Page 19 of Death on a Scottish Train

Chapter Six

As we headed out, Ewan received a call. He sounded frustrated. When he hung up, he paused on the sidewalk.

“The trip to the victim’s workplace will have to wait. I need to take care of something first.”

“Is everything OK?”

He shoved a hand through his hair. “A land dispute between two hot-headed neighbors who do not have an ounce of sense between them.”

“Oh?”

“Aye. They are brothers and are always fighting over something.”

I smiled. “Family.”

He shook his head. “These two seemed to have become sworn enemies. We get a call a week about something. Unfortunately, I seem to be the only one who can deal with them.”

“You go ahead,” I said. “There is something I want to check on the tests we ran. Come and get me when you’re ready to go to the victim’s office.”

“No, I’ll drop you off. That way you don’t have to wait for one of the shuttles.”

In the summer, shuttles ran between the seaside and the town center every half hour or so. It cut down on traffic.

A few minutes later, he pulled up in front of my office.

“You’ll come get me before you head to his workplace?”

“Aye. I’ll text when I’m on the way.”

“OK, thanks for the ride.”

Inside, Abigail was at her desk.

“I was about to call you. We have a possible fracture in room one. A roller blading accident.”

“Is it a kid?” Children doing crazy dangerous things were some of our most repetitive clients at the practice. Funny, it was the same when I worked in emergency in Seattle. Kids always seemed to think they were invincible.

She hid a laugh behind her hand.

I was confused. She seldom laughed and especially not when a medical case was involved.

“Not exactly.” She cleared her throat and straightened her shoulders. Then she handed me the tablet we used to update our patient info and to make diagnoses.

My eyes went wide. I shook my head. “I can’t believe it.”

I headed into room one. Sure enough, there sat Lulu. She was the owner of the shop where I bought most of my clothes these days, and she was my friend Angie’s aunt. I adored her.

Lulu had her own sense of style and it worked for her. Today she was dressed in hot pants, which probably hadn’t seen the light of day since they were popular in the 1970s.

“When I mentioned you should get some exercise at your last appointment, I meant walking,” I said, as I shut the door.

“You didn’t specify, and walking is boring,” Lulu said. She also wore her trademark blue eyeshadow. Her shop on the main seaside boardwalk had vintage and modern clothing and other gifts. It was one of my favorite places to shop.

“I didn’t think I needed to specify,” I said. “Pool aerobics might have been a better choice.”

“All that is boring. Besides, I was doing just fine. The town needs to fix the sidewalks and make them more level.” She huffed. “I’ll be speaking to the mayor about that. He’ll be lucky if I don’t sue.”

She wouldn’t sue, but I felt sorry for Ewan the next time she saw him.