“Now, we need to make you up a bed. . . .” I found a linen closet and we made the bed between us. “And I’ll have supplies sent down from the kitchen. I’d invite you to come up to the castle and eat with us, but I’m afraid . . .”

“Don’t get your knickers in a twist, ducks,” he said. “I wouldn’t feel right among all those toffy noses. I shall be right as rain in this snug little place, if you don’t mind coming down to visit occasionally.”

“Of course I will,” I said. “In fact I’m going to need your help.”

“What’s up?” he asked, looking at me with concern. “Something’s wrong, I can tell.”

I knew I was sworn to secrecy but I felt that I could tell my grandfather anything. So I did. I recounted the whole story from the encounter on the train to the various accidents that had happened since.

“I can only conclude that the rope was meant for Prince George,” I said, “and that the cistern that came down on that poor woman was also designed for the prince, although Binky and Fig also use that bathroom.”

“Are you sure you’re not reading too much into this? Accidents do happen. Back when I was on the force, we used to say that bad luck came in threes. Maybe what you’ve told me was bad luck, no more: a rope that broke, an old lavatory that collapsed?”

“That rope was cut, Granddad. I’m sure of it. And what about the ghost that the countess saw? And the trap that caught Binky’s foot? It’s too much at once, especially after what Sir Jeremy told me. A whole string of accidents, all aimed at the royal family.”

He nodded. “Supposing you’re right, do you have anything to go on?”

“Nothing at all,” I said.

“Back when I was working for the Met, my old inspector would have said the first question to ask is ‘Who benefits?’ ”

“I can’t think,” I said. “Someone next in line of succession? But then nobody here fits that bill.”

“Are you sure?” Granddad asked. “What about that Siegfried fellow you went climbing with?”

I laughed. “He’s an heir to his own country’s throne, if they don’t assassinate everyone in the near future, and I don’t think he’s related to us at all. Besides, why would Siegfried lure me up onto a mountain and then have a rope break? There are plenty of ways to bump somebody off at Castle Rannoch without that long trek.”

“So anyone else staying here who might see himself with a crown on his head someday?”

I laughed nervously. “Granddad, I’m thirty-fourth in line and I believe I know everybody ahead of me. So it would have to be somebody who wanted to bump off at least thirty-four people, which simply doesn’t make sense.”