Page 52 of Death at a Scottish Halloween

“I’ll be right back,” I said, and then closed the door.

I nearly screamed, when I bumped into Ewan standing just outside the door.

“You scared me,” I whispered.

He followed me to the back room where we stored all the medications we had on hand, which was a lot. The chemist in town was elderly and only open a few hours a week. So we tried to keep a good number of drugs in our in-house pharmacy.

“You shouldn’t be eavesdropping on patients.”

“Who’s eavesdropping? I was waiting for you.”

I smirked. “Right.”

“Why is he here?”

“Doctor–patient confidentiality,” I said. “But I bet you can figure it out.”

“Punch in the face.”

I grinned. “Something like that.”

“I sent Jasper home,” he said.

“Oh, good. He was exhausted.”

I grabbed a pain reliever at a slightly higher dose than he’d find over the counter. Until I could speak to his physician, I had no idea if he had a problem with drugs. There was swelling, but not the kind I’d find with any sort of break. Still, that kind of pressure on the sinuses was never fun.

“I’m guessing you heard what he said?”

He nodded. “I’ll still be talking to him in the morning.”

“I’m curious about him now. He doesn’t seem like a company man, but the only reason he isn’t pressing charges is because the bosses where he works wouldn’t like it.”

“We’re looking into that angle, as well,” he said.

“I asked Henry, but he wouldn’t tell me anything.”

He grunted.

“Don’t act surprised. He’s a good policeman.”

“I don’t disagree, but you can be quite persuasive.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

After grabbing two more small ice packs from the freezer we kept in the storeroom, I headed back to my office.

“Maybe you should stay in here,” I said when we reached the living room.

He sighed but sat down on the couch.

I opened the door to the examine room. “OK, I have a few things for you.” I gave him the dosage, which was a sample. Then I showed him the ice packs. “These ice packs are your friends,” I joked. “They will do far more than any pill, and they’ll work faster. It will feel uncomfortable at first, but you’ll get used to it.”

I explained how to use them.

By the time he headed out the door, he actually thanked me.

Still, he was my number one suspect in the first murder, alibi or not.