Chapter 50
Fifty
Edwin
It is the nature of any royal family to always be at odds, to some degree or another, with other people. Therefore it was also standard practice for every royal person to have multiple spies in every possible location.
Now, I wouldn’t say I managed those spies—far from it—but I was on very good terms with most of the staff at the palace.
I had been known to do favors for people in return for key information, shall we say.
When I brought up the suggestion of buying a spy in Queen Beatrice’s household, James didn’t seem surprised by my connections, merely smiled and told me to use his name and connections if necessary.
He also requested I keep an extra eye on Helena’s and Prince Royce’s households, since they each had their own apartments within the palace, just in case.
I had left orders for an update before we retreated to my house over the weekend, so I’d expected someone to report to me by this morning.
All said, it was no surprise to have various reports stacked up on my desk, something I spied from the doorway as I entered the office. What did surprise me was a very flustered, heavily flushed young maid wringing her hands while fidgeting near my desk.
It took me a second to remember her name, as she had an identical twin who was also a maid, and I forever confused the two. But she had a mole near her right eye, which meant this girl was… “Sabrina? What brings you here?”
She gave me a brief, fleeting smile. “You’re one of the two people who can tell my sister and I apart.”
“It’s the mole,” I admitted easily, coming around to put my bag down on my desk. “Otherwise, I can assure you, I couldn’t. What’s wrong?”
She glanced about, but the office was fairly empty, only Phila at her desk, and she was on the opposite end of the room. Still, Sabrina leaned in and dropped her voice.
“Edwin, I fear someone is trying to frame the princess.”
My attention on her sharpened. “Frame how?”
“I was cleaning around her desk this morning and found several files that were not there last night. The princess wasn’t even home last night; she was at a party and stayed there overnight, so I know she didn’t bring them in.
The files were, um, well they were marked as confidential, and they’re judicial files. ”
My blood ran cold. I truly wished I’d heard her wrong.
As a princess of the country, Helena should have the clearance to look at anything her heart desired, but the reality of the situation was something quite different.
She did not have the same clearance as her father or brothers, and there were certain areas where she wasn’t allowed at all. One of those was the judicial branch.
In other words, someone was trying to set her up.
Knowing James was out and wouldn’t return for hours yet, I made a snap decision. “Phila?”
My colleague lifted her head to look at me quizzically. “What?”
“Emergency, let’s go.”
Jarred into action, she came quickly to her feet. “Why, what’s going on?”
“I’ll explain on the way. Move, move, we have no time.”
I ushered both women out the door, thinking as I walked, as I had to handle this right. Ah, yes, I knew what to do.
There were always a few runners stationed near the office for ease of access, and I caught Ruffy’s eye as I came in close. “Ruffy, go to Judge Galbraith and inform his office someone has taken his files.”
Alarmed, the runner demanded, “Who?”
“Tell them to meet us at the old Aurora office, the one here in the palace.”
With a nod, Ruffy spun on his heel and took off like a shot. I truly envied his speed.
Phila, because she thought as deviously as I did, laughed aloud. Poor Sabrina didn’t seem to get what I was doing, though. For her, I explained.
“Trying to deny Princess Helena had anything to do with the files won’t do us any good,” I explained, all while speed walking toward the princess’s office.
“They’ve set this up very neatly, and protestations of innocence only get you so far.
It has less to do with fact and more to do with belief.
If they can get enough people to believe she’s messing with things she has no business with, they win.
So, we must take her out of the equation entirely.
Instead, let’s shift the files to another location she has no interest in and no access to.
There’s been much blowback about Aurora shutting down, especially from those who profited from it.
They’re the easiest scapegoat right now.
Also, the office should be abandoned, so if those files are found in there, it will be proof it wasn’t closed down fast enough.
This will be motivation to fully shut the company down and find who’s still using it. Two birds, one stone.”
“You’re moving the files and then finding them all over again,” Sabrina said, eyes lighting up. “Edwin, you’re so smart. Um, but that means I can’t find them, right? Because I’m the princess’s maid.”
“Also correct. Run, grab your sister.”
With a nod, she split off at the next crossway and ran for the servants’ stairs.
Tabitha wasn’t assigned to a particular place, instead cleaning any area needing attention.
It would make the most sense if she found the files, and since most people couldn’t tell the twins apart anyway, I could claim she was the one who had reported it.
I felt sure Sabrina had been seen going to my office this morning, so it was the neatest way to explain it away.
Phila still cackled like a drunken hen at my side. “You’re so evil. You realize, don’t you, it was likely some crony of Victor’s who planted the files to begin with?”
I shrugged. “If they don’t want shit touching them, they shouldn’t be throwing it around.”
Phila cackled some more.
I’d alert Helena’s people after this was all fixed, of course, because they clearly had a breach in security and would need to plug it. Right now, though, I needed the breach in order to fix the problem.
Helena’s study wasn’t far from us, so we got there without issue and without seeing anyone else. Thankfully. No, actually, where were her guards? She should have guards stationed in this hallway to prevent exactly what we’re doing. Had they been paid off?
I’d have to look into this later.
Phila and I easily found the files, as they were just openly sitting on top of Helena’s desk. Which honestly aggrieved me. If you were going to plant false evidence, at least make it look clandestine, not this obvious mess!
Ugh, amateurs.
Phila and I both grabbed the files, as they were heavy enough to warrant splitting the load, then we quickly exited the study, making sure the door shut behind us.
The old office for Aurora was across the hall from Victor’s rarely used study, which meant it was a hallway up.
He’d had the head office kept in the palace supposedly for convenience, but it was likely to make it easier to cook the books.
I jogged the distance, as fast as I could move with heavy files in my hands, and Phila scrambled to keep up.
We had to beat Judge Galbraith—or whoever Judge Galbraith sent.
I barely had a foot in the office when Tabitha came running up to us. She was fair of skin like her sister, and the exertion could be seen in her flushed cheeks, but she was also hopping mad. Her dark eyes snapped with temper as she hissed, “Is someone trying to get our princess in trouble?”
Helena was so truly loved. Look at how many people were readily coming to her defense, and she wasn’t even aware she was being targeted. I’d have to tell her later. She’d be both mad and pleased to hear the story.
“Someone is,” Phila answered, pushing me through the doorway. “Quickly, quickly, drop the files on any desk.”
There were six desks, in fact, all lined up to face each other, and I dropped the files on the nearest one. Phila chose the desk next to this one, which was fine—it didn’t matter where exactly they were found.
I turned to Tabitha. “The story is you were dusting in here and cleaning up, saw files marked for judicial review, and weren’t sure why they were here. You reported it to Prince James’s office, as you know he spearheaded the shutdown of the Aurora project.”
She nodded firmly. “Got it.”
“You have no idea why they’re here and can’t even hazard a guess.”
“I’m very good at knowing absolutely nothing.”
I snorted. “Excellent attitude to have, in this place.”
From the hallway came the clack of a cane, and I tilted my head to track the sound. Oh? Judge Galbraith was coming here personally? He was the only one from the judicial branch who used a cane.
A few seconds later, he appeared in the doorway, alarm written all over his face. “Edwin! What’s this I hear about my files in this office?”
“I’m afraid it’s true.” I shifted to stand sideways and gestured toward the stack beside me. “Here’s some of them, in fact.”
For a man with two bad knees, he could move quickly when of the mind to. He hustled over to the desk and flicked through each file, probably to verify they were indeed his. Then he scowled and glared at the other stack of files near Phila. “Those too?”
“I’m afraid so.” Phila shrugged haplessly, hands splayed.
She was very good at looking worried and innocent all at once. Well played, Phila.
Judge Galbraith’s brows snapped together in a dark scowl that heralded quite the incoming storm. “How did you even hear about this?”
Tabitha lifted a hand to draw his attention to her. “I reported it, sir. I came in here to dust and do some cleaning and saw the files on the desks. They didn’t look right to me, and I know Prince James spearheaded shutting Aurora down, so I reported this to his office, just in case.”
I picked up the story smoothly. “When she told me what she’d seen, I came running. And sent a runner to you, as I’ve no idea what to make of this. How are these files here?”
Judge Galbraith slammed his cane against the carpet. “Damn vipers, that’s how. You’re… I’m sorry, young lady, what’s your name?”