by Carly Reid
* * *
She pushed the door inwards and entered Gillespies. The restaurant wasn’t very big, a long narrow room with two rows of tables arranged mostly in twos and fours. For a big party, staff would happily push tables together, and it was even possible to book out the whole place for a very special occasion. Just inside the door on the left there was a high counter, bearing a sign ‘Please wait to be seated.’ The property had two deep bay windows, and in front of the counter there was a window seat where you could wait. On the right of the door there was the coveted window table, with an identical boxed in bench seat forming two places at a table sized for six. There was nobody sitting there at present. In fact, at first Jessica thought there was no-one in Gillespies at all. It was half-past four, long past lunch time and before the dinner bookings would have started. However, as her eyes adjusted to the light levels in the restaurant, she saw that there was someone sitting at a table near the back – a woman, facing away from the rest of the restaurant.
Gillespies had an opulent, luxurious feel. The walls were painted in a dark blue – almost navy, and the table covers were the same color but edged with a border of rich gold. The color scheme was enhanced by the chosen Christmas decorations – small, gold sequined reindeer adorned each table, and warm white fairy lights on delicate gold-colored wire were slung across the assortment of gilt framed mirrors which served as the only wall decorations, and had the effect of opening up the relatively narrow space. As Jessica looked around, the swing door at the back of the restaurant opened and the manager came through, wearing a full-length starched white apron over a navy dress. Her silver-grey hair was cut in a chic chin-length style.
“Good afternoon, what can I do for you?”
The woman reached the counter and slotted herself in efficiently behind it, picking up an appointment diary and logging in to the computer console that also sat there – all in a couple of practiced, fluid movements.
She continued. “Were you looking to book? We are very busy over the next couple of weeks as you might imagine, although I could probably squeeze you in if you weren’t too big a party.”
Jessica replied.
“No, no, I am actually just looking for a gift voucher for my aunt as a Christmas present. I think you can do them? It would be for a meal for two.”
“Oh yes, absolutely. A very popular gift. We have vouchers for two or three courses plus your choice of a glass of sparkling, red or white wine, or a soft drink. They do expire after a year and there are some restrictions, although not many. Which would suit you, two or three courses?”
Jessica made her decisions, then paid for the voucher. The woman slipped it inside a beautifully designed navy and gold gift card bearing the word ‘Gillespies’ across it, and placed it inside a thick, navy envelope which she left unsealed for Jessica to be able to add her own message.
“Lovely. I hope your aunt likes her gift, and I look forward to welcoming her and her dining companion in the future. Tell her that it would be best to book – and we tend to have a cut-off for last dining at half past eight. Any later than that, and we find people can stay on beyond our license time.”
Then she nodded to the table at the back and dropped her voice.
“Not that it makes much difference. I had –” she cleared her throat, “– a party of women in on Friday night who had booked for 7pm but a couple of them were still sitting there at close to 11pm. I hope she doesn’t stay as long today.”
Once again she looked meaningfully at the back corner of the room.
Jessica looked again herself, and for the first time realized that there was something familiar about the woman. Surely there was no mistaking that shiny long curtain of blonde hair? And then Jessica saw the padded red coat with the fur lined hood hanging from the coat stand at the back of the restaurant. It was Samantha Johnston. Jessica had seen her here at the beginning of Yule Night, and it looked as if this was the alibi the police had mentioned.
A car pulled to a halt immediately outside, revved its powerful engine twice, and then cut out. She heard its door slamming, and then the door of Gillespie’s opened and a man walked in. Neil Campbell. Nodding to Jessica, he got straight to the point of his visit.
“Good afternoon! I was told I could come and pick up a dining voucher – a donation to the Business Association Charity Auction?”
The restaurant manager nodded. “Yes, Mr Campbell. I have a note here. I’ll get that made up for you.”
“Thank you. I’m doing the rounds. Not many to go now.” His eyes flicked sideways towards the back of the restaurant. “While I’m waiting, I’ll go and see if Johnston Electricals want to participate as well.”
He took himself off to the back of the room, where he greeted Samantha Johnston and sat down opposite her. Jessica noticed the restaurant manager raising her eyebrows slightly, and wondered if she was of a similar mind to Jessica – that it was a little tactless to be chasing for donations right now. Even if Samantha Johnston had been separated from her husband and might not be grieving exactly, it was still a shock. In fact, Jessica made up her mind – it was a lot tactless. Staying at the Lochside Hydro, dining at Gillespies – Bill Johnston’s ex clearly was not short of money and perhaps Neil Campbell knew that. Jessica had hoped the woman was in Dalkinchie to book her flowers in with Reenie, although there might be little chance of that now that Neil Campbell had got hold of her. It was nearly closing time.
Jessica smiled at the restaurant manager, finished paying for the voucher and left.
* * *
Realizing that it was nearly time for both Ealisaid and Reenie to start closing up, Jessica decided to pop to the middle of the High Street to catch up with her friend and then make amends with Reenie, so that they could take their customary walk home through the park. She made sure that her gifts were neatly tucked down and her backpack fully zipped up.
When she arrived at the door of the café, only Mairead was visible, clearing off the empty tables. There were just two customers, both nursing mugs of hot drinks and eating one of Ealisaid’s delicious cakes. Jessica realized that she had managed to skip lunch which was most unlike her. She wasn’t about to order anything now, she didn’t think it was fair so close to the end of the evening. Mairead would not thank her.
“Hi Mairead! Is your sister here?”
Mairead was her usual taciturn self.
“She’s in the kitchen.” This was the only response Jessica got, accompanied by a sideways jerk of the teenager’s head in the direction of the kitchen door.
“Is it OK if I – ?”
Jessica asked before moving through into the kitchen, but Mairead either hadn’t heard her or didn’t care.
She went through but could immediately see that Ealisaid was definitely not in the small, efficiently organized kitchen. She must have been mid clearing–up, as it was nearly immaculate apart from the last lot of dishes which were currently in one of the large steel sinks, awaiting their turn in the dishwasher. Jessica then noticed that the door which led out to the back of the property was slightly ajar – Ealisaid must be out in the courtyard for some reason, perhaps to make use of the further storage that was located out there, or the dumpster.
Jessica eased the back door open further, intending to go out and chat to her friend. She wanted Ealisaid’s take on her recent conversation with Amy Matthews, and to tell her that she had gone ahead and bought the gift voucher. However, just as she opened the door she heard raised voices.
“Craig, I don’t care what you say – you cannae lie to the police! You’ll get into even more trouble!”
Jessica could see through the gap. Ealisaid was swinging garbage bags into the large dumpsters. Craig was leaning against the adjacent wall, furiously smoking a cigarette.
“Ealisaid, I cannae tell them now! It will look really suspicious, they’ll want to know why I never said anything at the beginning when they questioned me.”
Ealisaid finished dumping the bags, and brushed off her hand
s, which she then placed on her hips as she scolded Craig.
“No’ half as suspicious as it will look when somebody else tells them about that fight you had wi’ Bill Johnston!”
Jessica stifled a gasp. Luckily neither Craig nor Ealisaid appeared to hear, either because they were too busy arguing or because the thickness of the back door blocked the sound.
Craig was replying.
“It wisnae exactly a fight. No’ exactly. I never touched the man.”
Ealisaid sighed, and shook her head.
“Do you think that will matter, once they hear that you nearly threw him out the pub? Honestly Craig, I’m surprised that Murdo doesnae already know. It’s only a matter of time before someone connects the dots and tells them that you two were having a row. He was found in your pub, Craig. That’s no’ a good sign. And you found him! That makes you a potential suspect, too.”
“What, you think I could have murdered him? Wi’ a bar full o’ people all wanting drinks on one o’ the busiest nights of the year, you think I had time to nip off and kill Bill Johnston and stuff him in the cleaning cupboard for me to find later on? And why would I do that anyway?”
Ealisaid looked as it she didn’t know how to answer, but then she moved closer to Craig and put one hand on his arm. He still didn’t look at her, looking down, off to the side, anywhere but meeting her eyes.
“Look, it doesnae matter what I think. It matters what the police think, or if they can get a case together. I don’t want them to find oot from someone else that you owed Bill Johnston money, and you’d already had words about it. That’s exactly the kind of thing that they might consider to be a motive. But you didnae murder anyone, so you don’t have anything to worry about. Just tell the truth, and trust the police to figure out what really happened.”
Craig finished his cigarette, grinding the stub against the wall to completely extinguish it, and then put it in the bin. He still didn’t look at Ealisaid, and began walking away.
“Where are you going?”
“To open up the bar. It’s coming up for 5pm, time for my shift, nearly. You’ll no’ say anything, will you Ealisaid?”
At this he did turn to look at his friend, clearly emotional. His face looked haggard, the dark shadows under his eyes betraying his lack of sleep.
“I won’t, but I really think you should…and I won’t let it go, you know.”
Craig sighed, and attempted a smile. “No. I know.”
With that he left the back courtyard, using the gate rather than going through the café. Jessica quietly withdrew, letting the door close gently. She exited the kitchen, and for once was grateful for Mairead’s lack of curiousity and conversation because it meant that she didn’t have to explain herself.
“Bye, Mairead, see you later,” she said, walking towards the main door. Mairead barely looked up, giving one half-hearted wave of her hand.
Jessica left Lissa’s, her heart thudding. She couldn’t believe what she had just heard. Craig was in debt to Bill Johnston, and had lied about it to the police? They had already had a public argument about it? That explained Ealisaid’s reaction at the weekend, when Craig had claimed that he didn’t have any issues with Bill Johnston. She had known he was lying.
This new understanding didn’t make things any easier, however. Now she had information to report to the police about both Amy and Craig, and was beginning to wish she had listened to Reenie and stayed out of it.
Whether or not investigating was dangerous, the excitement of a mystery could also bring a heavy emotional burden.
A Night at the Church...
The Christmas lights twinkled as Dalkinchie residents made their way in ones, twos and small groups towards the Dalkinchie Parish Church for the annual Community Carol Concert. Among them were Jessica and Reenie, well wrapped up against the cold. Reenie wore a dark green felt hat, pulled over her auburn curls, and a long, thick grey wool coat. Jessica was wrapped up as she had been the night of the Yule Night procession except that she had traded her fingerless gloves for a knitted pair of Reenie’s. They hadn’t spoken much about the argument of the day before, and Reenie had brushed off Jessica’s apologies. She knew, however, that the loan of the gloves was intended as a peace offering, and she had taken it as such. It was hard to remain annoyed on a perfect festive evening such as this.
The church bells were ringing out across the village, echoing slightly in the still, cold night. Frost crunched underfoot. The church windows glowed, the lights within illuminating the stained glass and casting a warm glow on the perimeter. A light fog gave everything a fuzzy outline. As they drew near to the building Jessica spotted Grant helping his mother, Mrs Mack, up the three wide steps into the entrance of the church. Reenie moved forward to assist further by offering Mrs Mack her other arm. Jessica hung back to give them some space. As she did so, someone put gloved hands over her eyes from behind.
“Guess who?”
It was unmistakably Ealisaid’s voice and Jessica broke into giggles. She and her friend climbed the stairs.
“Where’s Mairead?”
“She’s abandoned me in favor of her friends. Look.” A little further on, Jessica could see the teenager, laughing with a group of young people that Jessica recognized. Mairead was in her sixth and final year of High School, and Ealisaid had started to worry about what the young woman might do next. It had just been the two sisters for the past decade, with Ealisaid taking on responsibilities for Mairead’s care when she was barely older than the younger girl was now. Jessica knew that this had been challenging, but she couldn’t help but think that the next phase, the transition from school into whatever awaited Mairead, might prove to be a bigger challenge for her friend. She had spent so much of her time looking after Mairead, how would she cope when her younger sister no longer required looking after?
As Ealisaid and Jessica waited for the line of people ahead of them to take their seats, Jessica took the opportunity to talk quietly to her friend about the conversation she had overhead earlier. She didn’t think any good would come from covering it up, especially having heard Ealisaid’s views on honesty and transparency.
“I’ve got to tell you something.”
Her friend looked at her inquiringly, dark eyebrows raised under the creamy woolen brim of her bobble hat.
“I overheard you and Craig talking outside your kitchen earlier. I’d popped in to see you and Mairead waved me through, but when I saw you were in the middle of a discussion, I left.”
Jessica didn’t elaborate, nor did she fully explain just how long she had spent listening, her ear to the gap in the door.
“Oh dear.” Ealisaid looked contemplative for a moment. Then she seemed to come to a decision and, looking around then leaning in closer, said “no’ here. I’ll fill you in after.”
Jessica nodded. It didn’t matter now anyway. Even with the information she already had in her possession, she felt she had no choice but to tell DI Gordon and Murdo what she had learned.
They settled themselves into a pew. With wall-mounted heaters shining down on the congregation, and pipes running underneath the pews, Jessica soon began to feel quite cozy. Someone had put printed pamphlets of Christmas Carols out on the ledge for everyone to access. Above the pulpit hung a single gold star, and the fully decorated Christmas tree in the corner boasted an angel atop the highest branches. The church was old, older than most of the other buildings in Dalkinchie, and had a large organ, carved wooden pulpit and a lectern shaped like an eagle at the front.
The first few pews were lined with elementary school children and the pamphlet informed everyone that there was going to be a brief reenactment of the Nativity, as well as some songs performed by the children themselves. Jessica looked forward to the proceedings, but knowing that she would have to do a very quick write-up of the evening for the The Herald, resolved to take the pamphlet home and to spend the tea break in the middle noting down her thoughts in the notebook that she always carried with her.
&nb
sp; The concert started with a perennial favorite, ‘Away In A Manger’. For a moment, Jessica experienced a flashback, to the same song sung a year before in a completely different setting – Mike’s little sister’s school. The whole family had attended a Christmas concert there. She pulled her thoughts back to the present, where the children went on to perform a couple of songs and then their nativity immediately after that, presumably doing so while they still had enough energy. The final song before the tea break was ‘Hark the Herald Angels Sing’, and by this time the congregation had warmed up and were in fine voice, singing the harmonies and the melodies, with a couple of true soprano voices ringing out like bells. Jessica felt even more Christmassy all of a sudden, and was able to push the lurking thoughts of last year’s celebration out of her head. What did it matter what happened last year? All that mattered was that she was here, now, in Dalkinchie where she belonged.
The hymn drew to a close, and the minister led everyone in a short prayer, before announcing that tea, coffee and a variety of goodies would be served in the hall next door. Jessica had noticed a few women making an exit immediately after the last hymn, presumably to go and set up the refreshments. Now everybody began to shuffle to their feet and make their way, slowly, through one of the doors at the back of the church that led to the low hall. It was a slow business; the church was very busy, packed full in fact, and everywhere Jessica looked she could see familiar faces. Yes, I belong here.
As they finally made it into the lower hall, Ealisaid went to speak to her younger sister, leaving Jessica in the queue with strict instructions to pick up a tea and possibly some shortbread, but only if Margaret Mustard’s ginger shortbread was there. Being an excellent baker herself, Ealisaid was particular about her biscuits. As luck would have it, Jessica found herself in the line beside Amy.