Alice-Miranda navigated her way to Dr Lush’s office. It was now quarter past seven and she wondered if he might not yet be in. As luck would have it, the doctor was just returning from his night-long vigil with Her Majesty. It was common knowledge that the Queen suffered from an acute allergy to crustaceans, hence they were never served on any of her menus. When Nicholas had reached her suite last evening, he found Queen Georgiana particularly wheezy and had immediately administered a shot of adrenalin and some steroids. After his encounter with Admiral Harding there was no way he was going to leave the room until Her Majesty was fully recovered. Dead monarchs were not something he was prepared to have on his conscience.

Lush traipsed towards his office. Dark circles hung beneath his eyes and he yawned loudly as he reached the door.

‘Good morning, Dr Lush.’ Alice-Miranda bounced towards him.

‘Oh, godfathers,’ he muttered. ‘Not you again. What is it this time? A hangnail?’ He put his key in the door. ‘Well?’ He glanced over his shoulder through squinty eyes.

Alice-Miranda followed him into the waiting room holding the trumpet case firmly in her right hand. ‘No, I’m perfectly fine,’ she announced. ‘I just need to talk to you about something.’

Dr Lush opened the internal surgery door and walked through. She heard the computer whir as he jiggled the mouse to wake it up.

‘What is it then?’ he called. ‘Come on. I haven’t got all day.’

The tiny girl pushed open the door, strode to the chair beside the doctor’s desk and scrambled onto it. She placed the battered case on her lap.

Nicholas was preoccupied with the computer and hadn’t taken any notice.

‘Dr Lush,’ Alice-Miranda said. ‘I’ve found something that I think belongs to you, or to Mr Alex.’

‘What?’ He glanced towards her at last. ‘Mummy!’ he gasped as he caught sight of the case. Dr Lush snatched it up and put it on his desk, sprang the locks and opened the lid. He reached out and picked up the urn, then held it tightly to his chest. A tear glistened in the doctor’s eye. Alice-Miranda reached across the desk and offered him a tissue which he promptly snatched.

‘Where did you get this?’ His voice quivered.

‘Well, it’s quite a long story, Dr Lush. And one that will surely put your mind at ease about Neville,’ Alice-Miranda began. ‘Why don’t you sit there and I’ll make us both a nice cup of tea.’

Alice-Miranda had noticed the day before, while waiting for her splinter to be removed, that there was a small kitchenette off the side of the consulting room. She dashed inside and busied herself making Dr Lush a brew.

‘Why don’t you telephone Mr Alex?’ the child called while she poured the tea. ‘Perhaps he’d like to come and hear what happened, too.’

‘What? How do you know about him?’ Dr Lush glared at Alice-Miranda as she placed a teacup and saucer in front of him.

‘That’s not important, Dr Lush. But I’m sure that he’ll be pleased to know that the case has been returned.’

Alexander Lushkov arrived not long after Nicholas summoned him. Together the pair listened to Alice-Miranda and her fanciful tale about Neville Nordstrom and the two trumpet cases.

‘He’s terribly scared of being in trouble with his parents,’ Alice-Miranda explained. ‘After everything the poor boy’s been through, it would be lovely if he could just enjoy himself until we dock.’

Nicholas and Alexander exchanged knowing looks.

‘Seeing she’s been so honest, I think we should tell her our story too,’ Alexander said. The doctor gave a small nod.

‘Please, I’m a very good listener,’ Alice-Miranda offered.

‘Maria Bella, she was our beloved mother,’ Dr Lush began.

‘And she was beloved by all of Russia too,’ Alex added.

‘Your mother was famous,’ Alice-Miranda said.

‘It all began a long time ago when we were just small boys. Our mother had the voice of an angel. She loved to sing but she sang only for us and our father,’ Dr Lush said.

‘But then our papa . . .’ Alex sniffed.

‘Are you all right, Mr Alex?’ Alice-Miranda popped up and snatched a tissue from the box on Dr Lush’s desk and handed it to him.

‘One morning on his way to work, our papa suffered a massive heart attack,’ Dr Lush continued, ‘and passed away.’

‘Oh, that’s terrible.’ Alice-Miranda clasped her hands together tightly.

‘And we had no money, so our mother worked many hours, all day and half the night. She took in ironing and sewing and she looked after children and cooked, she wore herself out, but all the time she sang. She said that she was singing our father home,’ Alex spoke.

‘That’s so beautiful.’ Alice-Miranda looked up at the brothers, wide-eyed.

‘And then one day a man passing beneath the open window heard her singing. He was the director of the St Petersburg Opera and could recognise a great talent when he heard it,’ Alex explained.

‘Our mother, Maria Bella Lushkov, soon became the most celebrated star of the Russian opera, renowned across the world for her soprano voice,’ Dr Lush added.

‘Mama got sick a little while ago and on her deathbed, she asked that we take her home to Venice, where our grandfather had taught her to sing,’ Alex explained.

‘Well, of course you should do that,’ Alice-Miranda agreed. ‘But I don’t understand why you didn’t just take a flight and go to Venice.’

‘It’s because of her fame. She is a national treasure and the authorities would not allow such a thing. We had to steal her from the crypt and when I heard that the Octavia was heading for Venice and this was a top-secret cruise, I thought it was perfect. I got Alex a job in the band so we could do this together,’ Dr Lush added.

‘That’s a wonderful story,’ said Alice-Miranda. She walked over to the two men and patted each one on the hand.

‘Thank you for finding her,’ Alex smiled. ‘We appreciate it.’

‘Yes, thank you, Alice-Miranda. Perhaps I have been wrong about children,’ Dr Lush added. ‘Well, some children.’

‘I’m just glad that things have worked out,’ Alice-Miranda smiled at the brothers.