Free Blood Line by Alanna Knight Page B

know anything of a child's remains allegedly discovered hidden in the wall of the royal apartments?'
    'Oh, that fairy tale.' Mace laughed. 'We know now that it was a practical joke.' 'Surely someone with a rather macabre sense of humour?'
    'It was the idea of the officers of the guard apparently, to frighten the workmen repairing the wall.'
    'I dare say they succeeded,' Faro remarked drily. 'To be frank with you, a child's body doesn't sound like a practical joke in the best of good taste.'
    'But to the uneducated labouring class, Inspector? Take the bones of some small animal, most likely a monkey, wrap them in an old vestment. Tell them these are the mummified remains of a child interred long ago and such information, from their superiors, would be accepted without the least question. Surely you can imagine, Inspector, how irresistible such a prank would seem to young, high-spirited army officers. One knows how gullible Irish workmen are,' Mace giggled, with a touch of malice.
    Faro eyed him with sudden distaste. 'A highly reputable newspaper - the Scotsman - also accepted the discovery as fact and, indeed, reported it in considerable detail.'
    'Come now, Inspector, we are all aware that news reports are prone to exaggeration,' said Mace with a pitying smile. 'Sensational stories are what they rely upon to sell their newspapers. And I don't imagine, for one moment, that the writer was encouraged to examine the contents of the coffin in case he realised that these were not, in fact, the bones of a child at all.'
    'Not any child, Lieutenant. The remains were rumoured to be those of a royal prince, the son Queen Mary bore to Darnley.'
    Again Mace laughed. 'No scholar would take such a preposterous supposition seriously, Inspector. You are surely not suggesting that King James VI of Scotland and Queen Elizabeth's legitimate successor was an impostor?'
    Faro smiled. 'You know, I really hadn't got that far. But now that you mention it, yes, perhaps we have a point worthy of consideration.'
    Mace looked nonplussed. 'If this were true, Inspector, then a lot of history would have to be rewritten. And I can assure you that no loyal servant of HM would ever harbour such treasonable and sinister thoughts,' he added severely.
    Faro nodded. 'The Castle officials made absolutely certain that no one else would have any opportunity to investigate. The remains were immediately re-interred and the aperture scaled.' He took advantage of the Lieutenant's sudden bewildered expression to add sharply, 'Have you any idea why Colonel Lazenby committed suicide in 1837, at the time of the second discovery?'
    'I gather he was involved in some scandal.' Mace's tone expressed contempt and disapproval. 'Why do you ask?'
    'As he was in charge of the Castle restorations, I just wondered if there might be some possible connection.'
    Mace laughed out loud. 'Good heavens, Inspector, it was nothing to do with a practical joke on some ignorant workmen that drove Lazenby to such dire straits.'
    'You think falling off a scaffolding was a practical joke?'
    'Of course not, Inspector.' Mace's countenance flushed red with indignation as he added stiffly, 'You are deliberately misunderstanding me. I was referring to our earlier discussion.'
    'What about Lazenby then?'
    'I understand it was a sordid matter, hushed up by the regiment. Lazenby was involved with a married woman, the wife of a fellow officer. Disgrace to his colours...'
    'Oh indeed,' Faro interrupted. 'I understood from his obituary that he had been recently married.'
    Mace had recovered. He raised one eyebrow mockingly. 'Since when, Inspector, did such peccadillos influence a man's reasons for making a suitable marriage? When he was challenged by the woman's husband, suicide was the only decent thing left to him to avoid a scandal.' He stood up. 'And now, is there anything else I can do for you?'
    Faro sensed by the way he gathered his papers together that Mace's co-operation had been replaced by a somewhat