Leger's Foe (The Leger Hotel Mysteries Series Book 4)

‘Well, that’s what I’ve heard.  Sean Gilbert’s friend, the one who jumped in to save him, had his dog with him that day and Blue, the dog, said Sean tried to feed the cygnet.  Of course, if you get too close to a cygnet the parents will attack and in this case, the parent did.  He pushed him into the water.  I don’t think he meant to kill him, just scare him away.  It was a tragic accident.’

‘That would explain a lot.  Do you ever take walks to the loch?’ Leger asked.

‘Not really.  I don’t get walked anywhere other than the beach across the road and that’s only because it’s close.  I would love to go for a proper long walk,’ Rani said, her features drooping again and giving her a sad appearance.

Bob whimpered in at her while Leger tried his best to keep his emotions in check.  He felt sorry for Rani, but he couldn’t let that get in the way of his job and now that he knew Sean Gilbert hadn’t been murdered by a human, his paramount concern was finding Carole.

‘So, you won’t have heard anything about the disappearance of a young woman who was staying here on the island?’ Leger probed.

‘Nope.  Not a thing,’ Rani said.

‘Thank you, Rani.  You’ve actually been more helpful than you realise,’ Leger said.  ‘Is there anything I can do in return?’

‘Perhaps there is.  Does your human have treats in his pocket?  I can smell them and it’s years since I’ve had a treat.  My family don’t really do things like that.  I only get my main meals.’

Bob nuzzled Hugh’s pocket to remind the elderly man that he had something in there that Rani might enjoy and when Hugh fed a gravy bone to Bob, the huge Labrador held it between his teeth and dropped it through the fence for Rani.

*****

When the trio returned home later that morning, Leger had much to think about.  Firstly, he knew the identity of the murderer now, although it wasn’t really a murder and he had never suspected that a swan would indeed be to blame for a human death.  They were such graceful, elegant creatures.  This could not go unpunished, but when Kevin had a young child to care for, how could Leger possibly turn him in?  There had to be a way for Kevin to pay for his crime without putting the Iain in danger of losing his father.

The next thing on his mind was Carole’s whereabouts.  He knew it was possible that she had just gone for a long walk, but the more he discovered about the situation, the more uneasy he felt.  She had met her husband, Gordon, at the loch but he hadn’t bothered to call in on the family.  The pair had quarrelled and then she and Gordon had both vanished.  It didn’t sit well with Leger.  He had a bad feeling about this and he wanted to track her down to reassure himself and everyone else in the family that Carole was safe and well.

The problem was that they had now exhausted every line of enquiry he could think of, except for Bob’s idea of speaking to the baby.  He wasn’t convinced this would work, but he would try anything at this point.

He approached the little boy, who was sitting in a bouncy chair, sucking on a teething ring and eyeing up Leger.  Leger sat before him and twitched his nose.  He had no idea what to say.

‘Hello, young man,’ Leger said, clearing his throat.  ‘How’s the teething coming along?’

Louis sighed and stared at Leger, continuing to suck on the ring.

‘I’ll bet you can’t wait to be up and about, eh?’ Leger said.  ‘Oh, no.  This is so lame.  I have no idea how to talk to you.’

‘You’re not speaking his language,’ Bob grunted, padding into the living room after devouring half of Annabella’s sandwich.  She was apparently too worried to eat her lunch, although Leger suspected she would have shared it with Bob anyway.

‘Show me how it’s done,’ Leger said.

He watched as Bob sat before the little boy and made no sound at all, at least not one that Leger could hear.  Louis was captivated by whatever Bob was saying and began to wave his arms around and cackle.  Bob thumped his two front paws on the floor below him and Louis wiggled his chubby little legs.

‘What’s he saying?’ Leger asked, truly intrigued.

‘Nothing, we haven’t started talking yet,’ Bob replied.

‘Well, get a move on!’ Leger grumbled, his patience wearing thin.

‘Louis!  Louis!  Where’s mummy?’ Bob asked.

‘Dada,’ Louis replied.

‘He says she’s with his dad.  That would be Gordon,’ Bob said, as if translating.

‘I gathered that.  Right.  Where…did…mummy…go…with…daddy?’ Leger said, slowing his speech and meowing slightly louder than he normally would.

‘You don’t have to talk to him like an idiot, Leger!  He’s a baby, not an imbecile,’ Bob snapped.

Louis replied with a few nonsensical noises that neither Bob nor Leger could decipher.

‘I wonder if…’ Leger trailed off.

‘What?’ Bob asked.

‘Well, we’ve been to the loch and we’ve been to the village, via the beach.  We didn’t see Carole and Gordon on our travels.  Do you think they could possibly have taken the ferry back to the mainland?’ he wondered.

‘It’s possible,’ Bob agreed.  ‘If only we had a liaison over there.’

Leger grinned.  ‘But Bob, we do!’

*****