Page 59 of A Scottish Highland Surprise

Helena found herself succumbing. She enjoyed working in Sparkling Gifts and she had grown fond of Mrs Auld, with her battleship persona, which contained a kind and caring attitude underneath the bluster. But the prospect of working with Chris… It was like he had ignited something in her that she didn’t even realise existed.

Helena swallowed, her tongue all at once feeling too large for her mouth. “This shop,” she managed, a blush rising in her cheeks. “Which one is it?”

I shuffled into my PJs and nestled in bed, balancing my laptop on a breakfast tray. I sipped my mug of camomile tea as I began to read the next few pages of Victor Prentice’s notes, rather than keep examining what Jake had told me about Xander. I didn’t want to believe that he was capable of being so spiteful.

I shoved the festering feelings of disappointment in Xander to one side and concentrated on the Prentice diaries. They would be a good distraction.

1st February 1900

It was a rather uneventful morning at the library, until Police Constable Doolan arrived.

Mrs Mortimer was scurrying towards me, very flustered, when she located me sorting the apothecary section. “Oh, Mr Prentice. PC Doolan is here. He wishes to speak to you about a criminality.”

When I stared back at her and prepared to maintain my innocence of whatever misdemeanour I was rumoured to have committed, she flapped her pale hands. “You misunderstand me. His enquiries are not connected to you.” She dropped her voice lower. “PC Doolan informed me there has been a crime committed up at Castle Marrian.”

“Of what nature?”

“A theft,” delivered Mrs Mortimer, her cheeks as rosy with excitement as the cameo brooch at her throat. She beckoned me to follow her and I obeyed.

PC Doolan was standing to attention at the bureau, his large, meaty hands clasped behind his back and the oil lamps highlighting the impressive sheen of his buttoned uniform.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, PC Doolan explained the purpose of his visit to the library.

“A tea set?” I repeated. “A tea set has gone missing from the Castle Marrian estate?”

Mrs Mortimer continued to linger behind the bureau, her piled-up, burnished curls bent. She pretended to address an issue in the ledger, but one discreet flick of my eyes and she vanished to continue attending to the apothecary section on my behalf. She was a reliable and hard-working colleague, but had a propensity for gossip.

I watched Mrs Mortimer swish away in her ankle-length gown of salmon-pink.

I indicated to PC Doolan to follow me through to the library office, where we took up our respective seats. The air carried the scent of beeswax, and looking out at the shelves of books, their spines shining with expectation, never failed to raise my spirits.

We carried a total of two thousand volumes, which although respectable for a small town in Scotland, fell far short of the rumoured eight thousand that the Dundalk Free Library possessed.

I had read this with what I have to admit was a burning feeling of envy. It was my intention to encourage as many folks into Briar Glen Free Library as I was able. The joy of books and the education and escapism they provided were not and should not be exclusive to the more educated and privileged in society, in my humble opinion.

All deserved to savour and enjoy the beauty of reading and that was why I was so grateful to Leonora and Chadwick Gray for their generous donations to the library.

We were not busy, but three of the mahogany booths were occupied by members of the public. However, the heavy tread of a police officer’s boots across the polished wooden floor had drawn attention.

It was much better therefore to conduct any conversations in private.

“Mr and Mrs Gray reported the theft yesterday evening,” explained PC Doolan from under his impressive grey moustache. “It’s of great sentimental value to them, especially Mrs Gray. I understand Mr Gray commissioned the local artist Ernest Telfer to craft the tea set as a birthday present for her last year. Therefore, it is extremely valuable.”

I listened with interest, feeling resentment and anger on their behalf.

PC Doolan fixed me with inquisitive eyes. “Mr Prentice, you are a well-respected member of the Briar Glen community. You also possess considerable knowledge about the people who live here. I was hoping you may have been witness to something unusual related to this crime? Or perhaps happened upon some gossip or information in regards to the missing crockery?”

I shook my head. “My apologies, PC Doolan, but this is the first I have heard of it. Do the family have their suspicions on who may have been responsible for taking it?”

PC Doolan shook his head, on which sat his military-style police helmet. “No. Well, not at this juncture. However, in my opinion, the most conceivable explanation is that a member of their staff must have found themselves in a financial predicament and felt the only avenue open to them was to take the tea set in the hope of selling it.”

I frowned at PC Doolan’s hypothesis. Leonora and Chadwick Gray were a respected couple. On the few occasions I had been invited to Castle Marrian to attend to their private library, it was apparent that they treated their employees with the utmost consideration and that their staff looked upon them with fondness and respect.

“I realise I am not aware of the details as you are, PC Doolan,” I began as tactfully as I could manage. “But from what I know of Mr and Mrs Gray and the relations they have with their staff; I find it difficult to imagine any of their employees undertaking something so unsavoury.”

I let out a gasp and sat bolt upright against my pillows, almost upending my mug of camomile. So, I had been right! The peacock tea set had been stolen.

I gawped at my laptop screen, my bedside light casting a peachy glow across my bedroom. But who had taken it and why?