Page 99 of Death on a Scottish Train

There was a strange noise down the stairs.

Mara frowned and pointed to herself and Jasper. She motioned they were going to check it out.

I nodded. I tried to get a bit closer to the door, to record their conversations. It probably wasn’t admissible in court since I was eavesdropping but it might help the police make their case.

There was a scream from downstairs. And then two thumps.

“I told you I heard something,” Catherine said. “Come on, let’s go out the back.” There was a quick slamming of drawers, and then the door. I had no idea where the back exit was or I would have followed them.

Besides, after that scream I needed to check on my friends.

I ran down the steps.

“Mara? Jasper?” I called out. They didn’t answer. Maybe, they’d been frightened by the scream and run out.

But as I neared the bottom step, two bodies came into view.

Mara and Jasper lay on the floor, and neither was moving.

Chapter Twenty-Five

I knelt on the floor feeling for Mara’s pulse. She had one, and it was strong. Jasper was the same. What had happened to them? They were both still unconscious when the door burst open, and I put up my fists ready for a fight.

“It’s me, Em. Everything’s OK,” Ewan said. Then he took in the scene. “What happened?”

“I don’t know. I was upstairs. I heard a scream. The assistant and the girlfriend ran out the back. And I came back this way to see what had happened. This is all my fault. I wanted to snoop, and they came to help.”

“Are they OK?”

“They’re breathing, but I can’t figure out why they both passed out. And it looks like Jasper hit his head on the banister on the way down.”

I’d noticed the blood pooling on the floor, even in the dark.

Mara stirred, and then moaned.

Ewan must have found the switch and turned on the lights.

Mara put a hand over her eyes. “What happened?” she asked groggily.

“You need to tell us,” Ewan said.

“Look at the front of her sweater,” I said. There were two strange burn marks.

“She’s been tasered.” Ewan nodded.

“My chest hurts,” Mara said at the same time.

“I need something to put pressure on Jasper’s head.”

Ewan pulled off his sweater and handed it to me. “Use this. I’m calling for a bus so we can get him to your place.

Mara sat up. Then she held her head and moaned again.

“Don’t move until I can check you out,” I said. “You may have hurt something when you fell.”

“I’m all right.” She blinked. “Someone was waiting for us when we came down. Jasper was a few steps ahead, and I heard him trip and tumble down. Next thing I knew I thought I was having a heart attack from running down the stairs, and then I passed out.”

“We think you were tasered,” I said. “Do you remember seeing the person’s face?”