Kilt Dead (30 page)

“Not a clue. Dad’s not the most reliable witness when
it comes to your aunt,” she added after a bit. “Maybe he
just made that up”

“Maybe. I certainly can’t see Aunt Margaret in league
with smugglers.”

Sherri giggled. “Oh, I don’t know. She does import all
kinds of things. Maybe there’s something hidden under
the stitching at the top of the kilts. Diamonds? A small
one would just about fit inside each pleat.”

“Naw. Got to be microchips.” The silliness relieved the
tension and Liss was glad of it, but she couldn’t quite
shake the feeling that they’d overlooked something important. “There’s a page missing from the looseleaf.”

Sherri sobered as Liss showed her the torn bit of
paper. “Maybe someone does think Mrs. Norris was writing down local gossip.”

“You said Graye dropped out of the bidding on the hotel.”
Liss let the soapy water drain away while Sherri hung her
dishtowel over a rack to dry. “I wonder why?”

“You think Mrs. Norris put pressure on him to give up
his plan for The Spruces, thus making sure Joe Ruskin
got the winning bid?”

“Far-fetched, huh?”

“Very. Maybe she recorded gossip. But blackmail?
Sorry, Liss. Doesn’t compute”

“Well, then, maybe Jason Graye is one of your father’s
shady characters.”’

But Sherri shook her head. “Wishful thinking, Liss.
It’s not that I don’t believe Graye’s shady, but Dad said
`characters,’ right? More than one. And that missing
page? Face facts-the logical person to have removed it is
Dan Ruskin.”

Late Sunday afternoon, when Liss saw that Dan’s
truck was back in his driveway, she headed across the town
square. She’d been steeling herself to face him ever since
Sherri left.

He was in the carriage house he’d converted into a
workshop. The sight of all those woodworking tools took
her aback. She’d had no idea he had such a professional
setup at home. She supposed she shouldn’t be surprised.
About some things, Dan Ruskin was a perfectionist.

“Hey, Liss,” he greeted her. “I was going to come over
in a bit. I have to make a run to Portland tomorrow afternoon to pick up a special order coming in by air. I won’t
be back here till late.”

“No problem.” She really did not want to suspect this
man of hiding something. He was so open, so genuine. Or seemed to be. “Nice place you’ve got here.” She managed not to wince at how lame that sounded.

His pride in the pieces he’d created was evident in his
tone of voice and in the expression on his face as he gave
her a quick tour. He felt every bit as strongly about the
fruits of his labor as she had about her performances with
Strathspey. For a little while longer, Liss put off what she
had to ask him and let her senses revel in the moment.

The workshop had its own special smell. She didn’t
know what the components were, but the result appealed
to her. She ran her fingertips over the satiny surface of a
small clock, delighting in the feel of it and in the look of
the wood. Dan had used more than one kind of tree in the
construction. The inlaid pieces gave the whole a unique
quality she found quite beautiful.

“Like it?” When she nodded, he pressed it back into
her hands. “Take it. A gift.”

“I couldn’t

“Why not? Think of it as my version of flowers and
candy.” When his brows lifted questioningly, Liss knew
her expression had betrayed her. “What?”

“I have to ask you something.”

He caught her by the elbows, holding her so that they
were facing each other with the clock between them. “Ask.”

But she couldn’t quite pose it as a question. “There’s a
page missing from the looseleaf.”

Very slowly, he released her. “And you think I took it.
Even though someone might have gotten into my unlocked house after searching your place.”

“I don’t know, Dan. Everybody has secrets. Maybe
you found yours in those pages”

“I didn’t.” Stepping back, he ran his hands over his
face, as if trying to clear his thoughts.

“I’m sorry. I know I should automatically trust you,
but

“No, you shouldn’t. You shouldn’t trust anybody when there’s a murderer running around loose. I did rip out a
page”

Liss blinked at him, at a loss. “Why?”

“It wasn’t my secret” He picked up an awl and put it
down again, finally turning to face her from a distance of
some six feet. “Hell, I don’t know if it was anybody’s secret. But it was too damn close for comfort to something
my sister was involved in years ago. I didn’t want to take
the chance of it getting out. Not now, when everything’s
going so well for her. I know the cops have Mrs. Norris’s
computer and that stack of printouts I saw. They might
figure it out anyway, but-“

“But they won’t. I mean, they aren’t even trying. You
know they aren’t looking into the blackmail angle anymore. The only reason LaVerdiere is still fixated on me is
because of Mrs. Norris’s will.”

“The entries in the looseleaf could still refer to local
people.”

“Some of them. Maybe. But not all. Not even most of
them, which doesn’t make much sense” Liss hated being
this confused about anything.

“None of this makes any sense. And we have no way
of knowing if there are more missing pages. I did leave
the house unlocked. It was coming home and realizing
someone could have gotten in that gave me the idea to remove that one page in the first place.”

in Monday morning, Liss awoke to the realization that
she was running out of time. More than a week had
passed since the murder and in a little less than two
weeks her aunt would be home. Liss wanted this mess resolved before Aunt Margaret returned.

Unfortunately, she still didn’t have any clear idea how
to proceed.

With the shop closed for the day, she took her time with
her morning exercises and breakfast. This time the scones
were almost edible. After she tossed them in the trash
and made do with whole-wheat toast and cornflakes, she
ventured out into the town square. Although it was a pleasant summer day, dry and not too hot, the playground was
deserted. Liss put one foot on the merry-go-round and used
the other to set it spinning.

Fond memories rushed back. When she was in grade
school, all the kids in town had come here to play. The
merry-go-round had served as the magic castle when
they reenacted fairy tales. She glanced at Dan’s house,
suddenly reminded that the favorite game among the boys
had also involved the merry-go-round. They’d used it for
puke competitions.

She made a face. They’d piled onto the merry-goround, all except the designated spinner. He’d set it in motion, around and around, faster and faster, until everyone aboard was dizzy … and more. The “winner” was the
one who didn’t puke. Charming game, and yet she could
view even that with nostalgia now.

Children, she thought, didn’t appreciate childhood. She’d
give anything to be young and carefree again. Aside from
the family interest in things Scottish, she’d had a pretty
normal rural childhood. Although she’d grown up with
computers and video games, there had been plenty of times
when she and the others had amused themselves with
nothing more than imagination.

She let the merry-go-round slow to a stop and only
then realized she was no longer alone on the playground.
The girl had dark hair that hung in thick waves around a
thin face. Her big brown eyes were solemn. “You’re Liss
MacCrimmon,” she said in a voice so soft Liss had to
strain to catch the words. “My mother says I can ask
you”

“Ask me what? And who is your mother?”

She found the answer to the second question for herself. Angie Hogencamp was watching from the doorway
of her bookstore. Glancing from the woman to the child,
Liss saw the unmistakable resemblance between them.

The girl scuffed one foot in the dirt, overwhelmed by
shyness.

“I won’t bite.” Liss sat on the side of the merry-goround, which put her at eye-level with the child. “What’s
your name?”

“Beth”

“Well, Beth, what can I do for you?”

The whispered reply took a moment to interpret.
When Liss finally understood, she had no idea how to
react. She cut her eyes to Angie and sent Beth’s mother a
pleading look.

Beth grew bolder, an expression of longing on her
small, pinched face. “Please? I really want to learn.” She held out a hand. “My mother said I could invite you to
come for coffee so she can talk to you about it.”

The kid was getting downright chatty, but her smile
faded when she realized Liss wasn’t exactly jumping for
joy. “You want me to teach you to dance” Liss’s voice
was leaden.

“Yes, please.”

Liss sighed. “I’m not making any promises, but I will
talk to your mother.”

A short time later, after Angie had sent Beth off to
play in her room, the two women once more sat at the
kitchen table in the apartment above the bookstore, just
as they had almost exactly a week earlier. Liss hadn’t felt
half as uncomfortable then.

“I’m sorry if she put you on the spot,” Angie apologized. “I should have approached you first myself, but
Beth was so excited. We went to the Highland Games on
Sunday and she watched the dance competition. She’s
talked of nothing else since, and then someone at the
memorial service told me that you used to compete. I
pointed you out to Beth this morning. I said maybe you
could give her a few pointers. Get her started. She jumped
from that straight to lessons.”

“I’m not a teacher. I’m not even a dancer anymore” To
Liss’s surprise, it was less painful than she’d expected to
explain why to Angie. And somehow she found herself
talking about the first competition she’d entered and how
much she’d loved learning new steps. Her mother had
been her first teacher.

“If you could just get her started. Show her a simple
dance-“

“I don’t have any experience with children.” She took
a sip of the coffee in front of her and found it had grown
cold while she’d talked. “I can’t even guess how old your
Beth is.”

“Eight”

“I won my first competition at eight.”

“Anything would mean a lot to her, even just talking
about your experiences. I tried to find someone for her to
take real lessons from on the Web, but there doesn’t seem
to be a teacher closer than Boston”

“I’ll probably be leaving as soon as my aunt comes
back,” Liss warned her. She could feel herself weakening.
So much for her determination never to teach!

“Well, who knows how much longer the Emporium
will be around anyway? But any amount of time you’d be
able to spare would be much appreciated. I can pay-“

“Wait a minute. What did you just say about the Emporium?”

“Oh, well, it’s just that I expect, now that Mrs. Norris
is gone, her heirs will sell her place. Graye Realty made
her an offer a couple of months ago, so I’m sure Jason
Graye will be in touch with whoever inherits.”

Liss barely had time to take in the remarkable fact that
Angie hadn’t heard that Liss herself was the heir before
her hostess was speaking again.

“Stu at the ski shop has been talking about selling out
to him, too, if he’ll just go a bit higher. And since the Emporium sits between those two properties, I’m sure Graye
wants your aunt’s land, too”

A tight lump formed in Liss’s chest. “The Emporium
is also my aunt’s home”

“Can’t stop progress,” Angie said cheerfully. “Especially when Jason Graye has the town planning board in his
pocket. He’s a Moosetookalook selectman, you know. Besides, from what I hear, all the houses on that side of the
town square are in terrible shape. They may look nice on
the outside, but inside they’ve got mold and carpenter
ants and who knows what all.”

By the time Liss left Angie’s kitchen a short time later, she’d agreed to give Beth dance lessons at the Emporium
during the hours the shop was open.

Shed also learned considerably more about Jason Graye.

Sherri hesitated in the doorway of Willett’s Store. She
hadn’t set foot in the place in almost three years, ever
since her father, shocked by the news that she’d come
home with a child but no husband, had informed her she
was a disgrace and told her she should go back to whatever sewer she’d been living in.