Julie dried her eyes, her arm still around her sobbing sister, and asked, ‘Could we have some tea, please – and a dog or two?’ She gave a teary smile.
Ross saluted. ‘Your wish is my command, and I shall have a word with the Labradors!’ With that, he turned around and opened the kitchen door, and both dogs came bounding out, tails wagging and heading straight for the girls.
‘Tea is on the way,’ Ally said, trying to sound equally cheerful.
‘This has to be a complete nightmare for these teenagers,’ Ross commented as he filled the kettle.
‘It’s so difficult to know what on earth to say to them,’ Ally said. ‘Let’s face it, they’re in a foreign country and their mother has just been arrested for shooting their father! Can you honestly think of anything worse?’
‘Not much,’ Ross agreed. ‘I wonder if we should ask the girls in here for dinner tonight? I’m happy to cook a roast or something.’
‘Do you think they’llwantto eat?’ Ally asked as she set up a tray to transport the tea things.
Ross shrugged. ‘No idea. They may have recovered a little by the afternoon and, let’s face it, they’re growing girls and need their food.’ He sighed. ‘What a bloody mess!’
‘I just can’t believe that Angus could ever have agreed to get the gun for her, far less to break into the cabinet to divert the blame away from himself,’ Ally said. ‘So why has he been arrested?’
‘Well, he hasn’t admitted to it, has he? He’s denied it, I believe.’ Ross picked up the tray. ‘I’ll carry this through because it’s heavy.’
As he made his way across the hall, Ally wondered, as always, what she’d do without this kind, decent man in her life. She followed him as he laid the tray down on the coffee table in front of Wendy. The girls were sitting either side of their aunt, each fondling a dog and drying their eyes.
‘Thank you so much,’ Wendy said.
‘And thank goodness that Auntie Wendy is here!’ Julie exclaimed, leaning closer to her aunt.
‘If there’s anything we can do, you only have to ask,’ Ally said.
‘Joel must be wondering where I am,’ Wendy said. ‘Should I ask him to come up here?’
‘Of course,’ Ally replied, hoping Joel wouldn’t make things worse, as he was inclined to do.
When they were back in the kitchen, Ross asked, ‘Would it be a good idea if I suggested I accompany them on a walk, with the dogs, across the moor to Loch Soular for instance. The sun’s shining, and the dogs would be happy.’
‘Great idea,’ Ally said, ‘and then, hopefully, Wendy will join Joel at the Craigmonie.’
Ross wandered back into the sitting room where his suggestion was greeted with some muted enthusiasm, and the girls went to find their coats and boots. Ally opted to stay behind and, if necessary, fend off any reporters.
‘I don’t really want to go up there again,’ Wendy admitted, ‘so it’s probably better if I join Joel down at the hotel as usual. I feel so responsible for my two nieces now, but I’m torn in every direction.’ She hesitated for a moment, then lowered her voice to little more than a whisper. ‘Do you suppose Patti could have killed my Greg as well?’
‘I don’t see how she could because she was watching TV most of the afternoon, and we had to persuade her to walk up to the loch with us to see the fun run,’ Ally replied.
Wendy nodded as she got out her phone. ‘Joel’s just not gonnabelievethis!’
Ally had several reporters ringing the doorbell before Ross and the two girls got back.
‘I can tell you nothing,’ she repeated time and time again. ‘You’ll have to ask the police.’
One of them was particularly persistent and kept asking, ‘Who’s looking after her two daughters?’ Ally could see that this question was going to be asked on a regular basis from now on so thought she’d better have an answer ready.
A few minutes later, Wendy was tapping on the door again. ‘Joel and I thought we might take the girls out for lunch,’ she said. ‘They might not feel like eating much, but they need to get away from here for a couple of hours.’
‘Where did you plan to go?’ Ally asked.
‘We can’t go to the village because the media are still all stationed halfway down the road, so we thought we might take them to The Bothy. And we don’t plan to visit Desdemona this time!’
After they’d gone, Ally said to Ross, ‘Looks like you won’t need to do that roast tonight after all.’
Ross nodded. ‘I’ve been thinking; maybe Patti did kill Archie, but who on earth killed Greg Watson?’
