“Yes, sir.” They glanced at one another. “Not MP Fickle, Your Royal Highness. But your father-in-law, Lord Cunningham.”
“Cletus Cunningham involved in something illegal?” John walked toward the luncheon trolley for another sandwich half. “He was the Solicitor General before he joined the House of Lords. He fights for justice under the law every chance he gets.” He gestured to the tray. “Do you care for anything? Help yourselves.”
“Yes, sir, we’re aware of Lord Cunningham’s resume. But he was named when the investigation began, and we’ve uncovered quite a lot of evidence.”
“What sort of evidence? How can I help?”
“There was a gift given to his daughter,” Inspector Meade said, slow, tentative.
But Tolsma went straight to it. “We believe Princess Holland was part of the conspiracy.”
“The princess? Involved in a crime?” John scoffed. “I don’t believe so. No.”
“Did you ever see her wear a large diamond necklace, sir? About twenty carats? We’ve confirmed through multiple sources, even video evidence, that Luca Reingard—”
“The founder of Reingard Industries?”
“—gave the princess the necklace.”
“Whatever for?” Reingard was one of those brash, bold, good-looking, thirty-something chaps with a steel jaw and a steely gaze. An entrepreneur with the Midas touch, he’d turned his father’s small weaving business into an international textile company.EuroFinancialdubbed him “The Face of Tomorrow’s Billionaire.”
“According to testimony,” Meade said, consulting notes on his phone, “she met Reingard in Brighton Kingdom at a marketing conference two years ago.” Two years ago? They’d been dating. “He wanted to meet her father, who chaired parliament’s Economic Development Committee. He stepped down six months after their initial meeting. Reingard wanted the Midlands land Eloise Ltd. was about to purchase. They planned to build a major plant and warehouse and expand Reingard Industries into Europe, Asia, even America, from our soil. They were also about to announce their IPO.”
“And Holland knew all of this?”
“We’re not sure what she knew.” Tolsma stepped toward him. “Or you.”
“Me? I knew nothing. She told me the necklace was a gift from her father.”
“We’ve video evidence of the princess with Reingard.” Tolsma offered her phone and John tapped the Play button.
Holland and Reingard stood in a large conference ballroom, chatting. The next frame showed them at dinner, the necklace resting below Holland’s neck.
“We wondered if you had the diamond here.”
“I know this diamond,” John said, low, rattled, passing back Tolsma’s phone. “But I don’t know where it is. I only saw it once.”
“Lord Cunningham claims he doesn’t have it either,” Meade said. “We’ve searched his home and office.”
“What about his country estate?” John wanted to sit, to think, but he remained stalwart and on his feet.
“We’re working on a warrant,” Tolsma said. “Sir, do you mind if we look around your apartment?”
“You think it’s here?” John said. “My in-laws came for Holland’s things—clothes, shoes, bags, books, jewelry—two weeks after her funeral. I argued I wasn’t ready but they insisted. Said it would help me heal and move on.”
“Can we do our own inspection, sir?” Tolsma was all business. “It’s desired evidence in a high crime and misdemeanor case.”
“High crime and misdemeanor?” Which meant the Solicitor General aimed for impeachment of a sitting member of the House of Lords. What a weighty allegation and lofty goal.
The last Lauchtenland impeachment happened in the sixteenth century. “Is the crown being implicated in any way? Am I being implicated?”
“No, sir. Neither you nor the queen, but according to testimony, Princess Holland understood the diamond was a thank you for her part in the plan. She also bought shares under her maiden name in Reingard before the company went public.”
She’d never said a word. Not. One. Word.
Once again, Tolsma asked to search his place. More specifically, where Holland dwelled. John escorted them from his office, down the hall to 2A in a swirl of heart-pounding confusion, striving to understand. Holland had always been open and honest. She wrote down her goals and values, and every few months reviewed them to see how she was doing. She asked John and other family members to give input.
But this bit of news she hid? It made no sense.
