As he made his way through the dense shrubbery, Faro heard voices which halted him in his tracks. Although the words were indistinct, what he was overhearing was undoubtedly a fierce argument.
Reluctant to make his presence known, he decided on immediate retreat, but his cautious withdrawal from the scene had not taken into account the laird's dogs, who pricked their ears and, barking fiercely, darted towards this intruder.
With Sir Terence calling them sharply to heel, Faro emerged somewhat sheepishly, endeavouring to look as cheerful as was possible in the circumstances.
Sir Terence and Miss Fortescue were standing by the Crusader's Tomb in its niche in the one remaining wall of the priory. They were not alone. Another figure emerged. Sir Hedley Marsh.
At the sight of him, Faro's relief that he was very much alive was intermingled with a curiosity about what he was doing here, a participant in a conspiratorial conversation.
Miss Fortescue, he noticed, had fully recovered and looked none the worse for her recent ordeal. In fact, she looked decidedly pretty. As she came towards him, hand outstretched in smiling greeting, she appeared to be in perfect command of the situation.
Obviously Lady Lethie had been generous with her extensive wardrobe, he thought approvingly. The two ladies were of similar height and dimensions. Miss Fortescue, carrying a lace parasol and wearing a muslin afternoon gown covered in tiny sprigs of flowers, provided an attractive picture for any man.
'How nice to see you, Inspector,' she said, and he had an odd feeling that she meant it.
As he exchanged greetings with Sir Hedley, Faro decided to avoid any mention of his morning visit to Solomon's Tower.
'Sir Hedley has been giving us a history lesson on our Crusader,' said Sir Terence.
Tm sure Mr Faro would like to hear it,' Miss Fortescue added with an anxious glance that begged his interest.
But the looks exchanged between the three suggested that this was by no means all that had been under discussion. And Sir Hedley, with much clearing of throat, stared anxiously in the direction of the Crusader's Tomb, his manner suggesting one hard-pressed for immediate inspiration.
He rose to the task gallantly. 'David de Lethie was one of a band of Scottish knights who survived the Crusades in Jerusalem and returned to fight at the side of his king, Robert the Bruce, at Bannockburn. There are some discrepancies about this effigy. His sword arm, for instance.'
Faro looked down at the worn stone of the coffin, which had been broken open centuries ago when whatever remained of the Crusader had been removed. As for the once-proud helmeted face lying eyes open to the sky, the harsh elements of East Lothian wind and weather had all but obliterated his noble features.
The sword arm,' Sir Hedley repeated. 'Crusaders always had their right arm crossing over on to their sword hilt on the left side - so -' He demonstrated. 'De Lethie, however, did not.'
Faro looked down on the effigy. 'Rather looks as if he was holding something in his sword arm.'
'But what?' Sir Terence nodded. That's a mystery we've been trying to solve for centuries past.'
Sir Hedley turned to Faro. 'What was he holding that was more important than a sword, d'you think?'
'Perhaps you can tell us, Faro,' Sir Terence cut in. 'You're the detective, after all.'
Faro smiled. 'My province is recent deaths, not those six hundred years ago.'
'There must be some clues.' There was a note of desperation in Miss Fortescue's voice which made the three men all look at her quickly, and all for different reasons. Curiosity - and perhaps even warning.
Faro turned his attention to the effigy. 'I'd say what he was carrying was a chalice.' He looked again. 'Or a staff of some kind.'
'A staff?' they repeated.
The sun dipped low and the silence that followed this observation seemed to last for several moments.
'Undoubtedly Inspector Faro is right,' Sir Terence sounded as if the words were being forced out of him. 'I wonder why?' he added lightly.
'More important, what happened to it? Interesting to know that,' said Sir Hedley.
'Interesting, indeed,' said Faro. 'The evidence would suggest that you aren't the first to give this matter serious consideration, sir.'
He pointed to the broken coffin on which the effigy rested. 'It must have taken considerable force to open that and remove the body. And whatever treasures it held.'
The word 'treasures' stunned them again into momentary silence.
'We suspect that it happened in the sixteenth century when the priory was sacked during the Reformation, long before the castle was built,' said Sir Terence at last.
'You think - that whatever - they were looking for - might have been buried with him,' said Miss Fortescue.
'That is the general opinion.'
'Grave robbers rarely leave sworn testimonies of how and why. Is there nothing in the family records, sir?'
Lethie shook his head. 'Nothing earlier than the sixteenth century and very sparse afterwards. Only the main events were considered worthy of posterity, like the brief visit Queen Mary and Bothwell made shortly after their marriage. But the family's enthusiasm didn't extend to her descendant Prince Charles Edward Stuart. Or if it did, then they were too discreet to put it on record.' He looked at Faro. 'So all we have on the Crusader is legend.'
'Was he a Templar by any chance?' Faro asked.
'Perhaps.' The reply was vague. 'It is possible.'
It was more than possible, seeing that the Crusader's shield bore upon it the still decipherable cross pattee. Odd that Sir Hedley failed to recognise the significance of something he encountered daily in his own house.
More worrying still was the possible significance of that same cross found on a broken chain in the Wizard's House in the West Bow, a fact Faro felt was linked with the body whose identity he was increasingly and most unhappily aware might prove to be the Grand Duchess of Luxoria.
'It's all very strange, isn't it?' said Miss Fortescue. Shivering, she drew her shawl closer around her shoulders and Sir
