Free 2 A Reason for Murder by Morgana Best Page B

up from his menu. "That may be the case, but there is no treasure. What did he say about it?"
    I thought about it. "He did know a lot of details about the Jewboy Gang. I checked up on everything he said and it all checked out, like I said, except I couldn't find any record of Baxter Morgan being executed. However, I couldn't find any death records for some of the gang members, so that in itself means nothing."
    At this point the waitress took our orders.
    When she left, David waved at me. "Go on."
    I tried to remember the last thing I'd said. "That's about it, only on the tour he took us to a small house in town and said that the occupant was a woman who was widowed because the treasure hadn't been found, and when his accuser was named, the ghost of Baxter Morgan would tell everyone where the treasure is."
    David looked shocked and was about to speak but was prevented by the timely arrival of herb bread. I ate a piece hungrily, and washed it down with a large mouthful of water. I had no intention of drinking wine as I had to drive back to my motel.
    I continued. "In fact, I drove to Morpeth before I came here, to the River Royal Hotel, to try to find Scotty."
    David looked interested then. "And did you?"
    "Yes. When I told him about your place being for sale and that your ancestor was rumored to be the one who accused Baxter Morgan, he took off like a bat out of hell without so much as a word."
    That seemed to surprise him, but he changed the subject. "Is yours a big magazine? How many journalists are there?"
    "Not many. It's a small magazine really. We're all overworked."
    "Why did they give this story to you in particular?"
    I shrugged. "They always give me the stories that need a lot of research. I always get to the bottom of things. No one else could be bothered." I felt unusually tired so rubbed my eyes, a habit of mine. The only thing is, I don't usually wear mascara as I have my eyelashes tinted once a month when I have my eyebrows waxed and tinted. I had, however, worn mascara tonight, so wondered if I had black streaks down my face.
    I excused myself and went to the bathroom. The lighting in there was no better than the rest of the restaurant, but to my relief the mirror revealed only slight smudges under my eyes. I dabbed at them with a damp tissue, and then applied concealer which I always had in my purse.
    When I returned to the table, my meal was sitting waiting for me. "Fast service in this place."
    David nodded. "Yes, we're just about the only ones here."
    I looked around the restaurant and the only other patrons were a young couple tucked away in the far corner. Hopefully this was not because the food was bad. There had been only one vegetarian meal offered on the menu. It did, however, prove delicious, if my sampling of the layered stack of char-grilled vegetables, olive tapenade, and basil pesto was anything to go by. I was about to have another mouthful but was forestalled by David's phone ringing. David checked the caller I.D. and did not answer.
    "My brother, Des."
    "Is he the one who wants to sell the place?"
    "You do know a lot."
    I laughed. "I'm a good researcher."
    "Clearly. Des and I have never seen eye to eye. He's my younger brother, and you'd think two brothers even five years apart in age would be close, but we're chalk and cheese. Always have been. He lives in Sydney now, and he's newly married which is why he wants to sell the family property. I think it's a terrible shame, but there's nothing I can do about it. Morgan Hall was left to me in the will, but he contested it."
    "Goodness, that would have been hard."
    "You don't know the half of it. He has a temper on him too. I'd say he's calling to criticize me about interrupting your viewing today. He's the one who engaged the services of the realtor. He's in town at the moment too, but I only found out this afternoon."
    I was about to comment further but the room revolved slightly. I excused myself again and went to the bathroom. Migraine