"You're immortal, and you're not really Miss Thompson, but Queen
Elizabeth I?" he said slowly.
"That's right," she said. "How clever of you. Of course, after little
Jimmy—cousin Mary's boy, I mean—said I was dead and claimed the
Throne, I decided to change my name and all. And that's what I did.
But I am Elizabeth Regina." She smiled, and her eyes twinkled merrily.
Malone stared at her for a long minute.
Burris, he thought, is going to love this.
"Oh, I'm so glad," the little old lady said. "Do your really think he will? Because I'm sure I'll like your Mr. Burris, too. All of you FBI men are so charming. Just like poor, poor Essex."
Well, Malone told himself, that was that. He'd found himself a telepath.
And she wasn't an imbecile.
Oh, no. That would have been simple.
Instead, she was battier than a cathedral spire.
* * * * *
The long silence was broken by the voice of Miss Wilson.