by Lacey Dearie
Hugh and Annabella both raised their eyebrows while Leger and Lily nodded to each other. It seemed reasonable that if Carole was preoccupied and wanted some time alone, she would have returned to the one part of the island that she knew had made her smile. The problem was, that place was known to be dangerous and one life had already been lost there that week.
‘I don’t like the sound of this,’ Bob growled. ‘Remember I went to the loch with her yesterday?’
‘Yes?’ Leger and Lily chorused.
‘I thought she was going to jump in at one point,’ Bob growled. ‘I didn’t mention it because I was sure I was mistaken.’
‘This is not sounding good,’ Lily muttered.
‘You have to go down there, Leger. You have to see if she’s there and stop her!’ Bob barked, becoming increasingly agitated.
Leger’s whiskers flattened at the thought of returning to the loch.
‘I can’t,’ he said.
‘Why?’ Lily asked. ‘Surely now that the cygnet is back with his parents, there’s nothing for you to worry about! The swans must have seen how much you cared about their little one.’
‘You would think!’ Leger sneered. ‘Lily, you’ve been on this island much longer than me. Have you ever heard of a local swan with the ability to kill a human?’
Lily narrowed her eyes. ‘Do you suspect this swan of killing Sean Gilbert?’
Leger sighed and sat upright, slicking his fur back from his face and adjusting his collar before he started to relate the story of what had happened. He told Lily and Bob everything while Brianna listened in, pretending to understand what they were saying and Hugh made breakfast in the kitchen.
Lily hissed. ‘I might have known it would be those swans! The male is called Kevin, that I know. I’m pretty sure the female is called Cynthia, although I’ve heard nothing of her for a while.’
‘Obviously, he’s no killer. Either that or you’re a pretty fearsome little furball. You lived to tell the tale,’ Bob noted.
‘Exactly!’ Lily said, dismissing the notion that Kevin was at all dangerous. ‘He is all talk.’
‘It’s a shame we’re not on friendlier terms. The swans might have seen Carole and been able to provide information about her whereabouts or mental state,’ Leger seethed. ‘I was sure Annabella read an article yesterday about Sean Gilbert’s death and the friend said he was pushed, although no mention of a swan was made! Surely the swan couldn’t have killed him.’
‘Leger, we have no choice. We have to face up to these swans and get more information, not just about Carole’s whereabouts, but about Sean Gilbert’s passing too. We can’t have someone going round threatening the cats of the island and killing humans,’ Lily decided.
‘You are, of course, correct,’ Leger said. ‘If any cat or human is in danger, we must protect them. Even cats like Massingham. That doesn’t mean I relish the prospect of visiting the swans again.’
‘It has to be done though. Right?’ Lily said, prodding him with one paw.
Leger emitted a noise that signalled his reluctant commitment to the idea.
‘Great! Well, I’ll be spending the day napping on top of the kitchen cupboards. Give me a shout if you solve this one,’ Lily declared, striding out of the room.
‘Can you believe that, Bob? She’s not even going to come with me!’ Leger hissed.
Bob panted, struggling not to erupt into full-blown hysterical laughter. ‘Just do what you can, Leger. I’m sure if there’s anything to be uncovered, you’ll manage it.’
*****
Leger couldn’t remember the last time he felt this nervous about something. He flicked through the various investigations he had carried out in his mind and came to the conclusion that coming face to face with this evil swan again was far more terrifying than any of the human criminals he had encountered during his time as a sleuth.
He padded across the grass, his eyes peeled for any sign of swans or cygnets. He knew if he came across Iain again, the young cygnet would probably be happy to share some information with him, if he had any, but talking to the baby would be risky as if he was found by the parents, he would surely not be allowed to leave the loch without a fight.
He spied Kevin, the cob. Leger noted that he seemed to be alone which was very unusual as swans usually swan in pairs and never left their partner’s side. He climbed into the reeds and observed for a short time from his hiding place. Iain was waddling by his father’s side.
‘Come on, Iain. Hurry up. You ate too much at breakfast time, didn’t you?’ Kevin tutted.
‘Sorry Dad,’ Iain groaned.
‘You will be when you’re too heavy to swim!’ Kevin shot.
Leger narrowed his eyes. He knew if he could just get Iain on his own, he would help Leger and provide all the answers he needed. He watched as the little grey bird toddled along, dragging his feet and completely lacking in enthusiasm for whatever his father had planned. When enough distance was between Iain and his father, Leger hissed at him.
‘Psst! Iain!’
The little grey bird turned around and looked for the source of the voice.
‘Iain! Over here in the reeds,’ Leger whispered.
Iain waddled to where Leger was and hid in the long grass along with him.
‘Kitty! I’m so sorry about my Dad. He’s really over-protective,’ Iain said.
‘It’s quite alright, and my name is Leger. Will it be safe for us to talk here?’ he asked.
‘It should be,’ Iain replied, shrugging his wings. It was only then that Leger noticed he had one wing shorter than the other. Of course his father would be protective of him, given that he was differently abled to most of his peers.
‘I had some questions I wanted to ask you. You see, I’m a detective and I think you might be able to help with my investigation,’ Leger advised.
‘A detective? You mean, you solve mysteries?’ Iain squawked, getting a little over-excited.
‘Yes, that’s correct. Would you like that, Iain? Would you like to help me solve a mystery or two?’ he smiled down at his new friend.
‘Of course I would! What do you need to know?’
‘There are two cases I’m working on at the moment. They might even be linked by the same perpetrator.’
‘What’s a perpetrator?’ Iain frowned.
‘The bad guy. Now, there was a woman here yesterday with a black dog and a little girl. The woman’s name is Carole. Do you remember her?’
‘Yes! She gave us an iced bun,’ Iain said, his eyes lighting up.
‘Excellent. She’s a very generous lady, although sadly, she’s a dog person. Still, nobody’s perfect. Did you by any chance see her again either last night or this morning?’ Leger asked.
‘I did. She was here with a man,’ Iain said, his eyes darkening.
Leger noticed the change in Iain’s mood and wondered if it would be appropriate to proceed. Could he really interrogate someone so young? Did he have any other choice?
‘Don’t be upset, Iain. Just tell me what you saw. What did the man look like? Did you recognise him?’ Leger asked.
‘No, I didn’t,’ he replied. ‘I heard them kissing. They made kiss noises. Then they had a fight.’
‘What did he look like?’ Leger probed.
‘I don’t know. I couldn’t see his face because he was so tall. If I saw his legs, I could identify him!’
Leger rubbed a paw against his whiskers as he considered this. He couldn’t help but scowl. He knew humans didn’t always mate for life and sometimes had more than one husband or wife, but he couldn’t imagine Carole having a relationship with another man while she was married.
‘What about the conversation? Did you hear any of it?’ Leger pushed.
‘No, not really,’ Iain shrugged again. ‘What was your other case? You said you had a couple.’
‘Ah, yes. The man who was pushed into the loch the other day. I need to find the culprit and I was hoping that someone who lives here – that would be you �
�� could tell me exactly what happened,’ Leger said.
Iain’s eyes completely changed then and Leger couldn’t help wondering what was going through his mind. He had gone from being completely co-operative to reluctant to speak at all and that alone was enough to ring alarm bells.
‘Iain? Can you tell me what you saw?’ Leger said.
‘Nothing. I didn’t see anything,’ Iain said. ‘But I know who pushed that man and I know that he’ll be in a lot of trouble if anyone finds out.’
‘Who was it?’ Leger said, leaning forward as he anticipated the answer. ‘Was it the man that Carole met last night?’
‘What? No! It wasn’t a man, it was…’
‘Iain!’
The young cygnet’s father pulled back the reeds with his beak and opened his wings wide. He looked huge and menacing and Leger knew it was the right time to leave. Without any further conversation, and not even a farewell, Leger sped off in the direction of the McInnes household yet again so he could relate his findings to Lily and Bob and they could mull over the suspicions he now held.
Leger was sure he reached the house in record time. He propelled himself through the cat flap so he tumbled when he hit the floor. Lily, who had declared earlier she would be sleeping on top of the cupboards, was curled up in between Bob’s paws and the pair were cuddling, cheek to cheek.
‘Don’t mind me,’ Leger sniffed.
‘We won’t!’ Lily grinned. ‘What did you find out?’
Leger sat opposite his two housemates and took his time licking his front paws before he began relating the story of his meeting with Iain.
‘From what I can deduce, Carole went to the loch to meet a man. They are clearly very close because Iain, the cygnet, heard kissing noises but then they argued. I was going to ask Iain what happened after they argued but I didn’t get a chance,’ Leger said.
‘If anything major had happened, like if things had turned violent in any way, he would have said so without being asked. It’s not the kind of thing you just leave out,’ Lily decided.
Bob made a noise of agreement but kept his mouth closed.
‘I think you’re right, Lily. At least now we know it wasn’t a man who pushed Sean Gilbert into the pond the other day too. It was either a woman or a swan,’ Leger said. ‘That also means that Sean Gilbert’s friend, the one who spoke to the paper, isn’t responsible for pushing him in and is either protecting the culprit or has amnesia.’
‘Is he out of hospital?’ Lily probed.
‘Who?’ Leger asked.
‘Sean Gilbert’s friend.’
‘Yes, apparently so. He gave the interview on his release from hospital,’ Leger advised. ‘What are you thinking?’
‘When was Sean Gilbert pushed into the water?’ Lily asked.
‘Monday,’ Bob said. ‘Definitely Monday.’
‘And when did Carole and the kids arrive?’ Lily continued.
‘They arrived on Sunday evening,’ Leger hissed. ‘I don’t like where you’re going with this.’
‘It’s just a theory,’ Lily said.
‘But it’s one that makes sense, no matter how much I want to believe it’s wrong!’ Leger cringed.
‘Wait, let me get this straight,’ Bob said. ‘Carole arrived on Sunday night, Sean Gilbert was murdered on Monday and because Carole likes the loch and a baby swan said it wasn’t a man who killed Sean Gilbert, you assume it was Carole who did it?’
Lily sucked in a breath and ground her teeth. ‘You have to admit, she’s been awfully quiet all week.’
‘It can’t be true,’ Leger countered. ‘I just don’t believe it.’
‘But it’s a possibility! What if the man she met at the loch was Sean Gilbert’s friend, who is covering for her?’
‘There’s one thing missing from this stupid theory,’ Bob growled. ‘A motive!’
‘Bob, please settle down. I’m just adding up the facts!’ Lily defended.
‘You’re causing trouble. Do you know what could happen with ridiculous accusations and rumours like this? You could ruin an innocent woman’s reputation permanently. This is not right!’
Leger took a step back from the pair as they separated and Lily leapt up on top of the cupboard, via the worktops and the sink. Bob and Lily were firm friends and very affectionate but he feared that her accusations against Carole could cause a rift between them. Bob was very fond of the young woman and there was no way he would ever hear a word said against her.
He crept back to the living room, where Hugh and Annabella were munching on croissants and Brianna was enjoying some toast smeared with chocolate spread. Even baby Louis was licking a buttered finger of toast and everyone seemed calm on the surface. Leger knew that inside, Annabella’s stomach would be churning and her mind would be racing as she rattled through various worst-case scenarios in her mind. Hugh’s brows were lowered, and he was preoccupied, eating in silence rather than chattering as he often did at breakfast time but he was reining in any fears he had in an attempt to keep his wife calm. Brianna and Louis had no awareness of just how much danger or trouble their mother could have been in at that time.
Leger couldn’t believe that now, not only did he have the drowning case to solve, but he also had to track down Carole. He hated to think that Lily could somehow have been right and that Carole was in any way involved in the drowning incident but he had to admit, it would explain a lot.
*****
‘So, what’s our first line of enquiry?’ Bob asked, sniffing around the living room floor for crumbs dropped earlier.
‘Our line of enquiry? What do you mean, ours?’ Leger asked, narrowing his eyes. ‘Do you want to take a more active role in this particular case?’
‘I do,’ Bob agreed, nodding his head up and down. ‘If it means finding Carole quicker and clearing her name, I’ll do whatever it takes.’
‘I appreciate your offer of help but I think you have to take a back seat,’ Leger advised.
‘But why?’ Bob whimpered.
‘You’re too close to this. There’s a conflict of interest here. Can you honestly tell me you can compartmentalise your emotions?’ Leger asked, his whiskers twitching.
‘Of course not, but isn’t that what makes me perfect as your wingman? You’ve often been close to the victim in various different cases and that’s your motivation. Helping Carole is mine,’ Bob explained.
‘That’s very true, but I’ve never been close to the person who committed the crime,’ Leger said. ‘Except for that one time when it turned out to be Hugh, but I didn’t know he was involved when I was investigating. And that time when it was Tony.’
‘Face it Leger, you can’t use that argument. We both like Carole. Perhaps I like her more than you do but neither of us want to believe that she is the murderer in this incident. Lily is the only one who seems to want Carole to be guilty.’
‘I don’t think it’s that she wants Carole to be the murderer. I think she is simply less biased than we are,’ Leger frowned.
Bob stared at Leger for a moment then said, ‘So, am I in?’
‘Yes. I say this because, in my heart, I don’t believe Carole is involved in the death of Sean Gilbert.’
‘Great,’ Bob said. ‘I’ve been brainstorming and I had some ideas.’
Leger’s whiskers twitched with amusement. Bob was clearly taking this seriously and although it was surprising, it was welcome. Leger had never seen Bob so enthusiastic about an investigation. Usually the only times he got this excited involved food or walks.
‘Now, what I thought we could do is ask some of the other animals in the village. Hugh will take me for a walk at some point today. If I whine a lot, he might do it right away. It will give him a chance to look around for Carole anyway.’
‘Good thinking,’ Leger began to say, but was interrupted as Bob pressed ahead with his own ideas.
‘Now, you’re too scared – sorry, I mean safety-conscious – to go to the loch by yourself and that’s fine. That’s another place I
can drag Hugh on the walk, and I can speak to the swans when we’re there. Kevin probably won’t hurt a dog, especially one with a human.’
‘Excellent idea,’ Leger said, but he was interrupted yet again.
‘What I also thought we could do is talk to Louis. We’ve heard what Brianna has to say when she spoke to Annabella and Hugh but Louis might be able to shed some more light on where Carole was going. Human adults often say things to babies that they wouldn’t say to other adults or older children.’
‘Actually, that’s true but the problem with that is that babies cannot talk,’ Leger pointed out.
‘What do you mean, they can’t talk? Louis and I talk all the time!’ Bob cried.
Leger kept his eyes fixed on his canine friend as he assessed whether Bob was joking and if not, whether he was of sound mind.
‘What’s the matter Leger? You’ll be telling me next that animals can’t talk and our conversations with each other are all imaginary!’
‘Well, clearly you and Louis have some kind of rapport that he and I don’t share. Brianna and I were always close when she was little, but she’s what I would describe as a cat person. Perhaps Louis is more a dog person, like his mother,’ Leger decided.
Hugh appeared in the doorway, clutching his newspaper and the phone with a scowl on his face, clearly still concerned about Carole’s whereabouts.
He perched on the edge of his armchair and typed a number into the phone.
‘Carole? It’s Uncle Hugh again. Your Aunty Anna and I were just wondering when you’ll be back. We’re getting a bit worried. Give us a ring and tell us what your plans are. The wee ones are just fine but Brianna’s asking where mummy is. Just, let us know,’ he said, then pressed the button to end the call.
Leger and Bob watched him rub his eyes until they were red, then he sat back with his newspaper still in his hand, making no attempt to read it.
‘Time for a walk!’ Bob barked. ‘Come on, Hugh. Time to go. Get up. I want a walk.’
Leger heard Lily yowling to be quiet from the other room, her nap no doubt disturbed, while Hugh scratched Bob’s ears.