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Story: The Wolf of My Eye

Robert glanced at her and raised his brows.

“Someone left big boot prints in the garden bed.”

“We need to get a cast of them.”

“I need to tell Anne not to walk in the garden.” Once they had made it up to the castle, Colleen hurried as much as she could to come to see Maisie and guided her inside.

“You must have been horribly shocked to see his body.”

“I was,” Maisie said.

“Come in and you can have some tea or water. We’ll skip the photography session this afternoon.”

“Oh, no way. I need to get it done, and the weather is perfect for it. Besides, it’ll get my mind off what happened. I just need to go home and change and get my camera. I’ll be by after I take photos of Edeen’s animals.”

“If you’re sure,” Colleen said, getting her some tea and taking her into the sitting room.

“I’m going with the men to put the body in refrigeration, and then I’ll come back for you,” Robert said.

“Someone else can take me home,” Maisie said.

“No, I’ll do it.” He had brought her here; he needed to return her home.

“We need to take the garden stone back to my place and prove it’s the one missing,” Maisie said.

“Yes, that’s a good idea,” Robert agreed.

She called Anne and explained what they’d discovered.

“Och, not one of our guests. Don’t you think that whoever was meeting Gus must have done him in?” Anne said.

“Maybe.” But Maisie was thinking that if he had been seeing a woman, it had to have been someone else who had killed him. “Hey, whatever you do, don’t walk into the garden.”

“Wait, so who came to the inn to pick up his driver’s license?” Anne sounded spooked.

“We assume it was his twin brother, Ike.”

“Do we have to be worried?” Anne asked.

“I hope not. Someone will come and take a cast of the boot prints, and I’ll be home to shower, change clothes, and grab my camera equipment,” Maisie said to her sister.

“Do you feel alright about it?” Anne asked. “I’m not sure I could do anything the rest of the day after what you went through.”

“Yes, it’ll get my mind off it.”

“Okay. I’ll see you in a little bit,” Anne said.

“Alright.”

By the time Maisie finished her tea, Robert had returned for her. He had already changed into jeans and a T-shirt and pulled her into a warm embrace. “I want you and Anne to be safe.”

“You’re worried about the murderer returning to the inn? I doubt he would unless he left evidence behind that he wants to destroy,” she said.

“It does concern me.”

“Me too,” Colleen said. “Any number of males would be willing to stay at your place to provide some extra protection.”

Maisie smiled at her. “Bachelor males?”