Chapter 5 #2
Ally wrote the names on her Post-its: Micky McConnachie, Bobby McConnachie, Forby McKinnon and Ivan the barman.
She placed Micky at four o’clock, his brother at eight o’clock, and Ivan at five o’clock.
Forby she placed at seven o’clock. After some thought she placed Tom Hamilton, the young ghillie who was friendly with the brothers, at seven o’clock too.
She had no further suspects yet. She’d seen the girls watching the caber tossing, and she was pretty sure she’d seen Wendy nearby somewhere.
Or had she? To be on the safe side, she’d place Wendy at five o’clock, alongside Ivan.
As she placed the picture back on the wall, the painting facing outwards again, she gave it a good dusting. If Morag espied a cobweb anywhere around, she’d have the thing down and would see her two sons as prospective suspects, in Ally’s estimation at least.
She stared at the oranges, lemons and grapes in the picture for a moment and then decided that what she really wanted was to have a chat with Angus.
But what excuse could she have for going up there to see him?
Angus wasn’t someone who you might call on for a cup of tea and a chat – far from it!
He was a curmudgeonly old fellow who viewed most people with suspicion.
And he must be feeling extremely guilty that anyone could have broken into the gun cabinet without him hearing or seeing something.
Ally decided to take her mind off it all by visiting her friend, Linda.
Linda was an Englishwoman who’d married a Scotsman, came to live in Locharran and, a few years back, had been widowed.
She then had to decide whether to head back south of the border or make a life for herself here in the village.
Fortunately, she’d chosen the latter option and, thanks to her considerable culinary talents, was now the proud owner of The Bistro.
All summer, her five tables were continually booked, but in the quieter season, she concentrated on making desserts for the Craigmonie Hotel.
Which was how, earlier this year, she and Callum, the manager, had begun dating.
‘For years,’ she’d told Ally, ‘we only lived about three hundred yards away from each other but never really seemed to be in the same place at the same time!’
When Ally arrived at The Bistro, Linda had just made a coffee cake, a recipe which included Baileys and goodness knows what else, and was one of the most delicious cakes Ally had ever tasted.
It was difficult to ration herself to just one slice, but she had her figure to consider and she was trying hard to be careful.
As she sipped her coffee and valiantly refused that second, delicious slice, Ally asked, ‘Has Callum said anything to you about Ivan since Archie Armstrong died?’
Linda refilled their coffee cups. ‘Are you sleuthing again?’ she asked, grinning.
‘I suppose I must be,’ Ally replied. ‘I guess I’m just nosy! Besides, the family are living under my roof, so I’m naturally interested.’
‘Apparently, the bullet was fired from the rifle that came from the castle,’ Linda said.
‘I think I should be having a chat with old Angus, up at the castle,’ Ally said, ‘but he’s not very sociable, and I’m trying to think of an excuse to visit him.’
‘Isn’t he the wife’s uncle?’
‘Yes, he is Patti’s uncle,’ Ally confirmed.
‘Perhaps that’s your cue. You could say you’re a bit worried about her or something. Perhaps suggest he calls in to see her?’ Linda said.
‘That’s not a bad idea,’ Ally admitted. ‘Why didn’t I think of that?’
Linda shrugged. ‘Perhaps you don’t eat enough cake. Sure you won’t have another slice?’
‘Oh, go on then!’ Ally said. ‘Just a tiny piece.’
‘It was Linda’s idea,’ Ally told Ross later as she prepared their evening meal.
‘Which idea was this?’ Ross asked as he shoved a log into the stove.
‘About trying to approach Angus by saying that I’m rather concerned about Patti and that perhaps it might be a good idea for her dear uncle to visit her.
What do you think?’ Ally asked. ‘It would give me a reason for going up there, and if we got into conversation, he might then open up about who he thinks might have been prowling around.’
Ross sighed. ‘Ally, you must realise that anyone in the village could have access to any of his keys because he never locks his office door – the keys are hanging in there, and so why would they need to break in to get a rifle?’
‘But he might have some idea who’d been lurking around, mightn’t he?’
‘Well,’ Ross said, ‘Hamish and the under-ghillies would be the only people who would normally be up there, so it stands to reason that they, the earl and Angus himself are the main suspects.’
‘But if Angus and the other two were out and about, feeding the dogs for instance, then anyone could have gone in and helped themselves surely?’ Ally was beginning to realise that this was far from being as simple as she’d hoped.
‘That’s about it,’ said Ross. ‘And young Tom Hamilton spends his free time down in the village. He’s a great friend of both of Murdo and Morag’s boys. I’ve often seen them in the Craigmonie Bar playing darts together.’
‘I told you about Greg’s little chat, didn’t I?’
Ross nodded. ‘Yes, and he was supposedly in the hospitality tent when this happened, but he could have popped out for a moment – as could anyone.’
‘But surely someone might notice if you arrived at the games carrying a rifle?’
‘Of course they would,’ Ross replied, struggling with the corkscrew to open a bottle of wine.
‘But it would have been pre-planned. Whoever it was would have hidden the rifle in the bushes or the bracken in front of the trees above and behind the portable toilets. And bearing in mind that most of the guys in the village would have had a few pints of beer beforehand, most of them would have needed to have a pee!’
Ally had a thought. ‘But if you were going to shoot someone, aiming for their head, you’d need a very steady hand, wouldn’t you?’
‘You certainly would,’ Ross agreed.
‘So you wouldn’t be doing much drinking beforehand, would you?’
‘Very true,’ said Ross. ‘Hamish is an excellent shot, of course, and so is Angus. But so far as we know, Angus wasn’t there.’
‘So far as we know,’ Ally repeated.
Ross handed her a glass of wine. ‘Cheers!’
‘Cheers!’ Ally took a sip. ‘The girls said something quite interesting when they were in the garden with Flora. They hinted that Greg hadn’t been getting along too well with their father.’ She paused. ‘Did I tell you that Archie and Greg were in business together, making log cabins?’
‘Yes, you did,’ Ross replied. ‘Maybe it’s not a very good thing to go into business with an in-law. Who knows?’
‘Well,’ said Ally, ‘my mind is made up. I’m going to walk up to the castle tomorrow afternoon and have a chat with Angus.’
Ross rolled his eyes. ‘Good luck with that then! Make sure you’re wearing your bulletproof vest!’
‘You don’t mean that!’
Ross smiled. ‘OK, I don’t, but be careful anyway. Don’t forget you are now known to have this talent for sleuthing, and there’s a crack shot around!’