‘Probably, but it’s Callum I feel sorry for,’ Ally said.
They didn’t hear Wendy come back later, but Ally was given a full account at breakfast the next morning when Wendy was in full flow.
‘This village,’ she informed Ally, ‘is unbelievable. Un-be-lieve-able! No one takes responsibility for anything. I don’t feel safe here, and Joel insisted I took a taxi back last night because this is a lawless society with a useless police force and downright aggression to visitors.’
Ally placed a basket of croissants on the table. ‘I’ve never known any aggression to visitors,’ she said firmly. ‘We welcome visitors from all over the world.’
‘They’ve been saving their aggression up for my dear son then.’ Wendy sniffed loudly and dabbed hernose. ‘Even the hotel manager dismissed the incident in the bar as a “misunderstanding”. Amisunderstandingwhen a gang of drinkers set about my son!’
‘Calm down,’ said Patti, ‘or you’ll give yourself a heart attack.’
‘I will not calm down,’ ranted Wendy. ‘The manager actually suggested that Joel was some sort of troublemaker! Joel! There never was a more peace-loving guy. You know that, don’t you, Patti?’
Patti refrained from commenting but concentrated on buttering a slice of toast.
Wendy hadn’t finished yet. ‘And to arrest poor Patti here – what are the policethinkingof?’
‘They haven’t arrested me,’ Patti muttered.
‘Same thing. House arrest. They suspect you. And’ – Wendy turned to Ally – ‘I’ve just bumped into your grim-faced cleaner, who wouldn’t even say “good morning” to me!’
Ally took a deep breath. ‘Thing is, Wendy, your Joel landed on her doorstep yesterday and began asking questions about her son, and to be honest, I don’t think she was well pleased.’
Wendy frowned. ‘But she’s a mother, and I’m a mother, so I’d expect her to understand, don’t you think?’
Keen to avoid an argument, Ally said, ‘I’ll have a word with her. Now it’s today you’re lunching at The Bothy, isn’t it?’
Momentarily diverted, Wendy smiled broadly while helping herself to muesli. ‘And then we’re going to visit your gardening friend.’
When Ally got back into the kitchen, she found Morag, having finished the rooms, now filling the kettle. ‘Wendy Watson’s a little upset because you didn’t look too pleased to see her this morning,’ Ally said casually as she loaded some plates into the dishwasher.
‘That’s because I wasn’t,’ Morag replied.
‘Well, she’s my guest, Morag, so try not to let your personalfeelings come into this. And don’t forget she’s grieving for her husband and so she’s naturally very sensitive.’
Morag grunted and continued making a pot of tea. Ally opened her mouth to say more and thought better of it. Best not to rock the boat, especially where Joel Watson’s new investigation was concerned.
TWENTY-ONE
It was almost four o’clock before Wendy and Joel returned from their visit to The Bothy and Loch Trioch. Ally was brushing up some leaves in the garden when the Jeep pulled up outside.
‘Oh, Ally!’ Wendy exclaimed as she climbed out of the passenger seat. ‘We had such a lovely lunch. Thank you so much for recommending The Bothy.’
‘I’m glad,’ Ally replied, leaning her rake against the wall. ‘And did you visit Desdemona?’
Wendy rolled her eyes in ecstasy. ‘Yes, we did, and, my goodness, isn’t that place in the middle of nowhere! Furthermore, there must have been at least half a dozen dogs of all shapes and sizes, barking, jumping up and even growling. We were quite nervous, weren’t we, Joel?’
Joel, walking just behind her, nodded. ‘She wasn’t exactly welcoming,’ he muttered.
‘But she showed us her garden and, my goodness, we were really impressed!’ Wendy said. ‘She has some amazing plants in there – sub-tropical ones – and as for all her herbs and spices, well…! And she was kind enough to let me take some seeds for my own garden.’
‘She tried to sell us some of her paintings,’ Joel added. ‘They were nice, but I couldn’t see us getting them back to Halifax without a lot of hassle. If weeverget back to Halifax!’ he added gloomily.
‘She’s certainly a one-off,’ Wendy concluded as she made her way indoors.
Joel had gone back to his Jeep. ‘I want a word with the earl,’ he said. ‘Do you think he’s likely to be in? He wasn’t the other day.’
‘I really don’t know,’ Ally replied truthfully. If he was at home, he’d doubtless be scoffing Mrs Jamieson’s sandwiches and scones at this particular time and might not necessarily be in the right frame of mind to welcome this rather belligerent man. However, it was best to let Joel find out for himself.
