The Daughter Of Time

Marta returns to visit Grant two days later. She brings dozens of photos of famous people that she and a friend found at a print shop. Each portrait represents a historical puzzle of some kind. Marta hopes one of the faces will spark Grant’s curiosity.

After she leaves, Grant spends the rest of the day studying the images. He recalls his early days at Scotland Yard when he gained a reputation for being able to read character simply by studying a face.

He remembers picking the right suspect out of a lineup because that suspect is the only one whose face has no lines. He asserts that this is a sign of irresponsibility: “All those twelve men in that parade were thirty-ish, but only one had an irresponsible face. So I picked him at once” (28).

Grant’s interest in faces has remained a constant throughout his detective career. As he looks at the portraits Marta brought him, only one catches his attention—a man in regal dress from the 15th century. The face belongs to Richard the Third, a villainous ruler who is blamed for murdering his two young nephews so he could keep the throne.

Grant is intrigued because what he sees in Richard’s face doesn’t square with historic reports of his crimes. “Nothing like this had come his way for years. It made La Gioconda look like a poster,” he says (31).

Grant asks the Amazon to fetch him a history book. She brings him two. One is a child’s book of stories from history. The other is a more factual version of events during Richard’s reign. Grant isn’t satisfied with either book and feels no closer to understanding the face in the portrait after having read them.

Grant asks the Midget her opinion of Richard’s portrait. She’s put off by it because she believes he smothered his nephews. When Grant challenges her on the facts, she dismisses his objections by stating that the tale is common knowledge.

Grant’s next visitor is his colleague at the Yard, Sergeant Williams. Grant doesn’t identify the subject of the portrait but asks Williams if the man is a criminal or a judge. The sergeant answers without hesitation that the man is a judge. He’s shocked to find out Richard’s identity, saying, “I suppose, once you know, you can see it, but offhand it wouldn’t occur to you. I mean, that he was a crook” (44).

As Williams is about to go, Grant asks him to visit a bookstore and bring back a biography of Richard the Third as well as a history book that isn’t meant for school children.

The Amazon enters as Williams leaves. She offers additional tidbits about Tyrrel—the courtier Richard supposedly employed to commit the murders. When Grant questions her information, she refers him to Sir Thomas More’s account: “And you can’t find a more respected or trustworthy person in the whole of history than Sir Thomas More, now can you?” (46).

Grant spends several hours reading an account of the War of the Roses. The entire conflict still seems incomprehensible even after he finishes studying it. The hospital’s nursing director, the Matron, walks into his room and immediately recognizes Richard’s portrait.

When Grant asks her opinion, the Matron thinks Richard’s face expresses deep suffering. She believes the portrait was painted after he murdered his nephews and that Richard felt remorse for his actions. She comments, “It is the most desperately unhappy face that I have ever encountered—and I have encountered a great many. […] The kind who want something badly, and then discover that the price they have paid for it is too high” (49).