M.C. Beaton - Death of a Gentle Lady

Hamish decided to buy presents before the bus arrived. He bought a wooden salad bowl for his mother, two carved candlesticks for Angela, and an attenuated wood sculpture of a woman for Priscilla.

The prices were remarkably reasonable. Then he noticed a carving of a man, a flat bloated man whose face was set in a horrible sneer. It looked remarkably like Blair. Hamish bought it as a present for Jimmy.

Then he thought how much his mother would like some tweed and bought a length of a heathery blue-and-pink mixture.

He carried all his purchases back to his cottage and returned just in time to see the tour bus make its precipitous descent of the cliff road. He walked behind a shed at the end of the harbour and looked around. The bus was full – full of elderly ladies and two elderly men.

He came out of hiding and walked towards it. Two were being helped into wheelchairs. Some walked with sticks.

Hamish went up to the tour guide, a slim woman in a yellow suit. “Where are this lot from?” he asked.

“A retirement home in Perth,” she said. “Great for us. They booked the whole bus, and this is a quiet time of year. I’d better go and help them with their purchases.”

Hamish was pleased to see that sales were brisk.

After half an hour of buying, the tour operator called out, “If you will make your way to the village hall, there is a buffet lunch.”

Hamish thought a free meal was just what he needed after having spent so much, but when he got to the hall, James was at the door. “Six pounds for the lunch, William, and cheap at the price.” Hamish paid up.

He collected a plate of cold chicken and salad from the buffet and sat down next to one of the elderly gentlemen who turned out to be stone deaf, so Hamish contented himself by studying the women just in case one of them might look like someone in disguise. But for a start, not one of them was tall enough to fit the description of the woman who had made that phone call.

♦

Superintendent Daviot was told that a Miss Elspeth Grant of the Bugle was waiting to speak to him.

He hesitated. But he was wearing a new suit and thought he looked very fine. “Does she have a photographer with her?” he asked.

“Yes, a sour-faced Glasgow type,” said the sergeant at the front desk.

“Send them up,” said Daviot.

He brushed back his silver hair and asked Helen to prepare coffee and biscuits. He had met Elspeth before but not the photographer, who was a sullen, middle-aged man with a bloated face.

“Do sit down, Miss Grant,” purred Daviot. “We have met before.”

Elspeth indicated the photographer, who was crouched on the floor, taking cameras out of his box. “That’s Billy Southey.”

Helen came in with a laden tray. Elspeth waited until coffee had been poured and Helen had left before saying, “I hear Hamish Macbeth is hiding out in Grianach.”

Daviot looked at her in shock. “Who told you that?”

“It’s all over Lochdubh, and I want to know why. Some man turned up at that bar on the waterfront and started shooting his mouth off. The thing is, if it was supposed to be such a secret, how did it leak out?”

“I will look into it right away. I do not want you to write anything just now. It is a matter of PC Macbeth’s security.” He pressed a buzzer on his desk. When Helen entered, he ordered her to get Jimmy Anderson up immediately.

Blair was lurking around the detectives’ room. He was waiting to see Daviot to explain he was ready to return to work. He hated the idea of Jimmy being in charge.

A policewoman appeared and called to Jimmy, “You’re to go up to the super’s office right away, sir.”

“Now what,” grumbled Jimmy, heading for the door.

In Daviot’s office, Elspeth was saying, “He was a thin, scruffy man in his forties. Looked like a druggie.”

“It’s a pity no one got a photograph,” said Daviot.

“Oh, but they did. A photographer from the Highland Times was out taking pictures for the calendar. I looked through them. He’s got a shot of the harbour and people on the waterfront, and that looks like our man.”

She was carrying a manila envelope which she opened, pulling out a glossy photograph just as Jimmy entered the room.

Daviot outlined what had happened and said to Jimmy, “See if you recognise the man.”

Jimmy looked at the photograph. It showed a group of people outside Patel’s grocery store. He pointed to a man in the middle of the group. “That’s Tommy Shields, drug pusher and addict. I’ll find him.”

Billy began to rapidly pack up his cameras as Elspeth rose to go. “Elspeth,” said Jimmy, “come down to the detectives’ room and I’ll take a statement from you.”

No photographs, thought Daviot, disappointed. The new suit would have looked grand.

♦

Blair looked up as Jimmy came hurrying in. “Do you know someone called Tommy Shields?”

Feeling as if he had just gone down in a very fast elevator, Blair said, “No, what’s he done?”

“Never mind,” muttered Jimmy, switching on the computer.

“I am your senior officer,” raged Blair.

“Aye, sir, but you’re not supposed to be here. Find a chair, Elspeth, and I’ll take your statement. On second thoughts, I’ll take it later. I’d like to find this Tommy Shields first.”

Blair lumbered to his feet and headed rapidly out of police headquarters. He had to get to Tommy before they did.

He got in his car and raced down to the tower block by the docks. The lift was broken and he had to hurry up the filthy stairs, stopping on each landing to catch his breath. At last he reached Tommy’s door and hammered on it.

There was no reply. Frantic with fear, he took a small cosh out of his pocket, smashed one of the glass panes on the door, and, reaching inside, turned the handle.

There was a foul smell of booze and a sweetish smell of decay. He went into the bedroom. Tommy was sprawled across a dirty bed with a needle stuck in his arm. Blair felt for a pulse and found none.

“There is a God,” muttered Detective Chief Inspector Blair, and he fled from the flat, taking the stairs two at a time. He gained the sanctuary of his car and drove off – just in time. Two police cars swept past him going towards the tower blocks.

He had worn thick gloves the whole time, except when he had felt for that pulse. Could they get a fingerprint off a dead body? They surely wouldn’t be looking for one. Of course, the fact that the flat looked broken into would start them thinking about murder, but the only fingerprints they would find on that syringe would be Tommy’s.

Well, that pillock Macbeth would be safe now. He wouldn’t hang around Grianach waiting to be murdered.

♦

But that was just what Hamish Macbeth proposed doing. He told an angry Jimmy Anderson that it was their only hope of catching the murderer.

“I’ll see if I can get Daviot to agree to it,” said Jimmy finally, “but we haven’t got any spare men to go all the way up there on the off-chance. We found the informant.”

He told Hamish about Tommy Shields.

“That iss verra interesting,” said Hamish, the sibilance of his accent showing he was upset. “If you’ve got any spare time, see if Blair ever arrested the man.”

“Do you mean to say Blair was behind this?”

“Wouldn’t surprise me. I’m not saying he murdered the man, but if he got there before you and found him dead, he must ha’ been verra relieved.”

“Hamish, even if I found out Blair was behind it, I doubt if Daviot would believe me. I went up to tell him about Tommy when I got back and there was a big bunch of flowers on his desk. Daviot said, “Aren’t they lovely? So nice of Mr. Blair to remember my wife’s birthday.” Look, I’ll give you a day or two longer and then you’d better get out of there. Go somewhere else.”