“I’ll give ye two, if the information is worth it.”
Parliament Square
“I know it was important for ye to find the woman,” Simon Sinclair said as we returned from Old Town.
“What was the woman to ye?”
The truth was that I didn’t know. I only knew the name, and had hoped I might learn the reason, if I could find her.
He knew the reason I had come to Edinburgh, but I hadn’t shared any of the details. It was easy enough to say that Jacobson was a name I remembered. The other part of it was not quite as easy to explain with the things that had happened since I’d arrived.
Still, he had been kind enough to accompany me. I felt that I owed him an explanation for when he should have been at the office completing his work for Sir McQuarrie’s court appointment the following morning. He would no doubt be putting in several more hours work through the evening.
“I’ve been searching for my real family. My friend Dory was helping me with that when...” There was no need for me to explain wot had happened. He was well aware.
“She found information for me and had written about it.”
“And she found the address at Moriston Place,” he concluded.
“Yes. I hoped the person by that name would be there and could possibly tell me something about my family.”
However, with what we had learned, that was now impossible. He reached across the aisle of the coach and touched my hand.
“I am so very sorry, Miss Montgomery. To have come all this way, how verra disappointing it must be for ye. My own familyis gone now, but I have distant relatives verra near at Roslyn. I dinna know how I would feel if there was no one.
“You are a verra brave person.”
I smiled at wot was obviously a bit of flirtation. He was sincere, and I took it as such.
“At least ye know yer family name and a bit of yer history. I’ve never had that. It’s almost as if I do not exist.”
“Ah, ye do exist though, Miss Montgomery. Ye are a fine person, I can tell. Yer well educated, according to Sir McQuarrie. And ye know Latin!”
We both laughed at that.
It was well into early evening when we arrived back at the office at Parliament Square. The office was darkened. It appeared that Munro had not returned.
Inside the office, Simon found a note from Sir McQuarrie and groaned.
“He is most appreciative of the hours I will put in tonight for his court appearance in the morning.”
I apologized for having taken him away for something that had been disappointing in the least.
“If you will provide me with the legal text and the case you are looking for, I will be happy to help you.”
“Would you really consider it, Miss Montgomery?” he inquired. “I would be verra pleased to do so.”
He retrieved a somewhat intimidating leather volume from his desk and escorted me to the library. He then provided the case date, court file number, and the names of those involved.
He then retrieved a second volume from one of the shelves and brought it to the table as well. He took off his coat and we set to work.
“Ye must know, Miss Montgomery, that I have never had such a fine research assistant before. My last associate, who worked for Sir McQuarrie, was a somewhat difficult olderwoman, sour-faced and knew more than anyone else about the law if you asked her—Miss Agnes Mortescue. She must have been close to sixty and reeked of mothballs.
“She has worked at Parliament Square for decades and assists as needed. Sir McQuarrie was most grateful when I became part of the office, that I did not smell of naphtha.”
Most likely a most congenial change as well, I thought, as we set to work.
It was well into the evening when we heard a sound at the front entrance to the office.
