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Rory locked his lips tightly and nodded vigorously.

“Are you saying this old man admitted to being the one who poisoned my father, yet he had never met him?” Slayer asked, finding that difficult to believe.

Rory spoke fast. “I cannot say that for sure since he never admitted that it was him who did the deed. I can only say what I heard and how he seemed to boast about it.”

If Rory spoke the truth, then it was at least a lead Slayer could follow, which was more than he presently had, but if it was a lie, he would be wasting his time.

“This other man found dead,” Slayer said, “how do you know him?”

“Jeb was a loner. He didn’t pay much attention to anyone.”

“Tell me why a stranger would confide in Jeb about poisoning my father.”

Rory shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe a need to boast before he ran off.”

“And this man said nothing about why he poisoned my father?”

Rory scratched his head. “I think he said that your father deserved it.”

“Youthinkhe said that?” Slayer snapped, annoyed at what he was beginning to think were endless lies.

Rory took an anxious step back and bumped into Angus and John, who pushed him back to where he’d been standing.

Rory clasped his hands together, twisting them nervously as he spoke. “It was hard to catch all of what the two men said since they whispered at times. So, I caught only a few words clearly.”

Frustration with the man had Slayer pounding the table with his fist. “Did you hear anything clearly or did you make assumptions on the whispered words you heard?”

“I may have added one or two words,” Rory admitted.

“Bloody hell!” Slayer roared. “You will tell me again all you heard and this time only what you heard not what you assumed you heard, or I will take my fists to you myself.”

* * *

“A waste of a good morning,”Angus said when midday arrived, and Rory was finally returned to his cell. “You cannot tell if any truth spills from that man’s mouth.”

“Well, at least we know blood does,” John said and rubbed his red knuckles. “Though the earlier punches did little good. He continued to tell the same tale, elaborating even more on it every time he told it.” He shook his head. “Torture would be wasted on him since his tale would probably grow along with the torture.”

“Something doesn’t seem right. He will remain a prisoner and continue to be questioned until somewhere in all of his senseless rambling we can discover a germ of truth,” Slayer said.

“We will see to it, my lord,” Angus said with a firm nod.

The door to the longhouse opened and a warrior hurried in a bit out of breath and rushed to the table where Slayer sat.

“I have important news, my lord.”

“Sit, Ogden,” Slayer ordered and nodded at an empty tankard. “Quench your thirst before you tell me.” He then looked at Angus and John and nodded to the door and the two men left.

Ogden downed the entire tankard of ale without stopping, then dragged his sleeve across his mouth before saying, “Thank you, my lord. I needed that.”

“Have more while you tell me the news.” Slayer pointed at the jug of ale for the man to help himself.

Slayer had sent warriors far and wide to speak to his many contacts and learn whatever they could, not only about his father and brother’s deaths but also about the Murdock sisters. So, he was eager to hear what news Ogden had for him and pleased that his warriors were finally returning with news.

Ogden spoke as he filled the tankard. “This news comes from those you know in the Lowlands. It seems that years ago, there was a group of Lowland women who helped women in trouble, women who gave birth to unwanted bairns for one reason or another. These women found homes for the bairns in the Highlands so they would be safe and no one could find them. It turns out that someone is searching for a female taken at birth and given away who belongs to a prominent, aristocratic family from the Lowlands. It is not known who searches for her or why.”

“Two different reasons could be made for why someone searches for the now grown woman, the most prominent being that she is the sole heir of a sizeable fortune. Or she is an obstacle to someone inheriting a fortune,” Slayer surmised, concerned by the news.

“Your friend did mention a dispute amongst a prominent family,” Ogden said.