank account. The source of the money has been well concealed.’

  Grace considered this for a moment. Sir Jason Finch, as Keeper of the Privy Purse, had access to all the Royal Household’s finances. A Bird in the Hand? ‘Could the source of this be Sir Jason Finch, Shannon?’

  ‘Not that I’ve been able to find so far. Not a trace of any activity on the dark web, nor on the internet at all. He features in the Royal Household social media posts, but that’s all – he’s totally under the radar.’

  ‘So he’s either innocent,’ Grace mused.

  ‘Or very clever,’ Shannon jumped in.

  90

  Wednesday 29 November 2023

  At 9 a.m., Roy Grace stood in front of his Operation Asset team of fifty officers and civilian support staff, in the sectioned-off part of the room that had become his enquiry team’s temporary domain. It was also where he would hold his next press conference in two hours’ time, flanked by ACC Downing and one of the Comms team.

  The only people in the room who knew about Shannon Kendall’s findings were Glenn Branson, Emily Denyer and Luke Stanstead. All three were sworn to silence. At Grace’s instigation, Emily had already spoken to Shannon this morning and would be taking a quiet, deep and secret dive into Sir Jason Finch’s assets immediately.

  Grace was well aware that among the faces in front of him were DCI Jacqueline Crawley from the Scotland Yard Counter Terrorism Unit, and Security Coordinator DS Russ Lewis from the RaSP unit. They would relay everything they heard that was of any significance directly back to Detective Superintendent Greg Mosse. If he announced Shannon’s findings to the team, Mosse would be informed and would immediately want to take over questioning Rose Cadoret.

  Grace knew what Mosse’s argument would be. That Rose Cadoret was on his manor and there was no evidence to link her to the Op Asset enquiry. Grace felt otherwise, and had no confidence the Met Detective Superintendent would do anything other than make a total fist of handling someone who could be a crucial lead. It needed both a subtle approach and a highly tactical one.

  Not only that, this was the first real lead they had. He wasn’t going to squander it on that lightweight and let him take any glory that came from it. And Grace’s gut instincts told him that a great deal of glory might come from it. Instead he made the briefing a short one. He gave a quick recap of where they were and asked if anyone had anything significant to report.

  Only the British Transport Police detective had something. The CCTV cameras covering both Hassocks Station, to the north of Clayton Tunnel, and Preston Park Station, to the south, had only recorded up to 8 p.m. on Sunday 19 November, the night before the derailment. Their software had been tampered with – the system having been hacked was their best guess at this stage. This information didn’t take the enquiry any further forward, but it was added confirmation to Grace of a conspiracy rather than a lone offender.

  Grace hinted to the team that there were some promising developments through work being done by the Digital Investigation Support Unit and also at Digital Forensics, which was why neither Aiden Gilbert nor Jason Quigley were present, but beyond that he had nothing to report. He answered a number of questions about the murder of the footman, and an update on this was provided by DS Lewis from the RaSP unit, who said his team were looking closely for links between Geoffrey Bailey and Sir Peregrine.

  As soon as the briefing ended, Grace hurried back to his office, closed the door and sat at his desk. He thought through his plan carefully again for a couple of minutes, and hoped to hell he wasn’t making a bad tactical error. Then he raised his phone and hit a number that was now becoming very familiar.

  91

  Wednesday 29 November 2023

  ‘Roy! Super to hear from you. Do you have some news?’ Sir Tommy Magellan-Lacey sounded quieter than his normal, ebullient self and distinctly worried. ‘Any developments? Their Majesties are very anxious for any news at all. This footman business has dreadfully upset them, on top of everything last week.’

  ‘I want to ask you something in absolute confidence, Sir Tommy.’

  ‘Yes, absolutely, anything you say goes no further than here, Roy. Always.’

  ‘What more can you tell me about Rose Cadoret?’

  ‘The Deputy Director of the Royal Collection?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Well, gosh – what actually is it you’d like to know – about her?’

  ‘You’ve known her a long time, right?’

  ‘Absolutely. Many years, as you know she served in Afghanistan.’

  ‘And you said there was a bit of an incident back then, involving her and another soldier now based at the palace, Jon Smoke?’

  Magellan-Lacey sounded very uncomfortable suddenly, as if Grace had hit a raw nerve. ‘Well, yes, Roy. There was. An unfortunate situation, as I explained. You’ve never been a soldier yourself, I believe?’

  ‘No.’ Grace was thinking hard. He asked, ‘Did you have Smoke’s whereabouts checked on the day Sir Peregrine was shot, Monday November the twentieth, Sir Tommy?’

  ‘My God, yes, he was the first person I checked after our conversation.’

  ‘Really?’

  ‘Well, he was one of the few people I could think of who had the skills to shoot accurately from the distance he did. He was a sniper attached to the Parachute Regiment. Both him and the fellow who was brutally killed behind Taliban lines. I was very relieved, I can tell you, when I checked the RaSPs’ roster and saw he was in the Palace all that day.’

  Smoke was a sniper? How had that not come up sooner? ‘Can I get a copy of that roster?’ Grace asked calmly, though his mind was whirring.

  ‘Yes, no problem,’ the Master replied. ‘I’ll make a note to get a copy and ping that over to you.’

  ‘Thank you. So to go back to what you were saying, what then happened?’

  ‘Well, Roy, some years later, Sir Jason Finch left the Army and joined the Royal Household, as Keeper of the Privy Purse, in 2016. It was soon after that he discovered Jon Smoke had joined the Met Police.’

  Grace interrupted him. ‘Sir Jason Finch, as their commanding officer back in Afghanistan, got Jon Smoke and Rose Cadoret out of a tight corner, didn’t he?’

  ‘He did and it cost him. He never got the recognition from the Army he felt he deserved.’

  ‘Is he bitter about that?’

  Magellan-Lacey hesitated. ‘I think he probably is a bit bitter, still, yes.’

  ‘And it was Sir Jason who helped Smoke become a RaSP?’

  ‘Yes, Jason got in touch with me, as he thought Smoke would be a good man to have on the Palace team.’

  ‘And Rose Cadoret.’

  ‘Well, she is a very different animal. Very odd that she enlisted in the Army as a soldier, rather than doing officer training, because she was really overqualified.’

  ‘A degree in Art History – from the Courtauld Institute.’

  ‘You’ve done your research, Roy. So, you asked me what I could tell you about her. Well, look, this is a difficult one, but since we’re on Chatham House Rules, as it were, and I can speak frankly, I’ve always thought there was something of the night about her.’

  ‘Something of the night?’

  ‘Do you understand what I mean by that? That she has a dark side. A real dark side.’

  ‘In what sense, exactly?’

  ‘You must have met plenty of them in your career, Roy. People who could kill with impunity – kill and feel nothing. She’s on that spectrum for sure.’

  ‘Which you saw in her in Afghanistan?’

  ‘I did.’

  ‘But you’re comfortable with her in the senior and very responsible role she has in the Royal Collection team? And how quickly she got promoted to her high position?’

  ‘I am, absolutely, but more importantly, so is Sir Jason Finch, the man who appointed her. She’s made a few damned good acquisitions for the Collection and it’s probably her ruthless streak that’s helped her in the negotiations. Lorraine McKnight, the Director and her boss, has sung her praises to me many times.’

  ‘I’d like to talk to her, as I’ve mentioned before,’ Grace said.

  ‘To Rose?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘About anything specific, Roy?’

  ‘No, nothing specific, just background.’

  ‘Of course, yes. When would you like to do this?’

  ‘I was hoping tomorrow.’

  ‘I’ll find out where she is. She’s not always here at Buckingham Palace – sometimes she’s at Windsor Castle or one of the other royal residences – the Collection is spread over so many places. I’m sure I can sort it.’

  Grace thanked him and ended the call. Then he sat lost in contemplation. Wondering if the Master of the Royal Household was still standing by his staff. Standing by that Bird In The Hand. And that Rose Between Two Thorns?

  His thoughts were interrupted by his phone ringing. It was Denton Scroope.

  ‘E J N W, Roy?’ There was almost glee in his voice.

  ‘E J N W? Have you cracked it, Denton?’

  ‘N S W F. It’s a short one but extremely hard to decipher. Do the letters mean anything to you?’

  ‘N S W F?’ Grace said the letters aloud again. Then it clicked. ‘No Smoke Without Fire?’

  ‘Bingo!’ Scroope said.

  92

  Wednesday 29 November 2023

  The media briefing at 11 a.m. went fine. Grace had informed Nigel Downing in advance that he felt close to a breakthrough, and the ACC had encouraged him to fully update the press with any information he could.

  He’d barely sat back down in his office, when the first headline appeared, in the online Argus.

  BREAKTHROUGH IN ROYAL MURDER PLOT IMMINENT

  It was followed in minutes by similar but even more sensational headlines around the nation and the globe.

  Der Bund’s online edition boldly proclaimed:

  ARREST OF QUEEN’S ASSASSIN IMMINENT!

  But Grace wasn’t smiling. His entire concentration was on the conversation he’d had earlier this morning with Sir Tommy Magellan-Lacey. There were two emails from the Master in his inbox.

  The first said:

  Roy, I’ve just spoken to Lorraine McKnight – Rose Cadoret’s boss. Apparently Rose fell off her bike and has been sent by the Palace doctor for a chest X-ray for possible broken ribs. She’ll be back at work tomorrow – likely to be in the Indian Room here at Buckingham Palace. But I’ll confirm as soon as I know. I’ve also asked that Rose show you the box of Granny’s Personal Chips.

  The second said:

  Attached is a scan of the duty roster for the Royal Protection team for Clarence House, Buckingham Palace and St James’s Palace for Monday Nov 20th. As you can see, in answer to your very astute query about Royal Protection Officer Constable Jon Smoke, he was on duty at Buckingham Palace from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m.

  Grace immediately opened the attachment. It showed, as Sir Tommy said, the duty roster for that day, and the shift hours of the Royal Protection Officers.

  He focused on Jon Smoke’s. Then zoomed in on it. And then zoomed in again.

  Was it his imagination, or was the background a faintly different colour to the other names on the roster?

  He tried to zoom further in, but the name and background became increasingly blurred.

  He thought for a moment, then typed an email to James Stather at the Surrey and Sussex Police Forensic Recovery Unit.

  James, hope all’s good. I’ve been sent this roster via email, showing Royal Protection Officers on duty on Monday Nov 20th – when Sir Peregrine Greaves, Private Secretary to Their Majesties, The King and Queen, was shot. I’m particularly interested in one of the names on this roster, Jon Smoke. I have a feeling, from trying to zoom in on it, that it may have been tampered with – by which I mean it is a false entry. I know you have highly sophisticated kit – could you, as a matter of extreme urgency, have your Imaging team run this through to see if they can tell whether the entire roster looks genuine or it if has been tampered with? Call me if you want any further information. In the meantime, I will obtain the original document. Best, Roy Grace.

  Then he sent it.

  93

  Wednesday 29 November 2023

  Grace, fed up with endless supermarket sandwiches, had started making himself a healthy lunch box. At a quarter past one, he popped open the lid and peered at the contents. A tuna, cucumber, tomato and avocado salad in one compartment, cottage cheese in another, a slice of buttered wholemeal sourdough in the third. In the fourth he found two Lindor chocolates – his guilty pleasure – added, without him knowing, by Cleo.

  He smiled. It was the first time he had smiled in a while, he realized. And there was very little to smile about right now, as he read the email James Stather had just sent him. A little over an hour after his request to the Forensics expert.

  Roy, the Imaging team have had a good look at this. Can’t say for sure – not enough to stand up in a court of law – but it looks to them as if there’s been some surreptitious editing going on. Of course if they had the original, they would be able to tell with more certainty.

  Grace replied to Stather that he should have the original tomorrow and thanked him. No sooner had he done that when an email from Sir Tommy pinged in. It confirmed that Rose Cadoret would be working on the restoration of the contents of the Indian Room all tomorrow. He also confirmed that Lorraine McKnight would be available to speak to Roy’s team. He might be tied up himself in meetings with the damned building contractors, but the Deputy Master, Matthew Corbin, would give him all the help he might need. It would be helpful if Roy could give him an ETA.

  Grace thought about that long and hard before composing his reply.

  Sir Tommy, there appears to be a possible anomaly with the copy of the rota you sent me. I need to see the original, not a photocopy or facsimile – who would I obtain that from? I will aim to come in to see Rose Cadoret at approximately 11 a.m. tomorrow – will be arriving by road.

  The Master replied almost immediately.

  I will inform Deputy Master Matthew Corbin and Rose Cadoret to expect you for 11 a.m. tomorrow. If you arrive at the front gates, the guards will notify Matthew who will come out to meet you. He will direct you to a parking area and will then take you to Rose. Meantime, I’ll arrange for her to have the original roster for Monday Nov 20th, which she will give you. Their Majesties would appreciate an update from you, but unfortunately they’re not in London tomorrow – but perhaps we can set something up soon? All best and apologies if I don’t see you personally tomorrow, but call me if you need anything. Tommy.

  Grace typed back a brief thank-you.

  94

  Wednesday 29 November 2023

  Just after 4 p.m., Shannon Kendall phoned Roy Grace. ‘Roy,’ she said, as he answered. ‘I’ve got more information on Jon Smoke.’

  ‘Tell me?’ Roy said, full of energy.

  ‘He has a Bitcoin account with the cybercurrency exchange, Coinbase. So far all I’ve been able to ascertain, with Emily Denyer’s assistance, is that in July he made a deposit of a substantial cash amount, which was converted into Bitcoins.’

  ‘What amount are we talking about, Shannon?’

  ‘Three hundred and forty-three thousand pounds.’

  He was silent for a moment. ‘That seems quite a chunk of change for a police constable, even with London weighting.’ He said it with a wry smile. ‘Any idea where the money might have come from? An inheritance, a compensation payout?’

  ‘Possibly. Or a big win at a casino. Sale of his house? Except Emily’s checked on that one and he rents a one-bed apartment in Clapham. Then you have to question why he would put it into Bitcoins? Could be to speculate on the currency, but I’m thinking there’s another reason.’

  ‘Which is?’

  ‘Cybercurrencies like Bitcoin are used by criminals to hide money. It’s taken two days to find this – and I know my way around like very few other people.’

  ‘Where do you think this amount of money might have come from? Is he dealing drugs?’

  ‘That would be a pretty big drug deal, Roy. Not impossible. But here’s the interesting thing. Using the portals I’ve opened, Emily has discovered two other deposits of an identical amount, three hundred and forty-three thousand pounds, made into Bitcoins through Coinbase, on exactly the same day this year. July the fifteenth, 2023.’