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“Aye, lad Tell her the right ti”

After relaying theinto clean clothes, Lachlan decided to search Boyd’s office He had no idea what he was looking for, but his instincts told hi was amiss

The pile of papers strewn on top of the desk revealed nothing of interest The battered oak desk was locked, and so he ran his hand along the underside of the top drawer hoping to find a key dangling fro the shelves in the tall case Again, nothing captured his interest

Opening the leather-bound ledger, he examined the household expenditure for the last four weeks He flicked back one ht his attention The extortionate sus had been paid to a Mr Stanthorpe for services rendered Upon further inspection, Lachlan noted that the charge wasthe rotten eaves in the stable block

It posed a problem on two counts Firstly, the price of such a project would undoubtedly cost less than two pounds

Secondly, Lachlan had recently conducted his own tour of the estate and noted the poor condition of the ork in the stables

There were other anoed to the estate, bills to labourers, excessive visits to the farrier Together they totalled almost a hundred pounds, all spent in the last six ers would he find similar entries?

Locating the accounts for the last three years, covering the length of tih, Lachlan carried the pile of books to his room He hid them between two mattresses, replaced the sheets and coverlet, locked the door and tucked the key inside the concealed pocket of his coat

He had one

The ride to Coranted access to the parish records, he scanned the relevant page The date of Isla’s e to Nikolai was seared into his brain There could be no th to the an the journey back to Castle Craig feeling opti hirin stretched from ear to ear

As he passed the lane leading down to the village, he stopped Whilst the need to see Isla burned in his chest, he knew she would be resting It occurred to him that Boyd really was an elusive fellow He had no family, never spoke about himself Their conversations often took place after lass of whisky Consequently, serious subjects gave way to jovial stories and village gossip

Boyd would not be back froive Lachlan time to pry into the steward’s affairs As the landlord of the alehouse, Hendry knew h about the private business of his patrons and so Lachlan decided to ride to the village and ask a few probing questions

Hendry’sdown to the town At night, the alehouse proved to be a warm, lively place where those anted to save on the cost of coal and candles could sit for hours sipping their ale slowly to make it last

Lachlan tethered his horse and strode into Hendry’s house

There were two people seated at a table, their faces unfalanced up froreide; his bottom lip quivered