Part 43 (1/2)

”She never rejected Jonathan for me. There was never anything between them,” Bruce said, shaking his head.

Robert sighed. ”But he believed she would have loved him if it hadn't been for you. I'm no psychologist, but when he finally started killing, he might have been looking for women who somewhat resembled Maggie--in the dark, at least. Getting even with her. He chose prost.i.tutes because they can disappear far more easily than your average office worker, wife, mother or schoolgirl. In the main cities, they would just see him for a fairly decent looking bloke, nothing scraggly or ugly about the man. They wouldn't hesitate to go with him. Disposing of the bodies in the forest was a way to get to you. Imagine how delighted he must have been, ready to wait and watch, when he snared in that group of Americans--and Thayer. It was nothing for him to slip the money for the payment on their lease into Thayer's account, and make it look as if Thayer had been the one committing the fraud. He was good with computers. Brilliant. It's a pity he couldn't have put it to good use. The fellow is all right, by the way?”

”Ah, yes, fine. Absolutely fine. Toni was nearly hysterical to reach him, once Jonathan was dead. Then the others arrived, and he was helped out of the woods. And, well, you know the rest.” He grimaced. ”Here I am, forty-eight hours later, still barred from my own castle while the forensic teams finish with all their work.”

”Bruce--”

”Hey, I was a cop, remember? Take all the time you need to see that everything is processed.” He exhaled with a grimace. ”There I was, thinking that Jonathan was incompetent when he was really a master criminal. And I was certain there was something really evil lurking in Thayer Fraser. I'm sure Toni and her friends were just about in terror of poor Eban. I even began to wonder at times if we weren't looking at another husband and wife team of killers. And all along I had inspired this terrible hatred myself.”

”Whatever you do, don't blame yourself,” Robert cautioned him. ”You didn't do anything to Jonathan. No one knows what really causes that kind of short circuit in the mind and soul. Maybe he was born with a capacity for evil. Or maybe he let it grow inside. Anyway, here comes your crew. And I have work to do.”

Toni and the others had arrived, having taken a bit longer to get ready. They were staying at the Thistle and Crown, just down the street, and though it reeked with charm and hospitality, it lacked a great deal in water pressure.

They all greeted Robert affectionately, but he demurred and told them that he had business when they implored him to stay.

As he was leaving, Matt and Darcy Stone arrived, and he went through a series of goodbyes once again.

About to actually depart, Robert stopped suddenly. ”Oh!” he said, offering them all a grin.

”Oh?” Bruce said.

”Now I can't believe I forgot to mention this! The barmaid, the young barmaid from Stirling we thought to be missing--do you remember?”

”Oh, aye,” Bruce said.

”Indeed,” Thayer muttered. ”Katie.”

”Well, she's not going to be found in the forest,” Robert said. ”Seems she turned up in London. She had a date with a young man who convinced her that she was worth more than being a lackey to a mean man. She's working in a clothing shop and going to school. She was horrified when the London bobbies stopped her. She'd had no idea she'd been reported as a missing person.”

”Thank G.o.d!” Thayer said.

”Well, now, there's a truism, all right. Good news, for once. Ta, now, folks, for real.”

They were all gathered at the table and the waitress came to take their orders. For several minutes, there was a certain amount of chaos, what with decisions on what to eat and drink being made. Then there was a silence.

So far, all they had done was apologize to one another for their suspicions, worry about one another and talk about what had happened. But as of that night, the forest and the castle had been the domain of the police. Evidence was being gathered, and both forest and abode were crime scenes, off-limits. Even Shaunessy and Wallace had been moved to the stables in town. And Eban, loath to leave his little cottage, was now in wonder at the friendly service he received at the little hotel.

So now there was the future. It would be tinged by the past, but as always, the future would be what they made of it.

They were all staring at him.

”Here's how I see it should be done,” Bruce said. ”The tours will be stopped--for a few weeks. The police still have possession of the castle. And there will be articles in all the papers, so a little time should definitely pa.s.s out of respect. But then, knowing how people really do seem to love the gruesome, you'll probably be so busy, you'll be turning people away.”

Gina made a funny sound in her throat. ”You're... going to let us continue?”

He shrugged. ”For about half a year.”

”And then?” she whispered.

He didn't get a chance to answer, because Thayer suddenly burst out with, ”Who'd ha' figured! Him, Jonathan. . .a constable. A man y'd know all yer life, Bruce!”

The past.. .yes, it would remain with them awhile. Even when they thought they had talked it out, it came back. Like a ghost from a not so distant time.

Toni looked at Darcy Stone. ”Darcy, could Jonathan have been.. .Grayson Davis, living out another life?”

Darcy smiled and shrugged. ”I don't know. Maybe, maybe not.”

Matt added, ”There aren't always answers, you know, from the living, or the dead.”

Bruce spoke up. ”Maybe he was just a man who resented me all his life--and had a penchant for power and murder, as well. There's nothing that will excuse his actions, but I can almost understand his hatred for me. I had everything he wanted--the castle, the t.i.tle. Despite the fact that I was seldom here after Maggie died, I was the laird, and that meant something to the people in the village. Then there was Maggie.. .my fiancee. I'd never known that Jonathan had been in love with her. She always thought they were friends. Apparently, he thought that he'd been rejected. Maybe there's a whole slew of psychological explanations. And then again, maybe he was Grayson Davis, living a new life, without really having learned from the old.”

Gina s.h.i.+vered suddenly and stared at David and Kevin. ”And you! You little rats! As soon as you read about that case Bruce had solved in Edinburgh, you were staring at Ryan and I as if we were capable of such horrors.”

”Oh, now, that's not true!” David protested.

”As if Gina would allow another woman next to me, much less find one for me,” Ryan said.

Gina stared at him in reproach.

”You are jealous,” he told her.

”My foot!” she said.

Bruce laughed. ”Hey, come on now, Ryan. I've seen you hug Toni.”

”Toni...” He waved a hand in the air. ”Toni's my friend.”

”Chopped liver!” Toni said, amazed that she could smile and laugh.

”I hug Toni, just like I hug David and Kevin.”

”Ooh! s.e.xy!” Kevin teased.

Ryan groaned. ”Ignore him, please,” Ryan said to Bruce. ”So.. .you'll let us stay and work for six months. And then what? Are you going to keep working with us, as well?”