Chapter 17
The two women sat around the small wooden table. Lachlan pulled the stool that Ada used to access the vials on the top shelf of the cupboards closer to the table and sat down.
“I guess we should be looking at disgruntled female petitioners an’ the wives of those men whose requests or disputes were judged against them.”
Iona agreed. “Aye, an’ don’ forget they must be lowly in status, enough to begrudge those they deem high an’ mighty.”
Ada added her mite. “Let’s start by askin’ the alehouse keeper who has access to the cellars an’ work from there. There can be only a few women who fit such a description.”
The thought of someone standing by and watching complacently as the scrivener died and Ada choked to death was an exceedingly disturbing one.
“Our focus must be on those women who married into the clan or joined the Castle in some other fashion. I don’ think one o’ the clan could stand by an’ watch this happenin’ without it destroyin’ their soul with guilt.”
Lachlan looked at Iona after making this suggestion. He valued her insight into how the poisoner’s mind might work.
She shook her head. “Lachlan, there’s many folk who hide their true selves so expertly it shakes their clan’s hearts to the core when they are exposed as evildoers. Keep an open mind when ye go forth. Dinnae jump to any conclusions. Rather, allow the conclusion to jump out at ye.”
They dined together and sallied forth after the noontime bell rang out.
Iona waved them farewell, shouting after them. “Dinnae fash! There was nay marjoram in that stew!”
They heard her chuckle as they walked back toward the alehouse. Lachlan looked down at Ada and saw she was smiling.
“D’ye find it amusin’, lass, that I was unmanned last night?”
She glanced up and saw he was grinning. “Aye, a wee bit, Calvin. But I gather ye were fully recovered this mornin’, so I have nay fear of it being permanent.”
She stood on tiptoes and gave him a kiss on the cheek. He was pleased to see she was no longer afraid to show her affection in public, and he knew the reason why. They were so close to catching the poisoner, they could feel it.
The alehouse keeper was not surprised to see them again. When he heard the reason for their return, he gave their question his full consideration.
“Och aye, sir, I’ve been rackin’ me brains to remember everyone, man and woman, who went down to the cellars.
” His eyes rolled up to the ceiling as he searched his memory.
“There’s me wife. She does the cleanin’.
An’ me daughter, Anna; she went down there, too, to fetch us a casket for supper. An’ then there’s me…”
The alehouse keeper’s family’s activity did not come as a shock to Lachlan. They lived over the cellars, and part of their daily tasks was to look after the brews.
“Anyone else ye can think of?”
Lachlan held his breath; they were running out of options.
“Och, wheesht. Let me think… Och, aye—the rat catcher must have come to check for holes ’cause I saw their traps an’ fresh pellets down there. Bustert rats an’ mice love to gnaw on the caskets. They smell o’ barley and whatnot, ye ken.”
Lachlan felt Ada stiffen next to him. “The rat catcher, ye say? He gets his herbs from me mither…ones to repel the vermin and to poison the ones outside the alehouse before they can get in.”
“Aye, aye, the man is good at his job. ’Tis a menial position, but where would we be without our rat catcher?
Up to our ears in vermin once the weather chills.
Those bustert rats sneak through the wainscoting at every chance they get!
I suppose it’s no’ only Highlanders who find the smell o’ whiskey attractive! ”
The alehouse keeper chuckled at his jest, and Lachlan and Ada joined in even though their minds were already working hard to reach their own conclusion.
“Well, Borkum, we must be goin’. Me grandfaither will thank ye for yer candid answers. Farewell.”
Master Borkum shouted after them, “I’ll try to fare well, sir, but it’s hard when me doors must stay closed, ye ken!”
Lachlan was already asking Ada to show him to the rat catcher’s house.
“He does nae live within the Castle walls, Calvin,” she told him. “The rat catcher lives in the forest, no’ far from Cousin Aidan’s hut.”
Trying to keep a strong rein on his impatience, Lachlan asked Ada if she would ride on his horse with him again.
“We will save much time that way, lass, an’ I have nay desire to go trampin’ in the forest with a mad rat catcher on the loose.”
She agreed but warned him, “Dinnae ride too fast, Cal. I don’ like bein’ so high off the ground.”
He grinned. “I will never get tired o’ holdin’ ye tight, Apprentice Ada, never fear.”
It did not take long for the groom to saddle a horse for them.
“We’re happy to see ye up an’ about, Ada,” the groom said as he watched Lachlan lift her onto the saddle. “Any news about who’s sowing terror amidst the Calvin clan yet?”
Lachlan shook his head. He did not want to get the clan’s hopes up. Once they were out of the gates, he let his suspicions be heard.
“There’s an abundance of poisons lying around the forest. I remember ye showed me a few that day I carried yer mither up here. An’ the man uses poison in his work! I ken this is the right place to seek the killer!”
Ada was leaning back against his chest. She seemed busy with her thoughts.
Eventually, she said, “Aye…but don’ jump to conclusions.
Gerard Hanson is a humble man who has lived on the estate all his life; the herbs he gets from Mither are mainly used for burnin’!
The smoke flushes out the vermin from their holes or causes them to flee the room.
The last thing a rat catcher wants is a decomposing rat dead behind the wainscoting.
The stench would be unbearable. We must verify what the man’s complaint is against the laird, first of all.
We cannae just shout out our suspicions with naught to back them up.
Go gently, an’ give the man no reason to suspect we hold him accountable. ”
His arms tightened around her. “Fear no’, lass. I’ll tread lightly.”
The cottage in the woods was ancient and badly weathered, yet there was a homely look about the place that made him realize the occupants must be as house-proud as any Inverness housewife. He hitched his horse next to the well and helped Ada climb down.
She whispered into his ear, “They have their own water. That means they do not need to use the Castle well. That could be bad for us if their next step is to poison our drinkin’ water.”
Lachlan said nothing, simply walking up the narrow pathway and knocking on the door softly; he remembered what Iona had said about the way he banged on doors and did not want to startle the cottage occupants.
The door opened after a long while. An old man stood there. The staff in his hand showed him to be even more immobile than Iona was!
“Forgive me tardiness to bid ye come in, sir. I was abed, an’ it took me a while to walk to the door.”
Gerard Hanson pushed the door wide and moved aside for Lachlan to come in. He seemed glad to have visitors and beamed when he saw Ada.
“How is yer mither, Ada? Please thank her for the rue she had delivered to me last month. ’Twas just what I needed to rid the hayloft of the infestation o’ wee beasties.”
Lachlan wanted to smash his fist through the front door panel! He could see the rat catcher was not the one they were looking for. He tried to keep a polite tone when the old man asked him how he could be of assistance.
“I have nae been out for a few weeks…me back aches so bad now I find it hard to move around. I’m sure ye’ll remember that mule that kicked me during the May Day festivities.
Me back has nae been the same since then, Ada.
If it were nae for the elixirs yer mither makes for me, I dinnae ken how I would carry on. ”
“I will see what I can do to find ye a bedchamber at the Castle, Master Hanson,” Lachlan said through gritted teeth. He was so frustrated to be wrong once again. “It’s the least we can do after yer many years o’ devoted service.”
The old man was happy to hear that. “Thank ye, thank ye, sir. It would go better with me if I had someone close by to tend to me needs when the pain grows stronger.”
Ada put a hand on his arm as Lachlan turned to leave. “Stay, Calvin. Gerard, when did ye last go down to check the alehouse cellar caskets for rats? The alehouse keeper mentioned he has sore need o’ yer services. Even with the weather so warm, the rats cannae resist the aroma o’ hops an’ barley.”
Gerard sat down on the stool by the fire, propping his staff against the chimney.
“Och aye, please give the master me thanks for the casket o’ ale he sent up here. It would be me daughter, Heather, who set the traps for me. She’s quite good at it already, even though she’s so young. A real harum-scarum young lass since her mither passed away last winter.”
Lachlan felt his knees shake when he heard this. When he looked at Ada, their eyes held a suppressed excitement.
“What age is Heather now, Gerard?” Ada asked. “I seem to remember she refused to attend lessons at the schoolhouse when I was there, even though we are the same ages.”
Gerard chuckled. “Aye, that’s our Heather.
She’s a wild one and has become all the wilder since taking up with that wealthy merchant who lives in town.
But I’ve always been too soft on her, that’s the problem.
The lass would have benefitted from her parents tellin’ her nay once in a while, but it’s too late now.
I’m too slow to catch her, and my late wife was the only one who could control her. ”
Lachlan was edging toward the door, dragging Ada with him.
“Be sure I will nae forget to tell the steward to seek out a bedchamber at the Castle for ye, Master Hanson,” he promised the old man.
Gerard waved at them happily as they closed the door.
Outside, Lachlan turned to Ada. “The auld man can have me entire set o’ chambers if he wants! The poisoner is Mischief-Maker Heather Hanson. An’ please don’ tell me I’m jumpin’ the flag here, Ada!”
Ada did not disagree. “Aye, Heather is always wickedly wild in a way that makes other lasses look angelic in comparison! She refused to learn her letters or sums, she’s been in the beds of a string o’ wealthy gentlemen just as soon as she could call herself a woman, and it seems as if she’s crowned all of her iniquities by leaving her crippled faither to look after himself so she can go off with this merchant!
She’s obviously only doin’ her faither’s work for him so she can lay out poison anywhere she pleases without anyone bein’ the wiser.
It’s…it’s unimaginably cruel! Leaving the poor auld fellow in the woods all alone to fend for himself. ”
Lachlan said gruffly, “I’m surprised nay one has brought her to me attention before this. Come. Let’s go to Grandfaither and ask him what set this spree off. He will ken more.”