Chapter 17
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.
“No. Nor do I know exactly what it is they want. The only thing I can think of is the ring. And I keep telling them it’s at the station. There wasn’t anything else among the belongings, right?”
“We gave everything to the Constable,” she said.
“Neither of them had much on them. The first victim was in the artist costume. The second man was in his regular clothes under that cape. The clothes have gone back into evidence. I even sterilized the apothecary jars and retested them. They won’t hurt anyone else. ”
She was good that way. “I don’t understand why they are being so persistent. But it does make me think these two men are related somehow. Can I run something by you?”
“Always,” she said. She sat down in the chair in front of my desk.
“The only thing of real value was the ring. The rest of the items don’t really add up to much. The ring was most likely found in that puzzle box by accident. Maybe the second Duncan contacted Robert McClendon and asked about the … no. He probably wouldn’t be that straightforward.”
“What do you mean?” Abigail asked.
“Ewan hates assuming and guessing, but sometimes it’s necessary to pose scenarios when trying to reconstruct what might have happened.”
“So what do you think happened?”
“If McClendon and his cronies are looking for the ring, as we suspect, how did they find out about it? I mean, why would he have accidently sold it for a few pounds?”
“You make a good point. But if it had been in the puzzle box and he didn’t know …”
“Exactly. But what if our antique dealer Duncan called Robert’s wife and said, do you know what was in the puzzle box? And what if she said no? Then Duncan, whose business was doing OK but not great, may have thought it was a finders-keepers situation.”
“But then the McClendons were curious?”
“Right. And everyone has caller ID. It may have shown up on their phone as Duncan Craig. Right?”
Her doe-eyes widened. “Oh. So he goes after the artist Duncan, thinking he’s trying to cheat him out of something. The poor guy had no idea what he was talking about.”
“If there were three of them, it would have been easy for them to overtake him. They are also tall enough. And they’ve alibied each other. So …”
“Then they find the other Duncan?”
“And maybe scare the wits out of him. He’s hidden the ring in his backpack at the bothie.
Ewan explained that hikers usually leave each other’s stuff alone, so he may have felt OK to leave it there.
The poison has weakened his heart and his mind.
If they tormented him in some way, it could have sent him over the edge. ”
“That makes sense.”
“We’re just lacking that all-mighty proof.”
“What do we do?”
“I know they are still waiting on some of the phone records. That would show the second Duncan calling the McClendons and from there we may be able to help Ewan put a case together.”
“Have you told him any of this?”
I shrugged. “Bits and pieces. If we can show McClendon’s and his cronies’ DNA was on the second Duncan or the first, that would do it.
But they were wearing costumes and most likely gloves.
It’s the only way they could have made it out of the haunted house with that sort of blood spatter.
It was the perfect killing space. And while he’s a bully, he’s not dumb.
They would have long ago burned whatever they wore that night.
That phone call, though, could tie things together enough to get a confession out of someone. If not McClendon, one of his henchmen.”
“You seem determined to think it was them. Do you have any other proof? Please don’t get angry, you always say one of us needs to play devil’s advocate.”
I pursed my lips. “If it isn’t them, then I don’t have a clue.” I leaned back in my chair and crossed my arms.
“You always say, and it’s usually true, the killers are someone they know.
McClendon fits that. But so does Baird and the first victim’s sister.
They were there minutes before the murder.
A half-hour isn’t long, and we saw him no more than that.
All three of those men would have had to hide somewhere, stolen the knife at some point during the night, and then waited.
And if they planned to kill him, wouldn’t they have brought their own weapon? ”
She was right, it was a lot. “Also, a fair point. But Baird and Isobel? What would be their motivation?”
Abigail stared down at the floor.
“What?”
“He seems to care for her a great deal,” she said. “I mean, I’m not the best at picking up on those sort of clues, romantic ones. But he is always looking after her, and he gives her that glance. The one Henry gives me.”
“You think they might be lovers?”
She shrugged. “It could be he’s just being nice.”
“OK, so I’ll play devil’s advocate, what would be their motivation? They seemed to love the victim a great deal.”
“That I couldn’t tell you. Unless he didn’t approve or something.”
“Could be, but they all seemed to get along so well. Granted we only worked around them for a few days while we set things up, but they were funny and talented.”
“Right. I only brought it up because Ewan insists McClendon has an alibi. At first, I thought the second Duncan killed the first one, but that makes no sense.”
“I agree with you on that. We also haven’t dug much into the second Duncan’s life. I need to know more about his business, which means talking to his widow again. And doing some online research.”
“I’d love to help you, but I have another exam tomorrow, and I promised I’d take Tommy to the contest tonight.”
“I forgot about the costume contest at the church, right?”
She nodded. “He loves seeing everyone dressed up. He’s going as a gardener.”
I laughed. “That is definitely right on the nose.”
“If you come, make sure you wear a mask, or better yet, a costume. Everyone points at people who don’t dress up. It’s required.”
“Good to know.” As much as I would like to stay home and do some research, the townspeople worked hard on all these events, and I liked to show my support.
Though this time I’d be hanging onto Jasper, who was supposed to stop by and pick me up.
Mara was one of the organizers, so she had to go up early.
Besides, if I stayed home, I’d make myself insane trying to figure out who killed the Duncans.