Page 97 of The Secret Castle in the Highlands

This Professor Curtis must have been the woman Maisie saw with him. ‘Professor Curtis,’ I asked as casually as my voice would allow, ‘what does she happen to look like?’

‘Tall, thin, bobbed red hair … why?’

I forced my face into an innocent, wide-eyed look. ‘Oh, I think I might have seen her around Port Starr when she visited.’

Mason nodded and sighed.

I tried to refocus on what he was saying.

‘The first time I wondered if something was up with my brother was when he rang me just after I’d moved here.’ He explained that he’d been taking a walk along the beach with a contact from the UK History TV Channel to discuss plans for his new show, when Garrett had called and sounded rather low.

‘Poor Lily,’ mused Mason. ‘Instead of discussing formats and production, I ended up distracted about my brother.’

Realisation pulled me up. Hold on. Was that the brunette Caleb saw him with?

‘That’s a pretty name.’

‘Yes, Lily Chow,’ remarked Mason without another thought. ‘Her father’s from Hong Kong.’

My thoughts bounced around my head like skittles. Caleb said the girl Mason had been seen with on the beach was of Chinese heritage. He hadn’t been up to no good with various women. The poor man. He’d been consumed with worry over his brother’s welfare, as well as his parents’ visit, and yet he persisted in helping me.

I let the truth sink in for a moment. I tried to gather myself. ‘And how’s Garrett now? Do your mum and dad know?’

Mason looked appalled at the suggestion. ‘Good grief, no. Garrett made me swear not to tell them and there’s no way I was going to betray his confidence.’ Mason went on to explain they would have thought they were helping by fussing over Garrett, but that was the last thing he wanted.

‘All he was after was a bolthole and someone who would listen to him. I think our long walks along the beach, eating till he almost exploded and being mauled by Darwin did help Garrett to get a bit more perspective on things.’ Mason’s compelling features slid into a smile. ‘Well, that and the fact that one of his new site colleagues is a tall, blond, handsome American who’s been making it very clear he likes him.’

He added that he thought it was more the surprise and shock of seeing Johnny again that threw Garrett, rather than anything else.

‘We sat and talked till late, and I think it made him feel better about things.’ Mason hesitated. ‘I’ve realised a few things about myself, too.’

I was about to ask him what he meant, when he sprang up from his leather armchair and approached his desk in the corner of the sitting room. He pulled out Georgina’s diary and strode back with it, then sat down again next to me.

‘I’ve managed to read some more of this.’

My curiosity peaked. ‘Have you discovered something else in there?’

Mason’s fingers caressed the worn cover in such a tender way. ‘There’s an entry much later on, where Georgina says that the Scarlet Highwayman gave her a gold horseshoe pendant.’ His enthusiasm was infectious. ‘She obviously couldn’t wear it in public, as it wasn’t from her husband, so she says she concealed it.’

‘Does she say where?’

Mason’s expression brimmed with hope. ‘Yes. In a manner of speaking.’ He leaned forward. ‘She mentions her best friend’s hat shop in Port Starr and that she placed the pendant in a jewellery box in the garden of the milliners to keep it safe.’

‘Wow,’ I breathed. ‘If only we knew where that might be.’

Mason’s grin caught me off guard even more than usual.

‘Are you trying to tell me you know where it is?’

‘I think I might.’

‘But how? Where was the shop? How do you know all this?’

‘That’s why I’ve been to the Old Library in Glasgow. I dropped by there after taking Garrett to the train station this morning. I looked up maps of Port Starr in the eighteen hundreds.’

My heart zinged inside my ribcage as I continued to study him. A thought struck me. ‘We need to notify the business owner who might be affected by this – or the person who owns the land.’

I expected Mason to agree or ask me to rein in my enthusiasm a little longer, until we had some additional proof. But instead, he gave me a wink. ‘There’s no need to contact the current business owner or landowner.’