I didn’t know what to think. I thought that maybe you two had had a party last night.”
Jamie grinned. “No. I came when she called me. I stayed over—in one of the spare rooms.”
Grace listened gravely as Jamie explained what had happened. As he came to the end of the explanation, Isabel came 2 3 4
A l e x a n d e r M c C a l l S m i t h into the kitchen, and the three of them sat down at the table and entered into discussion.
“This has gone far enough,” said Jamie. “You’re out of your depth now and you are going to have to hand the whole thing over.”
Isabel looked blank. “To?”
“The police.”
“But what exactly are we going to hand over to them?” asked Isabel. “We have no proof of anything. All we have is a suspicion that Johnny Sanderson is mixed up in insider trading and that this may have had something to do with Mark Fraser’s death.”
“What puzzles me, though,” said Jamie, “is the fact that McDowell’s must have had their own suspicions about him. You say that Minty explained that this is why he was asked to leave.
So if they knew, then why should he be worried about your finding anything out?”
Isabel thought about this. There would be a reason. “Perhaps they wanted the whole thing hushed up. This would suit Johnny Sanderson, of course, and he would not want anybody from the outside—that is, you and me—finding out about it and making a fuss. The Edinburgh establishment has been known to close ranks before this. We should not be unduly surprised.”
“But we have last night,” said Jamie. “At least we have something more concrete on him.”
Isabel shook her head. “Last night proves nothing,” she said.
“He has his story about why he came in. He’ll stick to that and the police would probably just accept that. They won’t want to get involved in some private spat.”
“But we could point out the link with the allegations of insider trading,” said Jamie. “We could tell them about what Neil told you and about the paintings. There’s enough here to give rise to a reasonable suspicion.”
T H E S U N D A Y P H I L O S O P H Y C L U B
2 3 5
Isabel was doubtful. “I don’t think there is. The police can’t demand that you explain where you get your money from. They don’t work that way.”
“And Neil?” Jamie persisted. “What about the information that Mark Fraser was frightened of something?”
“He has already declined to go to the police about that,” said Isabel. “He would probably deny that he’d ever spoken to me. If he changed his story, then the police could accuse him of misleading them. He’s not going to say anything, if you ask me.”
Jamie turned to Grace, wondering whether she would support him in his suggestion. “What do you think?” he asked. “Do you agree with me?”
“No,” she said. “No, I don’t.”
Jamie looked at Isabel, who raised an eyebrow. There was an idea forming in her mind. “Set a thief to catch a thief,” she said. “As you say, we’re out of our depth here. We can’t prove anything about these financial goings-on. We certainly can’t prove anything about a link between all that and Mark Fraser’s death. In fact, it looks as if that probably isn’t the issue—there simply isn’t any link. So what we need to do is get the message to Johnny Sanderson that we’re no longer involved in any way. That should keep him from me.”
“Do you really think he might . . . might try to harm you?”
Jamie asked.
“I felt pretty frightened last night,” said Isabel. “He could. But then it’s occurred to me that we could get Minty to tell him that she’s fully aware of his visit here. If she gets the message to him that she knows that he’s been leaning on me, then he would presumably not try anything further. If I came to any harm, he would have at least one archenemy who would point the finger at him.”
Jamie sounded doubtful. “So we should talk to Minty?”
Isabel nodded. “Frankly, I can’t face it. I wondered if you . . .”
2 3 6
A l e x a n d e r M c C a l l S m i t h Grace rose to her feet. “No,” she said. “I’ll do this. You tell me where this Minty woman is to be found and I’ll go and have a word with her. Then, just in case there’s any doubt, I’ll go and have a word with this Sanderson person. I’ll leave him in no doubt that he’s not to come round here again.”
Isabel glanced at Jamie, who nodded. “Grace can be very firm,” he said, adding quickly, “Of course, I mean that in the nicest possible way.”
Isabel smiled. “Of course,” she said. She was silent for a few moments, and then went on. “You know, I feel that I’m showing an appalling lack of moral courage. I’ve looked into a very unpleasant world and have simply drawn back in fright. I’m throwing in every towel in sight.”
“What more can you do?” said Jamie crossly. “You’ve already interfered. Now you can’t do anything more. You’re fully entitled to look after yourself. Be reasonable for once.”
“I’m walking away from it all,” said Isabel quietly. “I’m walking away because somebody has given me a bad fright. It’s exactly what they want me to do.”
Jamie’s frustration was now palpable. “All right, then,” he said.
“Tell us what you can do instead. Tell us where we go from here. You can’t, can you? That’s because there’s nothing else for you to do.”
“Exactly,” said Grace. And then she went on, “Jamie here is right. You’re wrong. You’re not a moral coward. You’re the least cowardly person I know. The least.”
“I agree,” said Jamie. “You’re brave, Isabel. And we love you for it. You’re brave and good and you don’t even know it.”
I S A B E L W E N T T H R O U G H to her study to deal with the mail, leaving Jamie and Grace in the kitchen. After a few minutes, T H E S U N D A Y P H I L O S O P H Y C L U B
2 3 7
Jamie looked at his watch. “I have a pupil at eleven,” he said. “But I could come back this evening.”
Grace thought this a good idea, and accepted on Isabel’s behalf. “Just for a few more days,” she said. “If you don’t mind . . .”
“I don’t,” said Jamie. “I wouldn’t leave her by herself in the middle of all this.”
As he left the house, Grace followed him out onto the path, catching him by the arm. Glancing behind her towards the house, she lowered her voice as she spoke to him.
“You’re wonderful, you know. You really are. Most young men wouldn’t bother. But you do.”
He was embarrassed. “I don’t mind. I really don’t.”
“Yes, well, maybe. But here’s another thing. Cat’s got rid of that fellow with the red breeks. She wrote to Isabel about it.”
Jamie said nothing, but blinked once or twice.
Grace tightened the pressure on his forearm. “Isabel told her,” she whispered. “She told her about how Toby is carrying on with another girl.”
“She told her that?”
“Yes, and she was mighty upset. She ran out, sobbing her eyes out. I tried to speak to her, but she wouldn’t listen to me.”
Jamie began to laugh, but checked himself quickly. “I’m sorry.
I’m not laughing at Cat’s being upset. I was just so pleased that now maybe she knows what he’s like. I . . .”
Grace nodded. “If she had any sense she’d get back to you.”
“Thank you. I’d like that, but I don’t know if it’s going to happen.”
Grace looked into his eyes. “May I say something really personal? Would you mind?”
“Of course I wouldn’t. Fire away.” He had been instantly buoyed by the news which Grace had imparted and now he was ready for anything.