‘You really think Laidlaw will have the gall to play his lovable scamp act again after all of this?’ I said. ‘To a jury?’
‘I’ve no doubt,’ said Merrick. ‘Of course he’ll never see the outside of a prison cell but he’ll not be short of visitors either.’
We had arrived at Morningside Road, bustling with motorcars, carriages, carts and trams, bicycles, pedestrians and omnibuses, all surging up from the city or pressing down there. Mr Merrick stopped outside a small tearoom and consulted his watch.
‘I believe I shall rest a while here and take refreshment,’ he said. ‘I’ve time before my train and the Addies, with their grief, were rather trying.’ He took his leave, then ducked inside the tearoom door and left Alec and me to carry on alone.
‘I’m almost glad our acquaintance with Loveday Merrick is drawing to a close,’ I said presently. ‘I find him more than a little unnerving.’
‘Yes, I know what you mean,’ Alec said. ‘That sensation of having one’s strings pulled and not quite being able to resist him. For all he said about Tot Laidlaw winning over juries I think Merrick is the real snake-charmer of this case, don’t you?’
‘I certainly never found Tot irresistible,’ I said, shuddering.
‘Ah, but your senses are honed from years of sniffing out tricksters,’ Alec said. ‘I say, Dandy?’
‘Hm?’ I said. We were passing one of those little hat shops one finds in places like Morningside. Just one rather dashing evening cap on a stand in a chiffon-draped window.
‘You don’t suppose there’s anything in it after all, do you? Merrick’s peculiar talent, I mean. I mean, who’s to say what Mrs Addie’s sore back was? I would never have believed her son and daughter could be taken in before I saw it this morning. So maybe they weren’t taken in after all. Maybe Merrick isn’t just an uncoverer of charlatans. Maybe he’s the one nugget of gold amongst the dross. And maybe that’s why he dedicates his life to showing the dross for what it is.’
This was quite a long speech for Alec and an even more remarkably candid one. I said nothing for a while. He had seen more death than I ever would if I lived to be ninety and kept detecting until I dropped. If he could bring himself to believe in a soft white light and kindly spirits looking down he might be able to lay who knew what old worries to rest and face the future. He might even be able to contemplate a wife who was more than a sensible girl who wanted a family. He would give his heart, newly minted, to his own true love and not mind the silly nonsense for a minute.
On the other hand, he had just muttered about servants of truth and he had made a clear distinction between dross and gold. And so it was my turn to risk ridicule.
‘There’s good news and bad on that score, darling,’ I said, and I tucked my hand into his arm where it fitted very well indeed. ‘I’m sorry to say that Loveday Merrick wouldn’t know an actual ghost if it walked up and spoke to him. That’s the bad news. On the other hand…’ I took a deep breath and told him how it was I came to know.
Facts and Fictions
The ghosts of Moffat do include the Haunted Ram but although the Johnstone Reivers must have spoiled the Beef Tub as a picnic spot during their lives, they are long gone. The well is real but, thankfully, Yellow Mary is not. And while there is a story that William Hare spent a night in The Black Bull we have no information about where he went the next morning or where, in the end, he died.
The Moffat Hydro was real enough until it burned down in 1921. I have merely given it a few extra years and made them eventful ones.
About the Author
Photo © Neil McRoberts
Catriona McPherson was born in Scotland, where she lived until moving to California in 2010. She is the author of the award-winning Dandy Gilver historical mystery series and is a member of Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime. As She Left It was her first modern standalone. You can visit Catriona online at www.catrionamcpherson.com.
