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He finished his whiskey and then headed up to his room, his mind filled with far more questions than answers.
CHAPTER 3
Susan felt a flutter of nerves as she heard the knock on the door. Outside, the sky was a deep blue, streaked with the fire of a late summer sunset. She had closed the store fifteen minutes earlier, and since then had anxiously been awaiting Robert's arrival. She swallowed, brushed her hair from her eyes with her fingers, and drew in a deep breath as she hurried over to open the door, trying to keep her heart steady all the while.
With a held-in breath she opened the door, and couldn't help but gasp subtly as she saw him standing there; he seemed, in the dusky light, even more attractive than he had the previous day. It seemed as if his eyes were aglow, like those of a wild carnivore of some sort, and when he smiled, his teeth glowed white against the dying light.
“Good evening, Susan,” he said in his deep, husky voice. “May I come in?”
“Please do,” she said, hoping that he hadn't noticed how intently she was staring at him.
She led him through the store, which was dark and unlit at this time, and up the stairs to the living area. There, in her kitchen, where she and her father usually ate dinner, there was a small table and two chairs, and there they sat down to discuss matters.
“Would you like anything to drink, Robert?” she asked.
“Whiskey if you've got any, my lady.”
She laughed as she stood up to fetch him a drink.
“It's 'Susan', silly!”
He shot her a shy smile.
“Alright... Susan.”
She poured a generous serving of whiskey into a steel pitcher and handed it to him. He smiled again, and took a long and deep draft of the drink.
“So,” he probed, “what have you got to tell me?”
She poured herself some whiskey and had a swig, grimacing at the harsh taste. However, as the warm liquid spread through her body, she felt a calming and relaxing influence, and felt that speaking about such serious matters would be a bit easier. She took one more sip and then sat down.
“When you told me that you'd borrowed money from Lord MacNally, which was subsequently stolen, I immediately became suspicious.”
“How do you know of Lord MacNally? His estate is very far from Edinburgh. That's in my part of the country.”
“My ex-fiancé grew up with him. They're very close friends... And both are cut from the same cloth, if you know what I mean.”
Robert's face grew dark.
“Both are scoundrels, then...”
Susan nodded gravely.
“Seamas McSwiggan, my ex-fiancé, he had me duped for a long time before I found out what kind of person he really was.”
Robert raised an eyebrow.
“Hang on... Did you just say your ex is named 'Seamas McSwiggan'? He isn't a tall, exceedingly handsome dandy, is he?”
Susan nodded, surprised that Robert somehow knew him.
“I saw him last night at the inn where I'm staying. He was throwing gold coins around as if they were nothing but acorns. The bartender told me he's got a reputation for somewhat fishy dealings.”
Susan nodded.
“I don't have any proof of such things, unfortunately, but I know that when he and I were together, he always had plenty of gold. Way more than his father gave him for his monthly allowance, and he didn't do an honest day's work in his whole life.”
“'Allowance'? He didn't work, at all?”
“He, like Lord MacNally, is a blue-blooded aristocrat. He's never had to work; his father, who owns a tobacco company in the Indies, is wealthy beyond measure. Still, he's a fair man and tried to encourage Seamas to work for a living. Seamas, however, is far too fond of idleness, and he refuses to do anything. His father is a soft-hearted man, so even though his son is a lazy parasite, he still gives him a monthly allowance on which to live. However, he certainly manages to get gold some other way. There's no way he can afford all those fancy clothes and parties on what his father gives him.”
Robert nodded grimly.
“Lord MacNally as well has been expanding his lands far greater than what I believe his actual wealth would allow him to.”
“I think,” said Susan, breathing out a deep sigh, “that something is very, very suspicious here. When exactly was the money stolen from your house?”
