Page 37 of Death on a Scottish Train

“You all did an amazing job inside and out. I’ve never seen a more beautiful train.”

“Thank you,” he said.

“Did Mr. Jacks ask about anything other than the train?”

He scrunched up his face as if he were thinking.

“No. He helped with the interiors, you know. Had a deft hand with the painting of some of the intricate woodwork. Hard to find that sort of craftsmanship these days.

“Told him he should quit the day job and go into restoring things. He told me how he’d recreated the town and the train in his home. Even invited me to stop by some time. Dinnae suppose that will be happening now.”

“He did, and it was quite remarkable. I saw it earlier today. I was curious if you had seen him last night and if anything seemed different about him.”

“You were here. So you know we had quite the crowd. I do remember him coming in a bit early with the other story tellers. He seemed fine. Said he was excited about the first trip. That’s why I was so surprised he never made it on the train.”

I shouldn’t have been surprised that he’d known that fact. The more secrets one tried to keep in this town, the faster they spread.

Abigail had even made a sign for our office because patients would say they’d seen certain people in the waiting room.

The sign read:What happens in the Doc’s waiting room, stays in the Doc’s waiting room. Everyone deserves their privacy.

Not that it helped but at least we’d tried to protect the right to privacy.

“Did you notice anyone last night who maybe should not have been here?”

He shook his head. “I never saw the invite list. Our lass, Mara, kept up with that. She would know better than I would.”

“I don’t remember seeing you on the train; did you stay here while it went out?”

“No, I was on there. I was helping in the engine room. One of our lads was sick. I got on right before we left.”

“As far as you know, no one stayed behind?”

“No. I locked up the station before getting on the train. And before you ask, I thought I’d locked the office where they found the poor lad. But I was rushing, and I may have missed it.”

The door had been unlocked when I’d tried it. But I didn’t want to make him feel bad, so I kept that bit of news to myself.

“Do you remember seeing him get on the train at any time?”

“No. From what I’ve heard, he died before we took off. Though, you would know more about that than me.” He was digging for information, and I wasn’t about to give him any. Ewan would have my neck.

“Right. Before yesterday, did he have any arguments with anyone associated with the train?”

He crossed his arms. “Let me have a think. He was at all the committee meetings. He stayed quiet unless there was something he didn’t agree with, I suppose.”

“Like what?”

“The uniforms for the staff. They wanted to wear costumes from the time period or their own clothes. He insisted, more than once, that they should wear the proper uniforms.”

“The ones with the jackets and pants.”

“Aye, he won out in the end. The story tellers can wear anything, but the train staff had time-period uniforms. I can tell you he liked things a certain away and believed we should be proper.”

“You sound like you agreed with him.”

“Aye, I did. If we are going to do something, it should be proper.”

“I understand that I asked this already, but I’m wondering if you noticed him acting any differently last night?”