Next In Line

Chapter 8

Although William couldn’t wait to get stuck into the Milner inquiry, the lengthy delay allowed him to get to know Jo Junior better while observing, a little apprehensively to begin with, how she was settling in with the rest of the family. He needn’t have worried, because Artemisia, as Beth had predicted, quickly took her new little sister under her wing, even if Peter pretended to ignore Jojo, although he was always the first to stand up for her whenever she got into any trouble. The duo quickly became a trio, while anyone who saw them together assumed they were a family. As for the ‘two indulgent grandfathers’, in Beth’s words, they were both infatuated with the new arrival, while the grandmothers doted on her.

William accepted that the transition was complete after a visiting colleague from the gallery told Beth, ‘Jojo looks just like you.’

‘I’m flattered,’ Beth replied, recalling how beautiful Ross’s wife Josephine had been.

Ross visited his daughter as often as he could, but as he’d had to go on an extensive training course before he could begin work as Princess Diana’s personal protection officer, the visits were less frequent than he would have liked. But he did manage to escape for a few days over Christmas, and arrived at the house on Christmas morning loaded down with presents for the only other woman in his life.

Jojo gave her father a huge hug, before he handed three large boxes to three excited children, who didn’t wait to ask if they could open them.

‘Why haven’t I seen you for such a long time, Papa?’ asked Jojo as she tore the wrapping off her gift.

‘Shall I tell her?’ said Ross, turning to William.

‘Yes, of course,’ said Beth before William could reply. ‘But you’d better have a good excuse, because young ladies don’t like being stood up without an explanation.’

‘I’ve been on an intensive close protection course,’ said Ross as he sat cross-legged on the floor next to his daughter. ‘Top secret,’ he whispered.

‘Details, details!’ demanded Artemisia, imitating her grandfather.

‘For the past six weeks, I’ve been learning how to drive backwards in the rain and perform a J-turn before taking off again at high speed.’

‘What’s a J-turn?’ Peter asked as he took a model police car out of its box, wound it up and set it off, lights flashing, sirens blaring.

‘You have to be able to turn a half circle while going backwards,’ said Ross, ‘so you’re facing in exactly the opposite direction, and can move off quickly.’

‘Is that where Princess Diana lives?’ asked Jojo, staring at a picture of Buckingham Palace on her Lego box.

‘Of course it isn’t,’ said Artemisia as Jojo tipped the contents out onto the floor. ‘My friend lives at Kensington Palace with the Prince of Wales, and Ross, who takes care of her.’

‘Do you have a gun?’ asked Peter, pointing a forefinger at Ross.

‘Yes, but my predecessor didn’t once have to draw his weapon during the time he worked for the Princess.’

‘And let’s hope you don’t have to,’ said Beth.

‘What does predecessor mean?’ asked Artemisia as she fixed a large Lego cornerstone in place.

‘The person who had the job before Ross,’ explained Beth.

‘Does the Princess have a police car like mine?’ asked Peter, winding it up again.

‘Sure does,’ said Ross, ‘and I sit in the front passenger seat, while the Princess sits in the back with her lady-in-waiting.’

‘What’s a lady-in-waiting?’ asked Jojo as she picked up a window and checked the picture on the lid. It didn’t help that the palace had seven hundred and sixty windows.

‘Someone who accompanies the Princess whenever she attends an official function,’ Ross explained. ‘Usually a close friend.’

‘I’d like to be a lady-in-waiting,’ said Artemisia.

‘What about protocol?’ said Beth with a wry smile. ‘Did they teach you how to behave in front of a member of the Royal Family?’

‘You bow from the neck, not the waist, while making sure you always address them by their correct title,’ said Ross looking up, ‘and you must never ask a member of the Royal Family a question.’

‘That must make for a one-sided conversation,’ suggested Beth.

‘How would I address the Queen if I met her in the street?’ asked Jojo.

‘You would curtsey, not bow, and address her as “Your Majesty”,’ said Ross as Artemisia fixed an archway into the front of the palace.

‘What about Arti’s friend, Princess Diana?’

‘“Your Royal Highness”, when you first meet her, then “ma’am” during any further conversation, and “Your Royal Highness” again when the conversation ends and she moves on.’

‘Good morning, Your Royal Highness,’ said Artemisia as she stood up and curtsied.

‘But surely if you’re a friend like Arti,’ said Jojo, ‘you can call her Diana?’

‘Certainly not,’ said Ross, with mock horror. ‘Not even her lady-in-waiting addresses her by her Christian name.’

‘Then who does?’ asked Beth.

‘Other members of the Royal Family and close friends, but then only in private.’

‘And do the same rules apply for the Queen?’ asked Beth. ‘Does anyone call her Elizabeth?’

‘I suspect only the Queen Mother, Princess Margaret and the Duke of Edinburgh, who all call her “Lilibet”, but not in public.’

‘Do they also bow and curtsey?’

‘On state occasions, yes, and I’m told first thing in the morning and last thing at night.’

‘I’ll bet the Duke of Edinburgh doesn’t bow before he climbs into bed,’ said Beth.

‘They have separate bedrooms,’ said Ross, looking across at Artemisia and Jojo, who were continuing to build their palace. He was delighted to see how well his daughter had settled in, and that she was clearly now accepted as a member of the family.

Ross got up off the floor as Peter practised reversing his police car and turning a half circle before speeding away. ‘I can’t begin to thank you enough,’ Ross said as Beth handed him a glass of mulled wine.

‘We love her as if she were our own,’ said Beth. ‘So don’t even think about taking her away.’

‘Not much chance of that happening while I’m working for Diana,’ said Ross.

‘Princess Diana!’ said Artemisia firmly.

Beth laughed. ‘Why don’t you two catch up,’ she said, turning to William, ‘while I go and check on the turkey, because it sure won’t cook itself.’

Ross fell into the chair next to William and immediately asked, ‘Has Booth Watson raised his head above the parapet while I’ve been away?’

‘Not enough for me to take a potshot,’ admitted William, while offering Ross a mock toast. ‘However, we do know he’s been holding legal meetings with his client at Belmarsh every Friday morning for the past few weeks. In fact, I’m beginning to wonder if he’s decided not to take us on.’

‘Why wouldn’t he,’ said Ross, ‘when he’s got nothing to lose?’

‘Perhaps he has got something to lose,’ came back William. ‘Because I’m not altogether convinced Faulkner even knows his prized art collection is no longer hanging on the walls of his home in Spain, but is now stored in a warehouse near Gatwick airport.’

‘Which would confirm,’ suggested Ross, ‘that Booth Watson didn’t realize Faulkner was still alive when he set off for England in his yacht. Although that’s hardly slam dunk.’

‘Until you add the fact that Faulkner’s home in Spain was put on the market at around that time, and has since been taken off.’

‘What’s he up to?’ mused Ross.

‘I suspect that, like us, he’d be quite happy to see his client remain in jail for a very long time. While the cat’s away...’

‘I can’t make up my mind which one of them is the bigger crook.’

‘A close-run thing,’ suggested William, ‘but we’ll find out soon enough when the case comes to court.’

‘Meanwhile, what has the home team been up to in my absence?’

‘Preparing themselves for what I suspect will be a bruising encounter with Superintendent Milner and his cronies, once they discover what our real purpose is.’

‘When’s the opening round taking place?’

‘Rebecca and I report to Buckingham Gate next Tuesday, while Jackie and Paul will be checking into Windsor Castle at the same time.’

‘I can’t believe either of you will receive a particularly warm welcome, and that may not be the least of your problems.’ Ross lowered his voice, ‘I received a private briefing last week about a possible terrorist attack on a member of the Royal Family.’

William nodded. ‘Commander Holbrooke’s been in regular touch with the Hawk and, following Lockerbie, I can assure you that anyone who lands at Heathrow in possession of a Libyan passport spends several hours being questioned before they reach the baggage hall, and the majority of them are sent back home on the first available flight.’

‘That should please the Hawk, if not the liberal left,’ commented Ross. ‘And how is the old curmudgeon, dare I ask?’ he said as Jojo slotted a double door into place, and began clapping.

‘As feisty and cantankerous as ever, although recently he’s been talking about retirement.’

‘Now that he’s found the right person to take his place?’

‘That’s assuming Booth Watson isn’t planning to have us both locked up long before then,’ said William as Beth walked back into the room.

She curtsied before announcing, ‘Luncheon is served, my lords.’

‘But we haven’t finished building the palace!’ said Artemisia.

‘We’ll finish it together after lunch,’ promised Beth, ‘while your father and Ross do the washing up.’

‘I may have to go on another intensive training course before I can handle that,’ said Ross as he stood up and took Jojo’s hand.

‘Can I go with you this time?’ Jojo asked her father as Beth led them all out of the room and into the kitchen to find William sharpening the carving knife.

‘I’ve got an even better idea,’ whispered Ross as they sat down at the kitchen table. ‘Why don’t I take you to London Zoo tomorrow, and we can—’

‘Only if Arti and Peter can come as well.’

That was when Ross finally accepted that Jojo truly was part of the family.