needed was a simple little filling, but he says it had to come out. No thank you, I said, and got the hell out of there.”
“So that was the only time you saw him?”
“You’re looking a me as if I’m the first murderer. Why on earth suspect me?”
“I don’t suspect you. You’re a very pretty girl and Gilchrist liked the ladies.”
“I had nothing to do with him.” But that sexy aura had disappeared. It had been turned off somewhere deep inside her. Her eyes roved restlessly around the bar. “Headache better?”
“Yes, thank you.”
“Well, if you don’t mind, I see some of my friends over there.”
And without waiting for his reply, she got to her feet and went over to join a group of men at the bar.
I’d better ask around about that one, thought Hamish. She was all right until I started asking about Gilchrist.
He left the pub and walked back towards where he had parked the Land Rover. He saw he was passing a fishmongers and stopped. “Special Offer. Fresh Salmon.” The sign in the window caught his eye. Salmon was selling for ?1.80 a pound. He decided it would be worth buying one for the seer. He was sure the salmon was farmed rather than wild, but he was equally sure that old Angus would not be able to tell the difference.
He went in and bought a ten-pound salmon, big enough for that old leech, he thought crossly.
He took the salmon back to the police station and threw away the fishmonger’s bag, wrapped it in kitchen foil, and drove this time up to the seer’s.
He laid the salmon on the table in front of the seer. Angus studied it curiously after he had taken it out of its foil wrapper. Then he went off without a word into the nether regions and came back carrying a small stone on the end of a cord.
“What’s that?” asked Hamish. “Your pet rock?”
“Aye jeering at things you do not understand, Hamish. This iss my crystal.”
He waved it over the salmon. The ‘crystal’ swung round over the fish like a pendulum.
“This iss the farm salmon, Hamish.”
“It is not!”
“Aye, the pendulum sees it all. You forgot last night and it’s cauld the day and so you thought you could pass a shop-bought fish on poor Angus.”
“Havers.” Hamish wrapped up the salmon. “I’ll have it myself.”
“If I were you, Hamish Macbeth, I waud be thinking of getting Angus the real thing tonight or something bad will happen to ye.”
“You mean you’ll put a curse on me?”
“Don’t sneer. There are mair things in heaven and earth…”
“Horatio.”
“Who’s he?”
“Never mind. I’m out of here.”
Hamish drove off. What could the old phony do to him? He was damned if he was going to take his rod out on the river in this weather.
The wind had dropped and large Christmas card flakes of snow were spiralling down from a leaden sky. He went home and made himself a scrap lunch, that is he ate tuna out of the can with a fork while leaning against the kitchen counter. Then he set out for Braikie again. He nodded to the policeman who stood on guard outside the dentist’s building and then went on up the stairs to the top landing and knocked on Fred Sutherland’s door.
The old man answered his knock promptly and said, “You better come in.”
Hamish followed him in and sat down. “I want to ask you about the murder.”
“My, my. That was a thing. Poisoned him and drilled all his teeth. My, my.”
“How did you hear all that? The method of killing was not in the papers.”
“This is a small town. Everyone gets to hear everything.”
“That’s why I’m here. There’s this young lassie works for the chemist. Kylie something.”
“Kylie Fraser. Thon’s a cheeky wee thing. Called me old man. Cheek!”
“You wouldn’t have happened to hear if she had been seen at any time in the company of Gilchrist?”
“He was old enough to hae been her faither.”
“True. But that hadn’t seemed to have stopped him chasing young ladies.”
“There’s a lot o’ talk about her. She’s aye in the pub wi’ the fellows. But I never heard o’ her being wi’ Gilchrist.”
“Could you let me know if you hear anything?”
“Aye, I’ll do that. I’m a regular at the Old Timers Club at the community hall. The biddies that go there hear every blessed thing.”
“Thanks, Mr. Sutherland. And I would be grateful if you would be discreet about it.”
Fred laid a gnarled finger alongside his nose and winked. “Dinnae fash yourself. I’ll let you know.”
Hamish then ran lightly down the stairs and went into the dress shop. As usual it was empty of customers. The yellow cellophane was still across the windows casting a jaundiced light around the interior. Mrs. Edwardson came forward to meet him.
“I remember you,” she said, peering up at him. “You discovered the body. Have you any idea who did it?”
“No, that I haven’t, Mrs. Edwardson. You see, no one seems to give me any idea of what Gilchrist was like as a man.”
“I knew him a little bit. He fancied himself with the ladies. Smooth. Unctuous, is the word. Smarmy. Surely there are papers and letters and photographs at his home that might give you an idea?”
Hamish had already thought of that but did not want to lower his position on the case in her eyes by telling her that the CID were covering that. He frowned suddenly. There must be some report in the files now of the contents of Gilchrist’s home. He wondered if Sarah could access those, or if that was taking too great a risk.
“What do you know of Kylie Fraser?”
“The tarty little piece of baggage that works for the chemist?”
“Her, yes.”
“Apart from the fact that she’s getting herself the reputation of a tart and a lush, no.”
“Would Gilchrist have made a pass at her?”
“He might have done. But the fact is I don’t go out much.” Her face was sad. “At the end of the day I feel so tired, I usually sit down in front of the television set and fall asleep.”
“If you hear anything let me know.”
“I most certainly will.”
“Just to remind you, my name is Hamish Macbeth and I am the policeman over at Lochdubh.”
“Yes, I know that.”
He hesitated. He had been about to caution her to be discreet. Then he thought, it might be interesting if Kylie found out he was asking questions about her. He thanked Mrs. Edwardson and left the shop and stood for a moment outside in the snow. Then he set off in the direction of the pub. Time to ask more questions and hope his interest in her got back to Kylie.
The Drouthy Crofter was fairly quiet apart from a juke box blaring in the corner. Hamish went up to the bar. The barman eyed his uniform suspiciously. “I would like to ask you a few questions about one of your customers, Kylie Fraser.”
“Oh, thon wee lassie? What’s she been up to?”
“I just wondered if she had ever been in here with Gilchrist, the dentist who was murdered?”
“Naw. She hangs about with the young lads. She’s good fun.”
“Ever get drunk and disorderly?”
“Och, you know the young folk. They usually drink that alcoholic lemonade and get a bit pissed and noisy. Mind you, Kylie always drinks straight whisky. They all live locally and don’t drive here, so it’s not as if I have to worry.”
“Let me know if you hear anything.”
¦
