Page 21 of Death at a Scottish Halloween

“There’s a reason why there are so many true crime shows these days,” Jasper added.

I preferred fictional crime shows, but he was right. The streaming services were full of them, and I had to admit to watching my fair share of the ones where police were actually solving the cases. I considered it part of my education for my job as medical examiner. I’d taken several courses, as well. Abigail and I were always discussing what we’d learned. We felt it made us better at our jobs.

“Oh, I love this song,” Angie said. “Come dance with me.” She pulled us all from our chairs. I was exhausted but dancing was fun. Especially with my amazing friends. By the time we sat down, we were all out of breath. Exhaustion rolled over me.

“I don’t want to be the first, but I need to head home. It’s been a long couple of days.”

“I’m right there with you,” Abigail said.

“You two are no fun,” Angie pouted. “But I get it. You were up all night and dealing with so much today. Thank you for coming with me tonight. I should check on Grandad and make sure he’s still upright. He’ll never admit that two whiskeys are his limit these days.”

“Baker’s hours have me knackered,” Jasper said. “Sorry, Ang.”

“I’ll hang out with you a bit longer,” Mara said. “You all go on and get some rest.”

They waved us off.

“I’ll walk you home,” Jasper said.

“You don’t have to do that,” I countered. “We’ll be fine.”

“I can take the back path to mine. It isn’t out of my way. Besides, every time someone dies around here weird stuff happens, and you end up with stalkers.”

He was right.

“There is safety in numbers,” Abigail said.

We grabbed our jackets from the hooks near the front door and headed out.

“I’m going to sleep most of tomorrow,” I announced.

“I would, but if I don’t keep my hours on my day off, it’s even tougher to wake up on Monday morning,” Jasper told me.

“I don’t envy you having to get up in the middle of the night.”

“If I didn’t love what I do, it would be a chore, I’m sure. But I do, so it isn’t.”

“And you’re very good at it. How is your new kitchen help working out?”

“They are both amazing. Tom has become quite the baker, and Suzie is an amazing decorator. I keep telling her she should open her own shop. In a different town, of course. But she swears it’s too much responsibility. As long as she’s doing it for someone else, it’s fun. I’m lucky.” He yawned. “Tired. But lucky.”

We made it up the hill behind the pub, but something was off. My spidey sense tingled. I put a hand out to stop them.

“What’s wrong?” Abigail whispered.

“The safety light didn’t come on when we walked past. And look.”

There was a lump by the front door to my place. It was hard to distinguish.

I took out my pepper spray. It wasn’t exactly legal in Scotland, as the law didn’t allow for any sort of weapons to be carried. But I’d been attacked more than once, and what the law didn’t know wouldn’t hurt them.

“Hey, there,” I said.

The lump didn’t move.

Great.

I swallowed hard and my shoulders tensed. “Move away from the door, please.”