He headed off towards the kitchen, and Ally wondered what on earth she could say to give a shred of comfort to this group of weeping women.
‘So where is he?’ Patti asked between sobs.
‘The air ambulance has taken him away,’ Ally explained. ‘That’s why we’re so late.’
‘Oh, Auntie Wendy!’ Janey rushed towards her aunt and put her arm round her. Julie rushed to her other side, both girls weeping – which set Wendy off again.
Patti looked directly at Ross as he re-entered the room with some drinks and mixers. ‘Itwasan accident?’ She was shuddering uncontrollably.
‘We’ll know after the post-mortem,’ Ross replied. ‘Who needs a nightcap?’
Both Wendy and Patti shook their heads. ‘I feel sick,’ Patti said.
‘Maybe a brandy would help?’ Ross suggested.
Patti nodded, tears still streaming down her cheeks. ‘I’m taking it upstairs with me.’
‘I’ll have one too,’ Wendy said, drying her eyes. ‘But I feel I want to be alone tonight.’
‘Well, I think we should all at least try to get some sleep because the police will be here first thing in the morning,’ Ally said.
Patti stood up, hugged her sister-in-law, took her arm and led her towards the stairs. ‘I’ve got some sleeping tablets somewhere,’ she added.
Ross followed Ally and the dogs into the kitchen, took two glasses out of the cupboards and poured out two hefty measures of Scotch.
‘Oh, I need this,’ Ally said, taking a sip. ‘But I still don’t think I’m going to be able to sleep. Did I tell you about that scrap of paper I picked up?’
‘I saw you handing something to Amir.’
‘Ross, it looked like it could be some sort of blackmail note or something.’
‘What do you mean?’ Ross asked.
‘It said something like “if you want me to keep your secret…” but the paper was ripped in half. This could mean that he was planning to slip away from Wendy and go meet someone, couldn’t it?’
Ross shrugged. ‘I guess so. Hopefully the police will find the rest of it.’
She shuddered. ‘I keep seeing him lying there, like that…’
‘I know,’ Ross said, taking her in his arms, ‘but you must try to put it out of your mind. Let’s get to bed.’
Ally found herself wide awake at five o’clock in the morning. Afraid that her tossing and turning would waken Ross, she got up. But Ross was awake too.
Ally looked out of the window at the darkness and said, ‘It’s too early to do anything.’
‘Not too early for a cup of tea,’ Ross said, getting out of bed. ‘I’ll go down and get the kettle on.’
As she got dressed, Ally wondered if Wendy would be able to eat any breakfast. Her guests were fast disappearing, one by one! Who might be next? Would anyone ever want to stay atThe Auld Malthouse B&B again? One of the main suspects on her board was now dead. Ally began to doubt if he really had been Archie’s killer, but, if it wasn’t Greg, who was it? And she knew, deep down, that someone had well and truly brained the poor man. With mixed feelings of revulsion, she now felt guilty at ever having suspected Greg at all.
Ally made her way downstairs to find Ross brewing a large pot of tea. He let both dogs out into the garden, and then poured them each a mugful. Within minutes, the dogs had come bounding in, hoping for breakfast.
‘These are two clever girls!’ Ross said, stroking their heads and digging some dog food out of the cupboard. ‘Without you two, we might never have found the poor guy!’
I almost wish they hadn’t,Ally thought, trying to dispel the vision. She wondered what Greg could possibly have done to deserve this.
Patti and the girls surfaced around eight o’clock. ‘I didn’t get a wink of sleep,’ she said, still tearful. She looked drab this morning in a grey, high-necked jumper and black leggings. Both the girls looked utterly exhausted.
‘What about Wendy?’ Ally asked.
