Death of a Gentle Lady

The English who settle in the north of Scotland sometimes find they are not welcome. There is something in the Celtic character that delights in historical grudges. But the exception to the norm was certainly Mrs Margaret Gentle. Gentle in name, gentle in nature, said everyone who came across her.

'Now, there's a real lady for you,' they would murmur as she drifted along the waterfront of Lochdubh in the county of Sutherland, bestowing gracious smiles on anyone she met.

Lavender was her favourite colour. And she wore hats! Dainty straws in summer and sensible felt in winter, and always gloves on her small hands.

No one knew her age, but she was considered to be much older than her looks because she had a son in his late forties and a daughter perhaps a year or two younger. She had silvery white hair, blue eyes, and a small round face, carefully made up. Her small mouth was usually curved in the sort of half smile one sees on classical statues.

She had bought an old mock castle outside Braikie. It stood on the edge of the cliffs, a tall square building with two turrets. Mrs Gentle's afternoon tea parties were in great demand. For some reason, she preferred to shop in the village of Lochdubh which only boasted one general store and post office rather than favouring the selection of shops in Braikie.

Perhaps the only person who did not like her was Hamish Macbeth, the local policeman. He said she made his skin crawl, but no one would listen to him. The Currie twins, village spinsters, shook their heads and said that it was high time he married because he had turned against all women.

Mrs Gentle had moved to the Highlands about a year ago. Hamish had waited until she was settled in and then called on her.

As he had approached the castle, he had heard voices coming from the garden at the back and ambled around the side.

His first sight of Mrs Gentle was not a favourable one. She was berating a tall, awkward-looking woman whom he soon learned was her daughter. 'Really, Sarah,' she was saying, her voice shrill, 'it's not my fault that Allan divorced you. I mean, take a look in the mirror. Who'd want you?'

Hamish was about to beat a retreat, but she saw him before he could. Immediately her whole manner went through a lightning change.

She tripped daintily forward to meet him. She was wearing a long lavender skirt and a lavender chiffon blouse. On her head was a little straw hat embellished with silk violets.

'Our local bobby,' she trilled. 'Please come inside. Will you have some tea? Isn't it hot? I didn't think it could get as hot as this in the north of Scotland.'

'I've come at a bad time,' said Hamish.

'Oh, nonsense. Children, you know. They'd break your heart.' Her daughter had disappeared. Mrs Gentle hooked her arm in his and led him into the cool of the old building. Hamish remembered hearing it was a sort of folly built in the nineteenth century by a coal-mine owner. It was perilously near the edge of the cliffs, and Hamish shrewdly guessed that she had probably managed to buy it for a very reasonable price.

The drawing room was country-house elegant with graceful antique furniture and paintings in gilt frames on the walls. She urged him to sit down and rang a little silver bell. A tall, blonde, statuesque girl appeared. 'Tea, please,' ordered Mrs Gentle.

'Is that one of your family?' asked Hamish.

Again that trill of laughter. 'My dear man, do I look as if I could have given birth to a Brunhild like that? That's my maid. I think she's from Slovenia or Slovakia or one of those outlandish places. I got her through an agency in Inverness. Now tell me all about yourself.'

Hamish suppressed a frisson of dislike. Perhaps, he thought as he chatted amiably about his police work, it was because of that remark to her daughter he had overheard.

Tea was served; a splendid tea. Hamish felt too uncomfortable to enjoy it. He later described his experience to his friend Angela Brodie, the doctor's wife, as 'drowning in syrup.'

He left as soon as he could. As he stood outside the front door, he noticed that the lace on one of his large regulation boots was untied. He bent down to fix it.

Behind him, inside the house, he heard a voice he recognized as Sarah's. 'Well, have you finished oiling all over the village bobby?'

Then came Mrs Gentle's voice: 'Such a clown, my dear. Improbable red hair and about seven feet tall. These highlanders!'

'If you don't like highlanders, you should get back down south, Mother. Of course you can't, can you? Can't play lady of the manor down there.'

Hamish walked off slowly. He felt uneasy. He had felt it before when some incomer had started to spread an evil atmosphere around the peace of the Highlands.

'Evil!' exclaimed Angela Brodie when he met her later on a sunny afternoon on the waterfront. 'That's a bit strong. Everyone adores her. Do you know, she has just promised a large sum of money to the church to help with the restoration of the roof?'

'I still don't like her,' grumbled Hamish. His cat, Sonsie, and his dog, Lugs, lay at his feet, panting in the sunshine. 'I should get the animals indoors where it's cool.'

'Have you heard from Elspeth?' Elspeth Grant, once a local reporter, was now working at a Glasgow newspaper: Hamish had toyed too long with the idea of marrying her so she had become engaged to a fellow reporter. But the reporter had jilted her on their wedding day.

'No,' said Hamish curtly.

'Or Priscilla?'

'Neither.'

Hamish moved off. He liked Angela but he wished she would not ferret about in his love life – or lack of it. He had once been engaged to Priscilla Halburton-Smythe, daughter of a colonel who ran the local hotel, but had ended the engagement because of her chilly nature.

In the comparative coolness of the police station, where he also lived, he suddenly felt he was being overimaginative. Mrs Gentle was, in his opinion, a pretentious bitch. But to think of her as evil was going too far.

Autumn arrived early, bringing gusty gales and showers of rain sweeping in from the Atlantic to churn up the waters of the sea loch at Lochdubh. Hamish was involved in coping with a series of petty crimes. His beat was large because the police station in the nearby village of Cnothan had been closed down. He was soon to find out that his own station had come up again on the list of closures. The news came from Detective Inspector Jimmy Anderson, who called one blustery Saturday.

'Got any whisky?' he asked, sitting at the kitchen table and shrugging off his coat.

'You're not getting any,' said Hamish. 'Have coffee. You'll get caught one day and off the force you'll go.'

'You'll want a dram yourself when you hear what I have to say,' said Jimmy.

'What's that?'

'You'd best start selling off your livestock.' Hamish kept sheep and hens. 'This police station is being put up for sale.'

Hamish sank into a chair opposite Jimmy, his hazel eyes troubled. 'Tell me about it.'

'Do you ken a woman called Gentle?'

'Oh, her, aye. What's she got to do with it?'

'It's like this. I was at a Rotary dinner last night –'

'I didn't know you were a member of the Rotary Club.'

'Not me. But Sergeant MacAllister couldn't go and gave me his ticket. Anyway, the super was there, and Blair.'

Detective Chief Inspector Blair was the bane of Hamish's life.

'And? What's this Gentle female got to do with it?'

'Well, she was seated between Superintendent Daviot and Blair. They were all over her. She was fluttering and flirting – odd at her age.'

'Get to the point, man.'

'I went to have a pee and when I got back into the room, I heard her say your name. My place was at the other end o' the table, but I waited for a bit. She was saying that she was surprised that the police would go to the cost of maintaining a police station in Lochdubh when everyone knew you did practically nothing.

'Daviot said you were a good officer and had solved a lot of murders. Blair weighed in and said there weren't any murders now and no drug problems because most of the young people went south to the cities. He said that house prices were astronomical these days and that the police could get a lot of money for your station. Mrs Gentle shook her little head and said sadly that you were short on social skills – that you had called on her without an invitation and stayed eating her out of house and home before she could get rid of you.

'Then Blair turned round and saw me and demanded to know what I thought I was doing, so I didn't hear any more.'

'That woman iss a slimy wee bitch!' raged Hamish, his accent becoming more sibilant as it always did when he was angry.

'Well, maybe. But she charmed the socks off all the bigwigs.'

The phone in the police office rang. Hamish went to answer it. It was Daviot's secretary, Helen, telling him to report to headquarters at the earliest opportunity.

Hamish trailed back into the kitchen. 'I've been summoned.'

Superintendent Daviot smoothed back the silver wings of his carefully barbered hair and tugged at the lapels of his expensively tailored suit before instructing his secretary to send Hamish in.

'Sit down, Hamish,' he said. 'Helen, some tea and biscuits would be nice.'

Hamish noticed the triumphant gleam in Helen's eyes, and his heart sank. Helen detested him.

'Now, er, Hamish,' said Daviot. 'It has come to my attention that there is not enough work up there for a man of your skills. We have a big drug problem here in Strathbane, and we need good officers. Ah, thank you, Helen. No, we will serve ourselves.'

When the door closed behind the secretary, he went on. 'A man like you should be taking the detective exams with a view to joining the CID.'

'May I say something, sir?'

'By all means. Have an Abernethy biscuit or would you like a Penguin?'

'Tea will be fine. Mrs Gentle is a vicious woman. Do not listen to a word she says.'

'I use my own judgement, Macbeth,' said the super, colouring up. 'But since you have raised the lady's name, it seems you imposed on her hospitality.'

'I called on her as part of my duties. As you know, I frequently call on people on my beat. She was having a spiteful row with her daughter. She likes to create the image of being perfect. I was not to be forgiven for having witnessed her at her worst. Such is the way of psychopaths like her.'

'Macbeth! I have met the lady and consider myself to be a good judge of character. She is charming and kind, very much a lady. You don't see many of them like her these days.'

'No, thank God.'

Daviot's face hardened. 'That's enough. You have six months. You will be supplied with a flat in police accommodation in Strathbane. And no pets. You'll need to get rid of that odd cat of yours, and the dog. You may go.'

Hamish stood up. 'You should keep me where I am, sir, because there's going to be a murder.'

'What murder?'

'Mrs Gentle.'

'Get off with you!'

Jimmy waylaid Hamish on the way out.

'Well?'

'That Gentle woman's done the damage all right. I'm losing the station, I'm to move into one o' thae poxy police flats, and no pets. I'm going to resign. Mind you, I went over the top and called Mrs Gentle a psychopath and said someone was going to murder her.'

'Come and have a drink. One for the road.'

'All right.'

As soon as they were in the bar and seated over their drinks, Jimmy lit a cigarette. 'That's against the law,' exclaimed Hamish. 'No smoking in Scotland.'

'So sue me. Do you care?'

'Someone might report you.'

'Like who? Nothing but coppers in here, and the barman smokes himself.'

'Be a good lad and put it out. I'm not going to sit here, aiding and abetting a crime.'

'Oh, all right, Mother. Are you just going to take this lying down? Last time the villagers got up a petition.'

'I'm weary. I seem to have been living under constant threat of eviction for years. But I tell you one thing, before I leave, I'm going to get that woman out of the Highlands.'

'How?'

'Wait and see.'

Back in Lochdubh, Hamish began to gossip busily. The news of his forthcoming eviction and subsequent loss of his pets spread like wildfire throughout Sutherland. Matthew Campbell, the local reporter, wrote up the story, saying that Hamish's banishment had been instigated at a Rotary dinner by Mrs Gentle, a newcomer to the Highlands.

Mrs Gentle, arriving back in Lochdubh a week later followed by her tall maid, felt a definite chill in the air that had nothing to do with the clear autumn day. It was as if she suddenly did not exist. People avoided eye contact. Her greetings went unnoticed. Mr Patel, who ran the local store, packed up her groceries in silence.

Her temper was rising, but she masked it well. As she left the shop, she met Mrs Wellington, the minister's wife. At that moment, Mrs Wellington was more interested in the repairs to the church roof than the banishment of Hamish Macbeth.

'Good morning,' she said breezily. 'A fine brisk day. I hate to rush you but my husband needs that cheque for the repairs to the church roof.'

Mrs Gentle gave her little curved smile. 'What cheque?'

'You promised to donate a generous amount of money towards the church.'

'Did I? How stupid of me. I am holding a family reunion next week and I have just discovered I am quite low in funds. Such a pity. I am sure you will find the money somehow.'

Mrs Gentle returned home in a bad mood. The sight of her daughter slumped in front of the television set with a large gin and tonic in her hand made her erupt into rage. She switched off the set, walked round, and stared down at her daughter.

'Sarah, I want you out of here after the family get-together.'

'But you asked me up here. You said I could stay as long as I liked.'

'I've changed my mind. I'm changing my will as well. It's time you got a job.'

'But I'm fifty, Mother.'

'You'll find something. Andrew has a good job.' Her son, Andrew, was a stockbroker. 'The grandchildren are doing well. You've always been a failure. Ayesha, take that stuff into the kitchen and stop gaping.' The maid went off. Mrs Gentle watched her go, then followed her into the kitchen. Ayesha had been working as a maid in a London hotel when Mrs Gentle had offered her the job although she maintained the fiction that she had hired the girl through an agency.

'I never asked you what country you came from,' said Mrs Gentle.

'Turkey,' said Ayesha, putting groceries away. 'Izmir.'

That curved smile again. 'Dear me, I thought all Turks were dark.'

'Not all,' said Ayesha. 'Some of us are quite fair.'

'Let me see, Turkey is not in the European Union. I do hope you have a work permit. Silly me. I never asked you.'

Ayesha flushed to the roots of her hair. 'I was studying at London University, but my student visa ran out. I needed money, so I worked in a hotel.'

'I can't have an illegal alien working for me. Wait until after the family party and then you must leave or I will have to report you to the police.'

'Oh, please. Can't you apply to the Home Office for me?'

'Don't be silly. Oh, don't start to cry. Get on with your work.'

Hamish Macbeth was just settling down to a dinner of comfort food – haggis, mashed potatoes, and mashed turnips – when he heard the front doorbell ring. The locals never used the front door, which had jammed with the damp ages ago. He went to the door and shouted through the letter box, 'Come round to the side door.'

He went and opened the kitchen door. Round the side of the police station came a tall figure he recognized as Mrs Gentle's maid.

When he ushered her into the kitchen, he noticed her eyes were red with crying.

'Sit down,' he said. 'What's the matter, lassie?'

'I have come to be arrested.'

'I'm just about to eat, and there's enough for two,' said Hamish.

'I can't eat.'

'Oh, you'll feel better.' He got another plate and put a generous helping on it for her. 'Now eat and tell me about it.'

Ayesha picked at her food as she told him that she was in the country illegally and had lost her job.

'I can't be bothered arresting anyone at the moment,' said Hamish.

She really was very beautiful, he thought. She was nearly as tall as he was himself, with a splendid figure in hip-hugging jeans, a T-shirt, and a denim jacket. Her hair looked a natural gold, she had high cheekbones and a perfect mouth.

'What is your name?' he asked.

'Ayesha Tahir. Turkish.'

'I didn't know there were blonde Turks.'

'Some are.' She took a mouthful of food. 'This is nice. You are not like a policeman.'

'I'm not going to be one much longer, thanks to Mrs Gentle putting the poison in.'

'The poison?'

'She managed to persuade my bosses that my services were not needed in Lochdubh.'

'Can't you stop her?'

'I can't stop anything now. I'm going to resign.'

Hamish clasped his hands behind his head and stared at the ceiling. 'Why should I arrest you?' he asked.

'Like I said, Mrs Gentle has found out that my visa has expired. She says I can stay until after her family party and then I've got to leave.'

'Have you got your passport with you?'

'Yes, in my bag.' She fished it out and handed it to him.

Hamish flicked through the passport, studied the visa, and then said, 'Would you like to leave this with me? I might be able to do something.'

Hope shone in her blue eyes. 'Do you think it possible?'

'Maybe. But you're not to talk to anyone at all about it. I see you're twenty-five years old. That's not young for a student.'

'My father wanted me to marry a local businessman. I stalled. I said I would if I could get an education first. I studied English at Istanbul University. When I got my degree, I applied for permit to further my studies at London University and received three years to gain a PhD. When I got my degree, I applied for a work permit but was refused. I started to work as a maid in a hotel. It was the only work I could get. Then Mrs Gentle stayed at the hotel. I was cleaning her room. She offered me work. She seemed so kind. It was a great mistake.'

'Finish your meal and come back here as soon as the family party is over. I might have something for you then.'

* * *

Peter Brimley, a small wizened man, opened his door in a side street of Inverness the following day and scowled up at the tall figure of Hamish Macbeth.

'Whit now?' he snarled. 'I've done my time and I'm going straight.'

'I'd like to come in. I'm here to offer you money for some of your skills.'

'This is a frame-up?'

'Don't be daft. I won't want to get found out even more than you would. Let me in.'

Hamish walked into Peter's small living room. There was a large desk by the window with a powerful lamp over it. Peter rushed forward and swept a pile of papers into a drawer.

'Going straight, my arse,' said Hamish cheerfully. 'But I am about to join the world of criminals. I want you to forge a passport for me. Well, not forge a passport, chust a visa.'

Peter stared at the floor in mulish silence.

'Come on, man,' said Hamish. 'It's a simple job for a genius like you. I didn't put you away. Inverness police did that.'

Peter shrugged in resignation. 'Let me see the passport.'

Hamish handed it over. Peter went to his desk and sat down. Hamish waited impatiently. At last, he demanded, 'Well?'

'Aye. I could alter it to give her another three years. But that's all.'

'Grand. How soon?'

'Gie me a week. Right. Now to the money.'

Hamish blinked at the price but was in no mood for haggling. 'You'll get your money when I get the altered visa. I'll be back next week.'

Outside, Hamish phoned Ayesha, who had given him her mobile phone number. He told her he might have something for her in a week's time but cautioned her not to breathe a word to anyone. 'Hasn't your father been trying to track you down?' he asked.

'I phoned him two years ago and told him wasn't coming back. He said I was no daughter of his and he did not want to see me ever again.'

'That's sad, but it makes things less complicated.'

Hamish felt like Santa Claus a week later when he handed Ayesha her altered passport. 'This is wonderful,' she said. 'At least I have three more years.'

Then Hamish had a really mad idea. 'There is something else we could do,' he said.

'What is that, my dear friend?'

'We could get married.'

'What?'

'That way you would become a British citizen, have a British passport, and get work in a school or a university. Then we get a divorce.'

A cynical, wary look entered her blue eyes. 'And what would you get?'

'The fact that I was a married man would make them at headquarters leave me alone for a bit. I happen to know that there are no quarters for married men in Strathbane. I get my police station and you get your passport.'

'What about sex?'

'You know, I've been thinking about that,' said Hamish with almost childish candour. 'You are gorgeous and yet I don't fancy you. No vibes.'

'You will be shocked.'

'I'm a policeman. I'm past being shocked.'

'I am a lesbian.'

'What a waste! I mean, everyone to their own bag. But since we'd be getting married just for appearances, it doesn't matter.'

A week later, Elspeth Grant was sitting at the reporters' desk at the Daily Bugle