The Presence Read online

  “No!” Robert said, laughing.

  “Yes, actually. Just such a scenario was suggested by one lass.”

  “They don’t know what you do, or who you are?” Robert queried.

  “No, not even the Scotsman among them. Frankly, I found that rather suspicious.”

  Robert shrugged. “In this day and age? Maybe. And maybe not. In Glasgow, folks tend to get into being…well, from Glasgow.”

  Bruce arched a brow at him.

  “Now, Bruce, you know my own hometown by the Loch—’tis nothing there! Longing to be a police officer, there was nothing for me to do but come to the city. You know that’s true. But don’t worry on that front. If he’s a Scotsman, I can trace his past for you by tomorrow. Actually, I can run traces on your entire group, though it might take a wee bit longer with the Americans. And once I’ve gotten copies of their documents, we can set the boys in the white-collar crime units on the trail of whoever is renting properties and taking euro-checks for them. Euro-checks, eh?”

  He shrugged. “That’s what she said.”

  “Not pounds sterling?”

  “I didn’t pursue that yet. My hearing is quite good, though, and she did say euro-check. This agency has probably purported itself to be something of a European finding facility, so I doubt that the use of a euro-check—even for a property in Scotland—would have seemed that strange.”

  “And you didn’t send them packing immediately?” Robert said.

  Bruce shook his head. “It was late Friday night when I found the folks putting on their show.”

  “Actually, it’s a rather clever idea,” Robert mused. “They’re making a mint on graveyard tours and the like here, you know. People are ghoulish, that’s a fact. They like a nice little chill, with the safety of knowing that the evil fellows practiced their wicked deeds centuries ago.”

  “I believe they were in Edinburgh when they got the idea,” Bruce said.

  “And how long ago was that?” Robert inquired.

  “I don’t really know.”

  “So these folks have been to Scotland before?”

  “Aye, so they have. Why? Is that important?”

  Robert shook his head. “Just a point of interest. I suppose there’s no reason to think that they’d know much about the wee hamlets and villages, even if they’d been several times before. And from what you say, they’ve done well. Your castle was in need of serious repair.”

  “Aye, I’ve let it go. But every time before…well, it had been Meg’s dream to go with all guns blazing and make it a showplace. When she was gone…”

  “That’s been more than a decade.”

  “I know, and I don’t need any speeches. I’ve gone on with my life. I function well. I travel the globe. I do my best to steal from the rich and give to the poor. It was just the castle where I fell short.”

  “So your guests—for want of a better description—don’t know what you do, who you are or that the castle isn’t really what you call home?” Robert said.

  “No.”

  “Are you keeping these things a secret for some reason?”

  “Not really. No one has asked. I don’t know. Maybe,” Bruce said, correcting himself. “We might all be a bit wary of one another. They certainly appear to be exactly what they say. Still…let me tell you, it was strange to come home and hear what they were up to, then to have Toni Fraser tell me that she had made up her story, but even the name of Bruce MacNiall’s wife was exact.”

  Robert waved a dismissive hand in the air. “That happens all the time. People hear things, forget them and then think that they’re original thoughts.”

  “Well, that’s what one would assume,” Bruce agreed. “But I’ve talked to her, rather extensively. She’s convinced that she made it up. And something more.”

  “What?”

  “She’s scared by it. She’s having nightmares about my ancestor standing at the foot of her bed with a dripping sword.”

  Again Robert was unimpressed. “That’s easy enough. She’s in the old laird’s castle.”

  “Easy enough—unless you’ve been there and seen the way she looks when she wakens from such a dream.”

  Robert arched a brow at him. “She’s an actress, right?”

  “Aye.”

  “Do you think that maybe, just maybe, a scam is being played on you?”

  “Not unless it’s the best one in history.”

  “Granted, you’re not the kind to be taken,” Robert mused. “A lot of this is outside my jurisdiction but, naturally, I’ll get on it.”

  “Thanks.”

  Robert’s phone went off, and he excused himself to answer the summons. Bruce watched his friend’s face go from surprise to concern.

  He clicked off, staring at Bruce.

  “I’ll head back with you right now,” he said.

  “What’s happened?” Bruce asked, an uneasy feeling already seeping into his bloodstream.

  “They’ve found a body.”

  Bruce’s blood chilled. And yet, he wasn’t surprised!

  “Is it—Annie O’Hara?”

  “I don’t know. One of my sergeants saw the alert and called me right away. Jonathan and the medical examiner are heading out to the scene now. Even if the body is not at a severe stage of decomposition, I doubt they can be certain until they’ve brought it out and performed an autopsy.”

  “Oh, God. They’ve found her in the forest?”

  “Aye. More than that.” He was looking at Bruce strangely.

  “What?”

  Robert shook his head, rising. “I’ll tell you on the way. I want to get out there before they botch anything up.”

  “Dammit, Robert, what is the ‘more’?” Bruce demanded.

  “She was found by your guest. Miss Fraser.”

  9

  A strange calm had descended over Toni. By the time she’d reached the village and a lazy deputy had accepted the fact that she wasn’t hysterical and had contacted Jonathan Tavish, she was already ruing her actions in regard to Eban. There was no reason to suspect the fellow. Away from the green darkness of the forest—and the sight of the pathetic remains—she felt stronger.

  When Jonathan arrived, she gave him a description of walking into the woods, seeing the branch and moving it. They sat in his office. He was just feet from her, looking almost like the boy next door in his casual Sunday attire.

  “Toni, lass, what were you doing walkin’ so deep into the woods on your own? I explained this morning why you shouldna be doing so.”

  “I saw Bruce,” she said.

  Jonathan shook his head. “I don’t think so. After I left you earlier, I saw him in the coffee shop. Said he was taking the drive to Edinburgh to have lunch with a friend.”

  His comment chilled her, but it didn’t create the panic it might have just hours before.

  “Well,” she murmured, letting her lashes fall over her eyes. “I thought I saw him.”

  He sighed. “I hate to ask this of you, but you’ll have to come back into the forest with me. I need you to guide us to the site.”

  “Certainly.”

  So she wound up not in the minivan, but in the constable’s car with him and one of his deputies. Another car following behind them was filled with police tape and other paraphernalia needed to protect the integrity of the site.

  At the scene, photos were taken before anyone touched the remains. The medical examiner—an almost absurdly kind and jovial-looking little fellow named Daniel Darrow—carried a small recorder and made comments into it as he made a preliminary inspection of the site and the skeletal corpse.

  Toni stood some distance away, glad that the area was teeming with people. Even then, she felt as if she were being watched, and she kept herself from looking into the trees, somewhat afraid that she would see eyes observing her. Watching. Waiting. For what?

  She heard Dr. Darrow speaking with Jonathan. “Well, it’s not the missing Annie O’Hara. That’s for certain.”

  “No?”
Jonathan said.

  “Definitely not.”

  “Aye?” Jonathan said. “How can you be certain?”

  Darrow nodded. “This lass, if I’m not mistaken, has been here for centuries.”

  “Centuries!” Toni heard herself say.

  “So I believe.”

  “And you know it’s the body of a woman? If it’s been here centuries, how do you know?”

  Darrow smiled dryly. “Well, there are remnants of clothing left, even now. Don’t think we had too many drag queens back then, eh? Then there are the medical reasons, as well, Jonathan, the pelvic bones of a woman being entirely different from those of a man, the delicate nature of the facial bones, stature, breadth of the ribs… Don’t worry, we’ll do all the proper procedures back at the morgue, but I think I’m safe in referring to our poor corpse as a lass! I’m going to try to excavate a bit here, rather than just remove the corpse. And we’ll have to have a forensic anthropologist in. This is really most remarkable. She must have been buried deep in the muck to be as preserved as she is. Oddly enough, the lass’s means of death is rather apparent.”

  Toni and Jonathan both stared at him blankly.

  Darrow nodded, using a stick to point to the corpse.

  “See there? It’s a scarf, ascot, handkerchief…something of the like, used as a ligature. Poor wee thing was strangled.”

  Toni wasn’t sure that she saw, but then, Darrow certainly knew this business better than she did.

  Jonathan sighed. “At least it’s not Annie O’Hara, though I don’t know whether that’s good or bad.”

  Darrow looked at him sharply. “I thought you’d searched the woods for Annie O’Hara? You might have discovered this old grave site.”

  “We did search for Annie O’Hara,” Jonathan said flatly. “As you’ll note, this is a dark area. And I’m certain that only the recent rains could have caused this—these remains—to suddenly rise to a point of discovery. And Miss Fraser reported that she only discovered the bones when the branch was moved. Hell, Daniel, I’d need more men than I have here to move every branch in this forest!”

  Toni was impressed with Daniel Darrow. Details had gone into his recording, and, despite the fact that it seemed she had found an ancient corpse, he made a point of keeping everyone else out of the immediate area.

  She had no idea how long they had been at the site when Bruce MacNiall came striding to it with a grave fellow in a suit that identified him immediately as a professional lawman of some variety.

  The men stopped at the yellow tape stretched around the immediate area. Bruce looked as imposing in the forest as ever, and yet somewhat haggard. His eyes pinned first on the cordoned area where the remains lay, then on Jonathan. Then he looked around until his gaze fell on where she stood by the trees.

  “Toni!” His voice was harsh, yet there was an underlying emotion to it that she found gratifying. His long strides brought him to her in seconds. His hands fell on her shoulders; steel-gray eyes assessed her with pointed concern. “Are you all right?”

  She nodded, glad of him there, wishing that his presence didn’t make her feel a sense of tremulous weak ness again. “Of course,” she told him.

  “I’ll get you out of here,” Bruce told Toni. “Can you give me another minute?”

  “Bruce, I’m fine,” she said. “I’m the one who came upon the remains, and I’ve seen quite a bit already, as you can imagine. And Bruce, this isn’t a recent victim of a serial killer. Dr. Darrow says that she’s been here for centuries.”

  His brow furrowed and the muscles in his face tightened in confusion.

  She nodded. “Centuries,” she repeated.

  He turned away from her, striding toward the others.

  “Bruce,” Jonathan said, his tone wary. “I’m here. Daniel is here. And now Robert is here, as well. You don’t need to be.”

  “Aye, I do,” Bruce said harshly. “The castle is the closest location to this forest. This corpse is ancient?” he asked, looking at Darrow, both incredulous and relieved.

  “I believe. I’m not an expert, but I’d wager she was put here hundreds of years ago,” Darrow told him. “I told Jonathan, what we really need is an excavation.” He glanced at Toni, and she wondered if she had been staring at him with horror or dismay, because he quickly added, “We’ll not be leaving her here. No, we’ll see that she is brought out intact—as intact as possible—with the muck, as well, so that the experts will have all this to help them determine just what happened.” He offered Toni a smile. “Miss Fraser, you’ve given a hand to history here today. This lass was strangled, that’s a fact.”

  “Annalise!” Jonathan said suddenly, staring at Bruce. He seemed almost pleased. “Looks like the hero of many a Royalist battle might have strangled his wife after all!”

  “Maybe, and maybe not,” Bruce said evenly.

  “Centuries old, so Dr. Darrow says,” Jonathan persisted.

  “Aye, but that doesn’t mean the laird did her in, even if it’s possible to prove that this is Annalise. The autopsy will take place in Edinburgh,” Robert said.

  “This is my jurisdiction,” Jonathan replied testily.

  “And it’s a national situation,” Robert reminded him.

  “You’re not the one to make that call,” Jonathan said.

  “Now, Jonathan, it’s the right call, and we all know it,” Daniel Darrow said evenly. “This really is a piece of old history we’ve found here. Naturally, with what’s been happening…well, we all thought that Miss Fraser had stumbled upon someone else. And even though this pathetic wee one isn’t who we thought, it’s pretty evident that we have something very serious on our hands.” Darrow’s voice made it clear that no one could fault Jonathan for being frustrated—or for a lack of investigative technique. Everyone involved had been tense, certain that the discovery would be a recent victim of violence. But Jonathan apparently felt under the gun, nevertheless.

  “For now,” Darrow continued, “I’ll get the boys to help me dig her out and get her to the morgue. Perhaps, Jonathan, Robert, y’ll both give me a hand. We need to see to it that an expert is brought here.”

  Toni didn’t know much about the laws regarding jurisdiction over a corpse—especially a centuries-old corpse, or the remains of one—but Darrow’s solution seemed to satisfy everyone. In fact his calm approach somewhat soothed all tempers—if only as far as professional and outward appearances went.

  Bruce didn’t go past the tape, but he hunkered down at a distance again, looking at the remains.

  Toni’s own gaze was drawn to it then, and her stomach catapulted.

  Death was never kind. The angle of the skull made it appear as if the neck had been broken, as if she had been left in pieces, as if the violence done to her had continued—even after death.

  She couldn’t help but look, though empty eye sockets stared back at her.

  “How is that she is in pieces, and yet there are bits of flesh and bone?” Bruce asked.

  Darrow hunkered down next to him. “I’d say that she was buried deep. The muck preserved her.”

  “’Tis a pity it didn’t do so for our more recent victims,” Jonathan said.

  Darrow looked around. “The air is what often causes decay. If the recent rains shifted an old grave, she’s not been exposed long. Aye, poor lass! Certainly looks as if she met her end by strangulation. The marks and—” He produced a small flashlight. “There! Y’can see how this was tied about her.” He flicked off the light. “Pity! I can tell more on this lass already than we’ve gleaned at autopsy on the girls killed within a year or so!”

  Bruce stood. Whatever he had seen, it had been enough. “I’m getting Toni out of here,” he said, looking around to adamantly defy anyone who might protest. No one did.

  “Aye, good,” Jonathan said simply. Toni wondered if he really thought it was such a good idea that she be taken from the area, or if taking her out meant that Bruce would be out of his way, as well.

  Robert turned to Toni th
en, offering her a hand. “Robert Chamberlain. Detective Inspector Robert Chamberlain. Strange circumstances here, but it’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Fraser.”

  “Toni,” she murmured, taking his hand. “Please. And yes, it’s a pleasure, Detective Inspector.”

  He offered her a wry smile. “Robert, if you will.”

  “Robert,” she murmured.

  “I’ll come to the castle before I leave,” Robert told Bruce.

  “Aye, and thanks,” Bruce said, slipping an arm around her shoulder and leading her from the site.

  They walked in silence along the brook, exiting to the road area where there were now at least a half-dozen cars parked, along with the medical examiner’s hearse.

  It wasn’t until they were out of the woods that Bruce said suddenly and angrily, “What in God’s name were you doing in there—that deep, especially!—in the first place? I told you to stay out of the forest.”

  She stared at him, startled, feeling a tinge of anger herself, ready to tell him that she had followed him. But he’d call her a liar, or worse, say she was mad. And she was feeling somewhat insane herself. If he’d headed straight for Edinburgh that morning, he couldn’t have been on his horse, in the woods, beckoning her to come.

  But what if he had purported to be making the drive to Edinburgh, then doubled back, taken the horse out, lured her into the forest, left her there and driven on to Edinburgh? Was the timing possible? Maybe. Just maybe.

  And far more probable than seeing a phantom on horseback!

  “I thought I saw you,” she said simply.

  “Me?” he demanded.

  She shrugged. “I must have been mistaken.”

  “Why would I lure you into the forest when I keep telling you to stay out of the damned place?” he demanded angrily.

  “Hey! I thought I saw you. I was mistaken,” she said, shaking off his touch.

  Evidently he caught hold of his temper. “I’m sorry. You’ve been through a lot.”

  “I haven’t really been through anything,” she said softly. “It’s not as if I found… Please, don’t treat me like a frightened child. I’m all right.” She felt a twinge of anger, as well. “And you might have explained to us that the bodies had been found in Tillingham Forest—and that you were the one to discover a victim.”