A Death in the Loch Read Online Free PDF

shock he was sporting large sideburns. ‘You’re not thinking of growing a beard, are you?’ I said, horrified.
    ‘Why not?’ snapped Bertram. ‘It will give me gravitas.’
    ‘Who on earth told you that?’ I said in genuine surprise.
    ‘Never mind that,’ said Bertram turning a deeper shade of red, ‘what the devil do you mean coming down to the ball when you know it will only enrage Richard? He could turn you out!’
    ‘I doubt that. He doesn’t want to upset Richenda. Besides, have you ever tried to say no to Fitzroy?’
    ‘So that’s what he meant!’ growled Bertram stepping hard on my foot. ‘Well, I’m not having it!’
    ‘Having what?’
    ‘He’s got something he wants me to do for the security of the nation or some such tosh. When I resisted his plan he said if I knew who else was involved I might change my mind. Then he disappeared until he brought you in.’
    My heart beat faster and I had a strange sensation of bubbling in my chest. Both Bertram and I had had to sign the Official Secrets Act so it was possible that Fitzroy might ask us do something secretive. Nothing too dangerous, I suspected, as both of us were in his eyes ordinary civilians.
    ‘Did he say what?’
    ‘No,’ said Bertram shortly.
    ‘Whatever it is it’s got to be better than staying here.’
    ‘You might get shot!’ said Bertram, referring to events in my journal A Death in the Highlands .
    ‘As I recall it was Fitzroy who prevented me getting shot!’
    ‘And McLeod. He wants him in on it too. He’s back, you know.’ Bertram swung me inexpertly round and my eyes locked with the Stapleford butler, Rory McLeod, the man I had once thought was the love of my life till he jilted me. He stood behind the waiting tables, sharp in his uniform, glowering at the sight of me in Bertram’s arms.
    It seemed as if life was about to become interesting again. Well, I had asked for it, hadn’t I?

Chapter Five:
    The wild country or will ye go lassie, go?
    It was three o’clock in the morning before Fitzroy gathered Bertram, Rory, and myself in one room to have his little chat. He had chosen, whether through prior knowledge or pure chance, the place where I had found my first dead body at Stapleford Hall, the library. Rory stood ramrod-straight by the window, only the shadows under his eyes showing how exhausted he was. Bertram ambled round the room until he came to rest leaning heavily against the mantelpiece, his coat tails hanging dangerously near the fire. I guessed he was less than sober. No longer a servant, I chose to sit in the wing-backed chair near the fire. Fitzroy sauntered in with not a hair out of place, looking as if he had spent the last eight hours in a restful sleep and not dancing non-stop in the ballroom. He took a long, theatrical look around at the three of us. ‘Definitely a few cobwebs that need dusting away,’ he said obscurely. Then he closed the door behind him, checked that the door to the servants’ passage behind the bookcase was firmly closed (and no, I don’t know how he knew it was there), and began his speech.
    ‘I’ll be brief,’ he said, ‘there is a very important meeting that needs to be held in the Highlands. A small group of men discussing an issue of national security in these days of heightened tensions. My job is to put them into a secure but obscure location. Richard Stapleford is lending the government his Highland Lodge and I require …’ Bertram and I both shot him a venomous look. Fitzroy bowed slightly. ‘I should say, I would like , you to head up the staff and welcoming party there. All of you have experience in observation and in managing staff. You are discreet, have each signed the Official Secrets Act, and are personally known to me. While I would hope you were able to offer reports on the meeting after it has closed, I can say with certainty that at no time would any of you be in any physical danger. The government simply requires a discreet place where interested