by Rhys Bowen
Dragomir shook his head.
“Then we must find out how the poison was administered. I don’t suppose we have any scientific testing at our disposal?”
“I believe you need iron sulfate; that turns cyanide Prussian blue,” Anton said, then again he gave that boyish smirk. “So you see, big brother, I did learn a thing or two at university. I’m not sure what iron sulfate is used for—something to do with woodworking or steelworking I believe. So possibly there may be some stored in the castle outbuildings or the forge or something. We could ask Siegfried and Maria.”
“No,” Nicholas said shortly. “I’d much rather they didn’t know yet. Not until I’ve thought things through.”
“Too bad they no longer have a royal food taster at your disposal,” Darcy said, then he saw Miss Deer-Harte’s shocked face and laughed. “It was an attempt at humor,” he said.
“There may be some animals on which we could test various foods,” Dragomir said. “I can send a servant to see if any stable cats have had a litter of kittens recently.”
“Oh, no,” I interrupted hastily, “you’re not going to poison kittens. That’s too horrible.”
“You English with your sentimental attachment to animals,” Dragomir said, then he appeared to be aware of me for the first time. “Lady Georgiana. It is not seemly that you should be here. Please return to the other ladies in the drawing room.”
“I asked her to be here,” Darcy said. “Believe it or not she has also had some experience with this kind of thing. And she’s a good head on her shoulders.”
Of course I blushed stupidly as they looked at me.
“First things first,” Nicholas said. “You must understand that this is a very delicate situation for us and one that could have serious ramifications if the news leaked out. Pirin was a powerful man in my country. It was only his influence at court that kept a whole province from breaking away. If word gets out that he’s been murdered—why, we could have a civil war on our hands by the end of the week, or, worse still, Yugoslavia could decide this would be an opportune moment to annex our Macedonian province. So I would prefer it that the true circumstances not be made known outside of this room.”
“In that case we should let it be generally thought that he died of a heart attack,” Darcy said. “We can’t bring him back to life but I presume it was well known that he liked his food and drink, so his death will come as no great surprise.”
“That was the general consensus of opinion as we were leaving the dining room anyway,” I chimed in. “If nobody else overheard Lady Middlesex then I don’t think you’ll have much trouble with convincing everyone that he died of a heart attack.”
“That’s certainly helpful,” Nicholas agreed.
Anton said nothing. He was still staring at the body in fascination and revulsion. Suddenly he looked up, his clear blue eyes fastening on his brother’s. “I don’t think anyone should be told that he’s dead before Papa finds out,” Anton said. “We should keep up the pretense that he’s gravely ill until our parents get here.”
Nicholas frowned. “I don’t know if we can do that,” he said. “I’m sure some of the servants overheard this lady’s outburst.”
“One assumes they don’t speak English,” Darcy said.
“Another thing you should consider,” Anton said, still looking directly at his brother, “is that Papa may well want to call off the wedding.”
“Call off the wedding, why?” Nicholas asked.
“Think about it, Nick. He will want to make a grand show of mourning for Pirin—to let our Macedonian brothers know how highly he regarded him. It would be most unseemly to have any kind of festivities during such a solemn time.”
“Oh, damnation, you’re right,” Nicholas said. “That’s exactly what he’ll want to do. And Romania could take it as a slight if we postpone the wedding. And think of the expense—we’ve already invited all the crowned heads of Europe to the ceremony back home in Sofia. And poor Maria. She’s so looking forward to her big day. What a horrible mess. Trust Pirin to get himself poisoned at the most inopportune moment.”
“What we have to do is keep up the pretense,” Anton said, warming to his subject now and strolling past the corpse. “We’ll let Papa know that Pirin is ill, but he shouldn’t find out that he’s dead until we’ve had the wedding ceremony.”
Nicholas gave a nervous laugh. “And exactly how are we going to do that? He’ll want to visit the sickroom, I’m sure.”
“Then Pirin will be sleeping. In a kind of coma maybe.”
“He looks dead, Anton, and in case you haven’t noticed, he’s not breathing.”
“We’ll have to have someone hidden behind the curtains and snoring for him,” Anton said. “We can do it, Nick. We can pull it off at least until Papa realizes it’s too late to call off the wedding.”
“You know how thorough Papa is. He’ll want to summon his own doctor.”
“It will take several days to get him from Sofia.”
“He’ll at least want to know that a doctor has been consulted,” Nicolas insisted.
“Then one of us will have to play the part. Darcy, perhaps.”
“He’s met me before,” Darcy said. “He could have just missed the doctor who has been called out to a confinement in the mountains.”
Nicholas laughed again. “You are turning this whole thing into a farce. It can’t work. You know what court life is like. It will probably be all around the castle by morning that he’s dead. Servants will come into his room—and who knows when Papa will get here? We can’t leave a corpse lying around for days, you know. He’ll begin to smell.”
“How revolting,” Lady Middlesex said.
Nicholas looked up at her, I think just realizing that strangers were present at what was a very private discussion. “We have no guarantee that the people in this room will not say the wrong thing.”
“Unfortunately we all know the truth,” Darcy said. “You can count on Georgie and me. That leaves Dragomir and the ladies. I’m sure Dragomir wants what is best for his princess and for Romania, but you may have to lock away the ladies until after the ceremony. There are plenty of dungeons here, aren’t there?”
“Lock us away? Are you out of your mind, young man?” Lady Middlesex demanded, while Miss Deer-Harte whimpered the word “dungeons?”
“Then they must swear not to divulge anything they have overheard. I’m sure we can trust the word of the wife of a British high commissioner.”
“You most certainly can,” Lady Middlesex said.
“I must have the word of every one of you here that nothing that has been discussed in this room is ever repeated to anyone else,” Nicholas said solemnly. “The future of my country is at stake. Can I trust you? Do I have your word?”
“I’ve already said you have mine,” Darcy said. “I don’t see how you’re going to pull this off, but I’ll do everything in my power to help you.”
“Mine too,” I said.
“Very well,” Nicholas said. “And you, ladies?”
Lady Middlesex frowned. “I would normally not agree to go along with any kind of subterfuge or underhand behavior, but I can see the ramifications could be most difficult for your country, so yes, you have my word. Besides, Miss Deer-Harte and I shall be leaving as soon as transportation can be provided for us over the pass. I am expected by my husband in Baghdad.”
“And I can be trusted to hold my tongue,” Miss Deer-Harte said. “I have a long history of living in other people’s houses and of hearing things not meant for my ears.”
Nicholas looked at Count Dragomir. “And you, my lord steward. For the good of our two countries and the happiness of your princess?” Nicholas said to him, holding out his hand. Dragomir nodded and reached out his own hand. “I shall not let you down, Highness. However, I should like to choose a couple of my most trusted servants to be in the know and ready to assist us, should the need arise.”
“That makes sense. Choose wisely and let us get to
work.” Nicholas sighed. “The first thing to do is to get Pirin up to his room. That in itself will not be an easy task. He was a big man when alive. Now he’ll be a dead weight.”
“I will call in those two servants I suggested,” Dragomir said. “Both strong men and loyal to me and the crown. I will station one of them outside his door and I shall keep the key.”
“Thank you, Dragomir. Much appreciated,” Nicolas said.
“I don’t know what you hope to achieve with this, Your Highness,” Dragomir said. “It seems like a hopeless endeavor to me.”
“Not so hopeless,” Anton said. “I’ve been studying a bit of chemistry at Heidelberg. The longer you leave it, the more chance cyanide has to dissipate from the system. A heart attack will be tragic but nobody can be blamed for it but the man himself. My father needs time to think out his strategy. We are giving him time.”
I had been the silent onlooker until now but I took a deep breath. “It seems to me there is one thing you are all overlooking,” I said. “And that’s the murderer. Who wanted Pirin dead so strongly that he was prepared to take a risk and kill him in public?”
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.”
“It is impossible,” Dragomir said. “The platters come up from the kitchen in the dumbwaiter. They are handed to servers who whisk them to the table as rapidly as possible so that the food stays hot. There are too many links in this chain.”
“I suppose it’s possible that a particular server could put a cyanide capsule on one special morsel of food as he came through from the serving area,” Darcy said thoughtfully, “but as you say, the risk of making a mistake is great.” He broke off as two burly men appeared at the door. Dragomir intercepted them and spoke to them for a while in a low voice. They looked across at the body and nodded. Then they went over to him and lifted him between them. It was clearly heavy going.
“You and I had better help, or they’ll never get him up the stairs,” Nicholas said to his brother. “It may be easier if we seat him on a chair and carry him that way.”
“Your Highness. That would be most unseemly,” Dragomir said.
Nicholas laughed. “I’m afraid this is an occasion on which we put protocol aside, if we wish to succeed,” he said. “Your job is to go ahead of us and make sure the coast is clear.” He looked at the rest of us.
“And your job is to go back to the party and act normally. If asked about Pirin’s health be vague. And remember the vow you made.”
“But what about the investigation?” Lady Middlesex demanded. “And the plates that should be tested?”
“I’ll retrieve them now and keep them safe,” Darcy said. He went through to the dining room and wrapped Pirin’s china and glasses inside a couple of napkins. “I moved the dishes around a bit to create some confusion,” he said. “The removal of one place setting might make the servants suspicious. And if you don’t mind, Count Dragomir and Prince Nicholas, I think I should have a word with the servers before they disperse and can gossip among themselves. I’ll need you to translate for me, Dragomir.”
“So your job is to keep the stiff upper lip, as they say in England, ladies,” Nicholas said. “Go back to the party and be merry and gay.”
“I think we should go straight to bed, Deer-Harte,” Lady Middlesex said. “This has been most distressing for all of us. I sincerely hope that we can get away tomorrow and resume our journey back to normal life.”
Miss Deer-Harte nodded. “Oh, I do hope so. I told you when we arrived that I sensed this was a place of death, didn’t I? I am seldom wrong in my intuition.”
And so they left. Darcy turned to me. “You should go back to the party. Above all keep talking to Maria and Siegfried so that they don’t follow us. I’ll come and join you when I can.”
And so our group dispersed.
I tried to slip into the drawing room without being noticed but it seemed that everyone was on edge and Siegfried got to his feet as I came in.
“What news, Lady Georgiana?”
“I’m afraid I’m no medical expert,” I said, “but everyone seems to think that the poor man suffered a heart attack. They have carried him to his room. There’s not much more that can be done for him apart from letting him rest.”
“I feel desolate that there is no doctor in our midst and no way of summoning one other than sending one of the cars back to Brasov. And given the condition of the pass, that could not be accomplished until morning.”
The group was still sitting in subdued silence.
“Well, I’m not at all surprised he had a heart attack,” my mother said, loudly and cheerfully. “That bloated red face is always a sign. And the way he ate and drank.”
“He is a peasant. What can you expect,” Siegfried said. “Nothing good ever comes of elevating these people to positions of power. It goes to their heads. Let those who are bred to rule do the ruling—that’s how I was brought up.”
“Siegfried, you are so stuffy,” Matty said. Then she stood up. “I’m sorry the poor man has been taken ill, but enough gloom for one evening. It
is my wedding celebration after all. Let’s bring in some music and dance a little.”
“Maria, do you think that’s seemly?” Siegfried asked.
“Oh, come on, Siegfried, it’s not as if there’s been a death in the house. He may be right as rain by tomorrow and he won’t be disturbed by us down here. These friends have come from all over Europe to celebrate with me and I want to dance.”
She gave a command and the carpet was rolled back. A pianist and violinist appeared and soon a lively polka was played. I stood beside Siegfried as Matty dragged one of the young counts onto the dance floor. Siegfried always looked as if there were a bad smell under his nose. At this moment the expression was exaggerated. Then he turned to me and clicked his heels.
“I should see if the patient requires anything of me,” he said. “After all, I am the host in my father’s absence. It is not right that I neglect Prince Nicholas in his hour of need.”
“Oh, I think that Dragomir has organized everything beautifully,” I said. “He’s a good man. Everything runs like clockwork here.”
“Yes, he is a good man,” Siegfried said.
“Is the administration of this castle his only responsibility, or is he usually in Bucharest with the royal family?”
“No, his duties are confined to this place,” Siegfried said. “He is not of Romanian birth, which would make him unpopular with the people.”
“But you are not of Romanian birth either,” I said, laughing. “None of the royal families in this region are natives of their countries.”
“Ah, but we are of royal blood. That is what matters. People would rather be ruled by true royalty, wherever they come from, than by upstarts who would abuse their power.”
“So where does Count Dragomir come from?”
Siegfried shrugged. “I can’t quite remember. One of those border areas that has changed hands many times, I think. Just as Transylvania itself used to be part of the Hapsburg Empire.”