M.C. Beaton: Death of a Witch

Jimmy Anderson eventually arrived, gasping and panting, surrounded by armed police.

“You’re too late,” said Hamish. “Two dead men. Where’s Blair?”

“Down in his car. You won’t see him climbing up anywhere.”

Hamish described what had happened. “Lot of paperwork for you,” said Jimmy when Hamish had finished. “You weren’t armed?”

“No.”

“That’s a mercy. I wouldn’t put it past Blair to try to claim you shot Wally.”

“Do you want me to help you down the hill?”

“Hamish, I’ve got to stay here for the forensic team. You’d better go down and report to Blair. Have you heard the news about Lesley?”

“No. What?”

“She’s engaged to be married to her boss, Bruce. She did ask me to be sure to let you know.”

“I’m not going down to report to Blair,” said Hamish. “Tell him I’m looking for clues or something.”

Jimmy’s phone rang. Hamish, listening, assumed it was Blair. He wandered off up the hillside until the scene below him grew smaller and smaller. He stayed up in the mountains until dark when he returned to the police station and wearily began to type up his report.

∨ Death of a Witch ∧

13

He seldom errs

Who thinks the worst he can of womankind .

– John Home

Hamish had decided to take his mother’s offer of a free holiday. His first duty was to call at the London office of Pedro’s Olive Oil to be photographed and given the large bouquet of flowers that had originally been intended for his mother.

Hamish made two speeches extolling the virtues of the oil, shook hands all round, allowed himself to be embraced several times, and then was sent on his way with a gift of one thousand euros and his train tickets.

The ceremony being over, he travelled to St. Pancras station to catch the Eurostar.

He did not know that his first-class ticket allowed him a special entrance to avoid the rush or that there was a lounge for first-class passengers, so he waited in the vast and highly uncomfortable general waiting room. There were horseshoe sofa arrangements in front of round tables, which, by the geographical siting of chairs and tables, meant that only two people could make use of the table. Other rows of seats were backless. There was only one small café and one small newsagent to service all the hordes.

When the train departure was announced everyone rushed to the escalators, fretting and fidgeting while passports and tickets were checked.

At last he was on board. What maniac had designed the seating? he wondered.

He was seated at a table, one passenger beside him and two across. There was very little legroom. He put his long legs out into the corridor but kept having to draw them in when people came past. The man opposite him was nearly as tall as Hamish and so they worked out that Hamish should stretch his feet out to the left and his fellow traveller to the right.

During the two-and-a-half-hour journey, they were served three-course meals with wine. Hamish’s opposite companion had a burning desire to go to the loo as soon as the food was served. In trying to stand up and get over Hamish’s legs, he stumbled, held on to his tray for support, stumbled against Hamish, and knocked Hamish’s meal across into the lap of the woman opposite.

What screams and swear words until the woman was cleaned down and presented with a complimentary bottle of champagne. No one suggested replacing Hamish’s dinner, and he was too fed up by this time to demand one.

He finally got out in Paris at the Gare du Nord. Rain was thudding down on the roof. Outside a line of people waiting for taxis seemed to stretch for miles. He pulled a thin raincoat out of his backpack, put it on, and began to trudge through the streets of Paris. He knew the next train left from the Gare d’Austerlitz on the Left Bank of the Seine.

He dropped into various brasseries for comforting hot drinks, then he would consult his map and plough on.

At Bastille, he saw a cruising cab and flagged it down. The rain had thinned and watery sunlight was gilding the greenish brown waters of the Seine as the taxi crossed the river and then swung into the courtyard of the Gare d’Austerlitz.

The train, the Joan Miro, was already standing on the platform. The coach attendant took away his ticket and passport and said he would return mem before arrival in Barcelona.

Hamish was ushered into his compartment. It contained a comfortable armchair and a private shower and toilet.

“Go straight to the dining car,” said the coach attendant. “It gets very busy. Your bed will be made down when you return.”

♦

Hamish began to enjoy himself for the first time. There was something pleasingly decadent at sitting at a dining table being served delicious food and wine while the lights of Paris whirled away in the distance.

When he returned to his cabin, he found a snowy white berth ready for him with a complimentary bar of chocolate on the pillow. Exploration of toilet and shower room revealed piles of fluffy towels and a bag with everything the traveller could need from a razor to soap and face flannel.

Hamish undressed and had a shower and then went to bed and fell fast asleep.

In the morning, he showered again, deciding that such a novelty should be tried twice, then dressed and went to the dining car, redolent with the sweet smell of croissants.

The first thing he decided to do was to leave his bag at the hotel in the Ramblas and walk down to the old port.

But waiting for him at the hotel was a smartly dressed executive from the olive oil company. After he had left his bag, he was whipped off to the factory on the outskirts, introduced to various directors, and taken on a tour of the bottling factory. Then there was a long lunch.

In the afternoon he was taken to the main factory to watch the refinery process. His guides were thorough. Then there was dinner with the executives and by the time he was taken back to his hotel, he was too weary to do anything else other than go to bed.

The same executive was waiting to trap him in the morning. This time it was out of Barcelona to the olive groves, wandering along rows of trees in the dusty heat. After lunch, more groves and then back to the city to the advertising office to study the layouts for the new labels.

Here he was praised for his slogan and asked to write a description of Pedro’s Olive Oil.

“A bottle of golden sunshine to give you long life,” wrote Hamish and they all clapped as what he had written was translated.

Back to the factory where he was presented with a small silver cup and a crate of olive oil. They promised to send the olive oil on to him.

As he was now considered one of the team, the next long day involved talks on marketing and distribution. Hamish was aware that by tomorrow he had only one free day left. Where were the senoritas he had hoped to meet?

But to his relief, at the end of another long and official dinner, he learned that the next day he was to be left to his own devices.

♦

The sun was shining brightly on the following morning. He walked down the Ramblas, that famous promenade, admiring the multitude of living statues, before ambling along the port and stopping at an outdoor fish restaurant for lunch. He was amused to see ashtrays on all the tables. France and Britain might sheepishly follow EU rules banning smoking but the Catalans did as they pleased.

He spent the afternoon back in the town buying various presents. He returned to the hotel, showered and changed into his best suit, and went up one of the side lanes off the Ramblas to a restaurant he had noticed earlier.

At the front, it looked as if it was just a small bar, but through the bar and to the side was a large restaurant.