In truth, so much work had gone into making this interview happen that failure wasn’t an option.
She picked up her phone. Using an encrypted chat, she sent a message to Professor Alice Trevelyan at Oxford.
It went well, I think. Let me know when you hear from her.
I just did. She’s very excited. Well done!
Diana exhaled lightly, with relief. She was confident in her abilities, but you could never be certain.
She looked up as the magazine’s editor in chief slipped into the room and joined Diana at the window. They watched as Anya Brown reached the end of the street and waited to cross the road.
“How did it go?”
“Alice and I are hopeful.”
“Alice has heard from her already?”
Diana nodded. “Yes, and it was very positive.”
“That’s a good sign.”
The editor in chief was named Charlotte Craven. Her silver hair was cut into a bob and blown dry in soft waves. She wore a fitted soft-pink cashmere sweater, discreet yet expensive jewelry, and beautifully cut trousers. Nobody knew quite how old she was, but her contacts included very influential names from as far back as the seventies.
Charlotte had access to powerful people and back rooms all over the city. She knew everybody who was anybody in the world of art and antiquities. When she socialized, she dined in the most private of homes. If she went to an exhibition, it was usually outside of visiting hours, by invitation. In public she was seen only at the most exclusive viewing parties.
In secret, she was also a senior member of a society of women called the Fellowship of the Larks. Since the Larks considered it safer not to have an official meeting place, when appropriate Charlotte occasionally allowed their business to take place at the magazine. Anya Brown’s interview was one of those times.
“So, she’ll come to St. Andrews?” Charlotte asked.
“I think so.”
“Any concerns?”
“We need to reassure her that she can take leave in the event her mother’s health deteriorates.”
“Of course.”
“And I dangled an opportunity for her boyfriend, as discussed. Anya’s pretty reserved, but I got the feeling he’s very important to her, and Alice agrees.”
“We can use that, but can we deliver on the promise of a job for him?”
“Absolutely,” Diana said. “The head of the computer science department at St. Andrews made some unfortunate choices when he was at a conference recently. We have video he won’t want his family to see, so I’m sure he can come up with something.”
“Could the boyfriend be a danger to us? Given his specialty?”
“Anyone could be a danger to us, and we’ll be keeping a very close eye on them both to make sure things don’t turn out that way. If you look at it another way, there’s a best-case scenario where we could make use of his skills, depending on how things turn out, of course.”
“True. I like your optimism. Let’s hope it’s not misplaced. We should get Anya up to St. Andrews as soon as possible to seal the deal.”
Diana nodded.
Charlotte took her seat behind the desk. “I have news.”
“What news?”
Charlotte smiled. “Eleanor Bruton is dead.”
Diana felt a rush of emotions: relief and elation that the Katshad been so stupid as to let Eleanor be found so easily, and regret that she’d been denied the chance to tell Eleanor what a talentless, dreary little dishwasher she was before she died.
