Page 34 of A Scottish Country Escape

Fran blinked at him.

‘Well, I don’t know for definite, but it was said to be a silver crescent moon.’

Chapter Twenty-Two

Dexter had mentioned something about Linda clutching at a pendant when she spoke to him. I recalled Cate mentioning that too.

I watched his eyes grow wide with alarm. ‘That’s what was round her neck,’ he mumbled in a rush. ‘That’s what she was holding when she spoke to me.’

I whirled back to Fran. Dexter had been adamant about what had happened to him, and now Fran was telling us this? My head spun with assumptions. ‘So what happened after that? What did Jonathan do?’

‘He still had a few influential friends in Fir Haven, despite falling on difficult times. They made sure the Carlucci family were driven from the area.’

‘And they never came back?’

Fran hesitated. ‘Folks said they did return to the area in the early 1970s and bought some farmland about an hour away from here.’ She let out a sigh. ‘Jonathan Swinson still ended up a lonely old man, despite having the Carlucci family frog-marched out of town.’

‘But you don’t know where they are now?’ interrupted Dexter.

Fran shook her head. ‘Nobody knows. They always kept themselves to themselves. After all those shenanigans, they never returned to Fir Haven.’

Dexter was in danger of falling out of his chair in agitation. ‘We have to find out where Linda Carlucci lives now.’

Fran stared at him. ‘My goodness, young man, you’ll do yourself a mischief.’ She gave a small smile. ‘Don’t tell me you think Linda Carlucci has put a curse on you!’

Dexter swallowed. He jumped to his feet, a long and towering figure looming over Fran and me. ‘Yes. No. I mean, I’m not sure. I’m a crime writer, but now I can’t bloody write.’

He lowered his bright-blue gaze to Fran’s russet carpet.

Fran stared up at him. She raised an excited finger and pointed it at him. ‘Hang on a second. I thought I recognised you. You’re that chap who writes about Detective Dani Haines! Oh, I love your books!’

Dexter managed a smile. ‘Thank you very much.’

‘What about Adam Fraser?’ I asked, while Dexter stood there, looking pensive. ‘Why wouldn’t he talk to us? My grandmother, Clara Blackmore, suggested we speak to him.’

Fran’s lined expression froze. ‘Did you just say Clara Blackmore? She’s your grandmother?’

My heart was bumping against my ribs with apprehension. ‘Yes. Why?’

Fran rubbed at her cheek. ‘I used to work in the local solicitor’s offices, which then became the library.’ Her eyes grew hazy with recollection. ‘My boss, Mr Archer, was always hanging around with his councillor friends and they were forever gossiping about local issues.’

She raised her brows at the memory and indicated her head to her grouchy next-door neighbour. ‘Adam Fraser discovered the Carlucci family were living in Fir Haven. He was a young councillor at the time and had them evicted from their home. The story going around was that Fraser and his council cohorts had them accused of anti-social behaviour, but from what I heard, there was never any truth to it.’

I blinked. ‘That’s awful. But I don’t understand what my grandmother has to do with any of this.’ Then a thought came to me. ‘Was Gran going out with Adam and didn’t approve of what he did?’

Fran hesitated. ‘No. She wasn’t courting Adam Fraser, although he did have a major crush on your grandma.’

I frowned. ‘Sorry, Fran, but I’m confused.’

She sighed, recalling her memories. ‘Adam Fraser was jealous and that’s why he got involved in having the Carlucci family evicted.’

I frowned at her. ‘Jealous of what?’

‘Not what. Whom.’ Fran sat forward a little. Her jowly cheeks were carrying a hint of pink. ‘Your gran hasn’t told you any of this?’

‘Told me what?’

Fran studied both of us in her chintzy sitting room. ‘Adam Fraser was jealous because your Clara was in love with someone else at the time.’ She flicked looks at Dexter and me. ‘Clara was in love with Lorenzo Carlucci, Linda’s brother.’