‘Not much happening with us at the moment,’ Ally replied. ‘But my guests have finally taken themselves out for a walk, up to Loch Soular.’
‘Shouldn’t they be visiting poor old Angus?’ Magda asked.
Ally shrugged, wondering if she should have a scone. ‘Angus doesn’t appear to be a priority. And when I saw Angus yesterday, he didn’t seem particularly interested in popping in to see Patti either.’
‘I expect they’ve fallen out,’ Hamish said, standing up and handing round the sandwiches again. ‘He was very fond of her as a child, but I don’t think he approved of her later in life.’ He paused. ‘I’ll tell you one thing though – when Pat would come out with us for a day’s shooting, she certainly knew how to handle a gun!’
Oh,didshe indeed? Ally reckoned she’d probably been taught by Angus, the expert. Interesting…
She declined a sandwich, still unsure about the scone. ‘I was just thinking the other day that I’ve never seen either of your under-ghillies close up. Is under-ghillies the right word? Or should it be trainee gamekeepers?’
‘Call them what you will,’ said Hamish, smiling.
‘Yes, I wondered who’ll take over from Angus eventually,’ Ally prompted.
‘Oh, you mean Gordon?’ Hamish added extra cream to his scone and sipped his tea. ‘Gordon’s the one who’ll take over. He’s a bit dour, keeps himself to himself, doesn’t do much socialising – very much like Angus really. But he’s a good ghillie, and he works bloody hard.’
Magda leaned forward with a grin. ‘But have you seen Tom, our newest recruit? He’s causing a bit of a stir!’
Hamish snorted. ‘He’s clever, and he’s got all the right qualifications, but he couldn’t be more different from the other two. He shares a cottage with Gordon, but I don’t think that’s going to work out for long because Tom keeps bringing girls back. Apparently, they all fancy him!’
‘So, presumably hedoessocialise?’ Ally said.
‘He certainly does,’ Hamish replied. ‘He goes down to the Craigmonie most evenings, I believe. But he’s young and needs some lively company, I suppose.’
‘Would either of them have keys to your gun cabinet?’ Ally asked casually.
‘They don’t have keys themselves, but both of them are in and out of Angus’s office where the keys are kept.’ Hamish hesitated. ‘But do I think that either of them would have faked a break-in and could have fired that rifle? No, I damn well don’t! Just for a start, neither of them had the faintest idea who this Armstrong fellow was, and neither of them had a great deal of interest in the games, although young Tom didgo down to have a look. I’ve told the police this a hundred times!’
‘But neither Angus nor Gordon went down there?’ Ally asked.
‘Of course not! I’d have seen them if they did,’ Hamish retorted. ‘I made a point of seeing everyone.’
Except the sniper,Ally thought.And when you were sampling the whisky…
‘That’s how I know that Tom was there,’ Hamish continued. ‘He was with a couple of local girls, and they were in and out of the hospitality tent all afternoon.’
‘Tom was with the two girls all the time then?’ Ally asked, wondering if perhaps she was overdoing the questioning.
‘Yes, yes,’ Hamish replied impatiently. ‘That’s enough about him! Now, have you had a scone yet? They’re delicious! Newly baked, still warm…’
At this point, one of the twins began to wail, and Magda, with the speed of light, was picking him up. ‘He’ll set his brother off if I don’t act quickly,’ she said, holding the infant to her shoulder.
After a minute, she carried the now pacified baby over to Ally. ‘This is William. Would you like to cuddle him?’
‘Oh, I would!’ Ally said truthfully, accepting the little warm bundle and praying he wouldn’t start howling again. William looked up at her with big blue eyes, and Ally was won over, all thoughts of sleuthing abandoned for the moment.
‘He obviously likes you,’ Hamish said, ‘so he’s plainly a man of taste. But you haven’t had your scone yet!’
‘I’ll settle for William!’ Ally said, laughing.
As she walked home a little later, Ally realised that she hadn’t gleaned a great deal of information from this visit either. She knew, however, that both Gordon and Tom had access toAngus’s office and the keys so, in theory, wouldn’t have needed to break in, and that Tom had actually been at the games. She also now knew that Patti was an excellent shot. Any of them, and even Angus himself for that matter, she supposed, could have been the killer.
Unlikely but possible.
Was there going to be sufficient space on the board to add a few more names if necessary? And when was she ever going to be able to eliminate some of these suspects?
EIGHT
