Page 11

Chapter Eleven

I must have screamed, because half the kitchen staff came running. Henry was with them. “Are you all right, Doctor?”

“I-I don’t know. Can you help me up?”

After reaching down to lend me a hand, he half dragged and half carried me to a settee inside the rotunda that served as the entrance to the garden.

Ewan came skidding around the corner, on the wood floors, with Mara as I sat down.

“What happened?” he bellowed.

“Are you hurt?” Mara said equally loudly. “Why are you running around by yourself? I thought we decided to stick to pairs.”

I didn’t remember that part of the plan, but I’d been awfully tired the last few days.

“One of the gargoyles fell, sir,” Henry said. “Nearly missed the doctor. The rumblings from last night probably loosened it. She’s lucky she wasn’t a hair slower.”

“It didn’t miss, and it was pushed.” I rolled up my pants, and then turned sideways to check the damage. My right calf had already turned a light shade of blue and ached terribly. A piece of the gargoyle had torn through the leg of my jeans, and blood oozed out of an abrasion.

“Bloody hell. What have you done now?” He was down on his knees, pushing on the contusions.

“Ewan. Ouch.”

“Is anything broken?”

“I don’t think so. It’s swelling quickly and hurts. There could be a hairline fracture, but I won’t know until it’s X-rayed.”

I was more than happy it was my leg and not my head. That was something I wouldn’t have survived.

“Those things weigh a ton,” Ewan said.

“I heard a scraping sound just before it fell,” I said. “Someone was on the terrace while I was out there.”

Ewan brushed his hand through his hair. “Hell, now they’re after you.”

I smiled. I wasn’t sure if it was because he believed me or that he’d sworn so much. He was a man who usually kept his emotions quite close to his chest.

“Henry, run upstairs and check. Maybe we’ll get lucky, and you’ll find the demon. At the very least, investigate the crime scene.”

The younger officer took off.

Ewan leaned over to get a better look at my leg.

“We need ice,” he said. “It’s swellin’ as we speak.”

I twisted around so that my knee was on the fabric. Then I pushed in on the flesh and bit the inside of my lip hard to keep from groaning. It hurt, but I didn’t feel anything broken.

“I’ll get the ice,” Mara said.

“At least you’ll be able to find a better dance partner,” I said.

“I quite liked the one I had.”

It took me a moment to understand he’d just complimented me in an odd way.

“Are you sure it isn’t broken?”

“I don’t think so.”

“We need to check the rest.” Without asking, he unzipped my low-heeled booty and then slipped off my owl socks. I’d worn them to lift my mood. I had a drawer full of silly socks. One of those habits left over from childhood. My grandmother would find the silliest socks she could find, to make me laugh.

I still had a few pairs she’d given me, and she’d died decades ago.

“I tripped. At least, I think that’s what happened. While I heard noises on the terrace, and weird scraping sounds, I didn’t realize the gargoyle was falling until it crashed behind me.”

“Tripping may have saved your life.”

I nodded. “Why me? You’re the constable. Wouldn’t they be more worried about you catching on?”

“I’m not asking all the pushy questions to strangers.”

I grunted. “I’m never pushy. It’s my natural curiosity.”

He smiled. “Who did you talk to today? Did you make anyone angry?”

I shook my head, which throbbed harder than my leg.

“I’ve mainly only spoken to our little group. After the dance, I ran into Caleb. He’d been grilling Tiffany, and I may have overheard that part of the conversation.”

“Tell me.”

I bit my lip. “Some of it is embarrassing,” I said.

He sighed. “Just tell me, lass.”

I gave him the basics.

“When he turned to leave, I happened to be standing there. I made an excuse about the ceilings.”

“The ceilings?”

“Yes. How you have frescos on them in almost every room. It’s quite remarkable what you’ve done with this place.”

“Thanks. Let’s stay focused, Doctor. Tiffany says she didn’t do it, and Damien admitted the same.”

“Yes. And then he turned around and ran into me.”

“That’s what I’m saying. You have the habit of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“Or the right one,” I said. “How else would I have discovered he thought Tiffany was the one who brought Robbie?”

“Are we certain she didn’t? She could have lied to him.”

“True. We may need to knock Caleb off the list. He was genuinely curious as to who brought Robbie.”

“Tiffany could have been lying, and he could have been trying to divert attention from himself since he’s not the best guy in the world,” Ewan said.

“Tiffany said Caleb used to like Angie too. Did you know that? And that Damien swooped in before he could make his move.”

“Not likely,” Ewan grumbled. “Caleb would have never had a chance. I’ve never seen a couple more perfectly matched.”

I’d witnessed that as well.

“This is beginning to sound like Coronation Street .” He sat back on his heels.

Since I’m a fan of British programming, I did know that was a soap opera. But I’d never seen it. My interest tended toward the mystery and detective shows.

“I’ve got the ice,” Mara said as she came around the corner. “Abigail is taking tea and snacks to our room. She said we should elevate the leg, and she sent one of Ewan’s men to bring up your kit.”

I laughed.

“What’s so funny?”

“Even when she hasn’t seen the injury, Abigail can anticipate my needs. She’s brilliant that way.”

“That she is,” Ewan said. “Okay, Doc, let’s get you settled in.”

He started to scoop me up, and I pushed him away.

“It’s not broken, I can walk.”

But as I tried to stand on my left leg, my knee gave out, and I hit the cushion hard.

I rolled up my pants leg. My other kneecap was dislocated.

Great. Just great.

Ewan shook his head. Then he leaned down and scooped me up like I weighed nothing.

I am not thin, but to him it seemed like nothing.

Mortified, I let him carry me to my room.

He set me down gently on the edge of the bed. Then he set about taking off my other shoe and sock. I was only naked from the knees down, but it felt odd for him to see me like this.

“Abigail can help me reset this,” I said as I stared down at my knee. Unlike my right calf, which was a light blue, my knee had turned blackish purple. That was going to hurt if we didn’t get it fixed before it swelled much more. “I’ll be fine, Ewan. Go check on your guests.”

“I’m going to get more ice.” Mara set a bag of ice wrapped in a kitchen towel next to me.

“I can do this,” Ewan said. “I’ve popped many a joint back into position while doing Highland games and rugby.

The pain in my other leg was so bad, the dislocation wasn’t that big of a deal.

Still, it needed to be done sooner rather than later.

“Let me get in the right position first.”

I leaned back on the intricate headboard.

“When I say go, I need you to grab my ankle and lift the leg. Pull gently. As you do that, I will try to pop the kneecap back into place. It’s important to keep it taut.”

He nodded.

Once I was ready, I took a deep breath and used the heel of my right hand to click it back into place. The sickening sound was one I’d been used to, but it was different when resetting oneself.

As I let the breath out, a wave of nausea hit, but I didn’t get sick.

Ewan gently put my leg back on the pillow.

I put the ice Mara had brought for the other leg on my knee.

“You didn’t scream.” Ewan said it like a compliment. “I’ve seen tough men cry over less.”

“Compared to the other leg, it’s not that bad. That, and I have a high tolerance for pain.”

“Tell me how I can help.”

There was no use arguing with him.

I handed him my phone. “I need you to take pictures for me. I can feel it, but it’s difficult for me to see the contusions on the back of my leg.”

He turned on all the lights in the room.

I twisted my hips, but the angle was still awkward.

“If it’s not too painful, it might be easier for you to lie on your stomach.”

Awkward.

He helped me shift the pillows, and I turned over. The faster I exposed my backside, the quicker we could accomplish the goal.

“Are you sure it isn’t broken? It’s a myriad of colors, Doc.” He snapped pictures quickly with my phone. “I have it from all sides, it’s swelling quickly.”

I turned myself back over. He put the pillows under both legs.

Mara came in with a small tub of ice. Abigail and two women followed her.

“It’s swelling quickly.” Ewan took the tub of ice from Mara and the towel. Without instruction, he put the towel on the bed and then put the tub on it. After placing another towel on top of the ice, he put my leg on it.

“Whoa. Cold.”

“This is what the physio does when we hurt ourselves playing futbol,” Ewan said.

“Your physio is right.”

“I’ll put a timer on. Twenty minutes on and off.” Abigail put another pillow under my knee that had been dislocated. She held a bottle of pills and a glass of water. “For inflammation.”

The other women who had followed my friends into the room put down two trays of food and coffee on the table by the door. Then they left.

After taking the meds, I took a hard look at the photos Ewan had taken with my phone. He hadn’t lied about the weight of the gargoyle. Even though it had barely nicked me, it had done some damage.

If I hadn’t fallen forward, more of my body, possibly my brain, would have been harmed.

Chalk one up for the klutz.

I shivered from the cold. Mara put a warm blanket around my shoulders.

“Thanks.”

Abigail lifted my leg from the ice and cleaned off the blood that had coagulated on my calf.

“What do you think?”

“Abrasions and severe contusions. We need an X-ray,” Abigail said as she dabbed my leg with alcohol. Even through the cold, the sting of antiseptic burned.

“I felt for breaks and there weren’t any.”

“Hairlines,” she said.

“Could be, but I think it hit the flesh and not the bone. I was lucky.”

“I wouldna say that.” Ewan sat in a chair near the window. After steepling his fingers, he leaned forward. “I don’t like this. It’s purposeful.”

Abigail put my leg back in the ice.

I hissed.

“You think someone pushed it off?” Mara asked. “Henry says it’s heavy enough that he’ll need help moving it.”

“Aye, I think someone pushed it.”

I tried to speak, but my teeth chattered.

“Distract me.”

“Tell me again, what did you hear right before the gargoyle fell?” Ewan asked.

I’d already answered this question, but I appreciated the distraction. I closed my eyes.

“Someone was on the balcony. Something clattered.”

“Any idea what it was?” Abigail asked.

“Metal hitting the tile,” I said.

“That’s very specific,” he said.

“In the ER, you get used to the sound. If you flinch every time something hits the floor, you look like an idiot. You get used to it, but you don’t forget it.”

“I’ll check with Henry to see if he found anything metal.”

“I had a tough time figuring out where the sound came from because I was watching the snow come down. The glass made it seem like the noise was far away. I checked the balcony but didn’t see anything. Still, I had a sense someone might be watching me.”

“Were there footsteps, maybe heavy or light ones?” he asked.

“No. The clattering was the only noise except for the snow falling, the wind, and the lambs in the pen. They bleated a bit.” I’d forgotten that last bit.

“What happened next?”

“My spidey senses kicked in,” I said, as if that was perfectly logical.

“Spidey senses?”

“Spider-Man,” Abigail said. “Thanks to the doc, we all use the term for when those instincts kick in and you sense someone is around or something may be wrong.”

“I see,” Ewan said. From the tone in his voice, it was clear he did not.

“Is it possible someone followed you out there?” Ewan asked. “Perhaps someone you spoke to after the practice? You mentioned Caleb and Tiffany. Anyone else?”

I shrugged. “I didn’t speak to anyone else. I listened to snippets of conversations, but theirs was the most interesting.”

“What did they say?” Mara asked.

Ewan waved a hand. “They made accusations against each other. She can tell you later. Anyone else?”

“No. If he hadn’t bumped into me accidentally, I wouldn’t have talked to Caleb. I should have been more careful.

“But he knows you were snooping,” Abigail said. “He may have been strong enough to push that gargoyle onto you. We need to know what he said, and Ewan, we are all involved in this. Information is important.”

Abigail could be quite bossy when needed.

Ewan held up his hands in surrender, and then he leaned back in his chair.

I told my friends what I’d heard.

“Tiffany is still at the top of the list,” Mara said. “It makes sense for her to have brought Robbie here to get back at Angie. Ewan, it was premediated. Why don’t you just arrest her and save us all the trouble.”

“Evidence,” Ewan and I said at the same time.

“What we have now is circumstantial and hearsay. My men checked her room carefully—and her car. They found nothing. She’d need to stash the gear and Robbie’s things somewhere.”

“I admit they are good suspects,” I said. “But every time I see Caleb, he’s either drunk or high. I can’t see him being of sound enough mind to do something like this.”

“Besides, he was still in jail, right?” Abigail said. “Henry said Caleb was one of the last to arrive. They also checked his room and car and didn’t find anything.”

I raised my eyebrow but didn’t say anything. She sat on the end of the bed. Mara handed me a cup of tea and then sat next to me.

“It doesn’t have to be someone from the dance,” Mara said.

“You’re right. It could have been anyone. Maybe the killers weren’t expecting a coroner to be on the premises,” I said. “If we hadn’t tested the body immediately, there’s a good chance the poison would have dissipated. Many things, including different types of kidney disease could cause crystalizing like we found.

“The gargoyle could have been an accident. The avalanches could have jarred it out of place.” Even as I said the words, I didn’t believe them.

“That gargoyle was heavy,” Ewan said. “We’re looking at someone extremely strong.”

“Damien isn’t fit enough,” Abigail said.

There was a knock on the door.

Abigail opened it.

Henry stood on the other side, shifting from foot to foot.

“Is the doc all right?”

“Yes,” Ewan said. Did you find him?”

Henry’s eyes opened wider. “How did you know, sir?”

“What?” Ewan frowned.

“That it was a male.”

“Weight of the gargoyle. So, did you find him?”

“No, sir. But we do have a footprint of sorts. Male, size forty-two, sir.”

“That won’t narrow down things much, as it’s the most popular shoe size for men,” Ewan said. “Was there any sort of tread?”

Those were things I didn’t know and wouldn’t have thought to ask. I had so much to learn about crime solving.

“No, sir. It was more an outline of dust on one side, but I’ve taken pictures.” He held up his phone.

“You and Angus start questioning our male guests. Find out where they were in the last hour.”

“They’ll hardly confess,” I said.

He sighed. “I’m not expecting a confession, but we can corroborate their movements with other guests. It’s called detective work.”

I may have rolled my eyes. Okay, I did roll my eyes. I was the first one to admit my detective skills were lacking.

“I’m not the one who slid making me the coroner into the fine print.” It was half joke and the other part truth. One of the first things I’d discovered when I moved to Sea Isle was that I was coroner as well as the town doctor. I’d been annoyed about the former at first, but now I quite liked the work.

Except that time the murderer took my digging into the case personally and tried to kill me.

And now it had happened again.

My hands shook, and it had nothing to do with the ice.

Ewan ran a hand through his hair. I’d only known him a few months, but I knew he did that when he was frustrated.

“It was not in the fine print. You should have read the contract carefully.”

Mara and Abigail hooted with laughter.

My lips may have quirked up on the right side. I liked giving him a hard time, but that wasn’t exactly one-sided.

“Get the kit and do a cast,” he said.

“But sir.”

Ewan cleared his throat. “I don’t care how much of it you can get—we need evidence. You can’t just think about catching the killer; we must build a case.”

“Yes, sir.”

Henry left quickly. I wasn’t the only one learning criminal investigation from Ewan.

“Will you be, okay?” Ewan stood. “I need to follow up on some interviews.” His voice was brusque.

“Thank you for helping me. I’m good.”

He hesitated.

“We’ve got her,” Mara said. “We won’t leave her alone.”

When he’d left, Abigail sat in the chair where he’d been. She drank her tea.

“Is Tommy doing well? I was worried about him this morning.”

“Aye,” she said. “The gardeners are keeping him busy and have him covered for the next few hours.”

“I was surprised he wasn’t in the pen with the lambs. There was no one else in the gardens,” I said.

“They were all at lunch with the rest of the staff,” Mara said. “I’d gone to check on Jasper and saw him at a corner table with one of the gardeners, eating.”

“Tommy is covered; tell us what you need us to do for the case,” Abigail said.

I shook my head. “No. Someone may have tried to kill me today. You two will not put your lives in danger.”

Mara snorted. “We are stuck in a castle with a killer. The faster we figure it out, the sooner we’ll all be safe.”

“Killers,” I said.

“So, you think there are two?” Abigail said. “Or is it three?”

“Tommy saw a woman yelling at Robbie,” I said. “Ewan says it would have to be someone quite strong to push that gargoyle off the balcony. A woman might have done it, but I don’t think so. Robbie was up to no good, but we have no way of knowing if he was in on this.”

“You said before that the killer is smart,” Abigail chimed in. “I agree. I can’t see the person who clumsily shoved that gargoyle off using antifreeze to kill someone. That takes knowledge of chemistry.”

“That’s it.” I snapped my fingers.

Mara jumped. “Sorry—I might have dozed off. What happened?”

We laughed.

“Abigail gave me a great idea. We need to find out who might know chemistry. Maybe they worked at a pharmacy—I mean, a chemist’s.”

“Some of Damien’s friends are rugby types, but I talked to a chemist today,” Mara said. “He was sweet, and no killer.”

“How do you know?” Abigail asked. “I mean, if you just met him. Is he here with one of the women?”

“Not that I can tell,” Mara said. “He mainly hangs out with his friends. We were paired up at the ceilidh. He’s not much of a dancer, but easy on the eyes.”

“There’s a dentist,” Abigail added. “I dunnae know his name, though. Henry was talking about him. He and Ewan. They were going down the list of guests in the kitchen.”

“We need that list. It has pictures, right?”

Abigail nodded. “Room numbers and pictures.”

“You could show it to Tommy. He might be able to identify the woman who yelled at Robbie.”

She shook her head. “If Tommy says no face, it means he didn’t look up. Ever since we lived with my uncle, any hint of conflict and he—”

“Checks out,” I said.

“Yes. I’m sorry. We can try, but he won’t be able to tell you about her face. He saw her hair, but more than half the women here have dark hair.”

“He doesn’t forget much. Do you think he might remember her voice?”

“How would we do that?” Mara asked.

“I don’t know. I haven’t figured that part out yet.”

I shifted gears. “Mara, can you flirt with some of the other groomsmen? Let’s focus on men who could have pushed that gargoyle off the ledge.”

“Flirt with possible psychopaths. Check.”

Abigail giggled. Then she popped up and put my leg back in the ice.

I hissed again.

“I don’t like it when you do that.”

She laughed again. “I know—it makes it more fun.”

“Masochist,” I said.

She scrunched up her face. “What do you need me to do?” Abigail said.

“We need a way Tommy can stay on the periphery of the group when they are all together. I don’t want to traumatize him in any way, but maybe if he can recognize the voice? Never mind. As I say it out loud, it’s dumb.”

“Do you remember that episode of Midsomer Murders ,” Mara said, “the one where it was two different killers, but it took them most of the episode to figure it out?”

I shook my head. “But go on.”

“Maybe one of the steps killed Robbie. He showed up to make trouble, and they took care of him. They are a protective lot. Or some of Damien’s friends forced that antifreeze down Robbie’s throat. Yuck. That’s a bad visual.

“Anyway. We’re looking for a separate set of killers. Like you keep saying, it doesn’t make sense that Robbie was killed before he could cause trouble. That’s the part we can’t seem to get around.

“But there is a sinister plot to stop the wedding. It’s probably spearheaded by the father-in-law. He’s hired two hench people, and one of them is a woman. The other must be a man. If we divide the crimes, it might make it easier to solve one of them.”

I didn’t remember the episode of Midsomer Murders she spoke about. “You have a point,” I said.

“We all think Tiffany is involved,” I said. “She’s a bit off and has serious issues, but I can’t see her as a henchwoman.”

“Right, but she could have helped sneak in the victim,” Abigail said.

I didn’t disagree.

“But she works at a bank,” I said. “I’m not seeing a chemistry connection. She might have become jealous with Robbie’s plan and poisoned him, but like we keep saying, that took knowledge.”

“I know what you’re saying,” Abigail added. “But she could have looked it up on the internet. Type in easy ways to poison someone in a search, and I bet antifreeze would come up. It’s easy to transport, and you can find it just about anywhere. Except he was the one carrying it.”

I pursed my lips. “I feel like we keep going over the same things, but we aren’t any closer.”

“Think about it, though,” Abigail said. “Maybe it was his idea to come here. That might have made her angry enough to kill him.”

“He could have changed his mind,” Mara added. “That would have made her really mad.”

“I’ve been thinking it was the groom’s family because of their dislike of Angie, but you’re right. A woman scorned and all that.”

“We should watch her at the gift ceremony tonight,” Abigail said.

“Gift ceremony?”

“You need to read your itinerary,” Mara said.

“I saw it—I just didn’t know what it meant.”

“It’s a Scottish tradition,” Abigail added. “The bride and groom, and the maid of honor and best man, all exchange gifts. Then the bride and groom open their gifts from closest family and friends.”

“If there is any sort of jealousy, we should see it on Tiffany’s face,” Mara said. “And it’s a big circle, so it will be easy to watch everyone.”

“It’s odd none of the stepmoms brought their significant others. At least two of them are married. I remember Angie saying that.”

“Eh. Would you want to go to a wedding for the daughter of your wife’s ex?” I asked.

“You have a point,” Mara said. “Then again, maybe they are coming for the ceremony. I’m not sure I’d want to hang out with the family of my ex for four days before the wedding.”

“I’ve already spoken with her mom and the second stepmom. I’ll focus on who killed Robbie. You two keep an eye out for any of our players who might have wanted to cause our favorite couple harm. Remember, we are just observing and having casual conversations.”

“Time to take your leg out,” Abigail said.

My leg was so numb, I couldn’t feel it. Probably a good thing, given the swelling.

“Thank you, both,” I said. “I’m not sure how I’d survive without the two of you.

“We’d do anything for you,” Mara said. “You have to know that.”

I smiled. I’d had friends in my life, but none as fast and wonderful as these two.

“I’m going to chat up the staff,” Mara said. “They see more than anyone else around here. I’ve become friends with some of them. It’s amazing what a bit of kindness can do when you’re serving posh people.”

I was about to agree when the door slammed open, and we all screamed.