Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
Jasper grabbed my arm and tried to pull me behind him. He was tall but so lithe, there was no way he’d be any more effective than me at holding off the enemy. As we moved closer, the person shifted.
“At least, they’re alive,” I said.
“There is that. Do you know who it is?”
The man moved out of the shadow and into the porch light.
“Unfortunately,” I whispered. “It’s the guy we were talking about earlier.”
“Robert, right?” I said. “What are you doing here?”
“I need help,” he groaned. He held his head. “I can’t shake this headache. I tried over the counter remedies, but nothing is working. You said I could come see you if it was worse.”
“Let’s take a look,” I said.
“I’m coming in with you,” Jasper whispered.
I started to say I’d be fine, but I didn’t like this guy. There was something off about him. Other than him being rude and possibly corrupt.
“Thanks. Can you text Ewan and let him know what we’re doing. Maybe he could drop by.” I whispered the last bit.
He nodded.
“Follow me,” I said.
I turned on the light in room two. “Have a seat, and I’ll be right back. I’m going to grab a few things.”
I picked up ice packs, bandages, and antiseptic. When I was back in the room, I used a small set of forceps to pull out the cotton he’d stuffed in his nose.
“OK, I’m going to switch off the light, and take a look with my flashlight. Just sit still.” I did it and tested the light around his face. I turned the light back on.
“There’s no discharge. I suggest you leave any sort off cotton out to help it heal faster.
There is swelling but it doesn’t appear to be broken.
I mean, we can do a scan, but I don’t think it’s necessary.
Most likely, it’s the swelling causing pressure in your head.
That could be the case for a few weeks. I can give you something mild for the pain. ”
“I’m not asking for hard drugs, if that’s what you’re worried about,” his voice was gruff and nasally. “I just need something to take the edge off. I should be pressing charges, but the company wouldn’t like that.”
“The company?” I played dumb.
“I work on an oil rig, and I’m one of the managers of two teams. There have been rumors that one of my workers was about to release some not-so-favorable information. The constable has it in his head that I might have killed him because of it.”
“Oh? Huh. The constable is usually very careful about that sort of thing,” I said nonchalantly. “The man loves his facts. I’m sure he’s being thorough. He’s very good at his job.”
“That may be, but he needs to understand that guy had always been a troublemaker. Stirring up the other workers about unfair conditions and nonsense like that. None of it true, of course. We all work in the same conditions. It’s Scotland. What do they expect? Tropical winds?”
He went off on a tirade.
“OK, I need you to hold your mouth closed, for a minute.” He didn’t, I was just tired of his griping. I felt around his jaw to make sure I hadn’t missed anything earlier.
“For the next several days, you’ll need to breathe through your mouth. Before I can give you any sort of pain reliever, you must fill out this paperwork. Including a full medical history and name of your regular doctor.” I handed him a clipboard.
He grumbled but started filling it out.
“I’ll be right back,” I said, and then closed the door.
I nearly screamed, when I bumped into Ewan standing just outside the door.
“You scared me,” I whispered.
He followed me to the back room where we stored all the medications we had on hand, which was a lot. The chemist in town was elderly and only open a few hours a week. So we tried to keep a good number of drugs in our in-house pharmacy.
“You shouldn’t be eavesdropping on patients.”
“Who’s eavesdropping? I was waiting for you.”
I smirked. “Right.”
“Why is he here?”
“Doctor–patient confidentiality,” I said. “But I bet you can figure it out.”
“Punch in the face.”
I grinned. “Something like that.”
“I sent Jasper home,” he said.
“Oh, good. He was exhausted.”
I grabbed a pain reliever at a slightly higher dose than he’d find over the counter. Until I could speak to his physician, I had no idea if he had a problem with drugs. There was swelling, but not the kind I’d find with any sort of break. Still, that kind of pressure on the sinuses was never fun.
“I’m guessing you heard what he said?”
He nodded. “I’ll still be talking to him in the morning.”
“I’m curious about him now. He doesn’t seem like a company man, but the only reason he isn’t pressing charges is because the bosses where he works wouldn’t like it.”
“We’re looking into that angle, as well,” he said.
“I asked Henry, but he wouldn’t tell me anything.”
He grunted.
“Don’t act surprised. He’s a good policeman.”
“I don’t disagree, but you can be quite persuasive.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
After grabbing two more small ice packs from the freezer we kept in the storeroom, I headed back to my office.
“Maybe you should stay in here,” I said when we reached the living room.
He sighed but sat down on the couch.
I opened the door to the examine room. “OK, I have a few things for you.” I gave him the dosage, which was a sample.
Then I showed him the ice packs. “These ice packs are your friends,” I joked.
“They will do far more than any pill, and they’ll work faster.
It will feel uncomfortable at first, but you’ll get used to it. ”
I explained how to use them.
By the time he headed out the door, he actually thanked me.
Still, he was my number one suspect in the first murder, alibi or not.
After he left, I found Ewan in my kitchen going through my fridge.
“Help yourself.” I laughed.
“Sorry, I missed lunch and dinner. Between the event tonight and everything else. My meal was interrupted at the pub earlier.”
“If you don’t mind cheese pizza, I can help you out.” It was the only thing I knew how to cook in the AGA.
“If you don’t mind?”
“Of course, not. To be honest, I could do with a piece or two myself.”
I set about making the meal.
“Do you mind if I make myself a decaf?”
“You know my coffee maker is your coffee maker. I mean technically, everything in this house, except my clothes, pretty much belongs to you.”
Ewan and the town provided my home and office and many of my meals.
“You know I don’t like you to think of it that way,” he grumbled.
“I don’t. But it’s the truth. Oh, and I have some leftover scones for dessert. I discovered if you heat them up for twenty seconds in the microwave, they’re like new.”
He chuckled at that.
It didn’t take long before the pizza was bubbling hot, and I pulled it out of the oven.
“I stopped by the B&B. Elsie was playing with the doll you gave her. She made a point of making sure that I told the doctor lady she was her favorite.”
I smiled. “I feel so bad for them. As a doctor, I try not to get too close, but it’s tough sometimes.”
“I know what you mean.”
“One person I don’t feel sorry for is the one who just left. I know you like facts, but there is something off about that guy.”
He grinned. “What do you call them, your spidey senses?”
I laughed. “You’re learning.”
“So our first victim really was going to be a whistleblower,” he said. “He’d gathered the evidence. We had a call earlier from his sister that his caravan had been ransacked, but we’d already gone through there. Whoever was looking for those files hadn’t found them.”
“So, you can share that with the press, right?”
“This isn’t one of your television shows. We have rules.”
I rolled my eyes. “But you will, right?”
“We’ll share them with the appropriate authorities.”
“I would tell the press. If people are suffering on those rigs, the world deserves to know.”
He sighed and gave me a look.
“I know. I know. Rules.”
“And his alibi is holding up, so far. I’ll chat with him again tomorrow. I heard you shared the info about the ring,” he said.
I made a face. “I figured you’d mentioned it. If I was her husband, I would have told her right away. For them, that was a huge find. It doesn’t make sense.”
He frowned. “Do you think he was killed because of the ring? As far as we can tell, no one knew about it.”
“There wasn’t a receipt for it, right? I took a few pictures with my phone. I think someone hid the ring in a puzzle box. He sent a picture of the box to his wife. Most likely, he hadn’t found the ring yet. I think it was an accident. Maybe the person who lost it wanted it back.”
“But you said except for the bruises on his wrist, there weren’t any signs of foul play.”
“No. I didn’t say that at all. I think the guy was scared to death. He could have escaped his captors and …”
“What? Run straight to your office for help? Did I mention this isn’t one of your television shows?”
“Which you enjoy,” I said. “Admit it.”
“I do, but they are fiction. We can’t connect the dots here.”
“I get it, but I think he was hiding in that bothie. Why would he wear a costume and mask around town? He was hiding from someone, right? That’s what I keep thinking. Maybe they caught up with him to take back the ring and scared him to death.”
“I hear you,” he said. “Bring me the facts to back it up.”
I was determined to find out which estate the puzzle box had come from, but I wasn’t about to tell him that. I had a feeling it was the key, but I had to do this my way.
What Ewan didn’t know, wouldn’t hurt him. It was much easier to ask for forgiveness than permission. Besides, technically, I’d mentioned it to Henry. If he didn’t pass it along, it wasn’t my fault.
“I can see the wheels turning in your head. What are you planning?”
“Just thinking about how I can find you the evidence you need. More pizza?”