Page 79 of Death on a Scottish Train

“Yes. He didn’t approve of me and Jeremy. He liked the wife for some reason and threatened to tell her what was going on. I told him that night it was none of his business. And if he said anything, he’d only be making Jeremy angry.”

“So, you spoke to him?”

“Aye, I did.”

“Did you by chance notice anything strange about him?”

“What do you mean? I was trying to avoid him. Not only was he mean about me and Jeremy, all he ever talked about was his blasted trains. Most boring man on the planet.”

“Think back,” I said. “When he was leering at you, do you remember anything different about him?”

“His face was pudgier than usual. I noticed his lips were kind of puffy. If it was anyone else, I would have thought Botox. But I can’t see him bothering with that sort of thing.”

“So, his face appeared to be a bit swollen?”

She nodded. “Yes. I guess it was. Not that I’ve paid much attention to him ever.”

“Do you remember seeing anyone around him that night?”

Her eyes widened. “Like a killer?”

“Yes. Or even one of the waitstaff who might have been close by?”

She shook her head. “After he yelled at me and called me some not-so-nice names, I did my best to avoid him. I dinnae remember seeing him on the train, though. I thought he was supposed to be tellingdetective stories from the twenties and thirties. That was in the program. But I was trying to avoid him, so I didn’t check out his chat.”

Jasper came over with a box, and then quickly went away.

I took one of my cards out of my purse. “If you think of anything that might help us about that night, please call. Or if you need a doctor for anything, I’m here for you.”

She might be shallow, but she was young. I felt a bit sorry for her. Jeremy was much older, and while I tried not to judge others’ relationships, he was cheating on his wife with a much younger woman. It was difficult not to.

And this young woman had played her part. It would be easy to blame her, but I didn’t. She was young and shallow, but I couldn’t see her killing the victim.

She gathered up her box of goodies, and Jasper let her out.

“Talk about throwing someone under the bus,” I said.

“Sad thing is, I don’t think she realized what she was doing,” Jasper said.

“She’s so young,” Mara said. “That Jeremy Burns is a creeper, as you like to say, Em.”

I did say that a lot about men who leered a bit too much.

“True. Part of me feels sorry for her,” I said.

“With all that makeup and the terrible wig, I thought she was in her late twenties,” Jeremy said. “But she told me she was twenty-one.”

Mara and I glanced at one another.

“That’s even worse,” Mara said. “Just, yuck.”

I agreed. Burns was taking advantage of the young woman’s naiveté.

“It was interesting what she said about Jeremy, though,” Mara said. “What if he did hire someone? Maybe one of the waitstaff to kill his partner?”

I blew out a breath. “Hiring a killer? Maybe, if we were in a bigger city with some organized crime syndicate. It feels like a bit of a reach for Sea Isle. As we know, poison is very personal. And this was quite specific.”

I tapped a finger on the table.