The Hawk Is Dead

84

Tuesday 28 November 2023

Precisely 4.40 p.m. That was the time Sir Tommy had given him, suggesting he dial in a couple of minutes before, as His Majesty was somewhat a stickler for punctuality and had a particularly rammed afternoon.

Despite all his professionalism kicking in, Roy Grace felt butterflies in his stomach, and his finger on the keypad wasn’t as steady as usual. Although King Charles had been very friendly on their last meeting, he was nervous now all the same. He’d never actually phoned The King of England before.

The phone began ringing and a moment later he heard a female voice. ‘Good afternoon, Buckingham Palace.’

Grace’s voice came out sounding very small, he thought. ‘Good afternoon, may I please speak to The King.’

‘Your name, sir?’

‘My name is Detective Superintendent Grace.’

‘Roy Grace?’

‘Correct.’

‘He is expecting you. One moment please, Detective Superintendent, I’m putting you through.’

Grace took three deep breaths. A moment later he heard The King’s now familiar voice. ‘Detective Superintendent Grace, good afternoon, I gather you wanted to speak to me. How are you?’

‘I’m... I’m fine, thank you, Your Majesty.’

‘Good. Do you have some news? Good news, I hope?’

His voice was warm but understandably tinged with anxiety, Grace thought. The King was not only Head of State and Head of the Commonwealth, but he also carried the normal burdens of any human being. Grace remembered a former Chief of the Met Police once saying that wearing a uniform does not protect you from trauma. The same could apply to The King — he might be head of the Royal Family and have all the privileges that went with it, but he was also just a human being, extremely worried about the safety of the woman he loved.

‘We are making good progress, Your Majesty.’

‘I’m pleased to hear it — I hope you can make sense of this terrible tragedy — well, two terrible tragedies now.’

‘If I can give you any reassurance, Your Majesty, the further we get with our enquiries, the more certain I am that Her Majesty was not the intended target in this tragic shooting, and that her life is not under threat.’

‘I would so much like to share your optimism, Detective Superintendent. I really would.’

There was such warmth and passion — and sadness — in those last words that Grace felt extremely moved. He wished desperately at this moment that he could say something that would put The King’s mind completely at rest. All he could do was deliver what he knew was a rather lame-sounding platitude. ‘I’m sure we will be able to give you something positive very soon, sir.’

‘I do hope so.’

‘I believe Sir Tommy has been keeping you up to speed, sir.’

‘Yes, he has. So, what was it you wanted to ask me?’

‘I know you are very busy, sir, it was just one quick question — regarding Sir Peregrine.’

‘Yes, of course, fire away.’

‘Can I ask, did you and Sir Peregrine have a conversation earlier this year or late last year about how up to speed he was with current internet technology?’

‘Well, we talked daily about all matters.’ There was a brief silence before he spoke again. ‘How up to speed with internet technology, you said?’

‘Yes, Sir.’

‘Hmm. No, I don’t recall talking about that specifically, no. But we may have discussed it at some point — we had issues with the Palace Wi-Fi a while back and Peregrine was fairly tech savvy, but it was Tommy who really knew the right people to bring in, not Peregrine.’

‘What I need to know, Sir, is did you ever suggest to Sir Peregrine that he should enrol in a specialist course on internet technology?’

The King came back without hesitation. ‘No. Never. Absolutely not. I’d remember that.’

‘That’s very helpful, Your Majesty. I won’t take any more of your time.’

‘You’ll keep me updated, won’t you, Detective Superintendent? Through Tommy is fine, but if there’s anything really significant, always feel free to come through to me directly.’

Grace thanked him and ended the call.

Then he sat thinking hard for several minutes, before lifting his phone and asking Glenn Branson if he could come to his office.

Then, as he ended the call, his phone rang. He heard the dry, slightly smug voice of Denton Scroope. ‘Roy, is this a convenient moment?’

‘Absolutely.’

‘I’ve deciphered another.’

‘Excellent, what do you have, Denton?’

‘Well, you gave me the letters R S Z K Y Z N K Z K S. Your man was using a numbers code with the code for each letter having to be deciphered separately. What I have for you is A B I T H I W T I T B.’

‘A B I T H I W T I T B?’ Grace repeated.

‘Correct.’

‘I’m not sure I’m any the wiser.’

‘Could it be A Bird In The Hand Is Worth Two In The Bush? Would that mean anything to you, Roy?’

Grace was silent for a moment, thinking. A Bird In The Hand?

What bird? Was any member of the Royal Household birdlike in some way? Or named after a bird?

Then he realized exactly who.