“I had a small snapshot also in there. I didn’t want the Prussian writing on the photo of the officers. Seemed a bad idea to have all the information in one place.” He shook his head. “The photo was the only paper I had to offer, so I let him write on it. It’s gone.” He paced a few steps, pivoted. “It has to be somewhere. Somewhere else in the flat.”

“No.” She shook her head, heart thudding. “I didn’t see any photographs. I checked everything.”

“Everything? Every page of every book? Every binding? Every—”

“Everything!” Though, of course, now she doubted herself. She’d flipped through each book, but could a photograph have been stuck between pages and escaped her notice? Could it have been under the insole of a shoe? Behind peeling wallpaper?

Not that his wallpaper had been peeling. She pressed her hands to her temples. “What was it a photograph of?”

He cursed again and then sighed. “The two of us as boys. From our trip to Paris.”

Could it have been with that other picture from Paris? Or hidden behind the oil painting? Or—worst-case scenario—would he carry it with him? She let her hands fall. Whichever the answer, clearly her work wasn’t done.

Not even close.

22

Zivon claimed to be no expert on English garden parties, but from his perspective, this one had been quite a success. He’d been amused to discover that the duchess he’d tried to avoid at the wedding had come, and that she knew Kira Suvorova from her time in Monaco. She had, in fact, been the friend the Suvorovs had come to visit when they were stranded here by the outbreak of war. He’d been touched at the arrival of Father Smirnov and his wife, who reported that she’d cleared all the matushkas and babushkas from his building for him that morning. And he’d been encouraged by the number of his colleagues who had made an appearance too.

Most of them had already left at this point in the afternoon, and as lovely as the day had been, he found himself ready for some quiet. On the other hand, he was also loath to leave Lily’s side. So if Major Camden and Miss Denler decided to linger for another hour, he wouldn’t complain.

The poor young woman had deep circles under her eyes, and she looked like a stout wind could knock her down. They’d arrived late, and Camden had just been confessing to Zivon in an undertone that he was more than a little concerned for her.

Lily moved to her friend’s side and touched a hand to her elbow. “You look exhausted. Have you slept at all in the last two days?”

“Maybe. An hour or two.” Miss Denler tried to give her a smile, but it didn’t last long.

“How are the men in quarantine?”