Lilian Jackson Braun - Cat 14 Who Wasn't There

"With her heart condition she should never have undertaken this project. She had this driving ambition, you know, and she was such a perfectionist." Polly said, "I didn't know she had a bad heart. She never mentioned her symptoms, and we were the best of friends." "She was too proud to admit to any frailty, and too independent to take my advice or even medication. It could have saved her." Carol said, "But, Irma, of all people! Who would think--his She was always so cool and collected. She never hurried or panicked like the rest of us." Melinda explained, "She internalized her emotions--not a healthy thing to do." "What was the time of death?" Qwilleran asked.

"About three A.M." I would say. Does anyone know what time she came in?" Polly said, "I don't know. I never waited up for her. She told me not to." "What happens now?" Larry asked.

"I'm not allowed to sign the death certificate over here," Melinda said.

"A local doctor will have to do that. I'll notify Irma's parents and make whatever arrangements are necessary." Qwilleran offered to call the Hasselriches, since he knew the father well.

"Thanks, but I feel I should do it. I can explain exactly what happened." "We're certainly grateful that you're here, Melinda. Is there anything we can do for you--anything at all?" "You might talk it over among you rvs and decide how to handle the rest of the tour. I'll fly back with the body. There'll be some red tape before they release it, the constable said, but they don't anticipate any problem... So, if you'll excuse me, I'll go up and get dressed.

You can stay here and talk." When Amanda arrived from the other bedroom wing and heard the news, she said, "I move to cancel the tour and fly home. Anybody second it? Let's cut our losses." Polly spoke up with conviction.

"Irma would want us to continue, I'm sure." "But do we know what to do and where to go?" Lisa asked.

"Everything is in her briefcase-itinerary, confirmations, maps, and so forth. I'm sure we can follow her plan to the letter. Since we have an extra day here, we'll have time to work it out." Riker said, "What time is it in Pickax? I want to call Junior and get him started on the obituary. It'll take some digging, because she was a very private person--would never let us do a feature on her volunteer work." Guests from the other wing straggled into the parlor, and Bushy said, "Why so glum, kids? Did somebody die around here?" At the breakfast table the members of the Bonnie Scots Tour halfheartedly discussed their options for the day: Go shopping in the village... Watch the fishing boats come in... Take the ferry to one of the islands... Loll around the inn. Larry said he would wander in the hills and study his lines for the play. Amanda thought she would go back to bed. The MacWhannells announced they were leaving the tour and would hire a car to drive to Edinburgh. They gave no reasons for cutting out, and no one bothered to ask why.

After breakfast, Qwilleran and the school superintendent strolled down the winding road to the village below.

"Don't forget, Lyle.

What goes down must come up," Qwilleran warned.

"We have to climb this hill again." Compton said, "I hope I didn't contribute to Irma's stress by blowing off steam about Scottish history and challenging her statements. Lisa said I should have kept my big mouth shut, but--dammit--Irma drove me up the wall with her sentimental claptrap about the romantic Jacobite Rebellion and her beloved Prince Charlie." "Don't worry. She was a tough one. She didn't earn the name of Sergeant for nothing. They say she ran the volunteer crew at the Senior Facility like an army battalion." They stopped awhile to admire the view: the patchwork of rooftops down below, the curve of the harbor crowded with boats, the islands beyond, floating placidly in a silver sea. Behind them the hills rose like Alpine meadows, dotted with sheep and the ruins of stone buildings.

"Lyle, you promised to tell me how the sheep took over the Highlands," Qwilleran said.

"Don't blame the sheep. Have you heard about the Highland Clearances?" "Only superficially. Okay if I tape this?" "Go ahead... Well, you know," he began, "when the Rebellion failed, the clan system was deliberately destroyed, and Highlanders were forbidden by law to wear kilts or play bagpipes.

Instead of clan chieftains they now had rich landlords renting small bits of land to crofters, who shared their one-room huts with the livestock. Then, with the growing demand for meat, the big landowners found it easier and more profitable to raise sheep than to collect rents from poor crofters. Also, sheep could make money for investors in Edinburgh and London." "Agribusiness, eighteenthcentury style," Qwilleran remarked.