‘They thought it would be a relaxing break in a Highland castle,’ he says in a voice-over tone. ‘Then things suddenly took a darker turn .?.?.’
He thrusts his camera into my face and I push it away, my heart suddenly speeding up.
Could Daniel be the person behind the goings-on? I know he and Bex really need to make some money, after all. Maybe he thinks he can make some kind of found-footage-style spooky documentary and get rich that way? He does always have that camera on him .?.?.
‘Gosh, this is thrilling,’ says Millie breathlessly, shifting a little closer to Callum, who turns as red as the cooked tomato in his breakfast. ‘It’s like we’re in a horror movie or something.’
Daniel and Bex exchange glances at this, and my spidey senses tingle alarmingly. What if they’reallin on it? What if I’ve unwittingly become part of some kind of psychological experiment? Or one of those hidden-camera comedy shows?
‘Have you seen any signs, Rosie?’ says Izzie, seriously, interrupting my downward spiral chain of thought. ‘Black Shucks, stopped clocks, wailing winds .?.?. Anything like that?’
‘Um, the windwaswailing quite a bit last night,’ I say. ‘I thought it was just stormy outside, though.’
‘Itwasjust stormy outside,’ says Hunter firmly. ‘There’s an even bigger one forecast for tonight. And the sauna doorwasjust stuck.’
‘And the dirk?’ I point out, annoyed that he seems to be trying to downplay my fears again, after everything we talked about last night. ‘How do you explain that?’
Hunter opens his mouth and then closes it again, a sheepish look on his face.
‘If I may,’ says Luna timidly, from her position behind Sabrina. ‘Can I ask if anyone else has experienced any of these goings-on? It’s for our insurance,’ she adds, as Sabrina spins to face her. ‘We have a duty of care to the people we invited here. So, has anyone else found any dirks in their bed, say?’
Everyone shakes their heads except Izzie, who puts her hand up as if she’s in class.
‘Aye, I have,’ she says brightly. ‘Not since I was young, though. I actually wouldn’t mind finding a dirk in my bed again.’
‘I meant anyone in the influencer party?’ says Luna, looking even more scared.
Everyone shakes their heads again.
‘OK,’ says Sabrina. ‘I’ve had enough of this. We need to start getting ready for tonight. We’re supposed to be going to the village fair, remember?’
‘Where wereyoulast night, Sabrina?’ says Dante suddenly, leaning forward in his chair. ‘I don’t suppose you know anything about this business with the dirk, do you?’
‘I don’t even know what a dirk is,’ replies Sabrina in a dignified tone. ‘And, for your information, Dante, I was in my room all night, trying to pull together the details for the launch party tomorrow night. We were thinking of doing a big countdown to midnight, at which point we’ll officially be into opening day for the hotel. So, it’ll be like New Year’s Eve, except, in this case, we’ll be counting down to the hotel’s first day of trade, rather than the first day of the year.’
She looks around at us all, as if she’s expecting a round of applause for this idea but, unfortunately for her, every-one’s still too focused on the goings-on to pay much attention.
Sabrina’s shoulders slump. For the first time, I notice shadows under her eyes, which she’s tried to cover with foundation; she must be under more pressure with this launch than I realised.
‘Anyway, that’s what I was doing,’ she says. ‘Luna will vouch for me, if you need an alibi. Won’t you, Luna?’ She gives a brittle kind of laugh, and turns to her assistant, whose eyes widen in terror.
‘Um, that’s right,’ Luna says, her eyes very large behind her glasses. ‘Sabrina was in her room all evening. I saw her.’
‘She’s lying,’ says Zara in a whisper from beside me. ‘I can tell. She doesn’t have a clue where Sabrina was.’
I glance round at her, remembering what she said yesterday about how every one of them lies about something. I never did get around to asking what it isshelies about. And now it looks like I’ll have to add Luna and Sabrina to my list of potential liars.
Iseveryonein this hotel lying about something?
And, if so, do I have to include Hunter in that, too?
‘Er, if no one has any objections, I’d quite like to get back to the subject of the hotel doing business with the village again,’ says Ian, clearing his throat. ‘That’s why we’re here, after all. This business with the turnips and the invisible woman is all very interesting, but it’s not going to help us farmers, is it?’
‘The Village People,’ says Millie, snapping her fingers triumphantly as she stares at him. ‘It’s the Village People.’
‘That’s right, lass, we’re people from the village,’ says Callum gently, as if he’s speaking to a very small child. ‘We met you earlier, remember?’
‘Thewho?’ interrupts Zara. ‘What are you talking about, Millie?’
