“Don’t worry about that. We will face the danger together,” Andrew said. “It is not as if we have never faced danger before.”
“No, I must leave. I have brought enough hurt to people that I love as it is. I will bring no more.”
“Where will you go?” Andrew asked.
“I don’t know. It doesn’t matter. I will just go.”
“He can go to Falcon,” Rosanna said.
“Yes!” Andrew replied enthusiastically. “I don’t know why I didn’t think of that myself. Duff, you must go find our brother Falcon. If there is anyone in the world who can help you now, it would be Falcon.”
“I thank you kindly, but I’ve nae wish to bring my troubles to anyone else.”
“Don’t be silly, everyone brings their troubles to Falcon,” Rosanna said. “He thrives on it.”
“Trust me, Duff, he will welcome you with open arms. And I will write a letter of introduction for you.”
“Where would I find him?” Duff asked.
Andrew smiled. “In Colorado. Oh, have you money?”
“I have some money that I brought with me, and I am owed two weeks’ salary from the production company,” Duff said. “But I hesitate to wait for it.”
“You need not wait. I know how much is due you. I will pay you now,” Andrew said. “Come to my dressing room, I will give you the money and the letter of introduction.”
“And,” Rosanna said.
“And?”
“Don’t you remember? The Black Watch thing?”
“Oh, yes,” Andrew said. “We were going to wait and present this to you at the close of the production of The Highlander, sort of a thank-you reward for a job well done as stage manager. But, if you are leaving now, we may as well give it to you.”
Duff followed Andrew and Rosanna to Andrew’s dressing room. There, Andrew gave Duff the one hundred dollars he had due in wages. Then he removed the contents of a box. It was the uniform jacket and kilt of the Black Watch, complete with a sgian dubh, or ceremonial knife.
“We thought you might like to keep this with you,” Andrew said.
Duff nodded, then put his hand on Andrew’s shoulder. “’Tis family ye are, and family ye will always be,” he said. “I thank the both of ye, for all that ye have done.”
Percy Fowler was hiding behind the flats. He had no idea why Duff MacCallister wanted to speak to Andrew and Rosanna, but if by listening to their conversation he could realize some advantage for himself, he would do so. As soon as he brought the MacCallisters into the storeroom, he moved quickly so as to be out of sight, and here, he heard every word they said.
Percy had been working in this theater through five previous productions, and he had been told that, with the next production, he would be elevated to the position of stage manager. That didn’t happen when Duff MacCallister arrived. Both Andrew and Rosanna had insisted that their cousin be given the job, and because they were highly regarded by the producer of the play, their request was honored. Percy had been angered by being cut out of a job that was rightly his, but there was nothing he could do but accept it, for he knew of no other occupation that paid as well.
Now he was privy to some very secret information, information that he might find some way to turn to his advantage.
Chapter Nine
New York
Carrying a box of doughnuts he had just purchased, Deputy Malcolm knocked on the side door of the Rex Theater. He had to knock several times before the door was answered by a stagehand.
“If you’re here to buy tickets, you must go to the front door,” the stagehand said.
“Are you the man in charge of the theater?”
“No, I’m just a stagehand.”
“Who is the man in charge?”
“That would be Mr. MacCallister.”
“The actor?”
“No, the stage manager. Except, wait, he ain’t in charge no more. He left for some reason. The man in charge now is Percy Fowler.”
“Then he is the one I should see.”
“See about what? Mr. Fowler is a busy man. I can’t just go lettin’ anyone in off the street to see him.”
“It won’t take but a moment. I have a delivery of pastries,” Malcolm said.
“Pastries? What sort of pastries?”
Malcolm opened the box to let the stagehand see.
“Doughnuts,” the stagehand said. “Why didn’t you say you had doughnuts? I’ll take them.”
“No, I have been told to take them directly to the stage manager.”
“I can’t do that.”
“Very well, I shall return the doughnuts.”
The stagehand looked around, then stepped back into the theater. “Follow me,” he said. “You can wait in the green room.”
Malcolm followed the stagehand into the theater, past the rows upon rows of empty seats, then through a small door that led to an area behind the stage.
“This is the green room,” the stagehand said. “Wait here, I’ll get Mr. Fowler for you.”
“Thank you.”
The stagehand started to leave, but he turned back toward Malcolm and took a doughnut from the box.
A moment later a rather short and nearly bald man came into the room.
“Reid said you needed to see me.”
“Actually, I wanted to see Mr. MacCallister.”
“He’s no longer here.”
“Do you have any idea where I might find him?”
“You’re not American are you? You sound just like Mr. MacCallister. What are you, Scottish?”
“Yes, I am, actually.”
Fowler looked at the box of doughnuts Malcolm was holding.
“You didn’t come here to deliver doughnuts, did you? You came here to find MacCallister.”
Malcolm smiled. “I’m afraid you have divined my secret. Aye, ’tis to find Duff MacCallister that I have come.”
“Why do you want to find him?”
“Why, the man is a good friend from Scotland. I thought perhaps that two people from the same county in Scotland, here in New York at the same time, should have a bit of a meeting.”
“Is he your friend? Or have you come to arrest him for the murder?” Fowler asked.
The smile left Malcolm’s face and his eyes narrowed. “You know about that, do you?”
“I know that he killed two men here,” Fowler said.
The tone of Fowler’s voice convinced Malcolm that he would be able to work with him.
“Aye. MacCallister is wanted for murder. And so tell me, m’lad, how is it that ye be knowin’ about that?”
“I know,” Fowler replied, without directly answering Malcolm’s question.
“The reason I am lookin’ for him, is I’ve been sent by himself the sheriff to deal with the matter,” Malcolm said.
“Were you one of the three who came for him last week?” Fowler asked.
“You know of last week?”
“I know that before he left Scotland, Duff MacCallister killed one of the sheriff’s sons and two of his deputies. And I know that last week, when you and the sheriff’s other two sons came for him, MacCallister killed them both,” Fowler said.
“Aye, that is true. I was here with the sheriff’s last two sons.”
“Why is it that you want to go after him? It sounds to me as if he is too dangerous a man to pursue.”
“I will be ready for him this time. If I find him.”
“I imagine the sheriff back in Scotland must want him something fierce,” Fowler said.
“Aye, that he does, seein’ as how MacCallister has killed all three of the sheriff’s sons.”
“How badly does the sheriff want him?” Fowler asked.
“What do you mean?”
“I know where MacCallister is,” Fowler said. “And I could make that information available to an interested party if the price is right.”