Indeed, he often felt closer to Miller and Albury than he did to his own brother-Simon’s spying activities weren’t something he could confide to his family or friends. If Miller, Albury or Waverly were in an untenable situation like the one in which Simon now found himself, would he give them the benefit of the doubt, regardless of the evidence pointing toward their guilt? He liked to think so, but perhaps, in the face of such damning evidence, he’d doubt his friends as they were doubting him.

With both the king and the prime minister demanding the swift capture of Ridgemoor’s murderer, Simon feared speed would take precedence over accuracy, and the wrong man-namely him-could hang for the crime, especially as there were no other leads or suspects. Based on the number of missions that had gone wrong over the past year, Simon, Miller, Albury and Waverly, as well as other colleagues, believed someone within their ranks was a traitor, but so far they’d been unsuccessful in discovering who. All Simon knew was that it wasn’t him. Now, unfortunately, it appeared as if he stood alone in that knowledge.

Not knowing who he could trust, who had his best interests at heart, he had lied when asked if Ridgemoor had divulged anything to him. Since Waverly, as well as Miller and Albury could smell an untruth at twenty paces, Simon’s prevarication had only made matters worse and deepened the suspicion he saw in their eyes. No charges had been leveled against him yet, but his instincts warned him it was only a matter of time. And that was why he needed the alabaster box Ridgemoor had spoken of. Now. So he could reveal the identity of the guilty party before he faced his own execution.

With time short, he’d asked Waverly for a leave to clear his name. His superior had studied him at length, then finally nodded and said, “I believe you’ve lied-and you’d better have a bloody good reason for it-but I don’t think you killed Ridgemoor.