Page 43 of Death at a Highland Wedding
“It is my case,” Ross says, his jaw setting as he looks up at McCreadie. “I don’t care if you’re some fancy city policeman. You will not take it from me.”
“I am not trying to. But will you allow Dr. Gray to conduct the autopsy?”
“The what?”
“The medical examination required to prove cause of death.”
Ross looks from McCreadie to Gray. “I cannot do that myself?”
“Have you ever cut a man open and removed his internal organs?” I ask.
He stares at me again, and this time, it’s a very different look, his face paling before he shakes his head.
“Then leave it to Dr. Gray,” I say. “Who is not only a trained medical doctor but a trained surgeonandan undertaker. He will deal with the messy bits and leave you to the much more important police work.”
FOURTEEN
Two hours later, McCreadie and I are in the smallest of the castle sitting rooms, nearly passed out on the sofas. I have abandoned all propriety to slouch as best I can. When the doorknob turns, I sit up quickly, before anyone sees me in this even faintly unladylike pose. Seeing it’s Isla, I relax again. She closes the door behind her.
“Duncan has not returned?” she says.
“I fear we abandoned him to Constable Ross,” McCreadie says. “We are terrible friends.”
“He’s kidding,” I say. “Kind of. Ross really didn’t like having Hugh around, and it was clear things would be better for everyone if he left the scene. As for me? I’m just a terrible friend.”
“Also untrue,” McCreadie says. “Whenever poor Mallory moves or speaks, our young constable stares as if an angel has descended from on high. I would suggest she keep him entranced, like a cobra, while I investigate, but that seemed wrong.” He leans his head back to look at me. “Yes?”
I throw a small embroidered pillow at him.
“I fear you are not sufficiently devoted to the cause,” McCreadie says.
“Yeah, yeah. I’d do it if it would work. Ross only stares until he remembers he’s in charge of the case. Then he’s right back to being a—” I decide not to finish that, but the face I make has McCreadie laughing.
Isla walks to the globe, opens it, and takes out whisky. Then she pours us each a glass.
“What exactly seems to be the problem with Constable Ross?” she asks.
“Everything.” I pause. “Okay, that’s not fair. He’s just young. Very young and determined to take his responsibilities seriously even if he has zero experience and, apparently, zero support. Hugh offered to help.Help,not take over. Ross will have none of it.”
“But you are a criminal officer,” Isla says to McCreadie. “That makes you his superior.”
McCreadie and I both shake our heads. McCreadie answers for us, “If he were an Edinburgh constable, I could indeed take the case from him. But it is not like the military, where one holds a superior rank in the organization at large. It is like being a doctor and realizing the local physician lacks experience. You cannot simply take over his patient.”
“It is not like that at all, though,” Isla says. “A patient can choose who he retains as a physician, much the same as one could choose a new grocer. They are customers. And the law is the law, whether here or in Edinburgh.”
“The law is a uniform entity,” I say. “The police are not.”
“But does Constable Ross know that?” Isla says, looking crafty. “If he is so isolated and inexperienced, might you not simply tell him to step aside?”
McCreadie hesitates and then exhales. “I could not sustain such a deceit. I would break down under the weight of it. We have inveigled Duncan into the case, and I will do what I can through that connection. I will not let Ross bungle the investigation completely.”
“Maybe he won’t bungle it,” I say. “Maybe he’s just got a Columbo routine going.” At their looks, I say, “Columbo is a fictional police detective who acts like he’s bumbling along to get people to confess to him. They think he’s hopeless, so they discount him.”
“I know a criminal officer like that,” McCreadie says. “He insists that he behaves that way to disarm the criminals into believing him incompetent. The only problem is…”
“He’s actually incompetent?”
McCreadie sighs. “I fear so.”
