Chapter 2
Chapter Two
OK, a man being thrown off a train was a bit of a reach, but he hadn’t just disappeared. I trusted my friend. If Mara had marked him off her list, he had been around at some point.
“Do you think we should call Ewan?” I asked.
Mara bit her lip. “Let’s don’t bother him yet,” she said. “I want to check the station first. I did try to text Donald, but he didn’t answer.”
“Maybe, he had stage fright. I would,” Abigail said. “And he might be embarrassed by it.”
“If he’s run off, I’ll have his head,” Mara snarled. “I had every moment of this trip planned, and he’s gone and ruined everything.”
I put a hand on her shoulder. “Look through the window,” I said. We were in the covered space between the train cars. “Everything is just fine.”
From the faces of his audience, her grandfather had their attention.
“Well, I suppose you are right,” she said. “Grandad has always been able to tell a great story. Still, the missing man was one of the ones we hired on a part-time basis. I can tell you he no longer has a job with us.
“It’s strange because he helped so much with getting the train ready. He was a peculiar man, but had good ideas on how to recreate what had once been. Maybe, a bit hard-headed at times, but I cannot believe he would do this.” She bristled.
Mara was so easygoing, nothing much phased her, but she was more than annoyed. I didn’t blame her. Still, that churning in my gut meant something wasn’t right. I’d long ago learned to trust that feeling. Especially, after I had solved a few murders.
There was a bit of maneuvering with the train when we arrived in Edinburgh, and they moved the engine to the front of the train once again.
While that commenced, small bites and desserts were served in the dining car. No one seemed to have noticed that one of the storytellers might be missing, which pleased Mara.
“Why does my granddaughter look like she wants to throw someone off the train?” her grandfather asked.
“One of the storytellers went missing, and that’s why you had to cover.”
“Ah. I wondered what had happened when they asked me to tell some stories.”
“Abigail thinks the man was nervous and maybe ducked out.”
“Could be,” Mara’s grandad said before moving on.
Jasper glanced down at me. “And what do you think? You have that look in your eyes.”
“What do you mean?”
“The one that says there is a mystery you need to solve.”
I laughed. “I had no idea I was so easy to read.”
“Only to your friends. Do you think something bad happened?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know about bad, but odd for sure. At the very least, he could have made an excuse that he wasn’t feeling well before leaving.”
“Maybe, it came on quickly,” Jasper said.
Jasper made a good point.
On the way back to Sea Isle, Mara was notably fidgety. I could tell she was pretending not to worry, but she wasn’t very good at hiding it.
I didn’t blame her. People didn’t just go missing. I hoped that the man had a bad case of nerves, and he was safe and sound at home.
On the way back, the stories all focused on Highland fairy lore, which Scotland was known for, along with its rich oral history.
While I didn’t believe in fairies, people in Scotland talked about them like they were among us. It was part of the charm of living here and made for some wonderful tales. They had fairy stories for just about every moral lesson.
When the train made it back to the Sea Isle station, I stood next to Mara and Abigail doing my one job of the evening. We handed small gift bags to the travel writers and bloggers who had joined us for the ride.
Inside was a replica of the engine and a pamphlet that gave the history of the train.
As they disembarked, the guests had been extremely complimentary about the ride. And while everyone had told Mara it was a great success, the words didn’t seem to help the lines of strain across her forehead.
Once the last passenger was off the train, she turned to Abigail and me.
“Will you two help me search the station? I can’t imagine he’s still there.
He’s probably at home, but I won’t sleep tonight if we don’t check.
I was angry earlier, but I’m worried now that something might have happened to him.
No one was more excited about the train launch than he was. ”
“Of course,” Abigail and I said at the same time.
“I’ll help too,” Jasper offered as he came up carrying some of the catering trays. “I’ve already offloaded most of my equipment.”
She gave us a tight smile. “Thank you.”
Inside the station, we each took a corner. While Mara searched the ticket booth area, Jasper checked the area with the tea and treats cart.
Abigail went into the restrooms, and I went through a door that led to a small office. I flipped on the light to find it empty and incredibly tidy. There wasn’t a speck of dust or a paper out of place.
I was about to turn off the light and return to the center room of the station when I noticed a skinny door at the back of the office.
It was latched on the outside, and I undid it. When I did, something thumped inside.
Nerves clawed at my throat. As neat as everything might have been, it didn’t mean there weren’t mice hanging out. I wasn’t a big fan of them.
I closed my eyes and whipped open the door. When I blinked, I was surprised to find a very dead man staring back at me.
“What in the …” I’d been expecting a mouse, not a corpse.
His eyes were wide open, and his toupee had slipped to the side of his head like a strange furry cap.
He was dressed in a trench coat, and a fedora had fallen down to cover his shoes. It must have been a costume of sorts harkening back to the days of 1930s film noir. The sickening scent of vomit and death had gathered around him in the tight confines of the broom closet.
Why had he gone into the closet to throw up? It didn’t make sense. Nor did the bluish tint to his lips or the yellow haze in the whites of his eyes. It appeared he’d been quite sick in the small closet.
His pupils were dilated, and rigor had just begun to set in, so he had to have been killed in the last few hours. Though I’d need to take an internal temperature to be more accurate.
“Em, where are you?” Mara called out.
“Uh. In the office,” I said. “Don’t come in here, though. I don’t want to contaminate the crime scene.”
“Crime scene?” Mara screeched. “What? No. Please tell me he isn’t dead. I’ve had such awful thoughts about the man tonight.”
“Well, I don’t think you were alone. He appears to have been quite ill, but I need my kit.”
“On it,” Abigail said. I never really had to ask her to do anything. She was incredibly adept at anticipating anything I might need. Whether that was coffee or the tools of the trade.
“I’ll drive her down and back, I’ve got my delivery van,” Jasper offered. “I don’t suppose it was from natural causes?”
“I can’t comment,” I said. “You know how Ewan is, and speaking of whom, I need to call him.” But the answer was no.
“Is it the storyteller?” Mara asked.
“I think so.”
“Let me look. I can handle it. I promise,” she said.
I wasn’t so sure about that, but we would need some form of identification one way or another.
“Stand at the door and lean in,” I said. I glanced back to find her doing what I’d asked. I moved so she could have a clear view.
“Is that him?”
Her hand flew to her mouth. “Yes,” the word came out as a whisper. “That’s Donald Jacks.”
“OK, I’ll call Ewan.”
I’d been surprised he hadn’t been on the locomotive. But Mara had mentioned a few days ago that he had business in Edinburgh he couldn’t get out of, so he had to miss the inaugural trip for The Storytellers Train.
I couldn’t help but wonder what kind of business that was.
I pulled my phone out of my pocket.
Ewan picked up on the second ring. “What’s wrong?” he asked worriedly.
“Why do you always assume something is wrong?” I asked.
“You only call if you’re about to be killed or if you found a dead body.”
He was probably right about that.
“It’s a body,” I said. “I found him at the train station in a broom cupboard. Mara has identified him as one of the storytellers. He never made it onboard. We thought he’d chickened out, but that isn’t true.”
“Right, I’m fifteen minutes out. I’ll call the station and send my team over.”
“OK, Abigail and Jasper have gone to collect my kit.”
“I don’t suppose it was natural causes?” He sounded hopeful.
“Unfortunately, I don’t think so. The cupboard was latched from the outside.
Though, until I have some gloves and can examine the body, there isn’t much more I can tell you.
Other than that, from the time Mara signed him in until now, it has been about four hours.
As I said, I can thoroughly examine him once I have my kit and get him back for autopsy. ”
“Right. Stay there, and I’ll see you soon.”
It wasn’t as if I was going anywhere, but he hung up before I could give him a smart retort. I liked Ewan, and I believed he, at the very least, appreciated my talents as a doctor, but we were always awkward with one another.
“What did he say?” Mara asked.
“That he’s on his way and is sending his team over.”
“I can’t believe this happened. This could ruin everything we’ve tried to do with the train. And yes, I know how selfish that sounds.”
I shrugged. “It is understandable. You and the committee have worked very hard to make this something that would benefit the town.”
“How could it even happen? You saw how crowded it was in the station when everyone arrived. And we all boarded at the same time.”
Since I’d been carrying an evening bag, I didn’t have the notebook that I normally had on my person.
I opened my phone again and hit record. Ewan might not appreciate it, but he was the one who taught me that it was important to get the facts quickly after something happened.
Peoples’ memories weren’t as reliable the more time passed.
“Can you tell me everything you remember about him?”
She was used to my prying. She left the office door and went to sit on one of the benches in the main room of the station.
“He was a part-timer we hired for weekend work,” she said. “I think he said he was an accountant or something like that, and storytelling was a creative outlet for him.”
“Right. And you saw him come in when?”
“He arrived with the first shuttle with us.”
I hadn’t noticed him, but there were lots of people I didn’t know in the van.
“All of the storytellers were asked to come in a half-hour before everyone else so we could sort out the schedule, and they all knew what to do.
“I checked him off with the others. He was supposed to be on the second rotation and was telling 1930s detective stories set on trains.”
“Do you remember seeing him get on the train?”
She shook her head. “I was working by the front door at the station as guests came in and I marked them off. Once he went past me, I don’t know what happened. Two of the other volunteers were passing out the programs. We can ask them if they remember seeing him.”
“We will. So, after you checked him in, you don’t remember seeing him?”
“No. I can’t believe someone killed him here. I mean, the place was packed. How did that even happen?”
I chewed on my lip. “I have no idea. Once Abigail gets here, I can start examining the body, and that will help us create a better timeline.”
“You think he was murdered, don’t you?”
I sighed.
“Please, tell me. I saw him in the closet.”
“Again, I can’t say for sure until I’ve sorted him and the scene.”
There was a bustling at the door. Some of Ewan’s officers filtered into the station.
One of them was Henry, who was Abigail’s boyfriend. He was a kind soul but also a good policeman.
“Doctor, Ewan said you had a suspicious death,” he said seriously.
“We do,” I said. “I’m waiting for Abigail to return with my kit. Do you by chance have some gloves on you?”
“Aye.” He pulled out a box from the backpack he carried and handed it to me.
“Once I examine the body, I’ll need your techs to go over the scene. Though, you know Abigail will be pulling prints and hopefully some DNA as well.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“We’re here,” Abigail said as she hurried through the door. “I brought you a suit to wear,” she said. “I dinnae think you’d want to get your nice dress messed up.”
She’d already changed into jeans and a sweater, or jumper, as they called them here.
I took the hazard suit and booties from her and went into the restroom to change.
When I came back out, my attention was drawn to the center of the room where Ewan stood. He was dressed in a tuxedo, looking extremely attractive in his tall-dark-and-handsome way.
My throat went dry. Wherever he’d been, he’d had to dress up. Was he on a date?
I sighed. Why should I care?
I wasn’t ready to examine that answer quite yet.
When Henry nodded toward me, Ewan turned the full force of his gaze on me.
He looked like something out of some gorgeous men’s magazine. It wasn’t fair for a man to be that handsome.
I cleared my throat.
He held up a hand. “Tell me everything.”