The panel investigating the massacre of almost the entire Nepal royal family has been given until Thursday to complete its report, state radio said yesterday.
"His Majesty the King, as requested by the chairman of the high level panel investigating [the royal killings] has extended the term of the committee by four days until June 14th," a statement read on the national broadcaster said.
"Since laboratory tests concerning the investigation took some time, the extension was required," it said.
Few people expect the panel to conclude anything other than that the king and queen and seven of their relatives were gunned down in a drunken rage by Crown Prince Dipendra.
But the wait for a verdict is fuelling speculation and uncertainty in the Himalayan mountain kingdom, where discussing the revered royal family in anything other than hallowed terms is considered taboo.
Yesterday's statement said the committee, which began its work on June 8th, had so far collected "almost all information necessary".
Officially the massacre on June 1st remains an accident caused by an exploding automatic weapon, but witnesses have already gone public to describe how they saw Prince Dipendra mow down his cowering family before shooting himself.
The commission has already interviewed one of the key witnesses, the army doctor, Capt Rajiv Shahi, who was present with his wife, the daughter of the slain king's brother.
Capt Shahi told a news conference last week how he helped carry a drunken Prince Dipendra to his quarters, only for the Eton-educated heir to the throne to return in combat fatigues and begin the killing spree.
He told also how he held a dying King Birendra in his arms, trying to stem the flow of blood from a fatal neck wound.
The commission, which had been due to report today, had already said it would likely need a few more days.