Page 64 of Death on a Scottish Train

“So, you said you had some gossip,” I said to Mara.

“Well, you mentioned last night that you’d seen the victim’s sister arguing with the other partner. Today, she and the executive assistant had lunch in the pub.”

“Oh? How did that go?”

“We were so busy. I couldn’t catch much of what they were saying. But they seemed friendly enough. I did hear the sister thanking the assistant for looking into things. They even hugged when the lunch was over.”

I raised my eyebrows. That was interesting.

“Did you get the idea they maybe already knew one another before his death?”

“I couldn’t say,” Mara continued. “But they did seem friendly, which I thought was odd given what you said about the partner last night. Do you think maybe the partner really is the murderer?”

I bit my lip and shook my head. “He was out of town the night of Jacks’s death. He has an alibi.”

“Could be more than one person,” Jasper offered. “We’ve seen that before. Maybe he poisoned the victim, and someone working with him shoved him into that closet.”

The group went quiet as I stared at him.

“What?”

“How do you know all that?

Jasper laughed loud. “I run a pâtissier that is very popular with the police. They talk to one another without any fear of who might be around. That, and from what you’ve told us, I can put the puzzle pieces together. I mean, what kind of amateur detective would I be, if I couldn’t at least do that?” he joked.

I snorted. “Well, just make sure if Ewan questions you, you don’t bring me up in that conversation. He’s not fond of the fact I include you guys in the investigations. And I promised him I wouldn’t tell you everything.

“But it’s not my fault you are all brilliant.”

Mara held up her coffee cup. “Slainte Mhathto that.”

“When I took my afternoon walk, I saw Ewan in Kiara’s shop. She was crying,” Mara said. “I may have hung around the pier across the street and waited for him to leave. But when I went in, her assistant was at the counter. I asked after Kiara, and she said her boss wasn’t feeling well.”

“I just saw her at the pier with her son,” I said. “She seemed fine. I wonder what Ewan said to upset her?”

My friends stared at me expectantly.

“Fine.” I huffed. “I’ll ask him tomorrow. I hope he doesn’t think she did this. I mean what kind of motive would she have?”

They shrugged.

The wind picked up, as the clouds covered the starry sky above. The temperature dropped several degrees in a few minutes.

“Looks like a storm is coming,” Jasper said as he doused the fire.

The rest of us stood and helped clean up our area. The police would be patrolling the beach to make sure everyone did their part when it came to the clearing of the fires and party gear.

As we headed up the sand to the street, Ewan walked by.

He nodded at me. “Doc, I need to talk to you.”

I waved goodbye to my friends and followed him up the hill.

“What about?”

He glanced around. “Let’s wait until we get inside your place. Not as many ears.”

I nodded.