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murder in a land not their own, one where they had no authority and no logical reason to be asking the
kinds of questions a murder investigation would require…
“What of the bodies?” Trevor ventured.
“By now they have mostly likely been claimed and buried,” the Queen said with a quick nod.
“Which we appreciate is a disadvantage from a forensic standpoint.”
all.”
“It’s the ultimate disadvantage,” Tom said bluntly. “We’re starting with no physical evidence at
“And since they deemed them as suicides, any police reports we should manage to lay claim to
would be cursory and incomplete,” said Trevor. He was obliged to serve the Queen, but this seemed
like an impossible request.
“Then you shall have to be very clever indeed,” the Queen said. She looked around the table
with understanding, even compassion. “I know the task sounds daunting, but it is not required that you
build the sort of case which would be strong enough to bring a killer to justice in a British court.
These deaths are a Russian matter and not our concern. Instead we are asking you to make an
evaluation. Russia is a dangerous place, but just how dangerous? If the revolutionaries managed to
place one man within the palace could they do it again?”
“You want to know if it’s safe for Alix to marry Nicky and live there,” Emma confirmed.
The Queen looked at her with such intensity that Emma blinked and dropped her own eyes.
“Alix is most certainly not going to marry Nicky and live there,” she said. “Upon my life, she shall
never be Tsarina Alexandra of Russia with the insupportable burdens such a title implies. The
question is whether or if will prove necessary to extricate Ella as well.”
“We shall devote ourselves to finding the answer,” Trevor said. For once he felt he was
reassuring a grandmother, and not a Queen.
“You must,” Victoria said, and her enormous blue eyes drooped nearly closed, as if she no
longer had the heart to look at the world around her. “For my blood runs cold when I think of what
could happen to my girls in Russia.”