Page 47 of Death at a Scottish Halloween

“He was here earlier, but I don’t remember talking about a ring. He had so many questions and my brain is—you mentioned the fog. I can’t remember what we had for lunch. But I’m fairly certain he didn’t mention it. To be honest, it’s probably costume jewelry. We’ve been carrying more of it in the store.”

“Right. The thing is, Ewan had a feeling it might be the real deal.”

“No. That isn’t possible. We’d never be that lucky, nor do we have money to purchase something like that. I do our books. We make a small profit each month, enough to live on. And we’re very careful.”

“Ewan may not have mentioned it because he wanted to have the item checked out by an expert. Maybe he didn’t want to worry you about it. ”

She frowned. “Do you think someone killed him for this ring?”

“I—no. I don’t know what to think, to be honest. We aren’t at all sure it was murder. It could have been a series of unfortunate events.”

“That would make more sense. My husband didn’t have the best of luck. He was just one of those people. Except when it came to finding oddities. He was great at his job.”

“Well, for now, don’t worry. Ewan will probably be mad at me for bringing up the ring before he has it checked out. I don’t want you to worry about it. I thought maybe he would have texted you about it.”

“Wait.” She held up a hand. Then she stood and walked over to her bag. She took out her phone. She sat back down and scrolled down her phone. “You asked me about pictures. Before I lost contact with him, he sent me a couple of photos. Mostly of tea sets, and a weird box with old apothecary bottles in it. But he found an old puzzle box. It looked like a regular jewelry box, but he said there were several secret compartments. He hadn’t been able to open them all. He was excited about it, but he didn’t mention any sort of jewelry. Do you think that might be where he found the ring? Maybe someone wanted it back?”

She showed me the pictures. There were several of the items I’d seen at the station, including the apothecary box. There was more than one puzzle box, and I’d only remembered seeing the one. But they might have been tested by someone else on Ewan’s team.

“Do you mind if I take a picture of that and some of the other items? I want to send it to Ewan. Do me a favor, if you don’t mind. Don’t bring up the ring until he tells you about it. He’ll have my head.”

She gave me a sad smile. “I will. With my brain, I’ll probably forget about it by the time you leave.”

Pregnancy brain was a real thing, even in the early stages. I’d heard the same story from countless women over the years.

I took pictures of all the items her husband had sent her. I wanted to tell her about the apothecary, but I wouldn’t until every test had been run. But I would make certain that anything that went to her was devoid of anything that could hurt her or Elsie.

“I know the police have asked, but part of my job is helping to answer these questions,” I said to her.

“You can ask me anything.”

“Two things. One, was there anyone giving you grief? Any problems with vendors or clients?”

“No. Our clients are picky, and they often use us to source items, we’re known for that. Mostly that has to do with rare books or bigger items like furniture. Not a lot of dealers in our business deal with the bigger items. But this shopping trip was for the smaller shelf fillers. Eight or so days away, and then he was supposed to be home.”

She sniffed again. “I’ve been trying to make sense of it all, but he wouldn’t do anything that would keep him from me and Elsie.”

“OK, last question. You mentioned that he used to drink but he hadn’t in years.”

“Before we were together, he was a heavy drinker. I wouldn’t put up with it, especially when Elsie was coming along. He stopped, cold. Swore to me he’d never take another drink. Why? Did you find alcohol on him? Is that how he died?”

“It wasn’t on him when he died,” I said, which was true. “Please, don’t worry yourself. I understand it’s natural to wonder about everything. We will have answers for you soon. You look after yourself and Elsie. We’ll do the rest. And if you needanything, I know you just met me, but, as I said, I’m here for you and Elsie.”

“You’ve been very kind. I wrote down my doctor’s name at home. I was hoping you could send her the tests you’ve run.” She handed me a piece of paper from her pocket. “I was going to bring it by, but the police prefer we stay in.”

“That’s only for your safety. But if you need to get out of the house, just tell them. Make sure you drink enough water and eat, even if you don’t feel like it.”

“Mrs. Beatty is always feeding us, but I’m not feeling much like eating.”

“Hmmm. What actually sounds good to you?”

She smiled. “My mom was English and always made us cheese and pickle sandwiches. I haven’t had one in years but it’s the only thing that sounds good.”

“I’ll speak to Mrs. Beatty, and I’m prescribing cheese and pickle sandwiches and anything that sounds good. Does she know about your pregnancy?”

“I told her. She was worried because I kept getting sick, and she could hear it from her rooms. She’s been sending lots of tea with sugar. But I suppose I should switch out to water.”

“Can I have one? The cheese and pickle?” Elsie asked. She had the most angelic face.