As she sat down, she heard some sort of commotion in the hall. Sighing, she set her coffee down on the table and went to investigate. And there, with her babies now asleep side by side in their Silver Cross pram, was Magda. And also there, oohing and aahing over the twins, were the Armstrong girls, newly returned from their walk with a very happy, muddy dog.
‘I let myself in,’ Magda explained, ‘because the door was open. I was taking these two down for a walk to the shop and suddenly decided I might need some fortification before facing Queenie, so here I am!’
‘Come into the kitchen, Magda,’ Ally said as the girls reluctantly tore their attention away from the twins and made their way into the sitting room. ‘What sort of fortification do you need?’
‘Oh, coffee’s fine,’ Magda said, collapsing into an armchair, having positioned the pram near to the door. ‘I don’t need much from the shop, but these two are always happy to be on the move.’
‘How are things up at the castle?’ Ally asked as she filled the kettle and snatched a gulp of her own rapidly cooling coffee.
Magda sighed loudly. ‘Not good. Hamish is so worried by all this, particularly as he’s a suspect.’ She ran a hand through her hair. ‘Of coursehe’s a suspect, as is poor Angus and the other two ghillies, because it was certainly his rifle that fired that shot! They’ve found the rifle, of course, so who had it? I mean it’s not something you could carry around without it being seen, is it? And, for goodness’ sake, whoever stole it had to break the glass cabinet, and why would anyone at the castle have to break the glass when they have keys to open it?’
‘Well they wouldn’t,’ Ally agreed, ‘unless they were guilty and had to break in to make it look as if it wasn’t them.’
This didn’t seem to have occurred to Magda. ‘I suppose so,’ she conceded, accepting a mug of coffee. ‘But I am worried about Hamish because he is so distressed by it all.’
‘Poor Hamish!’ Ally said sincerely. ‘It’s not as if he’d have given a damn as to who won any of these contests!’
‘Exactly,’ Magda agreed. ‘He didn’t much care. All he cares about is bringing tourists into Locharran and for them to spend their money here.’ She raised her eyes to heaven. ‘And, as you can see, hehas! I mean the media are here, aren’t they? It’s onthe news, and people are coming here out of curiosity. Lots of interviewers and TV people are staying at the Craigmonie and hoping to catch sight of one of the Armstrongs.’
‘Locharran is certainly on the map at the moment! For all the wrong reasons though,’ Ally said.
Magda shrugged again. ‘And, of course, everyone will think that because he is the earl, he wouldn’t do the dirty work himself but would allocate someone, like poor old Angus, to do it!’ She rolled her eyes.
‘You don’t honestly believe that, do you?’
‘No, of course I don’t! But that is what the police might think,’ Magda replied, accepting a chocolate biscuit.
‘But the police were interviewing Angus when the shooting took place, weren’t they?’ Ally asked.
Magda shrugged. ‘They were there in the early afternoon, so I doubt very much that he’d have had an opportunity to get to the games.’
One of the babies started crying. ‘Like I told you, they’re always happier on the move,’ she said, standing up and replacing her mug on the table. ‘I must get them to the shop and then back home. Thanks so much for the coffee, Ally.’
‘You’re very welcome,’ Ally said, accompanying them to the door.
After they’d gone, Ally considered what Magda had said. She knew Hamish hadn’t been involved, and it looked as if Angus hadn’t been either. But what about the two men who now worked for him? They might well be crack shots, but surely they wouldn’t be persuaded tomurdersomeone for Angus?
TEN
It was mid-afternoon before Ally heard Patti and Greg returning, talking avidly and loudly.
Ally, with her ear pressed hard against the kitchen door, could only hear some of what they were saying.
‘How come that detective knew about our log cabin business? That’s what I want to know,’ Greg was saying.
‘Well, I expect your dear wife must have told him,’ Patti snapped. ‘Who else would know? Did you tellher, our hostess, about the problems we were having with the business?’
‘I might have done,’ Greg admitted. ‘After all, I’m proud of our little business and what it’s achieved.’
‘Pity then you’ve got such a big mouth!’ Patti retorted as they made their way upstairs. ‘That cop seems to know an awful lot about us.’
‘Well, don’t start having a go at me!’ Greg yelled, slamming shut his bedroom door. Then Patti slammed her bedroom door, and Ally could only feel for the two girls and their aunt, who’d closed the sitting-room door to shield them from the conversation.
Shortly afterwards, Ross arrived with a box of vegetables. ‘There’s enough here for a few days,’ he informed Ally. ‘I got this from poor old Jim Murray who hasn’t got two pennies to rub together, but he does have an old collie who needed medication, so he’s paid me in kind.’ He laid down the box and gave Ally a hug.
‘But, Ross, this was foryou!’
‘No, it’s for us. I eat more meals here than I do at home, and these are beautiful home-grown vegetables that can keep us going all week. Tell you what, I’ll do a veggie curry this evening – how about that?’
