Death of Yesterday by M. C. Beaton Read Free Book Online

turn up until an hour later.
    The leader, Jock Bruce, asked, “Did you go in there, Hamish? You should ha’ known better than to muck up the scene.”
    “I had to look,” said Hamish. “He turned to Jimmy. I’ll go back and write up my report.”
    But as he entered the police station, he found Charles Palfour waiting for him in the kitchen. From the living room came the sound of the television.
    “What brings you here?” asked Hamish.
    “I thought you could help me,” said Charles.
    At that moment, the kitchen door opened and Olivia strode in. “I’ve been looking for you, dear brother. What are you doing here?”
    “I saw the commotion at the bridge and came to ask what it was all about,” said Charles.
    “I can tell you all about that,” said Olivia briskly. “Come along.”
    Charles got to his feet. Hamish took out one of his cards, and as Charles passed him, he slipped it into his pocket.
    “Are you sure you didn’t want to say something to me?” said Hamish to Charles’s retreating back.
    “No, he doesn’t,” said Olivia.
    They went out. Hamish strode into the living room. Dick was ensconced in an armchair with the dog and cat at his feet. Switching off the television, Hamish demanded, “Did Charles say anything to you while he was waiting for me?”
    “Not a word. Said he would only talk to you.”
    “Damn! That boy’s about to crack. While you’ve been lounging here, you lazy sod, I found another body.”
    Dick settled himself more comfortably in his chair. “Aye, Fergus McQueen.”
    “You’re a policeman. Didn’t it cross your mind to go and have a look?”
    “I was about to, but just afore Charles arrived, Archie Maclean came by with some fish and told me the place was fair swarming with coppers. I thought I’d just be in the way.”
    “Well, get along there and see what you can find out. I want to know what time he was killed.”
    “They won’t know that until there are the results of the autopsy,” said Dick, reaching for the remote control.
    “Out! Now!” shouted Hamish, exasperated.
    As he sat down at his desk in the police office to prepare his report, he could hear Dick grumbling to the animals, “Makes me sick. He comes in here all wet and trachalt, so he wants me to go out and get as miserable as he is.”
    Hamish sighed as he switched on the computer. This second body would bring the press in droves.

Chapter Four

    Th’ expense of spirit in a waste of shame
Is lust in action
    —William Shakespeare
    Things in the real world, thought Hamish, the next morning, as he went up the back of the police station to check on his sheep, move so slowly. People had become so accustomed to
CSI
programmes on television that they expected instant forensic results. All he saw before him was a long wait for the results of the autopsy, and more plodding door-to-door asking questions that had probably been asked already by some policeman of the squad that an infuriated Blair was no doubt unleashing on Cnothan and the surrounding countryside.
    But his date with Hannah shone in his brain. He knew he should not be dating the sister of a possible murderer, but she could have nothing to do with it. She had been in Glasgow at the time of Morag’s disappearance.
    He would not admit to himself that her beauty comfortably dimmed any memories of Priscilla Halburton-Smythe in his mind.
    The storm, instead of refreshing the weather, had left a sticky sunny day where midges danced through the air looking for people to bite.
    He avoided the press as much as he could, leaving Dick to cope with them. Dick had an enviable, easygoing way with the press. He would talk to them happily without giving away one single fact.
    Hamish decided to call on Mrs. Gilchrist. If, by any remote chance, Gilchrist and Morag had been having an affair, she might let something slip. A small, wiry man with a bald head was mowing the lawn. He switched off the mower when he saw Hamish. “Looking for someone?” he