"Very well. Come outside."

Alison went into the study, feeling a little glow of warmth. Peter was going to give Maggie a telling off about her harsh treatment of her. The study window overlooked the garden. Alison longed to hear what Peter was saying. She pushed open the window and listened hard.

Peter's well-modulated drawl reached her ears quite clearly.

"This advertising business of mine has been going through some hard tunes, Maggie," she heard him say. "But I've got some new top clients and the money will be coming through soon. If you could see your way to lending me a few thousand, I can pay you back at the end of six months and at a good rate of interest, too."

"So you want my money without having to marry me to get it?" said Maggie.

"Oh, love, come here and give me a kiss. If I thought I had a hope in h.e.l.l of getting you, I wouldn't have asked..."

Alison closed the window and sat down, feeling miserable. No one loved her; Hamish was fed up with her and Peter and Crispin were only making up to her because they thought she had an in with Maggie.

The study door opened and James Frame sidled in. "I say..." he began tentatively.

"If you've come to ask me to put in a word with Maggie, forget it!" said Alison bitterly. "She hates me and I hate her and I wish I were dead but I'd like to see her in her grave first!"

"Gosh, you are in a tizzy," said James, smoothing down his patent leather hair with a nervous hand. "I only came to ask you...well, don't you see, it's that d.a.m.n book that's worrying me. Be a good chap and tell me if she's got me in it."

Alison looked at him with loathing. She hated them all. "You're all in it," she said spitefully, "and highly p.o.r.nographic it is, too. Do be an angel and tell the rest, won't you? I'm sick of being pestered and I've got work to do."

The study door opened again and this time Maggie walked in. She stopped short at the sight of James. If Alison had listened at the window a little bit longer, she would have heard Peter defending her. That and the fact that her niece had been out driving with Crispin had put Maggie in a towering rage. The sight of James bending over Alison was the last straw.

"When you've finished typing that book," said Maggie to Alison, "you can pack your things and leave."

"But I've got nowhere to go," said Alison weakly.

"Listen, Alison," said Maggie, "you've got your health and strength so I suggest you stop sponging off me and start working for a living. That whey face of yours makes me sick. I expect you to be out by the end of the week."

"Could I have a word with you, beautiful?" oiled James.

Maggie went in for one of her lightning changes of mood. "Of course," she murmured seductively. "Come up to my bedroom."

Alison sat, numb with misery, but somewhere at the bottom of her misery was a tiny feeling of relief. The door opened again and she heard Steel Ironside's Liverpudlian accents. "Well, that's that. She's taken that gaming club creep up to her room. He's probably getting his leg over right now."

Alison sat, rigid and silent.

The pop singer began to pace up and down the room. He was wearing a black cotton shirt open to the waist, revealing a thick mat of grey chest hair in which nestled a large gold medallion. "G.o.d, I could do with a bit of her money," he said. "I know I've got a hit. But I need the money for a backing group and then the hire of a studio."

Alison began to cry. She had been crying such a lot lately that the tears came easily, splashing onto the typewriter.

"Hey, what's up, luv?" The pop singer sat down on a chair beside Alison and peered at her through his half-moon gla.s.ses.

"Maggie's throwing me out at the end of the w-week," hiccupped Alison.

"Haven't you any place to go?"

Alison dumbly shook her head.

"Here. Give me a piece of paper. There's these bods in a squat down in Liverpool who'll take you in. Give them this note."

"You're very kind," said Alison when she could, although she thought she would rather die than move in with a lot of Liverpudlian squatters who were probably all high on dope.

"Fact is, the four of us were talking about you this morning. Maggie's gone on so much about her bad heart, in the event of her dying soon, we was saying it might be better for one of us to marry you and then divvy up the takings."

"If Maggie died," said Alison, "I would take the money, keep it, and throw you all out. I hate Maggie and I hate you."

But he merely laughed and patted her head. "Maggie's turned out a right b.i.t.c.h," he said. "She's enough to turn the milk. When I think what a smasher she was, warm and beautiful. Right b.l.o.o.d.y cow she is now. Don't take it out on me. With any luck, she'll drop dead. I'll survive somehow."

"I'm sorry if I was rotten to you," said Alison, "but you all seem so mercenary. Not one of you seems to like Mag-gie."

"It's all very well to live in slums and eat baked beans when you're young," said Steel, half to himself, "but one day you wake up old and broke and the thought of going back and starting all over is scary. Know what I mean?"

"I'm going to have a cup of coffee," said Alison, getting to her feet. "Coming?"

"Sure. Lead the way."

Mrs. Todd was in the kitchen and looked anxiously at Alison's tearstained face. "Whit's the matter, bairnie?" she said.

Alison told her of Maggie's throwing her out.

"Maybe she's worried about something," said Mrs. Todd. "Mrs. Baird's a fine decent woman and-"

"Decent!" Alison's laugh was shrill. "I never told you, Mrs. Todd, but she was and still is a tart. You should read that book of hers...."

"Don't be saying nasty things about herself," said Mrs. Todd soothingly.

"S'right, all the same," said Steel, slouching around the kitchen with his hands thrust into the pockets of his jeans. "Real old wh.o.r.e is our Maggie."

"I will not be having that language in my kitchen!" Mrs. Todd was quite pink with outrage. The pop singer grinned and strolled out.

"Don't worry your head at the moment," said Mrs. Todd. "I have a wee bit cottage in the village and I can put you up there until you get on your feet."

"Thank you," said Alison weakly. But inside her head another prison door seemed to slam. She only half realised that she would probably accept Mrs. Todd's invitation and therefore say goodbye to any hope of independence. "I'd better get back to work," said Alison, picking up the cup of coffee Mrs. Todd had poured for her.

The bungalow had gone suddenly quiet. In her misery, she vaguely wondered where everyone was.

She sat down at the desk and forced herself to begin typing, trying to divorce her mind from the words. She heard a noisy chattering and clattering as they all met for lunch but could not bring herself to join them. She typed steadily on.

And then in the afternoon, Maggie came in. She sat down in a chair beside the desk.

"Look here, Alison," she said in her new husky voice. "You mustn't take me too seriously these days. Fact is, my nerves are screaming and I take it out on you."

Alison sat very still, her fingers resting on the keys.

"I don't know what's up with me," Maggie went on. "Half the time I seem to hate the world and I think if I see another bowl of salad, I'll puke."

"You weren't very nice to me when you were fat either," said Alison in a low voice.

"It's your own fault. There's something kickable about that cringing air of yours, sweetie. You can stay. I wish I'd never invited this lot. But I want to get married again and all men are much the same."

"But why these four?" asked Alison, curious despite her distrust of Maggie's sudden friendliness.

"They are the ones who were actually in love with me once," said Maggie. "I got a private detective onto them and found out they all need money. I don't rate my charms that high. Stuff Women's Lib. It's still rotten trying to get the matre d' in a restaurant if you're a single woman. And when it comes to business, men only want to deal with men. Other women pity you if you're on your own. I like a man about the place, G.o.d knows why. Anyway, it's no use looking for romance. In a marriage it all comes down to the same thing in the end: "Why do you keep losing my socks?" But I've never settled down long enough with any man to find out what it's all about. The minute one of them got difficult, I'd give him his marching orders. Cheer up, sweetie, you're still in my will."

"I'm not interested in your money," said Alison untruthfully.

Maggie studied her for a moment and her face softened. "I think you mean that. G.o.d! I'm a b.i.t.c.h. Try not to take any of my moods personally. So you'll stay?"

Alison looked up into Maggie's blue eyes and received the full force of that lady's considerable personality.

"Yes," she said weakly.

"Good girl." Maggie gave her a hug, the Maggie of old, the Maggie who had swept into the hospital, the warm, maternal Maggie.

For the rest of the day, Alison felt happier than she had since Maggie's return. Maggie's change of mood permeated the house. Tomorrow, thought Alison, I'll ask her about the car.

Peter Jenkins went out of his way to be particularly nice to Alison, and Maggie did not seem to mind.

Alison slept late and awoke to the sound of the garage doors being opened.

The car!

Maggie must be about to drive it.

All at once Alison felt she just had to ask her about that car.

She threw on a dressing gown and ran downstairs and out onto the drive. The engine was coughing and choking. Maggie did not seem to be able to start it. She walked forward and stood in front of the car just as Maggie wrenched the key once more in the ignition.

One minute Alison saw Maggie's beautiful face quite clearly through the windscreen. The next, it had vanished behind a sheet of flame.

FIVE.

O Death, where is thy sting-a-ling-a-ling O Death, where is thy sting-a-ling-a-ling O Grave, thy victoree? O Grave, thy victoree? The bells of h.e.l.l go ting-a-ling-a-ling, The bells of h.e.l.l go ting-a-ling-a-ling, For you but not for me. For you but not for me. - -BRITISH ARMY SONG Alison had often had that very common nightmare where one opens one's mouth to scream and no sound comes out. But the scream that was wrenched from her filled the air with dreadful sound, rushing away to the high hills, sending a taunting far-off mockery of a scream echoing back.

Peter Jenkins came running out in his dressing gown and slippers to where Alison stood with scream after scream pouring from her contorted face. He ran to the blazing car, flapping his hands ineffectually.

Steel Ironside erupted onto the scene with the kitchen fire extinguisher which he directed at the blazing car. "Help me, you f.a.ggot!" he shouted at Peter Jenkins. He ran to the car door and wrenched it open, cursing as he did so.

He grabbed Maggie and dragged her out onto the garage floor, beating at the flames on her clothes, panting and sobbing.

Mrs. Todd drove up. Her face was as white as paper as she ran for the house. She seized the phone in the kitchen and dialled 999 and demanded the fire brigade, the ambulance, and the police, Then she went out and struck the still-screaming Alison across the face. Alison hiccupped and then ran to Peter Jenkins who gathered her into his arms.

Mrs. Todd then crouched down by Maggie. "She's dead," said Steel in a flat voice. "Her clothes had just started to catch fire when I pulled her out. She must have had a heart attack. She killed herself. I've never known anyone to mangle a car the way she did."

Crispin and James arrived on the scene, both in pyjamas.

While Peter Jenkins, still holding Alison, explained in a hushed voice what had happened, Steel said, half to himself, "It'll take hours for anything to reach us in this wilderness." The wind of Sutherland howled across the sudden hush but far away came the sound of a siren.

It came nearer, ever nearer, until the Lochdubh Volunteer Fire Brigade rolled into the drive. Close behind came Hamish Macbeth.

"Nothing for us to do now," said the fire chief, taking off his helmet and revealing himself to be Mr. Johnson, the hotel manager. He looked at the car. Smoke was still rising from the bonnet. The front of the car was burnt black.

"Don't touch anything," said Hamish Macbeth sharply. "A forensic team will have to look at that car."

"No need for that," said Crispin, marching up in all the glory of primrose-yellow silk pyjamas. "We all know Maggie wrecked that car. Something's gone in the engine and it burst into flames and gave her a heart attack. She could have got clear if she hadn't had an attack. The doors weren't locked. You policemen always complicate matters."

"Indeed? Then I'm going to complicate them further," said Hamish quietly. "The minute the ambulance has been and gone, I'll start taking statements."

Hostile eyes looked at him. Even Alison, despite her distress, thought he was being overofficious.

Hamish went back to the Land Rover. He did not believe the car had just burst into flames through some fault. Dr. Brodie had arrived and was examining the body. Hamish called Strathbane and reported a suspected murder.

When the ambulance rolled up, Hamish said in a flat voice, "Leave the body where it is." Everyone looked at him: Alison, Mrs. Todd, the four guests, the fire brigade, the doctor, and the ambulance men.

"What's up with you, Hamish?" snapped Dr. Brodie. "It's a clear case of a heart attack. I know you've solved murders in the past, but don't let it go to your head, laddie."

"I've reported a suspected murder attempt," said Hamish. The silence that followed that statement almost hummed in the ears. Then Hamish said sharply, "Who raised the bonnet of the car?"

"Och, we only lifted it up to make sure there was no flames left underneath," said Mr. Johnson crossly.

"You shouldnae hae touched anything," said Hamish. "Mrs. Todd, I think if you take Miss Kerr and the guests into the house, I'll come with you and start taking statements. We'll need to wait until the team arrives from Strathbane."

"I'll have a word to say to your superiors," raged Mrs. Todd. "You cannae see a straightforward death when you come across it. When my man died, you was ferreting around my cupboards looking for poison."

"Had you told me your husband drank to excess, I wouldnae have had to bother," pointed out Hamish. "I was acting under orders from the procurator fiscal." The late Mr. Todd had choked to death on his vomit and poisoning had been suspected. It had indeed turned out to be poisoning, but alcohol poisoning. Mrs. Todd always maintained her husband had died of a heart attack.

Mrs. Todd went grimly into the house and began to make preparations for a breakfast-c.u.m-lunch while the others shuffled silently into the sitting room. "Is there a room I can use?" Hamish asked Alison.

"What? Oh, yes. The study. Through there."

"Perhaps you would like to come through first, Miss Kerr. No, there is no need for you," he said to Peter, who rose at the same time as Alison and showed every sign of accompanying her.

Hamish sat down at the desk in the study. Alison had stopped crying. She looked ill.

"Just tell me what you were doing this morning," said Hamish.

"I heard the car start, or rather I heard the garage doors being opened," said Alison in a shaky voice. "She...Maggie...had been kind to me the day before, so I thought I would ask her if I could drive the car. I ran down and out and just as I got to her, the car burst into flames."

"Was there any sort of bang? Any sort of explosion?"

Alison tried to concentrate. "No," she said at last. "One minute I saw her face quite clearly through the windscreen, and then it had vanished and there was nothing but flame." She showed every sign of being about to cry again.