Logan did not know where to find Donald
Johnstone - at home or at work. She called his
home number and he answered the phone. She
put the phone down without speaking. Five
minutes later she arrived at his house in
Morningside.
Johnstone opened the door. He was wearing a
dark grey suit and a black tie.
'Yes, Inspector?' he said.
'Mr Johnstone, I'd very much like to ask you one
or two more questions,' said Logan.
'Inspector,' he said, 'I'm very busy. I'm afraid I
have no time at all.'
'You've got a choice, Mr Johnstone. We can talk
now and it will take about ten minutes. Or, I can
take you to the police station and ask you some
questions there. Perhaps you'll be home again by
tomorrow morning. I believe the beds at the
police station are rather uncomfortable too.'
'That's not much of a choice!' said Johnstone.
'Come in, and let's be quick.'
Logan went into the house and followed
Johnstone into the living room. Johnstone did not
ask Logan to sit down. He stood behind an
armchair and turned to her. 'Well?' he asked.
'How's your business doing, Mr Johnstone?'
'Fine,' said Johnstone. He put his hands on the
back of the chair in front of him.
'I understand that actually business is not so good
just now.'
'It's just a small problem,' said Johnstone. 'And it's
a problem which will soon go away. People always
start buying cars in the New Year and I'll start
earning money again.'
'I understand that your bank probably won't wait
until the New Year.'
'Well, you must know something that I don't
know. When I last spoke to my bank manager, he
was very happy to wait until the end of January.'
'Really?' Logan looked round the room. 'You have
a very nice house, Mr Johnstone. I'm sure you
don't want the bank to take it away from you
because you can't pay them back.'
'That's not going to happen,' said Johnstone
angrily. His face was going red.
'Why not? Because your brother-in-law is dead
and so your sister now has enough money to help
you,' said Logan quiedy.
'What are you saying, Inspector? That I wanted
Alex dead? That I had something to do with it?'
Johnstone's face was now dark red with anger.
'Get out!' he shouted. 'Get out of my house and
don't come back.'
Logan turned and walked to the front door.
Johnstone had big problems and he was an angry
man. Was he angry because his business was
doing badly? Or was he angry because of
something else? Logan did not know. The
important question was: did he need money badly
enough to kill his brother-in-law?
Outside, she got into her car and looked at her
watch. It was now six o' clock and snow was
falling again. She sat in the car and thought more
about Johnstone. He was wearing a dark suit this
evening. But what did he have on this morning?
She tried to remember but couldn't. Logan
decided to go back to the police station. She
hoped that Grant was still there. While she drove,
she thought about Ian Ross. It was interesting
that he now had fifty per cent of the restaurant.
Logan knew people who killed for fifty pounds.
Fifty per cent of Charlotte's was much more than
fifty pounds.
When she drove into the car park at the London
Road Police Station, she saw Grant's car. Good.
He was still there. She ran up the stairs and
found him in his office.
8
When she came into the room, he smiled. 'You
know, madam, I think Ross really hated
Maclennan.'
'So you had an interesting visit,' said Logan,
smiling. She sat down opposite Grant.
'Yes,' said Grant. 'Very interesting. Ross was out,
so the people at the restaurant were happy to talk
to me.'
'Good. So? What did they say?'
'Well, the most interesting person was one of the
waitresses, a woman called Isabel Ferguson.
She's been at Charlotte's right from the start.'
Grant stopped and drank some coffee. 'She said it
was a great place to work at first. Ross and
Maclennan talked to all the people who came to
eat there. Alice was there most of the time. The
three of them told funny stories about each other.
Everyone was always laughing. She said it was a
great place to be, a great place to work.'
'But…' said Logan.
'But the last year and a half have been terrible.
Alice Maclennan doesn't come to the restaurant
any more. Alex Maclennan wasn't as much fun as
before. And Ross almost never comes out of the
kitchen.'
'Does she know why?' asked Logan.
'Well, the problem was that Ross and Maclennan
stopped being friends. She thinks it was because
of money. Maclennan was earning a lot of
money from the restaurant. Everyone knew that.
Bur he was still paying Ross the same as when
they started.'
'And Ross didn't like it,' said Logan.
'Isabel thinks he didn't like it at all.'
'Did he talk to anyone about it?' asked Logan.
'No. She and Ross are good friends, but he never
said anything to her. One night after the
restaurant closed, she heard Ross and Maclennan
shouting at each other in the office. Later she
asked Ross what the problem was and he t