Page 32 of A Scottish Country Escape

An older gentleman appeared in the door crack in checked waistcoat and brown trousers. He carried a dapper air about him, which was enhanced further by a thick white moustache and severely parted hair.

His mouth turned down. His attention shot from me to Dexter and back again. ‘Can I help you? If you’re selling anything, I can tell you now that I’m not interested.’

I arranged my hesitant features into a polite smile. ‘No, we’re not selling anything. I’m Clara Blackmore’s granddaughter.’

His suspicious pale eyes blinked at me and then narrowed. ‘You rang me yesterday.’ There was accusation in his voice.

‘Yes, I did, Mr Fraser, and I’m so sorry to trouble you again like this.’

‘I’ve got nothing to say to you or your boyfriend here.’

I made an incredulous sound. ‘Oh no! Good grief, no! He’s not my boyfriend.’

‘I don’t care if he’s Mick Jagger, I’m not speaking to you.’

‘But, sir,’ interrupted Dexter over my shoulder. ‘Elle’s grandmother seemed to think you might be able to help us.’

‘It’s about Linda Carlucci,’ I went on in a desperate rush.

The mention of Linda Carlucci’s name caused Adam Fraser to blink again several times. ‘Yes, well, your grandma always had a tendency of saying a lot of things.’

What did he mean by that?

He grasped at his door handle, his knuckles transforming into blobs of white. ‘All that Carlucci nonsense is an old folk’s tale around here.’

‘What nonsense?’ pushed Dexter, his voice adopting an excited edge. ‘What do you mean, sir?’

Adam Fraser’s eyes grew large at Dexter’s close proximity. ‘I’m not saying any more. That was all years ago.’

I wanted to ask him more questions. They were crowding into my mind, jockeying for position, but my glimmer of optimism vanished as Adam Fraser pushed his front door closed.

‘Please leave now, otherwise I will call the police. Now away with the pair of you.’

Chapter Twenty-One

‘That went well,’ said Dexter, dragging a frustrated hand through his hair. It now sat up in a black plume.

I marched past him and back down Adam Fraser’s flower-lined path. ‘You think you could have done better, do you?’ My frustrated gaze swept the length of him. ‘You haven’t exactly endeared yourself to the local community since you moved here.’

Even though the sun had vanished, Dexter hooked his sunglasses out of his shirt pocket and slid them back on. ‘Are we talking about the incident with my car again? You can’t let that go, can you?’ he answered. ‘I didn’t almost kill three people. I merely lost concentration for a few seconds.’

‘And almost put three people in hospital.’

I could see a nerve twitching at the side of his strong jaw. ‘I’m paying for it now though.’

I moved back towards his car, which was glinting charcoal under the pale sky. ‘You don’t even know that it is some curse.’

Dexter loitered for a few moments before whipping off his sunglasses and studying me across the glossy roof of his car. ‘Why are you helping me, Elle?’

I stuffed my hands into my pockets. ‘Like I told you, because my grandmother asked me to.’

Dexter’s dark angled brows rose. ‘And for no other reason?’

I could feel my stomach wriggle. ‘Like what?’

He aimed his key fob at the car and it began to flash and bleep like an out-of-control microwave.

‘Excuse me? Hello there!’