Murder in the Highands

by Penelope Sotheby

  “Drops of blood?”

  The Inspector strode across the room and joined her at the painting. He crouched down beside her and peered at the drops of the blood on the picture.

  “It would seem that forensics missed those, darn sloppy work. I will get someone over here to take samples right away.”

  The Inspector walked away and, from the sounds of the conversation, he was not pleased. A forensics investigator soon joined Diane at the picture and collected the sample.

  “What have you found about the guests? Anything that would suggest a motive or a connection?” she asked as she joined him by the fireplace.

  He looked up from his cell phone and answered, “The guests appear for the most part to have clean records. There is one guest, a Simon Berry, who I may want to investigate further. He has a record, and it may be circumstantial, but it does make him a person of interest in this investigation.”

  “He has a record? What type of record?”

  “He was arrested for communicating threats to destroy a research facility that conducted experiments on animals. He threatened to blow it up.”

  “Hmm. That is interesting, and the other guests, are they free to leave?”

  “Not yet. This case is not your run-of-the-mill shooting or stabbing. This is something far more diabolical. I am afraid that whoever is responsible for Mr. Snelling’s death went through considerable pains to execute this elaborate murder. And judging from the state of this scene, he or she must be considered to be dangerous, and I would dare say capable of anything.”

  Diane was not normally quick to jump to conclusions. She was practical and steady in her thinking and not prone to panic. She looked around the room with the claw marks on the walls and the blood on the window. She thought about the guests downstairs and wondered which one may be capable of such violence. She decided that maybe Mrs. Allan in the kitchen with her butcher knife was not as paranoid as she seemed.

  Chapter 3

  It was late in the afternoon when Snelling’s body was carried out of the hotel. Juliana and Malcolm had taken care to ensure that the guests were in the library and did not have to witness such a sobering sight. Inspector McNair and his team were not far behind. It had been a long day, and the investigation was just getting underway.

  Snelling’s room remained closed, and the guests were not allowed to leave the premises, but they were allowed to return to their rooms. Police officers remained at the hotel to protect the guests and to ensure that no one left yet. The Inspector was hoping to clear this matter up as soon as possible. In the meantime, all the guests and the staff were ordered to stay put.

  The stress of the day and the current situation was a bit much for everyone and tensions were high. Malcolm invited the guests to the hotel lounge for complimentary drinks after dinner. Diane took him up on his invitation, as did nearly everyone else. The lounge reminded her of the pub in Apple Mews. It was a large room that looked out over a view of the ocean. Dark wood and red leather furniture gave the pub a cozy ambiance.

  Diane sat at a table with Juliana and Malcolm. She was indulging in a pint and so was Malcolm, while Juliana only stared at her glass of wine. They had all had a terrible day, but no one worse than Snelling. Diane could not get the crime scene out of her mind. She was certain that her companions were still as horrified by the events of the last several hours as she was.

  She could not help but notice that her companions looked at the hotel guests warily as they sipped their drinks. They had good reason considering what Diane knew about the facts of the case. She pondered all the possibilities and every scenario she could imagine. Mr. Snelling was found dead in a room that had been destroyed violently by someone or something. He did not have a scratch on him, and no one had heard anything.

  She just could not picture a scenario in which an animal or bird would enter a hotel room and smash everything to bits. Judging from the blood that was in the room, she wondered why anything would attack paintings and decorative objects so violently, or scratch the walls and not touch the victim.

  She knew she was missing something. If she could only find that piece of evidence, she was certain that she would be able to put all the pieces together just like a puzzle and they would all fit perfectly. Right now, all she had was two corners and a handful of pieces that didn’t match. She sipped her drink and considered asking for something a little stronger.

  “Malcolm, I don’t know anything about Mr. Snelling. Can you tell me why you think anyone would want to murder him and in such a dramatic fashion? Poor soul.”

  “He was the local veterinarian, but that’s not all,” he answered as he lowered his voice.

  Juliana and Diane leaned in to listen as Malcolm continued, “He stayed at the hotel and met a friend, a lady friend from Inverness. I can’t be certain, but I believe she was married.”

  “That might be an important fact. A love triangle, how interesting,” whispered Diane.

  She looked around the lounge at the other guests and caught the eye of Simon Berry. Diane was left with the distinct impression that he had been trying to listen to their conversation. His hasty departure soon afterward confirmed her suspicion.

  “Our victim was involved in a possible love triangle and ends up dead at the hotel he stayed at with his paramour, that is a place to start. Can you think of anything unusual or out of the ordinary that happened in the last few days?”

  “Juliana, would you say what happened with Jeffery was unusual?” asked Malcolm.

  “Yes, I suppose, I would. I had not considered it until now,” answered Juliana.

  “Jeffery?” asked Diane as she looked around the lounge.

  “Diane, you remember our hotel parrot, we call her Jeffery,” Malcolm asked.

  “Oh yes, the parrot, now what about him?”

  “He is a girl, but that’s a long story. Jeffery had her cage stolen two days ago. I’m sure you can understand our shock when we discovered her flying around the hotel,” said Malcolm

  “We could not imagine who would do something so odd. We went out and bought her a brand-new cage. Here’s the part you are sure to love; her cage turned up this morning right after Mr. Snelling was murdered,” replied Juliana.

  “That is unusual. I would say that certainly qualifies.”

  Diane had one more pint with Juliana and Malcolm before retiring for the evening. She needed time to think about the case logically. She took a shower and changed into her comfiest clothes, then unpacked her laptop and set it on the antique writing desk. She plugged it into the socket on the wall and powered it up.

  She kept thinking about animals and birds and was having difficulty explaining how any creature ended up in the bedroom with Snelling. She stared at the empty search bar for several minutes before she realized that an animal or bird would have to have been lured into the room. She typed the words How animals are lured into the search bar and read several articles on the subject. She researched websites and read reports by experts. She found that they all shared a technique in common: noise. Noise was the main method to lure animals.

  Diane researched the subject until she could no longer hold her eyes open. She was exhausted and needed rest. She powered off the laptop, then checked to be sure her door and window were both locked securely before climbing under the covers of the exquisitely carved four-poster bed.

  As she switched off her bedside lamp, she thought about the articles she read and the clue she may have uncovered. If animals were lured by noise, then she knew what she needed to do. Tomorrow would be a busy and with any luck, productive day. Even with the knowledge that there was a killer on the loose, she snuggled under the covers and soon fell asleep.

  Chapter 4

  The next morning, Diane was out of bed at an early hour. She dressed quickly and rushed downstairs to get a quick bite and a cup of tea. She needed fuel for the day ahead, so she turned to her old favorite, a Scottish breakfast. She sat down to a breakfast plate loaded with sausage, black pudding, egg,
mushrooms, and tomatoes. She enjoyed fresh marmalade with toast and a good strong cup of tea.

  After breakfast, she was ready to start the investigation, and she knew just where she needed to look: the lost and found. Diane went to the study and knocked on the door.

  “Come in.” She heard Juliana’s voice from behind the door.

  “Mind if I make a small request?”

  “No, Diane you are family to us, what would you like?” asked Juliana as she looked up from her laptop.

  “I was wondering if I might take a quick peek at your lost and found?”

  “The lost and found? I’m afraid there hasn’t been anything interesting in there for months, but you are welcome to it.”

  “Thank you,” said Diane. Juliana led her to the office where the cupboard marked lost and found was located. “You are welcome to use the desk, let me know if you need anything,” said Juliana as she closed the door.

  Diane searched through the cupboard and found the usual items one might expect to reside in a hotel lost and found. She found keys of every shape and description, caps, hats, umbrellas, and a box of lighters. Juliana was right, there really wasn’t much to it, at least nothing interesting.

  Diane sat at the desk and thought about what her next move should be. She had examined the lost and found and discovered nothing. Now, she needed to do something a little more drastic. She thought about how she wanted to word her next request and try as she might, was unable to find a way to make the next request not sound a little mad. She decided that if solving this case required her to exhibit a touch of madness, then she was willing to accept that.

  She left the office and returned to the study. Diane hesitated before she knocked on the door. She knew that this request was going to be met with resistance and she steeled herself for it. She strengthened her resolve and knocked.

  “Come in,” said Juliana.

  “I don’t mean to be a pest, but I have another request.”

  “Diane, anything you ask is yours.” Juliana said as she continued typing on her laptop.

  “I was wondering if you might loan me every available staff member you have to go through the hotel rubbish?”

  “What?” asked Juliana as she stopped typing and looked at Diane as if trying to comprehend the words she had said and was unable to make rational sense of them.

  “The rubbish and your staff. I need every available person to assist me. I’m quite aware that this sounds mad. I assure you, it's for the investigation.”

  “Diane, there must be some other way, please say that there is.”

  “I am afraid not, there is a bright side to this. If I find what I think may be hiding in the rubbish, then the killer can be caught. You will be able to return to business as usual without worrying that you have rented a room to a dangerous, violent criminal.”

  “Well put. I will call the staff.”

  A half hour later, Diane and Juliana met with every available member of housekeeping, cooking and hospitality outside at the hotel rubbish container. No one looked enthused to be there. No one, except Diane, who seemed to be quite cheerful despite the nasty looks she was getting from several members of the staff, particularly the kitchen employees.

  “Staff,” began Juliana, “I have assembled you here to ask for your assistance. This may seem unpleasant, but I am certain that if we all pull together as a team; I feel confident that the investigation can be concluded quickly. Now if you will give your attention to Mrs. Dimbleby.”

  “I am confident that no one wants to go through the rubbish, least of all me,” said Diane.

  “I’d say you’re right about that,” said a young man standing in the back of the crowd,

  “Do we have to?” asked a maid.

  “I understand, I do, but I am sure that none of you enjoy being trapped at the hotel and told you can’t leave by the police,” Diane stated.

  Many of the staff nodded their heads in agreement.

  “If we are successful in our search today, I can assure that it will speed up the investigation and help the police find the killer. If you will assist me in going through all the rubbish in this container and in every room, including staff offices, that would be greatly appreciated.”

  “How appreciated, like a bonus or a raise?” asked the young man from the back. The staff laughed at his remark and then, resigned to their fate, walked towards the gigantic container.

  “Just what exactly are we supposed to be looking for, anyway?” asked a valet with a scowl.

  “Preferably a whistle or anything that makes noise or stands out as being unusual.”

  “Staff, I have gloves, line up and get a pair of gloves,” said Juliana as she looked over at Diane and whispered, “I sure hope you know what you’re doing, I may lose some of my staff after this.”

  “Juliana, I have a theory and if it’s right, we might be able to find out what happened to Mr. Snelling. That has got to be worth losing a few disgruntled employees.”

  “It’s not the disgruntled ones I care about, they would not leave if you begged them, it’s the good ones I have to consider.”

  Juliana had a good point, and Diane felt terrible about asking Juliana’s staff to dig through the rubbish. She knew that it was not part of the staff’s job descriptions, but she also knew with a hotel of this size there was simply no other way to have completed this job alone. Well, there was, but it might have taken days, and by then the killer could have struck again or escaped.

  Diane put on a pair of kitchen gloves and dug into the bags of rubbish. The staff were still grumbling but at least they were working, thought Diane as she opened bag after bag of garbage. She didn’t discover anything but snack wrappers, drink cans and tissue. She walked around to see if anyone else was having any luck, but all anyone could find was rubbish.

  An hour later, Diane was beginning to wonder if this was an exercise in futility. The staff were grumbling even more, and so far, no one had found anything useful. Although, they had found some interesting rubbish from one of the guest rooms that made several female staff members and even a few of the males blush.

  “Diane, I don’t think we are going to find what you are looking for,” said Juliana.

  “Just a little longer, I know there has to be something here,” Diane said as she returned her attention to a bag of rubbish.

  “Is this it?” asked a young woman from the kitchen staff.

  “Let’s see, what have you got there?” asked Diane.

  The young woman handed her a whistle. Diane was overjoyed. “Yes, this is it! Well done everyone,” she said cheerfully.

  She looked at the whistle and wiped it on her pants. It had been in the rubbish and who knows who had their lips on it, but she wanted to see what would happen. She blew it expecting to hear a high-pitched sound, but there was silence instead.

  “That might be why they threw it away; that whistle is broke,” joked an employee as several staff members joined him in laughter.

  “If everyone would help to clean up, I believe we are finished here,” said Juliana to her staff.

  “Thank you for all of your assistance,” said Diane as she examined the whistle. There was no detail about it that stood out to her, so she tried to elicit a response. Diane walked around the hotel grounds with the whistle and blew it; still there was no sound and more importantly no reaction by anything or anyone. She did this several times before returning to her room.

  She put the whistle down on the desk beside the laptop. After the search through the lost and found and then the rubbish, she decided that she needed a few minutes to let her mind rest. She switched on the TV. She searched the channels looking for anything interesting and found one of her favorite shows, “Cash in the Attic.”

  Diane sat down on the coach and was just getting comfortable when she realized something very important that she had overlooked. She turned off the TV, then put the whistle in her pocket along with her room key. She wasn’t sure whether Juliana would be as accommodating
to any more requests as she was earlier, not after the search through the rubbish, but Diane knew this one was worth a try.

  She rushed downstairs and returned to the study. She knocked.

  “Come in,” said Juliana.

  “Oh God, not the rubbish again,” said Juliana.

  “No, not the rubbish again. This time, I was wondering if I might have a peek at your attic?”

  “I have no idea what could possibly be of any interest in the attic, but why not? Follow me, and you are going to need this.” Juliana handed her a torch from the first aid supplies on the shelf by the door.

  Juliana led Diana up the staircase and down a hall and up another set of stairs, down one more corridor and finally up a narrow, dark set of old creaky wooden stairs to a door. Juliana opened the door and Diane turned on the torch.

  “Be careful, I’m not sure how good the floor is up here.”

  “Thank you. Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine.”

  Juliana went back downstairs and left Diane to her investigation. Diane walked into the attic and was surprised by how utterly dark it was. It reminded her of classic horrors movies and ghost stories. She tried not to think about that, not with a real-life killer roaming around.

  She shined the torch in all directions looking for anything that might be important. The attic was empty except for a small scrap of tartan cloth she found on a nail. She turned the torch’s light to the material and observed that it was torn. Its pattern was thin, white horizontal and vertical lines with thick, black horizontal and vertical lines on a red background. She carefully put the torn piece of tartan in her pocket.

  As she continued her search, she noticed a faint, fluttering sound. Diane listened carefully, trying to detect what could have made that sound when she had a moment of clarity. She pulled the whistle from her pocket and blew it. She expected a reaction, but was only met with silence. She thought about it and then decided to blow the whistle several times. Although she could not hear the sound of the whistle, something in the darkness heard it and reacted to it.