‘Oh, really?’ Bob replied.
‘Apparently, Iain told him this morning that his father killed a human.’
‘Do you really think it’s true?’ Bob asked.
‘Of course not,’ Leger said. ‘How could he? It’s just not possible, is it?’
‘You two are very chatty today,’ Hugh said, smiling down at the two animals.
‘What about Carole? Can you smell her here?’ Leger asked.
‘I can. She was here on this bench and I could swear I can smell Gordon too,’ Bob said.
‘Excellent! That means the man she kissed was her husband. Why would she disappear with him though and not bring him to see the family?’
‘Didn’t Iain say they had a fight? Perhaps they’ve gone down to the village to stay the night and be alone to sort things out. I’ll bet there’s not even a mystery to solve here,’ Bob panted, smiling.
‘Let’s head to the village and check if she’s there,’ Leger suggested.
‘Good idea. Is there anyone in the village we can ask about the drowning matter? Didn’t you solve a murder here before? Who helped you then?’
Leger sat on the gravelly path around the loch and reminisced for a moment about the time when he first met Lily and they solved a murder together with the help of a spider named Steven and a German Shepherd named Rani. Of course, Lily had promptly eaten the spider after using the poor creature as an informant but Rani would hopefully still be alive and well and remember him. Perhaps she would have heard something on the grapevine about Sean Gilbert’s untimely death.
*****
‘I know she lives around this area somewhere,’ Leger muttered, leading Bob and Hugh up a side-street in the nearby village.
‘Why on earth do you want to come up this street, Bob?’ Hugh grumbled as he was dragged along by Bob, who was following Leger to Rani’s house.
‘It’s this one!’ Leger called out. ‘It’s as messy as it was last year and yes, there she is.’
Leger nodded towards the sad German Shepherd with huge paws, large black eyes and floppy dark ears, lying on a patch of unkempt grass. When he had visited Rani last year to get information about a local murder, he had assumed she looked depressed then because she had been the one to find the victim’s body and it had disturbed her. She looked just the same today as she did last year.
‘Rani!’ Leger called out. ‘Do you remember me?’
Rani looked up with only her eyes, her head still resting on her two fronts paws. She was too lazy to move and appeared to have recently woken from a sleep. She examined him for a moment and her nose twitched, almost as if she sort of recognised him but she couldn’t place his face.
‘This is Rani?’ Bob panted. ‘What an angel!’
Rani’s head popped up, now sufficiently interested to make a significant movement. Her eyes were wide as she regarded Bob.
‘Who? Me? I’m an angel?’ she asked, her breath heavy.
‘Oh, so this is why you wanted to come here!’ Hugh chuckled. ‘Got your eye on a lady friend, have you? I’ll bet she’s in season and the smell was driving you wild.’
‘I’m not actually,’ Rani pouted. ‘Can I help you three?’
‘Be mine!’ Bob sighed, jumping onto his hind legs and resting his paws on the fence. ‘I swear, Cupid has shot fifty arrows into me.’
Leger looked up at his canine friend and shook his head. He had never seen Bob behave in such a manner before and it was quite unnerving.
‘Is he all right?’ Rani said, sniffing through the fence. ‘He seems a little hyper.’
‘He’s fine. I’m Leger. You probably don’t remember me but I was here for a short time last year investigating a murder on the island.’
‘Oh my goodness! Of course I remember you. I still have the stick you gave me. See?’ she said and ran to one of the many bushes at the far end of her garden to fetch a piece of well-loved wood.
‘Come here, girl,’ Hugh said, reaching over to pat her and take the stick. He tossed it back to the other end of the garden, hoping she would fetch but she didn’t.
‘I’m glad you found so much pleasure in the gift,’ Leger beamed. ‘I can’t believe you still have it!’
‘I don’t get a lot of gifts, so of course I kept it. What can I do for you? Are you investigating something else? I’m afraid I haven’t found any more bodies on the beach,’ she sighed, tilting her head back as Hugh ruffled her ears.
‘I would be surprised if you had. There are some other matters I wish to discuss with you. You’re the only dog I know around here and I wondered if perhaps you could set me straight on some matters that cats would shy away from,’ Leger suggested.
‘I can try,’ Rani whimpered.
‘Have you heard of the murder of Sean Gilbert?’ Leger quizzed.
‘Oh, yes! He was the man who owned the take-away restaurant in the village. Lovely man. Real dog person. Loved cats too but they never really took to him because of his affiliation with dogs,’ Rani said.
‘Interesting! So what else do you know about him?’ Leger continued, while Bob stared in at Rani with lovesickness in his eyes.
‘I know that his death is being investigated by police but they’re wasting their time. The blame doesn’t lie with humans. It was a swan who pushed him in.’
‘A swan?’ Leger and Bob repeated in unison.
‘So itwas Kevin!’ Leger said.
‘Well, that’s what I’ve heard. Sean Gilbert’s friend, the one who jumped in to save him, had his dog with him that day and Blue, the dog, said Sean tried to feed the cygnet. Of course, if you get too close to a cygnet the parents will attack and in this case, the parent did. He pushedhim into the water. I don’t think he meant to kill him, just scare him away. It was a tragic accident.’
‘That would explain a lot. Do you ever take walks to the loch?’ Leger asked.
‘Not really. I don’t get walked anywhere other than the beach across the road and that’s only because it’s close. I would love to go for a proper long walk,’ Rani said, her features drooping again and giving her a sad appearance.
Bob whimpered in at her while Leger tried his best to keep his emotions in check. He felt sorry for Rani, but he couldn’t let that get in the way of his job and now that he knew Sean Gilbert hadn’t been murdered by a human, his paramount concern was finding Carole.
‘So, you won’t have heard anything about the disappearance of a young woman who was staying here on the island?’ Leger probed.
‘Nope. Not a thing,’ Rani said.
‘Thank you, Rani. You’ve actually been more helpful than you realise,’ Leger said. ‘Is there anything I can do in return?’
‘Perhaps there is. Does your human have treats in his pocket? I can smell them and it’s years since I’ve had a treat. My family don’t really do things like that. I only get my main meals.’
Bob nuzzled Hugh’s pocket to remind the elderly man that he had something in there that Rani might enjoy and when Hugh fed a gravy bone to Bob, the huge Labrador held it between his teeth and dropped it through the fence for Rani.
*****
When the trio returned home later that morning, Leger had much to think about. Firstly, he knew the identity of the murderer now, although it wasn’t really a murder and he had never suspected that a swan would indeed be to blame for a human death. They were such graceful, elegant creatures. This could not go unpunished, but when Kevin had a young child to care for, how could Leger possibly turn him in? There had to be a way for Kevin to pay for his crime without putting the Iain in danger of losing his father.
The next thing on his mind was Carole’s whereabouts. He knew it was possible that she had just gone for a long walk, but the more he discovered about the situation, the more uneasy he felt. She had met her husband, Gordon, at the loch but he hadn’t bothered to call in on the family. The pair had quarrelled and then she and Gordon had both vanished. It didn’t sit well with Leger. He had a bad feeling about this and he wanted to track her down to reassure himself and everyone else in the family that Carole was safe and well.