Authors: Alan Cook
I walked to the main road into downtown Edinburgh, because I’d done it before and wouldn’t get lost. Vehicle traffic was light and foot traffic almost nonexistent. After a few minutes I came to the intersection where we’d lost Tom the night before. Without thinking too much, I followed the side street to the intersection where we’d given up.
I picked a direction at random and followed my nose, keeping careful track of my turns so I could retrace my steps. I also had my local map in the rainproof pocket of the North Face. I saw a sign for a B&B ahead. Could that be where Tom was staying? He certainly wouldn’t be staying at a hotel, on his budget.
I walked past the building, a townhouse attached to its neighbors. I’d found many guest houses and hotels located in Edinburgh on the Internet. This was probably one of them. Tom, with his technical prowess, could have found it online. I didn’t see any lights coming from inside, but it was still early.
I turned onto another street and continued for a short distance. The clouds lightened slightly and the world became clearly visible. Almost dawn. I was getting hungry. I decided to retrace my steps to Hanover House and get some breakfast. I turned back onto the street with the B&B. A man was walking toward me wearing a raincoat with a hood. The coat and the stride looked familiar. However, it took me a few seconds to realize it was Tom. My first thought was,
he couldn’t sleep either
.
Then I became frightened. Should I turn around so he wouldn’t recognize me? Too late; he already had. I couldn’t outrun him with my gimpy ankle and bruised ribs. It looked as if
he
were about to turn around. Was he afraid of
me
? It was time for a showdown.
“Tom, wait. We need to talk.”
He hesitated, undecided. I stopped a few feet from him with my hands in sight, like cops tell you to do. He stood there, looking down at the ground. I gathered he wasn’t going to say anything, so it was up to me.
“I want to apologize for last night. Jason and I shouldn’t have treated you like that. We…we wanted to see if you were carrying any weapons.”
His face had an astonished look. “Weapons? Why would I…?”
“We thought you might try to kill Jason.” Nothing like laying it on the line.
Now his look was one part astonishment and one part puzzlement. If I trusted my ability to read people, I would have said he was innocent. But I didn’t.
“You thought the Boyds had done your ancestors wrong, which they undoubtedly did. By the way, I’ve got a flash for you. You probably
are
a Boyd. Your DNA test has been processed. You’re probably descended from the Jason of the nineteenth century.”
He didn’t look completely surprised. Jason had probably told him this last night. He raised his head and looked me in the eye for the first time. “You owe me for a new screen.”
The hubris of that remark got to me. “You owe my grandmother the ten thousand dollars you took from her.”
Now the look on his face was indescribable. I had apparently penetrated his facade. He wouldn’t look me in the eye.
“You can’t prove that.”
That was the equivalent of pleading guilty as far as I was concerned. Besides, his guilt was written all over his face. I decided to press my advantage. “When you get back to Los Angeles, I expect you to repay the money.”
“It took me a long time to get my clothes sorted. Some of them are dirty.”
Talk about a
non sequitur
. I was almost ready to conclude Tom was harmless, but something told me that would be a dangerous thing to do. Still:
Keep your friends close and your enemies closer
. Neutralization by proximity.
“I’m sure you came here to find out more about your cousins.” I glanced at my watch. It was after seven. “Jason and his wife have a new baby, so I doubt they’re sleeping in.”
I took out my cell phone and called Jason’s house. Sarah answered. I apologized for calling so early, but she said she was already up and nursing young Timothy. I asked if Jason was up. She said he was still sleeping. I told her I was with Tom. She showed surprise but not any stronger feeling. I suggested we could all meet somewhere, later, not wanting to take Tom to their house if she was afraid of him. She said we could come to their house at ten. I guessed she felt if I were with Tom he must be safe. I disconnected and relayed the news to Tom. I asked him if he knew the way.
“I’ve got a map.”
Of course he did. In fact, he was holding it in his hand. He was nothing if not organized.
***
Tom got to Jason’s house before I did, because after leaving him and eating breakfast at Hanover House I took another quick walking tour of Edinburgh—alone. I walked along the High Street between the castle and the Palace at Holyrood House where the Royal Family still spent time, taking advantage of the lack of crowds since it was early on a Sunday morning. The brand new parliament building beside it reminded me the human soul is always yearning for a bit more freedom—in this case freedom from the control of England.
I saw the statue of Adam Smith, the great economist whose ideas about capitalism and free enterprise the people of the world would be wise to pay attention to, because they also promote the freedom to live one’s life as one pleases. The rain was intermittent and the wind blew in gusts, but since I was acting like a tourist I didn’t let the weather bother me. My ankle was almost healed and my ribs didn’t hurt as long as I kept my body straight and didn’t sneeze.
When I reached Jason’s house, Tom was practically a member of the family. Well, within certain constraints since he didn’t know what to make of little Timothy and he appeared to be ill at ease in front of Sarah. However, he and Jason were chatting about being officially cousins. I hugged Jason and Sarah, and then decided I’d better not treat Tom differently, so I hugged him too. Jason said he had news.
“I got an email from the other Jason.”
It took both Tom and me a few seconds to sort out who the other Jason was. There was only one possibility.
I said, “Jason, grandfather to Cousin Jason and cousin to all of us.”
“That’s the one.”
“How did he get your email address?”
“He said you gave it to him.”
“
Moi
?”
Probably so. I’d given him a lot of information about my trip. Jason was obviously bursting to continue.
“He’s coming here. He’s arriving this afternoon.”
Enter the third robber.
That line popped into my head. It was from an old book called
Beau Geste
I’d borrowed from my grandmother’s library when I desperately needed something to read. When the third of three brothers shows up at a French Foreign Legion outpost, all having run away from home, one of the brothers recites that line. I decided it would be better not to say it out loud.
I asked Jason what reason old Jason gave for coming.
“He wants to meet his cousins.”
Strange timing. Although he’d get two cousins for the price of one, plus me who he already knew. Jason went on to say old Jason had booked a room at Hanover House where I was staying. More information I’d apparently given him. Jasmin didn’t tell me he had a reservation, but then I didn’t tell her I was a Boyd.
***
Young Jason stood up, almost not wobbling at all, considering all the beer he’d been drinking, and proposed a toast. “To the Boyds, fighters and survivors.”
Survivors? How many of us were going to survive? Still, almost all of us drank to that: young Jason, old Jason, Tom, Sarah, and me. All except young Timothy who had actually fallen asleep in a pram beside our table at the Guilford Arms pub, pacifier in his mouth, in spite of all the noise we were making.
We’d spent several hours of the day sightseeing on foot, and then young Jason, Tom, and I drove to the airport to pick up old Jason. Returning from the airport, Tom and I rode in the backseat and the Jasons rode in front, the excuse being old Jason had longer legs than Tom. The long-legged people always got to ride in the front seat. I had long legs for a woman, but that wasn’t good enough. Tom, having been relegated to the backseat, didn’t look at me or say very much. He was obviously uncomfortable being around me.
We helped old Jason get checked in at Hanover House where he told us he wanted to invite us all to dinner, in spite of the fact that he was undoubtedly suffering from jet lag. His excuse for doing it tonight was young Jason had to go to work in the morning, tomorrow being Monday. As I watched him, I was wondering whether young Jason would be in any shape to go to work in the morning.
Despite the murders and the scam, tonight we were one happy family. How long would that last?
CHAPTER 28
When I awoke on Monday morning it was almost time for breakfast. I showered quickly and went downstairs, being the first to arrive in the dining room. Jasmin greeted me with a hug and brought me breakfast with poached eggs, just the way I liked them. I think she credited me with bringing old Jason to her house.
The person in question appeared while I was drinking my tea, looking his age, which I could understand considering his long flight and the festivities of last night. He sat down at my small table and Jasmin came in from the kitchen and took his order. He drank some black coffee and appeared to revive.
“So, have you found Tom guilty of Jason’s murder?”
Referring to his grandson, of course. We hadn’t been alone to talk yesterday. I decided to bring him up to date.
“The jury is still out on that one. However, regardless of what Tom came here for, I don’t expect him to commit any mayhem while he’s here. My suspicion of what he was planning, which Jason IV and I foiled, is that Tom wasn’t even going to contact Jason, but perhaps stalk him and look for an opportunity to…do something. Now we’re watching every move he makes, which I know is making him uncomfortable, but it’s for sure if he tries anything he won’t get away with it, so I don’t think he will.”
I gave a summary of our activities since I’d been in Edinburgh. I also told old Jason that Timothy had been part of the original syndicate with Jason’s grandson, who had also come to Timothy’s funeral. I said I knew these things because Jason IV (all the Jasons were confusing) told them to me.
Old Jason registered the proper amount of shock at these revelations. He said he didn’t even know his grandson, Jason, had ever been to the UK, let alone that he knew his cousins, which made sense because old Jason had told me he didn’t know his UK cousins existed before I found them and relayed the information to him. He digested everything I said and thought about it.
“What now?”
“I’m going to stick around here as long as Tom does, just to keep an eye on him. That’s a few more days.”
“I’ve got an idea. As far as we know, Tom has never been to the UK before. That’s what he says, anyway. Last night, he expressed a desire to see London, although he didn’t know whether he’d be able to get there on this trip. In any case, Jason has to work. Let’s you and I take Tom on a little tour.”
“You mean, to London?”
“Well, let’s go to Oxford and then London.”
“Why Oxford?”
“I was a Rhodes Scholar. I studied at Oxford University for two years. I’d like to take a trip back there for old times’ sake. Oxford is an old and pretty city and should be fun for Tom and you to see. If you humor me on this point, then we’ll go to London. We can get Britrail passes online because we’re Americans.”
“You never told me you were a Rhodes Scholar. Grandma never told me that. Of course, she may have forgotten.”
“It doesn’t usually come up in light conversation.”
“I’m impressed, having a Rhodes Scholar in the family. And I’d like to see London again. I’ve been there, both before and after my amnesia, so I remember it. My only question is, how will Tom react?”
We met Tom an hour later for some local sightseeing and broached the idea to him. He said he’d been planning to do some traveling, himself, while he was here, and he seemed comfortable with the idea of traveling with us because old Jason knew his way around. I didn’t think he would have agreed to travel only with me. We would leave the next morning.
***
Tuesday morning dawned cool, gray, and misty. That seemed to be par for Edinburgh. We’d eaten dinner with young Jason, Sarah, and younger Timothy Monday evening at an Italian restaurant, and this time I’d paid.
One reason I think Tom agreed to go with us was because he was getting some free meals, and that helped his budget. He still wasn’t speaking much to me, but he and old Jason seemed to get along fine. Old Jason acted as a buffer between us. I was accomplishing my goal of keeping Tom in sight. Whether or not he’d killed old Jason’s grandson, I didn’t think he had anything against the grandfather.
Old Jason, Tom, and I walked to Waverley Railroad Station together, rolling our suitcases behind us, with the morning pedestrian traffic racing and twining around us. We took the Flying Scotsman south to London’s King Cross Station. Although it didn’t actually fly, it got us there in good time.
We took the London tube to Paddington Station. It’s a good thing we were all traveling light. That made it easier for us to negotiate the steps in the tube stations. We carried our suitcases up and down the steps. At Paddington we boarded another train, so Tom didn’t actually get to see any of London, except through the windows. We promised him he would when we came back.