A Bewitching Bride by Elizabeth Thornton Page A

faint,” she mewed softly. “Please, help me to the bed.”
    At any other time, he would have been hard-pressed to keep a straight face. Janet didn’t know how to be subtle. She was already unbuttoning her jacket.
    “I can’t breathe,” she fluttered. “It’s all been such a shock. Gavin, help me, please?”
    He wasn’t given time to answer. Her arm looped around his neck, and she dragged him down for an openmouthed kiss.
    “Hurry,” she moaned. “My maid will be back in another minute. Don’t worry, I locked the door.”
    For one insane moment, he was tempted, but his thoughts strayed to Kate, and with a furious curse, he fought off Janet’s stranglehold and lurched to his feet.
    “Gavin, what is it?” she cried out.
    “She knows,” he said with a violence that made Miss Mayberry cower away.
    “You’re not making sense,” she cried out.
    He was in no mood to explain. Torn between outrage and embarrassment, he went in search of Kate, but Kate did not wish to be disturbed, her maid told him, and nothing he said could persuade Elsie to unlock the door to him.

Seven

    The police arrived on foot late that afternoon. Constable Hamilton, the officer in charge, explained to the assembled guests that there were no detectives with them because the gillie had already told them at the station that Dr. Rankin had accidentally locked himself out of the hotel when he’d had one too many and had subsequently died of exposure. So the body was put on a stretcher without ceremony, and two gillies were commandeered to convey it to the village.
    A babble of voices broke out at this point, with many of the guests asking questions and shouting across each other. Hamilton silenced them by holding up his hand. He looked as though he’d been dragged out of retirement and knew how to handle a rowdy crowd.
    “You’ll be free to go,” he said, pinning malefactors with a steely eye, “after I’ve taken your statements.”
    “Statements?” queried his fellow officer, a new recruit, Kate surmised, who didn’t look as though he knew how to tie the laces on his boots.
    “Statements,” Hamilton repeated. “We take statements from everyone before we let them go. Make sure they sign them. Have you got that, Officer Binnie?”
    Binnie looked askance at the sea of faces in the crowded dining room and gave a little nod.
    “You take the hotel staff, then,” Hamilton said, “and I’ll begin here with the guests.”
    Binnie gave another nod and beat a hasty retreat to the door that gave onto the kitchens.
    Kate felt queasy, and it wasn’t only because of the statement she would have to make to the police. Without warning, a door that she’d hoped she had closed for all time had opened, and she was seeing visions again. It was because of these visions that she’d been labeled a freak as a child. That’s what had brought her to Dr. Rankin’s attention all those years ago. He’d taught her how to keep the visions at bay, and when that was impossible, to keep her mouth shut.
    Gavin Hepburn and the Mayberry woman? Her vision might not be true, but even if it were, she had to shut her mind to it. It was the only way to stay sane.
    With a will of their own, her eyes strayed to the table where Hepburn and Dalziel were seated. The Mayberry arrived at that moment, fluttering like a brilliant butterfly, and made straight for Hepburn’s table. After some rearranging, she managed to squeeze in between Hepburn and Dalziel. It was all very amusing, Kate thought, frowning. Macduff was right beside his master but staring at her with mournful eyes. Evidently the rules had been relaxed about allowing dogs inside the hotel. Or perhaps Hepburn was breaking the rules, and no one was brave enough to point it out to him.
    His face was turned away, and she could see the line of his jaw. It was granite hard, just like the rest of him. His attention seemed intent on whatever Dalziel was saying. Without warning, he turned his head, and their eyes