Page 16 of A Very Bookish Murder
‘I’m afraid not,’ Ally said firmly. ‘These spaces are for my overnight guests. But I can try to make other arrangements for you. I have a friend with some land who may be able to help you.’
‘OK, can you do it now?’ he asked gruffly.
‘Of course,’ Ally said, a little put out by his rudeness.
She telephoned Ross.
‘What can I do for you, my lovely?’ he asked.
‘You could do me a huge favour,’ Ally said, keeping her voice low.
‘I’m intrigued,’ he said.
‘I’ve got the murder victim’s husband here and he needs somewhere to park his camper van, so could he possibly cometo you?’ As well as several upmarket holiday lets, Ross also had some acres of land down by the sea loch.
‘No problem,’ Ross said. ‘Just send him along.’
‘You’re a treasure – thank you so much.’ Ally quickly scribbled down the directions to get to Ross’s and handed it to Owen Jones.
Ally followed him out. ‘My condolences, Mr Jones,’ she said.
He walked down the path to where he’d parked his van, then slung the canvas bag into the passenger seat, got into the driving seat and nodded.
‘Thanks,’ he said and was gone.
Ally let the dog out. ‘You wouldn’t have liked him, Flora,’ she said before going upstairs to take a look at Room 1. It was completely empty.
SEVEN
Ally had been very touched by what Rigby had told Amir. She was also relieved that he seemed to be making some sort of recovery, and wondered if she could manage to visit him while he was in hospital. As she was serving breakfast, she wondered if she could get a midday train from Fort William, have a couple of hours in Glasgow, and then get a late train back? It would be tight but just about manageable. Just as she was mulling this over, the telephone rang.
‘It’s Amir here,’ he said, ‘and I just wanted to let you know that Inspector Rigby has been transferred to hospital in Inverness because he’s recovering well and wanted to be closer to home. He’s asked me to ask you to visit him as soon as possible. He’s in Ward 8.’
That solved the problem. Ally knew she could comfortably drive to Inverness for a hospital visit and be back again a few hours later because it was Magda’s, the earl’s wife’s, birthday today and they’d arranged a dinner at The Bistro in the evening. She decided to ring Rigby there and then, to find out what he could possibly want to talk to her about. It obviously wasn’t a matter that could be delayed, and so she dialled the number of the hospital in Inverness.
‘My name is Alison McKinley and I’ve been asked to contact Detective Inspector Rigby, who asked for me to get in touch with him urgently. Would it be possible to visit him this afternoon?’
‘I’ll put you through to the ward,’ the operator said.
The sister on the ward answered the phone, asked her to wait while she checked with Rigby and came back to say, ‘The inspector would be very glad to see you as soon as you can get here. He says it’s important.’
The journey never failed to impress her, Ally thought as she drove through the mountains, glens and past the little lochs before finally arriving in Fort Augustus and then driving the rest of the way along the side of Loch Ness. The famous loch could be turbulent and quite menacing at times, but today it was calm and deceptively inviting. People had drowned in this loch when its mood had suddenly changed while they were out there in the middle, and their bodies were not always recovered. Whether there was a monster or not, Loch Ness always attracted the tourists, and today was no exception as Ally saw several buses pulled in by the lochside and clusters of people milling around and taking photographs.
Propped up on pillows, Rigby was looking a great deal better than he had when Ally had seen him last. He looked very pleased to see her.
‘They’ve got me stabilised now,’ he said, ‘and I’m hoping they’ll let me home in a day or two – with a mountain of medication, of course.’
‘I’m so pleased,’ Ally said.
‘I want to thank you for what you did when I collapsed at the Craigmonie,’ Rigby continued. ‘I’m told it was you who stoppedthe helicopter from leaving until I was taken on board, and that probably saved my life.’
‘Well, I’m glad I did,’ Ally said, feeling a little emotional.
‘Detective Inspector Kandahar will be taking over in the meantime,’ he said, ‘and I’m sure you’ll get on well with him.’
‘We’ve already met,’ Ally said, ‘and I thought he was charming.’
‘He’s a good bloke,’ Rigby confirmed, ‘but he’s had a bad time recently. His wife died a couple of years ago and he struggles to keep an eye on his two teenage daughters. So I thought that, as you were such a help to me on my first cases up here, perhaps you’d take him under your wing for a bit? Familiarise him with who’s who?’
