But Jack Morgan wasn’t listening. He was watching as a group of people emerged from the school and made their way toward the helicopter. Princess Caroline was at their head, and Morgan could almost feel the frustration emanating from her as she saw him but resisted the urge to run toward him.
Once she had reached them, she wasted no time in asking the question: “You found her?”
“I did.”
A solitary tear made its way slowly to Princess Caroline’s cheekbone. There it was flicked away as if it were an errant eyelash, the movement hiding the flash of vulnerability from all but Morgan—looking into her eyes, he could see that a tidal wave of emotion was building inside her, threatening to break through.
“I’d like to talk to the Princess inside, and in private,” said Morgan.
“Of course,” replied De Villiers, quickly showing them back inside the building to rooms that had been cleared and guarded for the use of the royal visitor and her team. Crayoned pictures of families, sunshine and pets covered the walls of the classroom. Life begins so happily, Morgan thought to himself.
“Sophie’s dead, Your Highness,” he said simply. “I’m so very sorry.”
“I knew it as soon as you spoke outside,” she replied.
Morgan watched as Princess Caroline cast her eyes over the children’s pictures, no doubt thinking the same thoughts as Morgan.
“At what point does it go wrong?” she asked, almost to herself.
Morgan didn’t reply. If he allowed Caroline to talk, perhaps she would shed some detail on Sophie that was a thread Morgan could pull at to unravel the mystery surrounding her connection to Sir Tony Lightwood.
“Have you ever been in love?” she asked.
The question surprised Morgan. “I have,” he admitted after a moment, the image of Cook’s face floating in his mind. He could almost feel her, if he closed his eyes.
“I can see it.” Princess Caroline half smiled. “You’d do anything for her?”
“Of course.”
“You’d lay down your life for a stranger, or a case?” She thought it over. “I suppose there’s no end to what you’d do for someone you loved…”
Her words trailed away, and Morgan let them go, waiting for her to come to her point.
“I’m sure you’ve worked out that Sophie was more than a friend to me. I don’t know if what we had was a relationship, but I know that it was love. You see, Jack, I didn’t care about her past, but we knew that we couldn’t think about a future. It was impossible. Can you see
that?”
Morgan nodded. “She was the one with secrets, but you’re the one who couldn’t carry them.”
“She was everything to me, and yet we couldn’t ever be anything. Times have changed and society has moved forwards, but the support of the royal family is a conservative base, Jack. A lesbian princess? I hope, soon, that this is something Britain can embrace.”
“But not when her partner has a history of prostitution and blackmail,” Morgan finished, as delicately as was possible for such a statement.
“Even when you say it kindly it sounds terrible, doesn’t it? I swear to you, Jack, those days were behind her, but we both knew… we both knew that you can never be free of the things you do and the mistakes you made, no matter how long ago.”
A heavy silence filled the room.
“How did she die?” Caroline asked eventually.
“I don’t think you want to—”
“Jack, please. Just tell me how.”
“We found her hanged. It was by a waterfall, in a forest.”
“Sounds like a beautiful place,” she managed, doubtless trying to push away the image of Sophie’s body.
“It was.”