My head turned so quickly to look at Edwin that Hector sent out one tiny whine. I’d wondered about Angus’s card under Norval’s mat, but King Arthur hadn’t quite made it into my Norval thoughts.
Ava looked at Hector before she looked up at Edwin. “No, not that I remember.”
I brought my eyebrows together as I looked at my boss.
Edwin shrugged at me before we turned back to Ava.
“Ava, has anyone named Angus—tall guy with a cowboy hat—come to see you in Wikenton?” I asked.
“When?”
“Recently.”
“No, lass, ye’re the only one tae visit as far as I know.”
I’d walked right into Ava’s cottage. I’d looked around unimpeded. I didn’t like the idea of Angus doing the same, and now Edwin’s question had made me wonder if there might truly be a connection there.
“Can you lock your cottage door?” I asked.
Ava laughed. “Lass, I havenae locked that door in decades.” But she saw my expression and her mouth formed a line. “Who is Angus and why should I lock my door?”
“It’s fine,” Edwin said. “No need tae worry.”
But he was worried, I could tell. When Elias came by, Edwin asked him to make sure the cottage was clear and that her locks worked. Elias agreed without one question.
Edwin and I watched Elias’s cab disappear with Ava inside.
“I’m going to grab my laptop. I’ll be right back,” I said.
But the shop’s phone rang before I could get halfway up the stairs.
“Aye, she’s here,” Rosie said as she signaled to me. “One moment.”
Rosie held the handpiece to her chest, covering the mouthpiece.
“Delaney, it’s a representative from the psychiatric hospital. She wants to talk to you.” Rosie’s eyes were big.
I wasn’t exactly sure why, but dread washed through me as I made my way back down the stairs and took the handpiece.
“This is Delaney Nichols, can I help you?”
THIRTY-FIVE
“Ms. Nichols, my name is Dr. Sellers and I’m here with Norval Fraser. He’s become quite agitated and said he would like to talk to you. I’d like to medicate him, but first, do you have a minute?”
“Of course,” I said as relief washed through me. When Rosie told me who was calling, I was immediately concerned for the worst. At least Norval was still alive.
“Lass?” Norval said as he took the phone.
“It’s me, Norval. What’s wrong?”
“I’m glad ye’re there. Did ye drop something in my room last night, perhaps a business card?”
“That could have been me, yes. Why?”
“Angus Murdoch?”
“Yes, it was in my pocket.” I’d put the jacket on again, and now I absently touched the spot on the outside of the pocket. I felt the outline of the negatives.
“That’s my da, lass! Angus Murdoch. I need tae know where ye got the card.”
A million thoughts sprung to life in my mind, but I zoned in on what I thought was the most pertinent one. “I thought his name was Leopold Fraser.”
“Aye. Leopold Angus Murdoch Fraser! How did ye get the card?”
“Oh, Norval,” I said.
Every Scottish man I’d met had at least four names. Tom had five. Thomas MacIntyre Lucas Frederick Shannon. I’d been working on reciting them just so I’d get the vows straight. Why hadn’t I looked up Leopold Fraser yet? It had never occurred to me that other names would be at play.
“Norval,” I continued, “he’s not your father. He’s a man from the United States who brought a valuable book into the bookshop. The name is probably just a coincidence.”
But it wasn’t, I knew that much. I was just trying to say the right things to keep him calm.
“A King Arthur book?”
“Yes,” I said. Immediately after I said the word, I held my breath.
“A tall, handsome lad all dressed in black?” Norval said
I started breathing again. “Yes, with a cowboy hat and boots?”
“No, no hat and I didnae look at his shoes. He stopped by my house about a week ago and offered me the book for all my papers. I cannae remember the name he gave me, but it wasnae Angus Murdoch. I would have remembered that. I have no use for King Arthur books, even valuable ones. I sent him away.”
“Did he have a big Texas accent? Southern United States?”
“He had an accent, but it wasnae strong. He said he was from … Oklahoma. I wish I could remember the name he gave me. Something like John or something else easy like that. It was like ye’d said, I forgot all aboot him because he was such a small part of my day. I didn’t have time for him and sent him away quickly.”
“Norval, this is very, very important—is there any chance he could have come into your flat and taken the Nessie knife without you seeing him?”
Norval was silent for so long, I thought maybe the call had become disconnected. Just as I was about to say something else, Norval spoke.
“Aye! He asked for a towel, a paper towel was fine. He’d gotten rained on and water was dripping from his face. I walked around to the kitchen and got him a towel and then gave him an extra brollie I had. All he’d had tae do was just hurry in a few steps and reach under the couch. I probably didnae kick the knife far under; he probably saw it from the doorway.”
I laughed a release of stress. “A brollie, a towel. Well, that makes sense.”
“Aye?”
“Yes, Norval, this is great. This will all help with a bunch of mysteries.”
“Will it help us know who killed my Gavin?”
Not will it help to get him, Norval, released, but will it help find the killer of his great-nephew. Norval’s mind might not have been exactly right, but his heart was.
“I hope so. I’m going to talk to the police. Hang in there, they might come talk to you again too.”
“All right. Find the killer, lass. I’m going tae miss Gavin.”
“I’ll do my best. I promise.”
We disconnected the call. I didn’t explain anything to anyone as I hurried over for my laptop. I brought it and my whole family back over to the light side.
* * *
“I didn’t look him up,” I said, my attention on my screen. A crowd had formed around me. Everyone was there. If a customer came in, chances were good they’d be ignored, though. “Too many other things going on.”
“I didn’t think about looking him up either,” Edwin said.
I typed into the search engine. “Angus Murdoch, Oklahoma.”
A number of Angus Murdochs popped up, but none of them were ours.
“Hang on,” I said. I poised my fingers on the keyboard. I listened hard to the still silence. I didn’t really need a bookish voice, but I would have welcomed one. I was rewarded.
Inhale confidence, exhale doubt.
I smiled to myself. It was an anonymous quote. That worked. I knew I was on the right track.
“I’m not thinking straight. Of course.” I typed in “Leopold Angus Murdoch Fraser” and in the flash of seconds we were rewarded, with pictures and everything.
“Oooh, Delaney, you did it, lass, you really did it,” Edwin said as we all looked at the screen. “There he is.”
Our Angus Murdoch was also actually Leopold Angus Murdoch Fraser. The third.
“Mr. Fraser’s grandparents came from Scotland during World War II and settled in Oklahoma. The first Leopold Angus Murdoch Fraser opened a dry-cleaning company, which was the beginning of Fraser Clean Enterprises, now a chain of one-hundred-sixty dry cleaners throughout the state. The first Leopold passed his entrepreneurial spirit onto his son, deceased, and his grandson, Leopold III, who now runs the company and goes by the name Angus. Mr. Fraser III has never married and when not running the businesses, devotes his extra time to his horses and the Oklahoma land his grandfather purchased eighty years ago.”
“I’ll be,” Wyatt said. “Sis, you did it. You solved the mystery.
”
“Not really. We don’t know for sure that this Angus killed Gavin. I suspect he wanted the papers, but he didn’t kill Norval. And the King Arthur book—I still don’t understand.”
“We need tae call Inspector Winters right away,” Edwin said.
“Yes.” I pulled out my phone.
* * *
“He brought you a King Arthur book? Is that why you asked me about one being stolen?” Inspector Winters said.
“Aye,” Edwin said.
“Give me a moment.” Inspector Winters looked around the bookshop.
Everyone was still right there. All my families—the one from Kansas, the one from the bookshop, and the one I was marrying into. Tom and Artair had joined us too. There didn’t appear to be any space for Inspector Winters to make a private phone call.
“Would you like to use my office?” Edwin asked.
“No, I’ll step outside a moment.” Inspector Winters was already pulling out his phone and moving toward the front door.
Edwin looked at me and I shrugged. There was still much more to the story but Inspector Winters stepped outside before we could get another word in.
However, he walked back inside a moment later and said, “Do you have the King Arthur book, Edwin?”
“Aye.” Edwin hurried up the stairs and disappeared to the other side.
I thought he’d taken the book home, but maybe he was carrying it with him wherever he went.
“What?” I said to Inspector Winters.
“In a moment. I need tae see the book. You believe he’s related to Norval Fraser?” Inspector Winters asked me.
“Yes. Our Angus is Norval’s father’s grandson, from his second family.”
“Okay.”
I drew him a couple of quick family trees, and he seemed to understand that our Angus was actually Leopold the first and Flora’s grandson. I thought that also made our Angus Norval’s step-great-nephew, but I wasn’t sure titles mattered anymore.
“And, perhaps Angus killed Gavin so he would legitimately be next in line to get Norval’s papers when Norval died,” I said. “That’s my guess.”
“Maybe,” Inspector Winters said more agreeably than he ever had.
Edwin had come back with the book and he handed it to Inspector Winters, who carefully opened to the title page.
“I’m sorry, Edwin, when you called earlier, I didn’t … well, I didn’t investigate your question as thoroughly as I should have,” Inspector Winters said. “I’m sorry, but yes, this book has been stolen from another bookshop. I’ll need to take it with me.”
“Of course,” Edwin said.
The two men looked at each other and I sensed something that might indicate that a truce was in the air. An understanding. Some mutual respect. Whatever it was, it felt positive.
“Do you know how valuable this book is?” Inspector Winters said.
“I do,” Edwin said. “I would have called you immediately if I hadn’t fallen for the lad’s story for a few days. It was a good story.”
Inspector Winters nodded. “It’s certainly interesting.”
My cell phone rang in my pocket. I pulled it out. “It’s Elias. Hello.”
“Lass,” he said amid clicks and in-and-out static. “There’s a visitor at Ava’s. I believe he’s the man ye mentioned that Ava needed tae be wary of … Angus … I’m not so sure.” The call died.
I still held the phone as I looked at the inspector. “You need to call someone to get up to Ava’s cottage in Wikenton. Will they know where that is?” I stepped around the table. “I can show you. We need to get up to Loch Ness.”
“What?” Inspector Winters said.
I pushed the button to call Elias back but it didn’t make it through. “The mobile reception must be bad up there. Hang on.” I scrolled to Ava’s number and tried to redial it. It only rang and rang, with no answer. Panic began to build in my stomach and spread to my fingertips. “I think Angus Fraser is up there with them. I know Elias can handle himself and Angus might not mean them harm, but he also might be a killer.” My words were clearer than I thought I had the ability to make them. “We need to get them some help. Let’s go.”
Inspector Winters looked at me and then asked me a couple of questions regarding the location. He quickly decided that Wikenton might be difficult even for Loch Ness police to track down.
“All right. Let’s go,” he finally said. “I’ll make calls on the way.”
Neither Tom nor Wyatt would let me go without them, so the four of us got into Inspector Winters’ police car. I didn’t know that my parents had gotten into Edwin’s and they followed behind, but I should have guessed. After all, they’d missed Loch Ness the first time they were there; they weren’t going to miss it again.
THIRTY-SIX
Inspector Winters made calls, but it was as I suspected, and Wikenton was hard to nail down. I did the best I could and told him about the cove with the two cottages and the ghost buildings up a few miles from that other cove where you could go to get a good view of the castle remains.
I tried Elias and Ava a few more times, but either the calls didn’t go through at all or they rang without an answer.
Though it wasn't a short trip, Inspector Winters’ skillful maneuvering around the curves on the tight two-lane road got us there more quickly than I would have guessed possible.
There wasn’t much conversation, since Inspector Winters was on his police radio most of the time, trying to guide Loch Ness officers or asking questions about both of the Leopold Angus Murdoch Frasers we’d now come to know, and what the dispatcher could find out about them.
Turned out, not much more than we’d learned with our earlier online search.
“There, right there!” I said as I thought I recognized the turn toward Wikenton. I was relieved to come upon the old wood sign. “Yes, this is it. You’ll have to drive around the inside of the cove to get over to Ava’s. Hurry, though.”
Inspector Winters didn’t respond but focused on driving down the narrow path that wasn’t much of a road. I spotted Edwin’s car a few cars back but I didn’t mention it to Inspector Winters. Edwin had had to speed too just to keep up.
We passed the cottage with the red door just as the gentleman who lived there came outside. He sent us a long, suspicious look. I sent him a hasty wave, but he didn’t return the greeting.
“There’s her house. There’s the cab, and that must be a car Angus was using.”
Inspector Winters stopped the police car just as Edwin’s came around behind us.
“Dammit,” Inspector Winters said. “I thought he might follow. Listen, stay in the car, all of you. We don’t know if there’s a threat, but we need tae behave as if there is one. Stay put!”
Tom, Wyatt, and I agreed.
Inspector Winters got out of the car and I could see him signal to Edwin to stay back. Edwin’s Citroën backed up enough that it was mostly hidden by the trees.
It had become cloudier on the ride to the Loch, and suddenly, the little bit of sun that had been peeking out became fully hidden by the clouds. It wasn’t as dark as night, but shadows suddenly became deep, and the dark water of the loch became even more foreboding.
Inspector Winters, his hand on his holstered gun, made his way to the cottage’s front door. He pushed it open easily and disappeared inside. The few seconds we didn’t see him seemed to stretch and turn into long minutes, but he was back outside shortly, behaving as if he’d found no one inside. He sent us, and then Edwin’s car, “halt” hand signals, indicating we should all remain where we were. I nodded, but I wasn’t sure he could see me.
Inspector Winters made his way to the rocky shore and followed a path that took him closer to the water and farther away from our view. Soon, he was hidden completely by the trees. I thought back to Norval’s story and how he hid behind the tree when he was a boy, how he came out from behind it and found his father.
“This is the precise spot,” I said. I opened the door and got out
of the police car. Tom and Wyatt were in the backseat and couldn’t open their doors from the inside. I let them out too.
And then Edwin and my parents were out of Edwin’s car and hurrying toward us.
“I … I need to go over there,” I said.
“No!” rang out from everyone.
“He told us to wait,” Tom said as he stepped next to me.
“I know,” I said. I looked at my fiancé, my boss, my parents, and my brother. “I have to go over there. I’m pretty sure this is where Norval saw Nessie. I have to look. I’ll be careful.”
“No!” my father said. “We’ll wait right here, until the police give us the okay.”
I nodded, but then everything changed. We heard a splash, a big splash, and then a voice, maybe female, but indistinguishable enough for us to wonder, came to us, loud and clear. “Delaney!”
We all took off in a run. The small rocks were slippery and the trees were even thicker than I remembered them to be, but, shortly, en masse, we came upon the scene.
Ava, Elias, Inspector Winters, and Angus stood on the shore and looked out to the water. Inspector Winters didn’t have his gun drawn and no one seemed in much distress, but they were all looking out toward the same place.
“Lass,” Elias said.
“Delaney,” Inspector Winters said. “I asked you all to wait back there. We were just talking, and we were on our way back to the cottage in a moment.”
“I saw her!” Angus said. “I just saw her! She was beautiful.”
I looked at Ava, who nodded solemnly. I looked at Elias, who shrugged somewhat helplessly. Finally, I looked at Inspector Winters, who was just trying to take in everything at once and remain calm.
“Someone yelled my name,” I said.
“No one here,” Inspector Winters said.
I looked at Tom and Wyatt. They both said they thought they heard it too, but it could have been something else. I wanted to ask what else it could have possibly been, but there were more important things.
“Why are you all over here?” I asked.
“This is where I told them they could see her,” Ava offered, seeming to have heard me just fine, even over the increasing wind. “I’d told her tae leave me alone a long time ago, but I knew she’d come back. He,” she nodded toward Angus, “wanted badly tae see her.”
The Loch Ness Papers Page 24