Page 96 of Death at a Scottish Halloween

“Henry?”

“Got it, Doc. Go.”

“Thanks, Pete. You were a big help.”

“Just hope he’s OK. Baird is one of the good ones. Hate to see him like that.”

“We’ll get him fixed up,” I said.

Ewan jumped into the back of the ambulance with me, and Henry slammed the door shut.

“Tell me what you need.” We worked seamlessly together with the EMT on the way to my office. More officers and Abigail were there to meet us and helped me roll the gurney to the back.

Abigail was already there with the set up I needed.

She took labs. We pumped his stomach, and it wasn’t long before he was doing much better. When he’d fallen forward, he hit his eyebrow on the edge of the sink. I put a few stitches in, and he slept through it all.

Ewan was there, assisting as needed. He’d really become quite useful in the surgical suite.

A few hours later, we put Baird into the same suite where Isobel had been. She sat next to him in a chair, holding his hand.

I motioned for Ewan to follow me. Once we were in my office, behind the closed door, I told him everything. “At thevery least, he’s going to need a psych eval,” I said. “He was over emotional last night.” I had to tiptoe around what Isobel had said, but he’d seen her face, and he had questions. I answered the best I could.

“If he touched her, she needs to come forward.” Like me, he had no tolerance for that sort of thing.

“She swears it wasn’t him, and I believe her. The round mark on her cheek fit that doorknob perfectly. I’m just glad we arrived when we did. Another half hour and his prognosis would have been dire.”

He frowned.

“I’ve known Baird for a while,” he said. “He’s an artist and sensitive. This isn’t like him. Something more is going on.”

“Well, his best friend was murdered,” I said. “I can’t imagine how I’d feel if that happened to you or one of my friends.”

Abigail knocked on the office door. “He’s awake,” she said.

Ewan opened the door and then followed me out.

Isobel sat with him, but I needed to speak to Baird alone.

“I need a minute,” I said, and motioned for her to go with Ewan. She glanced at the Constable and then me. “I want to stay with him.”

“You can, but I need to check him out.”

“It’s OK, Belle.” His voice was scratchy and rough.

She used the scooter but wasn’t happy about leaving.

“I did that to her,” he said. “I scared her so bad she couldn’t get away fast enough.”

“She’s tough and OK. It was an accident. At least, that’s what she tells me.”

I left it open-ended.

“I know how it looks. I would never hurt her, and I don’t lay hands on women. It isn’t my way.” He coughed. After a stomach pump, that wasn’t unusual. I handed him a box of tissues, and some ice chips Abigail had put on his bedside.

“That’s what she said.”

“I followed her but couldn’t see which way she went. And then the rain came.” He coughed again. “I came back and waited. Cleaned up. But she never returned. Then I started drinking.”