When Murder Comes Home

by Shana Frost

  With trembling hands, she lifted the chain, and as it emerged from under her collar, the glint of diamonds caught the light.

  Callan heard Aileen gasp.

  DESPITE HER TIRED EYES and sore body, Aileen looked at the diamond like a star-struck woman. She couldn’t believe she'd never seen the jewellery piece before.

  The engagement ring would be called ‘modest’ by some but it did looked exquisite. Her grandfather had truly designed it with love, perfect for his short yet witty bride.

  A solitaire threw dancing rainbow lights onto the wall, clear and bright like the sun. Smaller minute crystals sparkled around the lone stone as if dancing in rhythm to the sun’s beam.

  Aileen’s heart sighed; Siobhan had been the centre of her grandfather’s universe.

  Callan snorted. ‘Well, that’s an unexpected discovery.’

  Aileen snapped out of her romantic haze and focused once more on the events transpiring in the room.

  Jake’s hand shook, and he looked dumbfounded – because he knew about the ring or because he didn’t?

  Anne’s trembling hands still gripped the chain and her gaze fixed on her husband’s.

  ‘Duped – we’ve been duped,’ he sputtered out lies. ‘Beaulieu asked my father to keep it safe or he’d tell you we weren’t who we claimed to be.’

  Callan flashed his teeth. ‘That’s not what yer father said...’

  And with that, Callan apparently had the Winstons where he wanted them: lost in their own lies.

  Chapter 16

  Aileen wasn’t sure what had happened after Callan had got the confessions he’d needed. She didn’t recall who had asked the doctor to come by and examine her. Nor was she sure how she’d got to bed.

  All Aileen could say for certain was that she woke up sore, and disorientated – as if she was suffering from a high fever.

  Isla had been there, tending to her. Her care had warmed Aileen’s heart. Never had she been looked after by someone who wasn’t family.

  After setting a sumptuous-looking breakfast tray over Aileen’s lap, Isla sat on the chair next to her bed.

  ‘Now I don’t know the whole story, but Callan told me you were in a bad state.’

  ‘Callan told you?’ Aileen’s voice was raspy in the quiet room. She bent over the tray and breathed in the zesty flavour of tea.

  Isla only nodded. ‘He seemed concerned. He handed me a doctor’s prescription. You’ve been asked to take pain meds and rest your back. It’s nothing major that rest won’t heal.’

  Aileen sipped some warm tea. She ached all over, not just in her back. But that was fine, as long as the murderer had been locked away.

  ‘What... what happened?’

  Isla waved her hands. ‘You fuel up first. Strength is what you need. Siobhan called. You need to speak with her.’

  Aileen groaned, her joy shattering at the thought of her grandmother’s wrath.

  She shuffled the blanket away. ‘I can’t afford to be stuck in bed! I have to call Gran and beg her to let me stay on as innkeeper.’

  ‘Why do you think she’d let you go?’

  ‘There was a murder here – two of them – on my watch!’

  Isla stared at her pointedly. ‘You didn’t commit them.’

  All Aileen did was huff like a child.

  ‘I think Siobhan will be proud of you. You held it together and helped solve the murders too.’

  At Aileen’s stubborn eye roll, Isla smirked. ‘Besides I’d love to know how you almost dislocated Cook’s you know what.’

  That made Aileen’s eyes swell like saucers. ‘What?’

  ‘It’s the talk of town. How Dachaigh’s innkeeper doesn’t take well to murderous guests.’

  Isla guffawed loudly, her body shaking with laugher.

  Just then Aileen heard the front door open. Heavy footsteps travelled up the stairs and Callan appeared, looking haggard. He had dark circles under his eyes, and the usual smirk was missing from his face.

  Aileen smiled in greeting, trying her best to keep that blush from tainting her cheeks.

  It was hard to forget that look he’d given her when he’d put his hand in hers.

  Callan cleared his throat. ‘Just wanted to say, it’s all done.’

  Isla laughed at the state of him. ‘You look knackered!’

  ‘I need some shut-eye soon,’ he confessed.

  ‘I’ll fix you breakfast,’ Isla piped up. ‘Then I can hear all about it.’

  WHEN THEY’D ALL SETTLED back in Aileen’s room once more, Isla urged Aileen to tell her what had taken place last night.

  Callan interjected, ‘Isla! She can barely talk. Cook tried to strangle her last night!’

  But Isla wanted the whole scoop. She turned on Callan. ‘You go on then.’

  He sighed but did as she asked. ‘I got scraps of information from all of my three interviews. They each owned the murder weapons: the dagger as well as the belt. However, Beaulieu couldn’t have killed Susan. He’s too short to have tied her up like that.

  ‘As for Legrand, he’s far too concerned for his reputation. And he’s never dealt with Susan or Dave before.

  ‘Percy Winston did indeed possess the dagger but his son had sold it through the dark web. So they didn’t know who they’d sold it to. Besides, it would have been foolhardy to leave behind evidence that could implicate them. Leaving it at the scene would make it easy to catch them.

  ‘All the evidence suggested the first murder had been planned beforehand. But it wasn’t.’

  Aileen sat up, wincing at the pain, but managed to hiss out, ‘What do you mean? John knew what he was doing; so did Martha. I—’ The rest of it was lost in a fit of coughing.

  ‘Oh you poor thing. Here, have a sip of warm water.’ Isla’s motherly side was shining through.

  Callan continued, ‘That morning I saw Martha and Dave Smith, he was threatening her or at least accusing her of something.’

  Isla raised a surprised eyebrow.

  Aileen paused. She hadn’t figured this piece of the puzzle out!

  Callan merely shrugged. ‘Martha confessed. John Cook’s a cousin, but they were close. He was the one person in her family that Martha kept in touch with. He never liked Martha’s husband.

  ‘Their marriage – Dave’s and Martha’s – wasn’t a farce. They are married, albeit under different names. But lately Dave had turned violent. You see, he knew Martha had saved some old trinkets from each of their previous identities, a sentimental thing. And he’d figured out that she’d kept in touch with John Cook. He thought these habits could land him in trouble.

  ‘He did his job and, like a chameleon, changed colours so no one could ever find him. But his wife wasn’t that good at shifting gears. He threatened to leave her before the hustle went through.’

  Aileen sighed. She knew this part. ‘I figured out I was being subjected to a grift of sorts.’

  The breeze picked up, blowing refreshing air into the room. Clouds splattered the sky but it felt tranquil, like the calm after a storm.

  Callan cleared his throat. ‘All ten guests were here for Siobhan’s ring. They’d initially thought all the diamonds were still at the inn. But it was just the ring.’

  Isla’s eyes were like saucers. ‘All ten? Way to go, Aileen!’ She chuckled at her friend.

  ‘The idea was that John and Susan would take the ring. John had recently run into money trouble, and Susan was blackmailing him. Apparently they’d butted heads over a case few months before where Cook had agreed to plant evidence and help a woman who wanted to swindle her husband out of money. Susan knew about it and decided to use a similar tactic.’

  ‘That’s horrible,’ Aileen told Callan. ‘All those women who’ve been wronged and there’s a rotten vegetable in the pile who’s just in it for the money.’

  ‘Cook deserves what he got!’ Isla said firmly. For the first time ever, Aileen saw her friend flush with rage.

  Callan continued before both the ladies in front of him combuste
d. ‘Well, Martha and Samantha were to pick your pocket for the keys, since you carried them wherever you went. Beaulieu and Legrand would then assess the ring to make sure it was truly a diamond, and Dave would sell it on the black market. Everyone would get a hefty commission from the trade.’

  ‘What about the rest of the Winstons?’ Isla wanted to know.

  ‘Easy – they’d sell a duplicate ring in their gallery. Beaulieu would help him craft the perfect one, so nobody’d question its authenticity before it was too late. After all, Beaulieu is a geologist. Once sold, they’d pocket the money and disappear.’

  Aileen couldn’t believe this! They had a plan to make double the money with one diamond ring! Crooks!

  ‘So when Dave told Martha he was leaving, she wanted a piece of the pie. If he left her before they sold the ring, she’d lose out on a big deal. So she approached John. He was more than happy to do away with Dave. He thought they could sell the ring with or without him. He could do with the extra money a lack of commission for Dave would save.’

  Callan clicked his tongue. ‘John had come prepared. I think he was planning to do away with Susan whether they got the ring or not.’

  ‘The bastard!’ Isla rubbed her hands together aggressively.

  Callan let out a long breath. ‘Loch Fuar is the perfect place to hide a body – we don’t have the resources to search the entire landscape – and no one would know Susan was gone until he got back to London. Given their history, people would probably have just assumed they’d split up. If he’d stuck to that plan rather than all the theatrics, he might’ve got away with it.’

  Isla raised her hand. ‘But how did John steal the diamond belt?’

  Callan grinned at Aileen. ‘John hacked into Legrand and Beaulieu’s computer just like Aileen had. It was their plan to sound the false alarm that night, wasn’t it? John was prepared. He stole the belt when Legrand and Beaulieu vacated their room. A belt’s easy to hide under your t-shirt. Isn’t it, Aileen?’

  Aileen groaned despite Callan’s comment. She’d reached the same conclusions as he had. But getting down to the facts seemed harder. Spouses killing spouses! What had happened to love?

  CALLAN STUDIED AILEEN. She appeared better than she had last night. At least her eyes were clear. Yesterday she’d seemed dazed, as if she might be overcome with emotion any moment. Perhaps she’d been in deep shock.

  Now he wanted to know how she’d known it was John and Martha.

  Aileen explained, ‘I was just thinking. I knew the answer was right there. So I wrote it all down. I had so many questions. Before dinner, Martha enquired about the bread. That got me thinking about her alibi for the second murder.’

  Aileen squinted. ‘She’d been with Anne, talking about baking bread – she'd said they both had a passion for it. But Martha had declared her shortcomings in the kitchen, so between that and her reluctance to speak about the bread last night, something didn’t add up.

  ‘And when I called the women’s shelter I spoke to them about signs of domestic violence and then I remembered Martha had shown those same signs. She’d flinched the night Dave came down to dinner and sat beside her. The morning they’d argued, she seemed lost. And the day they arrived? Their entrance was too flamboyant for a couple who’d been married that long! They were acting like newlyweds.’

  ‘And ye know about actors?’ Callan retorted.

  ‘I do! I know the way executives act when you find an expense that shouldn’t have been incurred.’ Aileen smiled shrewdly. ‘As for Susan, she didn’t seem like a gullible person. She worked with women who went through abuse. She’d have her back up, wouldn’t she? And a strong nose for anyone suspicious. So how would she consume a sleeping drug if she was vigilant?’

  As if driving the point home, she pointed her finger in the air. ‘The only person she’d trust was her partner. Sure, they weren’t seeing eye to eye, but she didn’t think he’d dare kill her. She thought he still loved her. That was her downfall.’

  Isla nodded, digesting it all.

  ‘Why did he put himself in jeopardy by killing her? I get it was his plan but after the first murder... how could he have thought he’d get away with it?’

  Callan flashed his teeth. ‘She was demanding money he didn’t have. And she suspected he’d killed Dave. She freely admitted she couldn’t really account for his presence in the room all night. She went to sleep before he did.

  ‘But she knew he didn’t steal the ring. He couldn’t have because the safe was in Aileen’s bedroom and Aileen was sleeping in there. He couldn’t raise suspicion by sneaking into her chambers that night. So when Dave turned up dead, and John hadn’t been in bed, Susan knew who’d killed him. It gave her an excellent opportunity to press for more money.’

  ‘John Cook had a partner after his own heart.’

  ‘Looks like that.’ Callan shrugged, huffing out a breath.

  All three lapsed into silence, contemplating the sinister games that had shaken Dachaigh in the recent days.

  ‘So how did you know Anne had the ring?’

  ‘Percy kept an eye out – that’s why he was in his room the entire night. Father and son had decided to acquire the ring. He saw Susan leave, then made sure Beaulieu and Legrand never left their rooms. Anne had the job of leading Martha Smith downstairs. She also encouraged John to join them. So Percy didn’t think twice when he saw John leave his room. Instead he informed his son that the scene was clear to move in.’

  ‘To steal the ring from John?’ Isla asked. She was sitting on the edge of her chair.

  ‘Of course! John and Susan had already taken it from Aileen’s safe. That was the original plan after all.’

  Aileen cleared her throat. ‘I never got that part— when did they get the ring?’

  Callan chuckled, ‘We figured Susan and Samantha could’ve slashed your car tyres.’

  ‘Aye..’

  ‘From the confessions, I made out that Anne and Samantha Grant slashed your car tyres after Samantha and Susan Knight made sure everyone had gone to that vendor meeting.’

  Aileen nodded, ‘That’s when John and Susan stole the ring?’

  ‘Aye.’

  Isla shuffled to the edge of her seat. ’And when the lights went out? Is that when John killed Susan?’ she asked.

  Callan supplied her with the answers. ‘No, that was Percy’s idea. He didn’t trust his fellow grifters. He fought with his son when he saw the blade that killed Dave. But he knew for certain Jake couldn’t have killed Susan because he was busy stealing the ring from their room. All Percy then had to do was warn Jake if John or Susan returned. Jake cut the lights. That would mean he could return to his room without being seen.’

  Aileen made a tsk sound. ‘And if he was about, there was a perfectly reasonable explanation – the lights had gone off.’

  Isla made a noise in her throat. ‘The four of them were that sure they’d be allowed to leave without raising suspicion?’

  ‘Apparently... Anne was the most innocent of the lot. Jake gave her the ring and asked her to wear it around her neck. That way they could smuggle it out of the inn. She was the last person on my suspect list as well.’

  When Aileen raised a mocking eyebrow, Callan quickly added, ‘Not counting you!’

  That brought some laughter after their dreary talk.

  The day didn’t bear any melancholy though; nature was in a mood to rejoice.

  It was a pleasant day. The sun made the entire landscape come alive with spring colours and Loch Fuar glittered with life in the distance.

  Callan rubbed his eyes. He looked like all he wanted was to collapse into bed, but instead he huffed, snorted and turned to Aileen. ‘I believe I owe you a date.’

  Aileen waved her hands. ‘Oh that’s okay! Between us we can assume it’s done.’

  Callan shook his head. ‘Rory’s a traitor. He’ll rat me out to Siobhan. And to be honest, she’s one woman I refuse to cross.’

  Aileen’s eyes crinkled. Callan respected her
gran. In fact, everyone in town did.

  ‘Maybe after the doctor gives you the all-clear, we’ll grab dinner or something.’ Callan stuffed his hands into his pockets, as if they might give him away. Surely he wasn’t nervous? It was just dinner.

  ‘Sure.’ Aileen tried a casual smile.

  ISLA’S GAZE FLITTERED between the two. This could be interesting, she thought.

  Oh Siobhan, you intelligent woman.

  Isla couldn’t wait to see what happened next.

  Aileen and Callan’s story is far from over...

  Until their next adventure, would you like a peek into their pasts?

  What prompted Aileen to seek adventure? What was her ’risk-less’ life like?

  And Callan, what was it like to live in a ‘Village of Saints’ before Aileen brought the chaos with her?

  Join Aileen, Callan, Isla and Siobhan in a life before they sought adventure

  Read the short story: https://mailchi.mp/1ee5b29952f0/when-murder-comes-home-extra

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  Thank you so much for reading this novel. It would be pure dead brilliant if you’d leave an honest review wherever you downloaded this book from eg: Amazon, Kobo, Nook, Apple Books etc. As an independent author, reviews help me reach more readers and entrap them in the town of Loch Fuar. So please write an honest review. And if you have the time, leave one on Goodreads as well.

  THANK YOU:)

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