5 Frozen in Crime (21 page)

‘Except the dog,’ said Amaryllis. She sounded
almost as if she were about to burst into tears, only that Amaryllis wouldn’t
do that, especially in the Queen of Scots. Maybe the wood smoke from the
landlord’s over-enthusiastic real fire had got into her throat.

‘Then they carried on with their plan to threaten
to blow something up if the authorities didn’t pay them a massive amount of
money. They didn’t have much respect for the forces of law and order: they didn’t
think we would catch them and stop them in time. Especially as they guessed
correctly that everybody would rush to protect the power station.’

‘If it hadn’t been for Amaryllis you wouldn’t have
stopped them at all,’ Christopher pointed out. Charlie glared at him.

‘That’s a matter of opinion,’ he said through
gritted teeth. ‘As we all know from previous experience, it’s always better to
work with the forces of law and order if you possibly can… Anyway, Malcolm
Murray didn’t really care if we stopped them in time or not. He regarded
Pitkirtly Island as his playground, he knew that the Council had given planning
permission for the mining tunnels to be filled in and consolidated in the near
future so that they could construct walkways and a children’s playground there
without any chance of people falling down abandoned mineshafts. If he couldn’t
play in his tunnels and on his island then he wasn’t going to let anyone else
do so either.’

Christopher shivered at the mention of abandoned
mineshafts. He was surprised and pleased when Amaryllis’s cool smooth hand
crept into his at that moment, hidden from the view of the others by the table.

‘When Malcolm Murray and James Molyneux left Old
Pitkirtlyhill House a few days ago after abandoning several people in a
smoke-filled basement they only escaped from thanks to the persistence and
courage of Christopher Wilson…’

There was a small round of applause at this point.
Christopher blushed, and Amaryllis squeezed his hand.

‘After they left the house, as they thought, in
flames, they put on skis to make us think they were planning to ski all the way
over the hill to Longannet, but in fact they only skied to the edge of Lord
Murray’s grounds, where they entered an old mine tunnel and proceeded through
it on foot to the place where they’d left the explosives.’

‘Meanwhile we travelled by helicopter and got
there first!’ said Amaryllis, at last showing a small spark of enthusiasm. ‘Using
our knowledge of the maps Mal had on the kitchen table when he was finalizing
his plans and Christopher and I came knocking at the door.’

‘Amaryllis and I investigated the tunnels, and
located the explosives, but when we heard them coming we separated.’ Charlie’s
voice took on a grimmer tone at this point. Was this where Amaryllis had
insisted on doing things her way and he had objected? Christopher wasn’t sure.

‘Charlie was very brave and distracted Mal to give
me time to get along to the end of the tunnel,’ said Amaryllis sweetly. Jock
McLean gave her a suspicious look.

‘And that was when reinforcements arrived by land
and sea,’ said Charlie, trying hard to stick to the official line.

‘By sea?’ said Jemima.

‘Yes, from Rosyth,’ said Charlie. ‘They happened to
be on exercises in the Firth of Forth and they headed for Longannet when the
ransom demand came in.’

‘So was that when you got drenched in mud and sea
water?’ enquired Christopher, still holding Amaryllis’s hand.

‘It wasn’t quite as dramatic as the man in the
paper shop made it seem,’ she protested. ‘I’m not any kind of a heroine.’

‘Amaryllis opened the sea gate at the end of the
tunnel,’ said Charlie. ‘She clung on to the ladder when the water rushed in,
and climbed up and hammered on the hatch at the top. Luckily for her, the
landing craft had just arrived and the men from the navy were able to give her
a hand out.’

‘So you were ready to sacrifice yourself to save
Pitkirtly!’ said Jemima. ‘I think you deserve a medal, dear.’

‘Jemima could make you one,’ suggested
Christopher, light-headed with the terror that had flooded his mind just as the
sea water had flooded the tunnels. ‘With gold wire and purple and orange beads.’

‘It wasn’t the most dangerous thing I’ve ever done
in my life,’ said Amaryllis modestly. Christopher sensed that she was rather
pleased that she had managed to do something important and worthwhile, even if
she hadn’t really intended to.

‘Are the two men in custody?’ said Dave.

Charlie made a face.

‘James Molyneux was caught in the tunnels when we
went in. He had an ice-axe with him, and it saved his life. He jammed it into
the rock and hung on to it. There was no sign of Malcolm Murray, but the roof
had caved in with the force of the water, and another team of officers found a
body washed up at the other end, near the grounds of Old Pitkirtlyhill House.’

‘So it’s the end of his epic quest,’ said
Amaryllis quietly. Christopher had never known her so subdued. He guessed it
was because she had initially been so well taken in by Mal: she would take a
while to forgive herself for being such a bad judge of character.

‘Oh well, you’ll just have to concentrate on your
PI business. Maybe you can re-brand yourself as an expert on lost cats or
something,’ he said, trying to cheer her up by being stupid again.

‘That reminds me,’ said Jock McLean. He was about
to say more when his mobile phone suddenly rang – or at least, something played
‘All Things Bright and Beautiful’ in his pocket. He took out the phone, glanced
at the display, and his face brightened. ‘Rosie. Maybe she’s speaking to me
again after all.’

He didn’t bother getting up from the table and
moving away for privacy. They heard him say, ‘That’s great!... How did it
happen? So they’re all present and correct now, are they?... I can be up there
in the morning if you like. If I can get a lift.’

He faced them all after disconnecting.

‘So what had you done? At the cattery?’ said Dave,
preparing to look menacing.

‘It was one of the cats,’ said Jock. ‘She said she
couldn’t find him – and I had been the last one in there, putting more Fun-Cat
in his dish.’

‘Fun-Cat?’ Amaryllis mouthed to Christopher. He
felt a huge, stupid laugh building up inside him.

‘That was why she fired me.’

‘And?’ said Dave, leaning back and looking a bit
less fierce.

‘She’s found him. He never got out. He had just
found a way of hiding in between the little house thing and the wire fencing.
He was there all the time.’

‘That’s what Fun-Cat will do for you,’ said Amaryllis,
nodding wisely. She still had a tight grip on Christopher’s hand. He felt her
nails digging into him as a warning not to laugh.

Amaryllis could be quite a scary woman sometimes.

Author’s Note:

Frozen in Crime is a
mystery novel in the ‘Pitkirtly Mystery’ series. If you enjoyed it, please try
the others in the series, also available for Kindle:

Crime in the Community

Reunited in Death

A Reformed Character

Death at the Happiness Club

To find out more about
Cecilia Peartree please visit my blog at
http://ceciliapeartree.wordpress.com
or follow me on Twitter: @ceciliapeartree.