Chapter 7
SEVEN
As they walked up the hill arm in arm, Ally asked, ‘What do you know about the two under-ghillies who work with Angus?’
‘Not much,’ Ross admitted. ‘The senior gamekeeper, Gordon Soutar, is almost a younger version of Angus. Keeps himself to himself, a bit like Angus in that respect.’
‘What about the younger one?’
‘Oh, that’s Tom Hamilton,’ Ross replied, looking thoughtful. ‘He came out of agricultural college a year or so ago and has been sending the local girls’ hearts aflutter ever since. Good-looking lad, favours very tight jeans.’
‘So they’d both easily be able to get their hands on the gun cabinet keys?’
‘I expect so,’ Ross said. ‘I didn’t see either of them at the games, but I believe that Tom, the heart-throb, is quite friendly with the McConnachie lads and often drinks with them in the Craigmonie Bar in the evenings.
He would have access to the gun cabinet keys, so it’s unlikely he’d fake a break-in. Have you ever been in Angus’s office?’
‘No, I haven’t,’ Ally replied.
‘Well, I have, and it’s total chaos in there!
’ Ross said. ‘It’s like someone set off a bomb!
There’s all sorts of paperwork strewn over the desk, the floor, every available surface.
That’s Angus’s filing system! But I’ll tell you something: any document you might want, Angus will find it – on the floor, under the desk, anywhere! In an instant. No problem.’
‘I think I need to talk to these under-ghillies,’ Ally said. ‘Because I’m not likely to get much help from Angus.’
‘Your best bet would be Hamish,’ Ross said. ‘He does all the hiring and firing, with Angus’s help and approval, of course.’
‘Good idea,’ Ally said. ‘It’s time I paid him a visit. Apart from anything else, I’m longing to see the babies again. Now I must update the board.’
‘The board?’ Ross repeated. ‘I’d forgotten about the board! Do you really think it’s helpful?’
‘Well, yes, I do,’ Ally admitted. ‘It’s been helpful in the past, and it could be useful now!’ As they entered the malthouse door, Ally added, ‘Let me show it to you!’
She removed the painting from the wall, turned it over and laid it on the kitchen table.
Ross studied it for a moment or two. ‘You’ve put Angus very low down.’
‘Well, I didn’t think…’
‘You heard what Callum said. It could be Angus.’
Ally moved Angus up to four o’clock and resolved to double-check his alibi with Amir.
‘And while you’re at it,’ Ross said, ‘you need a Post-it for the earl too.’
Ally pulled a face. ‘I don’t somehow think Hamish would have had anything to do with it.’
‘Ally, if you’re going to do this properly, then you can’t rule anyone out without good reason.’
Ally sighed but placed Hamish at five, alongside Ivan and Wendy. That didn’t look right somehow.
‘And both of Angus’s trainees,’ Ross said, frowning at the board. ‘You’ve only got Tom, though I’d have him much higher up, say at ten o’clock.’
‘OK,’ said Ally, pulling a face as she moved Tom up from seven. ‘I’ll add Gordon at six too just to keep you happy.’
Ross went home in the morning to supervise another day of boiler-fitting, and Ally decided to visit Hamish and Magda later.
The spell of good weather showed no signs of ending and, much to Ally’s surprise, the Armstrongs finally decided to venture out. It was while they were breakfasting that Patti announced that they might go for a walk in the afternoon.
‘I’m sure Angus would be pleased to see you,’ Ally said.
‘No, we thought we’d go to that loch place,’ Patti said, ‘where the girls went, you know?’
‘Oh, Loch Soular you mean,’ Ally said.
‘You’ll be glad to see the back of us for a while,’ said Wendy with a faint smile.
‘Not at all,’ Ally lied, thinking of finally being able to give the sitting room a good clean.
Wendy was the quiet one of the family. The death of her brother had plainly hit her hard, and she’d rarely joined in the conversation at breakfast time.
She was also the antithesis of her sister-in-law – a tall, somewhat gangly woman in casual, comfortable clothing, and if she was wearing any make-up at all, it was barely perceptible.
When Morag had finished her stint and was making herself a cup of tea, Ally said, ‘Believe it or not, our guests have finally decided to go for a walk.’
‘What, now?’ Morag asked.
‘No, I think they said this afternoon.’
Morag stirred her tea and thought for a moment. ‘You’ll be wantin’ to give that room a good tidyin’ up,’ she said.
Ally nodded, a little disappointed because she’d planned a visit to the castle.
‘Well, I could do with some overtime,’ said Morag. ‘If you wanted any help, that is.’
‘Oh, Morag, would you be able to come back this afternoon?’
‘Aye,’ Morag replied, gulping some tea. ‘If I could do a couple of hours, I could give all of downstairs a real good clean.’
‘You’re an angel! Of course you can do a couple of hours. I was planning to go out, so it suits me fine.’
Just don’t turn over that picture, she thought, gazing at the oranges, lemons and grapes.
‘Of course you can come up; we’d love to see you,’ Magda said when Ally phoned a little later. ‘Come for tea and see our beautiful babies!’
And squeeze some information out of your husband, Ally thought. She needed to know as much as possible about Angus’s helpers. She was also very tempted by the daily afternoon tea ritual, with so many delicious confections that were hard to refuse.
As always, when Ally approached the castle in the afternoon, she was impressed by the sheer size of the building, with its turrets and its huge oak door, complete with a bell which, when the rope was pulled, she felt sure could be heard all over Locharran.
It was Mrs Fraser, the housekeeper, who appeared.
‘Ah, Mrs McKinley,’ she said. ‘The earl and the countess are taking tea in the south garden as it’s such a beautiful day. Do you know how to get round there?’
‘Yes, I do. Thank you.’
Ally made her way round the castle walls to the south garden where, on the patio, Magda and Hamish were sitting in the sun, with the pram in the shade behind them.
‘Just in time for tea!’ boomed Hamish.
Ally smiled and walked straight over to the babies, amazed at how quickly they’d grown since she last saw them. ‘Wow!’ she exclaimed. ‘Aren’t they getting big?’
‘I think she’s feeding them steak!’ said Hamish.
‘Just mother’s milk,’ said Magda proudly.
Mrs Fraser and her trolley, piled high with dainty sandwiches, scones, cream, jam and luscious-looking cakes, emerged from the door. She poured Assam tea for Hamish and Ally, and Earl Grey for Magda, before distributing plates and passing round the sandwiches.
Ally had started on one tiny cucumber sandwich when Hamish asked, ‘So, how’s life down at the malthouse at the moment?
It’s never-ending up here, with Kandahar arriving every five minutes to question us all.
God knows when I’ll get my rifle back. It’s being kept for evidence and further tests, of course.
And I’ll never understand who could have broken in and taken it from the cabinet. ’
‘Not much happening with us at the moment,’ Ally replied. ‘But my guests have finally taken themselves out for a walk, up to Loch Soular.’
‘Shouldn’t they be visiting poor old Angus?’ Magda asked.
Ally shrugged, wondering if she should have a scone. ‘Angus doesn’t appear to be a priority. And when I saw Angus yesterday, he didn’t seem particularly interested in popping in to see Patti either.’
‘I expect they’ve fallen out,’ Hamish said, standing up and handing round the sandwiches again.
‘He was very fond of her as a child, but I don’t think he approved of her later in life.
’ He paused. ‘I’ll tell you one thing though – when Pat would come out with us for a day’s shooting, she certainly knew how to handle a gun! ’
Oh, did she indeed? Ally reckoned she’d probably been taught by Angus, the expert. Interesting…
She declined a sandwich, still unsure about the scone. ‘I was just thinking the other day that I’ve never seen either of your under-ghillies close up. Is under-ghillies the right word? Or should it be trainee gamekeepers?’
‘Call them what you will,’ said Hamish, smiling.
‘Yes, I wondered who’ll take over from Angus eventually,’ Ally prompted.
‘Oh, you mean Gordon?’ Hamish added extra cream to his scone and sipped his tea. ‘Gordon’s the one who’ll take over. He’s a bit dour, keeps himself to himself, doesn’t do much socialising – very much like Angus really. But he’s a good ghillie, and he works bloody hard.’
Magda leaned forward with a grin. ‘But have you seen Tom, our newest recruit? He’s causing a bit of a stir!’
Hamish snorted. ‘He’s clever, and he’s got all the right qualifications, but he couldn’t be more different from the other two. He shares a cottage with Gordon, but I don’t think that’s going to work out for long because Tom keeps bringing girls back. Apparently, they all fancy him!’
‘So, presumably he does socialise?’ Ally said.
‘He certainly does,’ Hamish replied. ‘He goes down to the Craigmonie most evenings, I believe. But he’s young and needs some lively company, I suppose.’
‘Would either of them have keys to your gun cabinet?’ Ally asked casually.
‘They don’t have keys themselves, but both of them are in and out of Angus’s office where the keys are kept.
’ Hamish hesitated. ‘But do I think that either of them would have faked a break-in and could have fired that rifle? No, I damn well don’t!
Just for a start, neither of them had the faintest idea who this Armstrong fellow was, and neither of them had a great deal of interest in the games, although young Tom did go down to have a look.
I’ve told the police this a hundred times! ’
‘But neither Angus nor Gordon went down there?’ Ally asked.
‘Of course not! I’d have seen them if they did,’ Hamish retorted. ‘I made a point of seeing everyone.’
Except the sniper, Ally thought. And when you were sampling the whisky…
‘That’s how I know that Tom was there,’ Hamish continued. ‘He was with a couple of local girls, and they were in and out of the hospitality tent all afternoon.’
‘Tom was with the two girls all the time then?’ Ally asked, wondering if perhaps she was overdoing the questioning.
‘Yes, yes,’ Hamish replied impatiently. ‘That’s enough about him! Now, have you had a scone yet? They’re delicious! Newly baked, still warm…’
At this point, one of the twins began to wail, and Magda, with the speed of light, was picking him up. ‘He’ll set his brother off if I don’t act quickly,’ she said, holding the infant to her shoulder.
After a minute, she carried the now pacified baby over to Ally. ‘This is William. Would you like to cuddle him?’
‘Oh, I would!’ Ally said truthfully, accepting the little warm bundle and praying he wouldn’t start howling again. William looked up at her with big blue eyes, and Ally was won over, all thoughts of sleuthing abandoned for the moment.
‘He obviously likes you,’ Hamish said, ‘so he’s plainly a man of taste. But you haven’t had your scone yet!’
‘I’ll settle for William!’ Ally said, laughing.
As she walked home a little later, Ally realised that she hadn’t gleaned a great deal of information from this visit either.
She knew, however, that both Gordon and Tom had access to Angus’s office and the keys so, in theory, wouldn’t have needed to break in, and that Tom had actually been at the games.
She also now knew that Patti was an excellent shot.
Any of them, and even Angus himself for that matter, she supposed, could have been the killer.
Unlikely but possible.
Was there going to be sufficient space on the board to add a few more names if necessary? And when was she ever going to be able to eliminate some of these suspects?