Page 67 of Death at a Scottish Halloween

He was right there was no use arguing with him. Like me, when he made up his mind about something, he was done.

We took the shuttle down and found Akif standing at the door.

“Please, come inside,” I said.

He shook his head. “It’s best if I stay at my station.”

“No, really. I’d feel better if you did. Ewan does when he’s here. You can check the perimeter or whatever you need. But there is no reason for you to stand out in the cold.”

“She won’t give in,” Mara said.

“Very hardheaded, much like a certain constable we know,” Jasper said.

Akif tried to hide his grin. “OK,” he said. “But Henry will be here soon, and then the Constable. He told me what happened, you must have been frightened.”

I sighed. The whole town would know by morning. “I was in the moment. Now, I’m just angry.”

“Anger is good when applied in the right way,” Akif said.

He was right. It only fueled me to figure out this crazy case once and for all.

Chapter Seventeen

We were on the fifth patient of the morning, when Abigail came into the exam room. I had a tongue depressor down the throat of one of the rowing team members. “Another strep test,” I said.

“I brought the kit,” she said. “We have two more in the waiting area.”

Thankfully, she and I were masked and gloved. I’d given them all the same lecture. Stay home if you’re ill, and it’s OK to skip practice.

“The instructor is here as well, and those—tests finally came back.”

She wasn’t talking about the strep tests. She’d run DNA, but we’d also sent everything off to Edinburgh. Those would be crossed with a database, and we might actually have answers.

It took another hour and a half to finish with all of our strep patients. I also called the school to let them know many of their students had been exposed.

I wanted to head down to the pub for lunch. It was shepherd’s pie day, but duty called.

“Did we identify any of the suspects?” I asked Abigail as she handed me the report.

“I’m not certain yet. They’re still cross-checking. Thankfully, Ewan was able to get DNA from most of the suspects so we should know soon.”

“Darn, I was hoping we had all of that back.”

“Are you nervous about last night? No one would blame you, if you are.” She followed me into my office.

“Yes,” I said honestly. “I don’t like to admit it. I should have known there was a possibility whoever it is that wants something from this house would follow me. I don’t like being cornered like that.”

She made a face.

“What?”

“We all feel guilty. If we hadn’t made you go into that maze, he wouldn’t have accosted you.”

“It’s not your fault. Yes, I fell for peer pressure, but it was a maze. It should have been fun. You were all right about that. But guys like that are bullies, and you know how I feel about those.”

She smiled. “So let’s find him. Did you have any luck with the pictures?”

Ewan had brought photos of everyone involved with the case so far to see if I recognized the beady eyes. But it had been dark, and I hadn’t been able to recognize him in the photos.