Killing Cousins by Alanna Knight Read Free Book Online Page A

great-great-grandfather.'
    'Sounds like everyone else in Orkney, when you go back that far.'
    Vince smiled. 'Francis has been a constant visitor since his childhood. Sir Joseph was very fond of him - the son he never had. When he put Francis through medical school it was implicitly understood that he set up practice as resident doctor in the castle, for the benefit of his tenants, and be referred to by the courtesy title of "laird". Sir Joseph had another reason. Francis and Norma had been childhood sweethearts and he approved of the match.
    'Sadly, it didn't work out like that at all and Francis married Thora instead, who insisted that Norma be made a generous allowance.'
    Faro gave him a cynical smile. 'Decent of her, in the circumstances. And, although Thora might be termed the goose with the golden eggs where Norma was concerned, let us not forget that fortunes are not the sole reason for murdering close kin.'
    'No one in the household would have harmed her, that's for sure. They all made their devotion to her perfectly clear. Ask Grandma, she'll tell you. Nothing much passes her by in the way of gossip.'
    Faro considered for a moment 'What about opportunity? Administering poison without giving a dose massive enough for immediate demise means constant access, for just a little at a time.'
    Vince laughed grimly. 'Opportunity certainly wasn't lacking. Grandma tells me that everyone in the household was trying to tempt her jaded appetite: egg nog, soup, tonics, home-made remedies,' he enumerated. 'And for those with less noble motives every country house and estate has access to arsenic in the form of rat poison.'
    'Who chiefly nursed her?'
    'Norma. She was with her almost constantly, except when she was relieved by Grandma—' there was the slightest hesitation '—or Inga.'
    'You mentioned jealousy. There was no enmity between the stepsisters?'
    Vince shook his head. 'None that was apparent. To any observer they seemed devoted to each other.'
    'Despite the fact that Thora stole Francis? And that generous allowance might have been less charitably regarded by Norma as conscience money?'
    'Oh, that was forgotten, and, I imagine, forgiven long ago. Especially as Norma found happiness elsewhere. She is going to marry Reverend Erlandson, the family priest'
    'Priest? I thought you said he was a minister.'
    Vince laughed. 'Not of the Church of Scotland. The Balfrays are Episcopalians. In my opinion, the services are just one step removed from Roman Catholicism. Probably the Balfrays compromised on religion,' he added doubtfully. 'They've remained staunch Jacobites in our stronghold of Calvinism.'
    Faro smiled. 'My first thought when I arrived in Balfray was that if Bonnie Prince Charlie had returned to Scotland in 1845 and had included Orkney in his triumphal itinerary, he wouldn't have noticed a great deal of difference in the passing of over a hundred years.'
    He paused and added, 'I shouldn't have imagined there was much call for a resident churchman in a place the size of Balfray.'
    'There isn't, Erlandson has one or two other parishes that he serves. Mostly by boat if the weather and the tide are right,'
    'Interesting.'
    'He's very enlightened, you know. He and Norma are deeply enamoured of each other.' He smiled. 'You'll see. Much in love and don't care who knows it.'
    Faro laughed. 'Indeed. Then I shall look forward to meeting our resident chaplain and his lady love. What about kitchen staff?'
    'Norma is nominally in charge of housekeeper, maids and so forth. But even she retired gracefully when Grandma took over from the last housekeeper, the one who was drowned.'
    'Oh yes, the unfortunate Mrs Bliss.' Faro placed his fingertips together and studied them thoughtfully. 'And so, Vince, what are your present theories about who might have wanted rid of Mrs Balfray?'
    'Theories are easy, Stepfather.' Vince hesitated. 'I'd like you to meet the family and form some ideas of your own, then well talk about my theories.'
    'Before that