Devil of the Highlands Page 0,77

by clearing his name."

Mac stopped working and turned to glance at her in surprise. "Was she now?"

"Aye," she said, then shifted uncomfortably under the sudden narrowing of his eyes.

"Ye wouldna be doing the same, would ye, lass?"

Evelinde avoided his gaze. "Doing the same what?"

"Ye've been asking about the deaths," he accused with certainty in his voice.

"I have," she admitted reluctantly. "Not that I've learned anything."

She could see the conflict on his face as he stared at her and knew he was torn between giving her hell and asking her something. In the end, he asked, "Who did ye ask questions of? Was Tavis one of them?"

"Nay. He was not here at the time. I asked Biddy, and several of the other maids in the keep. I talked to Scatchy, too, and Fergus and Gillie."

Mac frowned. "And yet none of the accidents occurred until after Tavis returned from escorting yer wagon, Mildrede, and me here."

"Nay," she agreed.

"One of them could have mentioned it to Tavis," Mac said with a frown.

"You think 'tis Tavis, then?" Evelinde asked with interest.

Mac's expression was conflicted, then he admitted, "Me instincts tell me no. He seems a lighthearted sort, more interested in women than the responsibility of laird, but…" He shook his head. "If the motive is to gain the title of laird, then he is the most likely suspect besides Cullen."

"Should he not then be trying to kill Cullen?" Evelinde asked slowly.

"Aye, and mayhap he will, 'tis hard to say when we are unsure of the reason for any of the murders," Mac said slowly as he shook his head. "If all three were murdered, this killer is not just clever enough to escape discovery but almost frighteningly patient. There were ten years between the uncle and Cullen's father, then four between that and little Maggie's death."

"And now two between her death and these accidents," Evelinde muttered, then fretted, "Cullen was nearly injured when he tried to save me from the bull. He could easily have died that day. If Angus was deliberately loosed, whoever did it may have realized Cullen was nearby and would try to save me."

"That is a lot of hope on the killer's part," Mac pointed out. "Besides, he was not the target when you fell on the stairs."

"Mayhap," Evelinde said quietly, then pointed out, "but he left the room just ere me to go below that day. He may have been the target then and, with his long strides, simply missed whatever it was I later tripped over."

Mac frowned, and asked, "He wasna there when the arrow was loosed though, was he?"

"Nay, but as Cullen said that day, the arrow may have been in that tree for years. It may simply have been something else I heard," she pointed out.

"That is the trouble here," Mac said with disgust. "We are not sure what are accidents and what are not. Everything is so uncertain. We may be imagining murderers where there are none. 'Tis no wonder it has remained a mystery all this time."

"Aye." Evelinde sighed. She didn't know what to think about anything now.

"Ye never did say how ye managed to slip free of Gillie and Rory," Mac prompted, changing the subject. She suspected he was trying to prevent her worrying about things, but it wasn't going to work. She would let him change the subject, but worry about Cullen had now firmly buried itself in her thoughts.

"I said I was going to the solar, and—"

"I knew I'd find ye here."

Evelinde closed her mouth and turned guiltily to peer up the aisle as that impatient comment interrupted her. Cullen stood, glaring at her from the stable doors, exasperation on his face. When she merely peered back at him, he moved forward so that he could loom over her and glower up close.

Evelinde glowered right back. Truly, the man was a trial to her. If he spoke at all, it was only to order her about or snap and snarl like a rabid dog. How a man could behave with such consideration and thoughtfulness on the one hand but not manage to speak other than to growl was beyond her.

"I was most displeased when Gillie came to find me to say ye'd slipped his guard. I ordered ye to stay in the castle."

"Aye, and mayhap if you had told me why you wished it, I would have," she told him. "Though, it seems to me I'm hardly safer there since one of the accidents you worry over took place in the