The Robber Princess

Chapter 4. The Princess and the Robber

Chapter 4

What a difference an hour had made. Brickelstein's trek from his office to the Throne Room had been slow, thoughtful, and miserable, but the walk back was brisk and deliberate, even a little exhilarating. He felt as if his sense of purpose had emerged from a long prison sentence, having languished for years in the dungeon of his own loneliness. He burst into his office, took in the gorgeous mountain view, and wondered why he had ever considered resigning his post.

Several dossiers on the Rochevauxian attendees still lay on his desk. He examined each one again, looking for suspects to eliminate as improbable. Some were professionals who long ago had completed their educations, then immediately went into public service and rose through the ranks. Their careers and whereabouts were almost completely accounted for, thus they had had no opportunity to spend years mastering the techniques that this thief must have had. Dutillieux obviously fell into the "definitely not" category; so did Marshal Mentonnais.

Others were hereditary nobility; they had gone to college (usually) but almost always returned to their estates. Their careers and whereabouts, in contrast, were almost completely unaccounted for, thus they had ample opportunity to learn whatever skills suited them. Yet for the nobility-of either country-to stoop as low as crime seemed unfathomable. Brickelstein, being nobility himself, understood the powerful stigma associated with it. Even the nobility of Eidelmark's enemy would quickly ostracize a peer that had fallen into a path of crime.

On the other hand, the fact that most of the ball's attendees were nobility rendered it inescapably likely that one of them was the perpetrator. Nearly all the nobility who were not in public service, including the royal family, had to go into the "possible" pile. Brickelstein came across Princess Regina's file and felt a pang of despair. Instinctively he opened it to her photograph, gazed at it momentarily, and closed his eyes so he could once again see her eyes looking up at him enchantingly while dancing that unforgettable Grächenaise. As much as it excited Brickelstein to be investigating such a historic crime, he long to speed back across the border, burst into Rochevaux Palace, sweep Regina off her feet and caress her face as she looked up lovingly at him-

He heard the door open and he quickly closed the file and returned it to the "possible" pile. Folkering entered, followed by Sergeant Baumann and Corporal Miesenthaler rolling a utility cart into the room. The cart was laden with a dozen banker's boxes. Ten minutes later, the great conference table was covered with several hundred files. Brickelstein and Folkering had to review every single dossier, one by one.

Four hours and two pots of coffee later, the two had made only a dent in the mammoth pile. All day Brickelstein had felt like he were trying to look past a fingerprint smudged on his eyeglasses, had he worn any. He bade Folkering goodnight, returned to his quarters, peeled off his uniform, and climbed into bed, hoping that a few hours of sleep might purge Regina from his mind. But Regina's image was not so easily banished. He woke up around two in the morning and it took him a good hour to drift back to sleep, all the while wondering if she was in bed alone and despairing at not being in her company.

The next morning Brickelstein returned to the mountain of dossiers, hardly refreshed but determined to show himself off at his best. Folkering joined him a few minutes later and they continued slogging through the stack. A distinguished legal career here, a monied but otherwise unremarkable existence there. It was tedious work, but by lunchtime they had sorted every file into "possible" and "clean." They had eliminated most of both countries' officials as suspects, but a good two hundred guests could not be ruled out.

It was too many. Solving this crime would require much more evidence, most of which was obtainable only at the crime scene. It frustrated Brickelstein deeply that Queen Rega's vindictive measures had made inaccessible to Brickelstein and anyone else from Eidelmark.