Murder on the Moor Read Free Page A

MacClure murder.”
    “If Collins ever crosses my path, I’ll take justice into my own hands, just mark my words.”
    “That’s no way for an advocate to talk, Alistair,” Rex said in a conciliatory manner. “You did your utmost.”
    Rex really couldn’t fault him for his attitude though. Of the serious crimes that came before the High Court, violence against children was the most heinous and hardest to forget. He hoped the housewarming party would help take Alistair’s mind off the case. “Did I tell you the Allerdices are coming?” he asked. “You’ve met them, I think.”
    “Aye, a couple of times when I was staying at the hotel with Bill.” Bill Menzies was the solicitor who had arranged the sale of Gleneagle Lodge. “I saw the Allerdice boy walking over the ridge when I was driving over. He was with a man in full deer-stalking regalia.”
    “Cuthbert Farquharson.”
    “The laird of Aberleven in Fife?” Alistair asked in disgust. “That Tory philanthropist who lent his party two million pounds? What’s he doing here?”
    Rex leaned forward. “I’m afraid he’s one of our house guests. I bought this place so I could get away from snobs like that, but he and his wife, Estelle, gave generously to my mother’s charity.”
    “Supplying bibles to illiterate tribes in the Amazonian jungle, when we’re trying to conserve their trees?” Alistair joked.
    “Aye, well Mother supports missionary work and she insisted I invite the Farquharsons here since they were in Inverness.”
    Helen came back into the library with a tray of crockery and a plate of perfectly cut cucumber sandwiches. “The Allerdices rang to say they were running a bit late. Their guest, Mr. Beardsley, got delayed on a hike, but they’re on their way, with their daughter.”
    “Flora’s a sweet thing,” Alistair said as Helen knelt at an end table to pour the tea. “Devoted to her younger brother, Donnie. He’s a bit slow.”
    “You mean mentally disabled?” asked Helen, who had no patience for euphemisms. Her forthrightness was one of the many things Rex appreciated about her.
    “Aye, but only mildly.”
    “I noticed something amiss with the lad,” Rex acknowledged. “It’s hard to tell if he’s actually looking at you. And he punctuates every word with a pause.”
    “Forest Gump,” Helen said. It was one of her favorite movies.
    “Exactly. He seems like a nice lad.”
    Helen handed out cups and poured one for herself. “Estelle’s upstairs freshening up.”
    “How did it go in the kitchen?” Rex asked.
    “Oh, fine. She’s quite tipsy though. I hope she makes it through the rest of the evening. What’s Mrs. Allerdice like?”
    The two men looked at each other, seeking inspiration.
    “Mousy,” Alistair ventured. “You’d better watch out for her husband.”
    “Oh? Why?”
    “Hamish can’t keep his hands off attractive women.”
    Helen laughed. “Rex will protect my honour.”
    At that moment, the slamming of car doors reached Rex’s ears. The last of the guests had arrived. He rose from his comfortable armchair with a resigned sigh. “Looks like rain,” he forecast, pausing before the library window. The slate-gray loch across the grass mirrored a glowering sky.
    “The weatherman on the car radio announced heavy rain, perhaps even hail,” Alistair informed him.
    “That’s a shame,” Helen stood up and rearranged her skirt. “We were hoping to entertain our guests in the garden.”
    “No hope of that,” Rex said, making for the door. “We just got our first drops.”
    He desperately hoped there would not be a rainstorm. He did not want his newest guests outstaying their welcome.

Rex crossed the hall and went outside to greet the newcomers. Shona Allerdice, under the shelter of an umbrella held by her husband, scurried toward the stone porch with a huge casserole in her arms.
    “Just in time,” she cried as the deluge began.
    Rex ushered them inside and, borrowing the umbrella, ran over to the