“You think the Deacons...”
“I don't know, Melody.” Rob sits beside her once more, this time taking her hand gently. The gentle side of Rob reappears soothingly. “People have a habit of going missing around that family. Their own kin, even. The local police say there's nothing in it, but when a visitor from the outside vanishes without a trace, you start to take notice more and more.”
“Is that why Morrison was so reluctant for me to go up to Deacon House and start working there?”
The music beneath swells once more, a cacophony of cheers and yelps rises in the air.
“Maybe, Melody. I can't speak for him, but Morrison is just like the rest of us, he keeps his distance from the Deacons unless he absolutely has to. And that's the way you should be, too. Stay here at the Howling Dog. Write your book. There are a lot of good stories from the locals, but stay away from the big house. It's nothing but pain.”
“Did Sanders stay in town before he went to Deacon House?”
“Only for a night, here in the inn. But he headed straight up there the next morning. I saw him around town a couple of times, then he stopped coming. Now the Deacons won't say anything about him. It's rotten. I just don't want the same thing to happen to you.” Rob lets out a sigh and stares somberly at the wooden floor. Its surface is filled with age and history.
Melody smiles.
“Be careful Rob, you keep talking like that I might think you're falling for me.”
“Ha!” he says loudly. “It takes more than a couple of nights drinking at a bar with a pretty lady to make Rob Maclean fall in love. I'll tell ye that!”
“Honestly, Rob,” Melody says. “I'll be fine. Rebecca is a sweetheart, and there's Tam, too. He'll look after me.”
“Aye,” Rob says grimly. “Tam is a good one, but he's a Deacon man, don't forget that. Even good men can be led to evil.”
“He's their groundskeeper. I'm sure he can't be corrupted that much.”
Rob nods.
“Yes. But he's also a distant cousin of theirs, so be careful how much trust you put in him. His loyalties are clear. And as for Sanders... They say he left the island, but I don't think so. Maybe Tam is caught up in that.”
Melody thinks of the possibilities for a moment. Her scientific training is easily adapted to the world of detection and deduction.“Couldn't Sanders have gotten on another boat? It seems like there are a lot of them on the harbor and dotted around the shore of the island?”
“It's possible, but unlikely. Most of these boats aren't really kitted out for a long sail like that, and certainly none of the local fishermen as far as I can tell have any knowledge of Sanders leaving. But it is what it is. The police are satisfied that Sanders left as quickly as he arrived, and...”
“And?”
“Never mind,” Rob says, quietly.
“What is it, Rob?”
“Just trust me, if you can, Melody. Let's go back downstairs before I say something I can't take back.”
Melody presses Rob on this, but he walks to the room door and opens it.
“Rob, you can't leave it like that, if there's more you know...”
“I know a hell of a lot about this island. People might think me a fool, chasing women and flying planes like I'm in some 80s movie, but I do that half the time because this place can get to you. If you let the island in, it can swallow you up. I don't want that to happen to you, so here's the deal: I don't want to talk about this again. I've given you my advice, and that's it. And, under no circumstances mention our chat to the Deacons or anyone else, for that matter. They could easily put in a few calls and have the island council revoke my right to fly here. I'd rather just have a quiet life, so, please, don't make this any worse.”
Melody doesn't know what to say. She can sense that she won't get more out of him, at least for now. If this were an academic debate, she would push her opponent until she got what she wanted from them – an admission of something they don't wish to concede. But this is no lecture hall or debate night, it is a serious investigation regarding the whereabouts of her father. Pushing too hard might make Rob an enemy, or, at the very least, more reluctant than he already is to talk about Mr Sanders. No, Melody will not push. But she will in the future.
“Are you coming back downstairs? Let's put this behind us and have a wee dram again. It was a good night until this...”
“I think I'll stay up here for a while, Rob,” Melody says in a neutral tone. “When you're ready to share everything you know with me, I'll be here.”
“And I'll be down the stairs having a good time when you're ready to see sense and put this Deacon business behind you.”
With that, Rob closes the door. Melody hears his footsteps passing along the hallway and then creaking down the stairwell to the celebratory ambience below. Part of Melody wants to go down there. She wants to have another drink. She wants to dance and be merry. But what Rob has told her has only confirmed her worst fears. Sanders is missing. And the Deacons have something to do with it.
I have to be careful, she thinks to herself, looking out of
