Nick drew a deep breath as Vocks and Kevin slowly spread out to him the facts they have gathered upon investigation on Victoria’s secret. There’s no turning back now. Kevin advised him not to continue with the investigation but he still pursued with it. The older man just shrugged it off but Nick knew that Kevin will never walk out on him. And now, the older man even offered his own home where Vocks can report what he found out in his investigation.
Nick’s attention turned to a picture of a woman’s almost lifeless body in a car crash and recognized it as the late Princess Diana. He took it and looked at it with intense disbelief. “Does this have something to do with her being Princess Diana’s look-alike?” He asked the two.
“That was Princess Diana in Paris,” Vocks said, instead of replying at him. “But now known as Alice Montague.” He picked up the picture to look at it. “Or rather, the princess’ look-alike, the one who was actually in the car instead of Diana.”
“How did that happened?” Nick looked at him.
“Well,” Vocks started, “this is really a very complicated matter and lots of people mysteriously died just for the cover-up. Victoria Frances is actually Prince William’s twin sister and should have the name Her Royal Highness Princess Victoria Elizabeth Mary Anne Windsor-Mountbatten of England and Alice and Martin Montague was Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed in the car crash at Paris in 1997. They didn’t die on that fatal accident. It was all just a cover-up to retire themselves from the pressures of the limelight and being famously known.”
There was silence in the study as Vocks slowly revealed the result of his investigation. There was weariness in his eyes but one could see his passion and dedication to the field he’d chosen to. He was never married, granted that he’s been a very dedicated and likeable person. He told everyone that his first love and soul mate is the Secret Service although Nick and AJ once speculated that he couldn’t get over a loved-one who died of murder that’s why he decided to lead his life that way, solving crimes and investigating anything for other people. He has no plans of getting a normal life and a family of his own.
“The driver, Henri Paul, of whom they pointed out to be the verdict of the lovers’ death, was used as the scapegoat for the cover-up. He’s drunk on the night of the accident. He really died along with the two people at the backseat but that’s not the Princess and her boyfriend. Those were just their look-alikes. They wanted to make everyone believe it was them, including Prince Charles of whom, at that time, was also attempting to kill his former wife. There were other plans on how to make Dodi and Diana disappears from the limelight but fate had its own plans.” Vocks said. The three looked at the pictures he collected as he continued. “The accident happened and all the passengers in the car died. And although later they found out that Henri Paul was an intelligence agent of the Secret Service, he was a victim of a crime on which the villain was actually another paparazzo, James Anderson. Being the talkative one, he put Henri Paul into danger as well as some other agents that were part of the crime. Anderson was part of the cover-up plan, a boastful one for the part that he did, that’s why three years after the accident, somebody decided to silence him to death.”
“How did you found out all of this?” Nick asked, amazed by his smartness and resourcefulness in just a span of more than a week. He received a thick folder on the report of the entire investigation in reply.
“I had my sources who have been involved in the cover-up plan and currently in hiding to protect their own lives. Upon learning this, I become aware of the information I had and the chances that come with it. Likewise, I advise you to be careful too. This isn’t any other normal information. This is an international concern if ever the truth leaks out.” Vocks looked at the two. “We’re lucky that I got a hold on this kind of information. My resources were very efficient. They trusted me so much and I convinced them into getting the truth once I learned who really is Victoria.”
“Why’s Victoria been denied of her royal rights?” Nick still couldn’t believe that Victoria is somehow part of a country’s history.
“Because it would cause a big scandal that Prince Charles exiled his own eldest daughter in favor of the younger twin and decided to put her in the US. It will also pose as a big problem for the English monarchy to have twins as heirs to the throne. Remember the legend of Louis XIV of France?” Kevin said. “The marriage between Charles and Diana has been a mistake since the beginning and the birth of the twins has just been added in the already-ugly picture. Charles couldn’t accept that the destiny of his country will lie into having twin heirs for it will surely create conflict someday. So, he had to decide which of the twins should remain. He favored a male heir rather than the female one so he moved the girl out of the country and never cared or seen her again.” Kevin turned to Vocks who only nodded.
“It’s been difficult for the young Victoria,” Vocks added, “and to be felt so unwanted. She despised her own real father, hated her brothers and the rest of the royal family for the destiny she’s been deprived of. She never experienced having a real family until her mother fell in love with the Egyptian multi-billionaire, Dodi Fayed, and decided to retire from her old life and start anew. It was hard for a woman who got used to doing something for the welfare of the others but just like any person, she’s a human being too. She fell in love and she desired a peaceful life. Victoria was among her plans in starting a new life again, and she chose it here in the US.”
“Did Prince Charles know that his ex-wife is still alive?” Nick shakes his head. He couldn’t imagine his own siblings, Aaron and Angel, be separated at birth. It must be really hard for Victoria.
“No,” was the reply. Nick unconsciously bites his fingernails as he listen. “And he should not know because he is among those people who wanted Diana dead.” Vocks added. He took a picture of Alice together with two familiar men, Princes William and Harry, on some place with a fireplace on their background. “But the princes knew that their mother is still alive. Diana contacted them three months after her ‘death’ and they secretly seeing each other and Victoria whenever they can. This picture was just taken recently in Dodi’s New York home. They try to be very careful on this one. It’s not a problem since these people got enough money to pay people in keeping secrets.”
“A few weeks ago, I saw Victoria and William together at the mall. Did he usually do this just to see them?” Nick asked Vocks.
“Well, one of the reasons why the prince comes to visit his twin is because he’s trying hard to reconcile and to make up for those times they’re not been together because of Victoria being denied of her birthright. It’s dangerous but William is willing to take the risk, anything for his twin sister.” Kevin answered Nick. “Victoria, as Vocks told earlier, hated the family who disowned her but fortunately, she actually didn’t have any plans on fighting for her right to the throne. She didn’t want endangering her own life and her mother’s. Aside from that, they tried to avoid media as much as they could because it would just mean exposing themselves and attracting interests on their private lives.”
Nick sighed and stood up from his chair. Everything he just learned seemed too unbelievable to be true but it happened, the facts are at hand. He couldn’t ignore it. “And your being a famous singer is a reason enough why Victoria stood you up at Harrods last year.” He heard Kevin told him. “You attracted media without any effort, Nick. You already made a name for yourself since you were young up to now, appearing in print ads, acting roles on TV and a background in singing. She’s trying to protect you. She couldn’t tell you the real reason. You may not understand.”
“And this is the reason that she’s trying to avoid telling me,” Nick concluded. “Actually, I understand.” Everyone is now looking at him. “Now that we learned about Victoria, I wish we could pretend that we know nothing about this,” he turned to the pictures, “and seen this. Bury the hatchet, go on with our lives.” He turned to Vocks. “I appreciated your effort so much in investigating this matter and you deserved a retirement pay for that, Sir. This may endanger your life, but trust me that you can count on me.”
“There are so many times I already encountered Death and I’m not afraid of it. If I die, I’ll be happy. I’ll be able to reunite with my Adriana again.” Vocks told him. “You should be the one telling yourself to be careful. This is a very serious matter. There are people in the underworld who are more than willing to kill anyone exposing the secrets of history. Once they learn that a stranger got information about the biggest cover-up of the century, no one can stop them from silencing you. Victoria’s family was of great influence and you should be very careful. It’s not going to be easy to get through her. You should go through her adopted father first.”
Kevin drew a deep breath as he looked at Nick. “If you really love her, this is going to be one real test that you have to get through.”
