Chapter 25

England, May–June 1943

What surprised him afterwards was how calmly he took the news.

Calm was possibly the wrong word: detached would be more accurate. It was as if he reacted as a police officer rather than as a father: concentrating on the facts, not jumping to hasty conclusions before he’d heard everything, his emotions under control – more or less. Which wasn’t to say, of course, that he hadn’t been utterly stunned. It was indeed truly dreadful news. Maybe his apparent detachment could be explained by shock. It took Gilbey and Hendrie a good quarter of an hour to stumble their way through something that could have been said in less than five minutes.

…no easy way to put this, but we have some terrible news for you…

I’m sorry to tell you, Henry is missing…

From a hospital… adopted, actually…

must not lose hope…

…our very best efforts…

Not leaving a stone unturned…

They were both visibly relieved when there was a knock at the door and Prince’s Chief Constable entered.

Perhaps you two should go and have a good old chat… I’m sure we’ll have this sorted in no time.

Where Gilbey and Hendrie had been awkward and embarrassed, the Chief Constable was supportive and sympathetic, almost fatherly in his manner. He took Prince into a room on the ground floor with French windows open to a terrace, framing an enormous rose bush, the gentle breeze sending an early scent of summer into the room.

‘What have they told you, Richard?’

‘That Henry has disappeared, sir. It was such a garbled account, I’m rather confused. They said you were on your way down and would explain everything to me.’

‘Let me tell you what happened, and then I can explain what we’re doing about it. Are you sure I can’t get you a drink?’

Prince shook his head. The two men had settled in comfortable armchairs opposite each other. Behind the Chief Constable was a large oil painting of a Victorian family standing against a large fireplace that looked just like the one the picture was above.

‘You’ll appreciate some of the information I’m about to give you is incomplete: we’ve had to piece together what we can. Some dates, for instance, are guesswork. Our main source is your housekeeper, Janet. We do know that towards the middle of January, your sister-in-law Evelyn went to stay for a few days with a friend in London and took Henry with her. Your housekeeper had taken a week off to visit her sick mother in Scotland and we think Evelyn decided to go away at the same time. Does the name Marsden mean anything to you?’

Prince shook his head.