Now I felt much better. I told Irmtraut to tell the princess that I had to pay a call but would return soon to take her wherever she wanted to go. Then I put on my coat and hat and stepped out into a fine, brisk morning. There was no sign of any kind of police vehicle and the archway was deserted, with no indication that anything had ever happened there. I searched around, looking for any kind of clue that might have been missed, but rain-washed cobbles do not favor telltale footprints, or even the tread of motor tires.

Then I set off across the park for Belinda’s Knightsbridge mews cottage. It was a grand day to be out and walking and I felt my spirits rise as they always did when I was in the open air. Nannies pushed prams along the gravel paths while their older charges ran ahead or pushed their own dolls’ prams. It was a peaceful and friendly scene and it was hard to believe that a young woman had lain dead in an archway just on the other side of the palace. The men in the major’s study clearly wanted her death to be a suicide. I just hoped they were right and the autopsy would prove that she died from a drug overdose. But it still wouldn’t explain what she was doing under an archway at Kensington Palace.

I hadn’t gone far before two young boys came barreling toward me, pushing a pram with a hideous stuffed figure in it. I leaped back, startled, before they yelled, “Penny for the Guy, miss!” And I realized the date. Guy Fawkes. Bonfire night. All over Britain bonfires would be lit in back gardens and fireworks would be set off. I fished in my purse and found a penny, then was accosted by two more lots of boys and Guys before I reached the entrance to the park.

I rapped on Belinda’s front door. I had to wait quite a while and had almost given up when the door opened and a bleary-eyed Belinda peeked out.

“Oh, Georgie, it’s you. What are you doing here at this ungodly hour?” she asked.

“It’s nine thirty, Belinda. Most of the world is up and busy. Were you out gambling again late last night?”

“No, but I haven’t quite got used to the difference in times between California and here. My body still thinks it’s on California time.”

“I know. I had the same trouble when I first arrived home,” I said. “Aren’t you going to let me in?” Then a thought struck me. “Or are you perhaps entertaining some gentleman I should not meet?”

“No, it’s just me. All alone,” she said. “Come on in. I’m afraid I haven’t made tea or coffee yet.”