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Murder at the Loch

A Langham and Dupré Mystery

Severn House Publishers Limited

'And this will be your study,' Maria said, opening the door and standing aside.

Langham entered the room and looked around in wonder. 'My word, it's huge.'

'There will be room for all your books, Donald, even the ones you have boxed up at the moment.'

'Luxury,' he said, staring through the window at the quiet Kensington street and the snow-covered park beyond. 'And it's warm,' he went on, already planning where he'd position his writing desk.

'It's centrally heated, unlike the icebox of your flat. I don't know how you work in such conditions.'

'Wearing a coat and a balaclava, and with a thick blanket on my lap.'

She stared at him. 'Honestly? You wear a balaclava?' She raised a hand to her mouth. 'Oh! But you must look so funny sitting there in your balaclava with your pipe sticking out!'

Langham pulled her to him and they kissed. He gestured around the empty room. 'Don't you use this for anything at the moment?'

'The apartment is really too big for one person. I told my father this when he found it for me and he said he'd pay the rent. But he insisted I take it.'

'The best for his only daughter,' he said. 'But hang it all, I can't have him paying the rent once we're married. It wouldn't be right.'

It felt strange, saying the words 'once we're married'. The notion filled him with a rosy glow.

Maria strolled to the window, leaned against the sill and stared out. She wore a green trouser suit and a white blouse and looked so wonderful Langham could have wept at his good fortune. He crossed the room and slipped an arm around her waist.

'Do you know something?' she asked, turning to him. 'I think my father will insist on continuing to pay the rent. He will call it his "little present" to us.'

'We'll see. We could easily afford it, on your wage from the agency and what I earn from the books. But ...'

'Yes?'

'Of course, I've yet to ask his permission to marry you.'

'He is no fool, Donald. He knows how I feel about you, and anyway, he likes you. He's told me so. He enjoys talking about books with you.'

Langham shrugged uncomfortably. Maria's father was the French cultural attaché to Great Britain, and Langham could not help but feel intellectually inferior to the great man whenever they met. He'd never told Maria this – she assumed his awkwardness was due to social stigma on Langham's part. 'Oh, you English and your preoccupation with class!' she'd chided him more than once.

They returned to the sitting room, and Maria went into the kitchen and made a pot of tea. Langham wallowed on the sofa and picked up an old issue of The Sketch from the side table, turning to Rupert Croft-Cooke's novel reviews.

Earlier that afternoon Maria had phoned Langham to say she was finishing work at the agency and would he care to join her for tea? He'd finished the third draft of his latest thriller a week ago and was at the stage of post-novel satisfaction when he took every opportunity to set aside whatever he was working on – reading for review, in this case – and indulge himself. He'd even suggested they dine out that evening at the Moulin Bleu in Highgate.

Maria returned with the tea tray and poured two cups of Earl Grey. 'We need to decide what we are going to do on Tuesday when Charles is released,' she said, sitting beside him on the sofa and raising the bone china to her rouged lips.

'Didn't I suggest dinner at Claridge's?' he said. 'We could invite a few friends.'

'I wonder if Charles will feel like socializing so soon after gaining his freedom?'

Her boss, and Langham's literary agent, Charles Elder, was coming to the end of a sentence on a charge of gross indecency in a public bathhouse – a conviction which Langham considered a travesty of justice. He'd served four months and was due for release on Tuesday.

'They're letting me out early on account of my good behaviour!' Charles had carolled when Langham and Maria had last visited him at Wormwood Scrubs. 'I've been a paragon, my dears! I must say, I've rather taken to working in the library, and some of my colleagues are delightful fellows!'

Langham had feared that a spell at Her Majesty's pleasure would bode ill for Charles's finer sensibilities, but the gargantuan epicurean had shown a resolve and fortitude that Langham never knew he possessed.

'We could always have a little gathering here, then?' Langham said. 'It'd be nice to mark the occasion in some way.'

'And I could cook one of Charles's favourites – beef Wellington, perhaps – and buy a few bottles of Beaujolais. We could ask Caroline if she'd care to come along, and how about Alasdair?'

Caroline de Quincy was a retired American actress they'd met that summer and seen frequently since, a lovely woman with a droll sense of humour; Alasdair Endicott was a young novelist, shy and retiring but 'sound' in Langham's opinion.

'Let's do that,' he said. 'A small gathering will make Charles less likely to feel that he needs to perform.'

'Oh,' Maria laughed. 'But you know Charles – of course he'll need to put on a show. He'll regale the party with his many exploits behind the grey walls of the Scrubs.'

'It'll be good to have him back,' Langham said. 'I still feel bitter about the sentence. Bitter and impotent.'

He was saved from reflecting further on the injustice by the shrilling of the telephone bell across the room. Maria rose to answer the call.

'Hello?' she said. 'Oh, yes. Donald is here. I'll hand you over.'

Langham crossed to the bureau and sat down. 'Ralph Ryland,' Maria said, handing him the receiver.

She resumed her seat on the sofa, watching him as he said, 'Ralph, how did you know I was here?'

'Tried your place,' the private detective said. 'No answer. So I put me deerstalker on.'

'I might have guessed. How are things at the agency? Busy?'

'Busy? I'm rushed off me ruddy feet, if you want the truth.'

'That's good, isn't it?'

'Sometimes I bloody well wonder,' the cockney said. 'Look, something's come up.'

'I'm not sure I like the sound of that.' Langham looked across at Maria, who was frowning in enquiry.

'You recall Major Gordon?' Ryland asked.

'How could I forget him!' Gordon had been their commanding officer in Madagascar and India, an optimistic, fair-minded Scot who'd always had the welfare of his men at heart. Langham had served under him for five years in Field Security, and cherished fond memories of the diminutive, moustachioed major. 'Nothing wrong with him, is there?'

'Not as such – at the moment.'

'What do you mean, "at the moment"?'

'I've just had a call from him,' Ryland said. 'He's always kept in touch.'

'Yes, he drops me a note from time to time when he's read one of my books. What did he want?'

'Well, to cut a long story short, Don, he thinks someone wants to kill him.'

'Kill him?' He stared across at a startled Maria. 'But who on earth would want to kill the major?'

'The thing is he didn't sound sure that he was the intended target. He said that "they" might have been after someone else. I asked for details, of course, but the old boy was cagey. He said he didn't want to say too much over the blower, just said something about a shooting incident. He wants me to go up there and do a bit of snooping around.'

'And you intend to, of course?'

'Of course. I'd do it for free, for the old boy – but Gordon said he'd pay the going rate. I'm heading up there tomorrow.'

'Doesn't he live somewhere in the Highlands?'

'That's right. Five hundred bloody miles away. He owns an old castle in the back of beyond, bought for a song just after the war. It was a pile of ruins, but he's done it up over the years and opened it in 'fifty-two as a hotel. He's invited me to stay for a few days, meet the guests and try to find out what's going on.'

'Right-o,' Langham said, wondering at the reason for Ryland's call and fearing the answer. 'But I don't quite see ...'

Across the room, Maria was miming, What is it, Donald?

'Well, y'see ... I was wondering – seeing as how you and the major were pretty close during the war, and on account of the fact that some of his guests sound a bit lah-di-dah for my taste ... I was wondering if you'd care to come along as back-up? Moral support, like. They say two minds are better than one. And also – on the way – I have a proposition to put to you.'

Langham frowned. 'A proposition?'

'I'll tell you on the train. How about it?'

'Well ... Look, Ralph, I need to think about this. When did you say you're setting off?'

'Catching the six thirty a.m. from King's Cross, changing at Edinburgh and arriving at Inverness around three. I've hired a car from a local garage and I hope to reach the castle in time for dinner.'

'The thing is when are you planning to come back? I have something happening on Tuesday.'

'There's a direct sleeper from Inverness to London at six o'clock on Monday evening. Plan is go up there tomorrow, take a shufti on Sunday and most of Monday, and head back on the sleeper. You'd be back in the Smoke early Tuesday morning.'

'Well ...' Langham dithered.

'Not got the frighteners on account of the Barnes crash, Don?'

'Of course not,' he said truthfully. Ryland was referring to the signal failure at Barnes a week earlier which had resulted in the deaths of thirteen passengers.

'Ah!' Ryland said with sudden illumination. 'Your little lovebird. You don't want to be parted from the missus-to-be, eh?'

'That's more like it,' Langham admitted. 'Look, Ralph, I'll talk it over with Maria right away and call you back.'

'I'm at the office till six,' Ryland said, and rang off.

'Well,' Maria said as he joined her on the sofa, 'what was that all about?'

He poured himself a second cup of tea and recounted what Ryland had said.

'Strange,' Maria said when he'd finished. 'And I wonder what that "proposition" might be?'

Langham shook his head. 'I can't begin to imagine.'

'Well, do you intend to go?'

He looked out of the window. A new flurry of snow was obliterating the view of the park. 'I must admit the thought of the Highlands in the middle of winter when I could be snugly at home with you ... The thing is —'

'Mmm?'

'I have a soft spot for the old major. He's a good sort. I hate to think that he feels he's under some kind of threat. There's obviously something going on.'

'Then you must go. And as Ralph said, there's a train back on Monday evening. You'll be here in time for Charles's release.'

He thought about it. 'Tell you what, how about you come along too? I'm sure Ralph wouldn't mind, and the major would be overjoyed to meet you.'

Maria was shaking her head. 'Oh, I would love to, Donald. But I cannot, remember? That meeting with Travers from Gollancz tomorrow? I've put it off once already.'

'Dash it, Maria. I'll miss you like crazy.'

'It is only for three days, and then you'll be back in my arms. I think you must do it, for both Ralph and the major.'

Langham nodded. 'Very well, I'll ring Ralph now.'

'And I shall dress for dinner, mon cher,' Maria said, and swept into the adjoining bedroom.

Langham crossed to the bureau and picked up the phone, hesitated at the thought of what he might be letting himself in for, then dialled Wandsworth 4545.

The train tore through the snow-covered Yorkshire countryside.

Langham had awoken at the ungodly hour of five thirty a.m. in order to catch a taxi to take him to King's Cross in time for the six thirty a.m. express to Edinburgh. He'd spent the night at Maria's, and it had taken a supreme effort of will to ease himself from her embrace and dress, despite the balm of central heating.

He'd slept for the first few hours of the journey and had only awoken ten minutes ago to find the grey, mean streets of north London far behind him. The rolling dales of north Yorkshire met his waking gaze, the undulating snow interrupted only by the stark lines of dry-stone walls, scattered sheep and the occasional lonely farmhouse.

In the seat opposite, Ralph Ryland pulled a thermos flask from his travelling bag and poured two mugs of tea. The private detective was dressed, bizarrely, in herringbone tweeds and a flat cap, the apparel sitting uneasily on his slight frame and weasel-thin head. He usually affected a frayed rayon suit and a bootlace tie like some shady East End spiv.

Langham accepted a mug of sweet, milky tea, took a sip and tried not to pull a disgusted face. He preferred his brew black, without sugar.

'I was meaning to ask at King's Cross,' Langham said, indicating Ryland's tweeds, 'why the get-up?'

Ryland shot his sleeves proudly. 'Used to be my brother's, but I inherited it when the Jerries did for him at Dunkirk. First time I've worn it. I thought, seeing as how I'll be in the Highlands, it'd be fitting to wear Doug's old tweeds. And Major Gordon said he'd take us shooting.'

'I think I'll remain before the roaring fire, sampling his whisky,' Langham said.

Ryland raised his mug. 'What do you think of the brew?'

Langham smiled. 'It brings back memories,' he said. It did – unpleasant ones – of the noxious, sickly sweet concoctions served by the NAAFI during the war.

'Here, you remember the chai those wallahs made in India, Don? They brewed it in a kettle: tea leaves, condensed milk, sugar and all.' Ryland gazed through the window at the passing winter landscape. 'You ever miss those days?'

'Madagascar and India? No, I don't really. To be honest, they seem such a long time ago – events that belonged to the life of another person. Don't get me wrong, I had some good times back then. I suppose I feel a bit guilty saying I didn't have a bad war, but it's true.' He shrugged. 'But no, I can't say that I miss them. You?'

'Now and again I do, when I've been doing nothing but routine cases for weeks and weeks and think I could do with a bit of action. I think back to Diego-Suarez, and then that mission in Goa looking for them Italian spies ... and I wish I were back there. But then an interesting case comes up and I forget all about the war.'

'I suppose I live vicariously through my books,' Langham admitted. 'I send Sam Brooke out on a case and let him do all the running about for me. I've always wanted to write for a living, and I'm happy.'

Ryland stroked his thin ginger moustache which curved lugubriously around his small mouth. He was watching Langham with a calculating expression.

'What?' Langham asked.

'That proposition I mentioned over the blower ...'

Langham had wondered about Ryland's 'proposition' when he'd awoken in the early hours, Maria warmly asleep beside him. He thought he knew what the detective was about to say.

'I was thinking recently,' Ryland said. 'Things are getting busy at the agency. Sometimes I have to turn away work. Not that I'm complaining – it means I can pick and choose what I do, you see. But it seems a crying shame, turning away potentially lucrative cases.' He shrugged his bottle-slim shoulders. 'I'm a one-man band, Don, and I can only take on so much.'

Langham smiled. 'Is all this a circumlocutory preamble to asking me if I'd care to come and work at the agency again?'

'I don't know about a circular perambulator, Don, but you've hit the nail on the head. I was thinking it'd be like old times. You could work for the agency two or three days a week, just like you did after the war. You could even pick your own cases. And you'd win both ways, see? You'd be well paid for your work and you could put it all down as research for your books.'

Langham considered the time he'd worked two days a week at Ryland's agency and how the experience had indeed fed into his books. He'd found the various cases interesting, if occasionally dangerous – the perfect accompaniment to the sedentary life of a desk-bound writer.

The odd thing was that in the early hours of that morning, when he'd guessed what Ryland wanted, he hadn't dismissed the notion out of hand. His books brought in enough to keep him in the frugal bachelor lifestyle to which he'd become accustomed, but things would change when he married Maria. She had rather expensive tastes, and as he had no intention of accepting her father's largesse in paying the rent on the Kensington apartment, he'd need a little extra income.

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Excerpted from Murder at the Loch by Eric Brown. Copyright © 2016 Eric Brown. Excerpted by permission of Severn House Publishers Limited.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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