Page 6 of Death on a Scottish Train

“Is that him?”

Her hand flew to her mouth. “Yes,” the word came out as a whisper. “That’s Donald Jacks.”

“OK, I’ll call Ewan.”

I’d been surprised he hadn’t been on the locomotive. But Mara had mentioned a few days ago that he had business in Edinburgh hecouldn’t get out of, so he had to miss the inaugural trip for The Storytellers Train.

I couldn’t help but wonder what kind of business that was.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket.

Ewan picked up on the second ring. “What’s wrong?” he asked worriedly.

“Why do you always assume something is wrong?” I asked.

“You only call if you’re about to be killed or if you found a dead body.”

He was probably right about that.

“It’s a body,” I said. “I found him at the train station in a broom cupboard. Mara has identified him as one of the storytellers. He never made it onboard. We thought he’d chickened out, but that isn’t true.”

“Right, I’m fifteen minutes out. I’ll call the station and send my team over.”

“OK, Abigail and Jasper have gone to collect my kit.”

“I don’t suppose it was natural causes?” He sounded hopeful.

“Unfortunately, I don’t think so. The cupboard was latched from the outside. Though, until I have some gloves and can examine the body, there isn’t much more I can tell you. Other than that, from the time Mara signed him in until now, it has been about four hours. As I said, I can thoroughly examine him once I have my kit and get him back for autopsy.”

“Right. Stay there, and I’ll see you soon.”

It wasn’t as if I was going anywhere, but he hung up before I could give him a smart retort. I liked Ewan, and I believed he, at the very least, appreciated my talents as a doctor, but we were always awkward with one another.

“What did he say?” Mara asked.

“That he’s on his way and is sending his team over.”

“I can’t believe this happened. This could ruin everything we’ve tried to do with the train. And yes, I know how selfish that sounds.”

I shrugged. “It is understandable. You and the committee have worked very hard to make this something that would benefit the town.”

“How could it even happen? You saw how crowded it was in the station when everyone arrived. And we all boarded at the same time.”

Since I’d been carrying an evening bag, I didn’t have the notebook that I normally had on my person. I opened my phone again and hit record. Ewan might not appreciate it, but he was the one who taught me that it was important to get the facts quickly after something happened. Peoples’ memories weren’t as reliable the more time passed.

“Can you tell me everything you remember about him?”

She was used to my prying. She left the office door and went to sit on one of the benches in the main room of the station.

“He was a part-timer we hired for weekend work,” she said. “I think he said he was an accountant or something like that, and storytelling was a creative outlet for him.”

“Right. And you saw him come in when?”

“He arrived with the first shuttle with us.”

I hadn’t noticed him, but there were lots of people I didn’t know in the van.

“All of the storytellers were asked to come in a half-hour before everyone else so we could sort out the schedule, and they all knew what to do.