The Hawk Is Dead

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.