A Real-Life Murder Mystery at a British Royal Estate

It's got all the hallmarks of a Sherlock Holmes book: A body found in a remote woodland, a connection to the halls of power, a small pastoral community shocked by the ghoulish discovery. The announcement on Tuesday that a body found near the hamlet of Anmer on the royal estate at Sandringham, about 115 miles northeast of London, was a murder victim, really does grab the attention because of its tantalizing similarity to the opening of a late-night page-turner. Aside from the fact that the victim was a woman, there's not a lot of detail available about the crime itself. But the royal presence makes matters interesting. According to the Associated Press, "Queen Elizabeth II and her husband Prince Philip spent part of the holiday season there and were at Sandringham House on New Year's Day." That's the same day the body was discovered, though police didn't announce it until Monday and didn't declare the death a murder until Tuesday. In March, a gardener at Buckingham Palace found a body on an uninhabited island in Saint James Park, just 100 yards from the royal residence. That person happened to be an American obsessed with the royal family who had died accidentally, and there doesn't appear to be a connection between the two. But the bodies found on the royal premises have already sparked creepy conspiracy theories online.