“Lord Mikhail.” She nodded to me.
“Hello, Sofia. This is Konstantin Garin. He'd like to ask you a few questions about Eva.”
She nodded again and waved toward a table in the corner. “You want some tea?”
“No, that's—”
“Yes, please,” I cut off Konstantin. “Tea would be most appreciated.”
“I'll fetch some. Have a seat.”
As we settled at the table, I whispered, “It will put her at ease to serve us something.”
“And this is why I need you. Well, one of the reasons.” He winked at me.
A few minutes later, Sofia brought over a tray of mugs. “Here you are.” She set two between Kon and me, then took the last for herself, cupping it in her hands after she sat down. “I've been both hoping for and dreading this.”
“Drinking tea?” I gave her a teasing grin.
Sofia finally smiled. “No. Answering questions about Eva.”
“We know that Eva and Timofey were lovers,” Konstantin said.
The hard line of her shoulders drooped. “How did you find out?”
“We found Eva's diary,” I said. “You're scared that you'll be next, aren't you?”
“Yes,” Sofia whispered, then cast a glance at the one occupied table.
The men were surreptitiously watching us. I gave them a stern look, and they resumed their conversation.
“I would offer to bring you to the castle, but I think that may only put you in more danger,” I said. “Is there somewhere else you can go?”
Sofia shook her head.
“How about here?” Kon asked. “Would Dmitry let you sleep in the pub for now?”
She glanced at Dmitry. “Yes, I think so. That's a good idea.”
“Stay in public as much as possible, try not to be alone, don't tell anyone where you're sleeping, and carry this with you at all times.” He removed a small rectangular object from his jacket and slid it across the table to her. “Point the lens at your target and push the button. It will emit a light that will temporarily blind someone. It should provide you with enough time to get away.”
Sofia gaped at the device, then at Konstantin.
“Take it, Sofia,” he prompted.
“Thank you, Lord Konstantin.” She snatched up the device and slid it into her apron. “Thank you.”
“You're welcome. Now, is there anything you can tell us about the missing books?”
Sofia glanced at me. “They're birth records.”
“Yes, we know, but did Lord Timofey tell Eva why missing birth records were so important?”
“It was . . .” She looked around again. “It was theparticularrecords that made the difference. Tim saw the gap between books while he was conducting some research for one of the lords. When he took a closer look, he found that there were no birth records for Larch Castle previous to 1850.”
“Yes, we saw that as well. The Master Librarian said that's because it's when the Lebedev Monarchy began.”
“That's the thing that didn't make sense to Timofey. You see, he knew that the castle had been built in 1209 and yet the birth records show that King Nikolay was born in 1877. King Grigori often bragged about having a child so early in life; he was only eighty-two when his son was born.”
