Hamish Macbeth - Death Of A Dreamer Part 19

"A sort of bang. I've got Mrs. Fleming here and a couple from Glasgow and three of the forestry workers. They were all in their rooms when I locked up. Och, I mind the days when I wouldn't have bothered, but it's a wicked world now."

"Don't the guests have their own keys?"

"I don't trust anyone with the keys. I wait until they're all indoors."

"So how would anyone get out?"

"There's the fire door at the back on the first."

"Show it to us."

She led the way upstairs and along a corridor on the first landing. Hamish studied the fire door, and then his sharp eyes noticed a small square wad of paper lying on the floor. He took out a pair of tweezers, lifted the paper, and put it in a cellophane envelope.

He thanked Mrs. Dunne and went back outside the building, followed by Robin.

"Why did you pick up that paper?" asked Robin.

"It could have been used to wedge the door so that someone could get back in again. Let's get back to the unit and examine it properly."

He explained to Jimmy what he had found. Then he took out the envelope and, putting on gloves, extracted the wad of paper. He laid it on Jimmy's desk and gently opened it up. "It's out o' a film magazine," Hamish said. "See, there's a bit from the top of the page-Hollywood World. I'll go over to Patel's and see if he sold a copy to anyone." Robin went with him.

Mr. Patel said he only ordered two copies a month, the locals being more interested in magazines that dealt with television soaps than anything to do with the movies.

"Who bought them?"

"Mrs. Wellington bought one." Hamish blinked in amazement. He'd never have guessed that the tweedy minister's wife would want to read about movie stars.

"And the other one?"

"Oh, it was that wee woman who was married to the artist."

They hurried back to tell Jimmy. "Good work," he said. "Bring her in."

They found Dora Fleming crossing the humpback bridge on her way to the boarding house. They marched her back to the police unit and took her inside.

"What's this all about?" she demanded.

"This," said Jimmy, pointing to the piece from the film magazine. "This was lying by the fire door at Sea View. We think you used it to wedge the fire door when you crept out so you'd be able to get back in again."

"Don't be daft. It's just a piece of paper."

"It's from a film magazine which you bought. The papers glossy, and we should get your prints off it. In fact, we'll fingerprint you now."

"I want a lawyer," she screeched.

"You've already got her fingerprints," interposed Robin. "We took the fingerprints of everyone who might be concerned right after Mr. Addenfest's murder."

"So we did," said Jimmy with his foxy grin. "Right, young woman, where did you go, when, and why?"

"I didnae go anywhere!"

"We'll look at the steps down from the fire door," said Jimmy. "I'm sure we'll find some footprints."

She stared at him in mulish silence.

"Right," said Jimmy. "I am taking you into police headquarters for questioning. Hamish, you and Robin go back to Sea View and have a look at the steps down from the fire door. See if you can find anything."

As two policemen escorted Dora out to the car which was to take her to Strathbane, Jimmy phoned Daviot, who was up at the hotel arranging a room for the press conference. He told him of Hamish's find. "It was a right smart piece of work on Macbeth's part," said Jimmy. "You can at least tell the press we've got a suspect."

Mrs. Dunne took Hamish and Robin round to the back of the house where an iron staircase led down from the fire door. "We'd better not add our own footprints," said Hamish. The stairs led down to a weedy back garden. "We'll just need to search through the garden and see if we can find anything."

He knelt down and began to feel his way through the rough gra.s.s with his fingers. Robin was wearing a skirt and did not want to ladder her tights by following Hamish's example.

"I've got to go to the loo," she called. "Be back soon."

She went round to the front of the house, knocked, and asked Mrs. Dunne if she could use her bathroom.

"Don't leave a mess," said Mrs. Dunne. "I keep a clean house."

Robin carefully reapplied her makeup;. Daviot's rejection of her request to be at the press conference rankled, and she knew she would feel more confident if she brushed her hair and made up her face.

When she went out again, she saw Daviot's car heading along the waterfront and eagerly flagged him down.

Daviot lowered the window. "What is it, Detective Mackenzie?"

"I had a marvellous piece of luck," said Robin. "I found a piece of a magazine by the fire door at Sea View which had been used to wedge the door. I found out Dora Fleming had bought that magazine and-"

He interrupted her, his voice cold and measured. "I have already heard of Hamish Macbeth's detective work. Do not try to take credit from another officer again."

The car window rolled up in her face, he tapped his driver on the shoulder, and the car moved on.

Robin felt miserable. She had dreamt of taking over Blair's job one day. She trailed back to the garden to find Hamish putting something into an envelope.

"What have you found?" she asked.

"A used condom."

"So what's special about that? The local lads probably use this garden for a bit of nooky."

"No, they don't," said Hamish. "I'll take this straight over to Strathbane. Are you coming?"

But Robin did not want to run into Daviot.

Ten.

O what a tangled web we weave, When first we practise to deceive!

-Sir Walter Scott Hamish did not have any hope of a speedy DNA a.n.a.lysis of the used condom, but for once, Daviot was really desperate for answers. Forensic swabs were taken from Jock and the men living in the boarding house and sent to the forensic laboratory in Aberdeen along with the condom.

While he waited for the results, the investigation seemed to have temporarily ground to a halt. Mrs. Daviot phoned him in high excitement to say that her husband, once the case was closed, was going to take her on a second honeymoon. Robin came into the police station just as Hamish was putting down the phone.

"That was Mrs. Daviot," said Hamish.

Robin eyed him warily. "If she's looking for her husband, he's on his way from Strathbane."

"She just wanted to tell me that they are going on a second honeymoon once this case is over. Now, isn't that romantic?"

"Oh, sure," she said sarcastically. "I've got some news about Mrs. Addenfest."

"What's that?"

"She said she arrived at Glasgow airport after she had been notified of Hal's death. But she was in the country before Hal died. She arrived at London airport two days before his murder. I don't know how she hoped to conceal it. Checked with New York police, and they said they got the number of her cell phone-that's American for mobile-and called her on that with the news because she was out when they visited her flat and her maid gave them the number."

"He can't have left her that broke if she had a maid. Didn't the maid tell the police she had gone to Britain?"

"The maid has about two words of English. Mrs. Addenfest's over at the unit. I've come to fetch you."

They walked out together. "Men are b.a.s.t.a.r.ds," said Robin, suddenly and viciously.

"You're talking to one."

She shrugged in reply.

Gloria Addenfest was seated before Jimmy in the unit. Her perfume hit them like a scented wall when they walked in.

Hamish felt a rush of grat.i.tude for Jimmy. He was so used to Blair keeping him away from every interview.

"Now we're all here," said Jimmy, "you'd better explain why you lied to us about your arrival in this country."

"I thought it looked bad," said Gloria, crossing her long legs. "So I lied. No big deal. I didn't murder him."

"So when did you really arrive up here?"

"Right after the cops phoned me about him being murdered. I came straight up from London."

"What were you doing in London?"

"Look, it's like this, see." Gloria lit a cigarette. "I'll come clean. I really meant to come up here and confront the little rat. They had an audit at his company and found Hal had been embezzling. I remembered his high and mighty moral tone at the divorce proceedings, the way his lawyers made me look like a wh.o.r.e. I wanted to see his face when I told him his firms lawyers had been to the police and were trying to get an extradition order. I just wanted to see the look on his stupid face. But I stayed in London."

"Why?"

"Do I have to tell you?"

Hamish regarded her with amus.e.m.e.nt. "You met someone on the plane over," he said.

She flushed angrily. "Well, okay. He was in pharmaceuticals, and we hit it off. He said he'd show me a good time. We moved into the Ritz together and started to do the town."

"Name?" asked Jimmy.

"Must I? He's married."

"Name!"

"James Roden. He's still at the Ritz as far as I know."

"We'll check out your alibi. In the meantime, stay in Lochdubh and give us your pa.s.sport. Now, how much had Mr. Addenfest embezzled?"

"Close to a million. He'd been siphoning it off over the years. Funny, though," said Gloria. "He had one h.e.l.l of a salary. But he was secretive and nasty. He probably enjoyed ripping them off."

Jimmy got a statement typed up and told her to sign it, then got a police officer to escort her back to the hotel.

"There are too many women in this case, and all of them seem to be covering up for something," said Jimmy. "The forensic lab promised us the DNA results fast. Meanwhile, keep asking around the village if anyone saw anything. I know you've done it over and over again, but folks are funny. Sometimes they come out with something amazing that they never even thought of telling us at the time."

"Who first?" asked Robin outside.

"I've got a salmon in the freezer."

"So what?"

"So we'll go back and see Angus."

The seer invited Hamish in but grumbled that the salmon was frozen, saying he liked it fresh-caught.

"Have you thought of anything, Angus?" asked Hamish.

The seer leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. "Women everywhere," he said. "Manipulating women." He opened his eyes and looked at Robin. "You were out to ruin a marriage. Just thank the stars you didnae succeed."

"Forget about Detective Mackenzie," said Hamish impatiently. "I know all about that."

Robin's face flamed.

Angus settled back in his chair again and closed his eyes. If the old sod goes to sleep this time, I'll strike him, thought Hamish. I want one salmon's worth.

"Strong s.e.xual urges and bad, bad jealousy," crooned Angus. "You're looking for a woman."

"Which woman?"

Angus opened his eyes. "The spirits have left me."

"I expected more for a whole fish," exclaimed Hamish.

"So who have we got?" asked Hamish as he and Robin walked down to the police Land Rover. "We've got Caro Garrard, Gloria Addenfest, Dora Fleming, and Betty Barnard."