“Yeah, right,” I said. “Look, Kyle, I don’t know squat about Robert Burns or the history of that era. I can help you authenticate the book itself, verify that it’s a genuine Cathcart, maybe even find a way to validate the inscription. But you’re on your own as far as the content goes.”
“I thought as much.” He downed the last of his pint, took the book from me and studied it. “I just wanted you to be aware of what you’re getting yourself into if you agree to help me with this project.”
I rubbed my forehead, trying to brush away the fuzzies from my brain. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
He shrugged. “There may be some people who would rather the book weren’t authenticated.”
I leaned back to look at him more carefully. “You’re saying they wouldn’t want the specific mythology of the book to be known.”
“Exactement,” he said in a perfect French accent, then signaled the barmaid over to order another round.
“None for me,” I said.
“You’re sure?” Kyle asked.
“Absolutely.” When the barmaid left, I wrapped the book back in the tissue paper and slipped it into my purse. “I guess I should ask how much trouble I could get into over this book.”
His mouth curved in a frown. “I hope you won’t live to regret that question.”
“I was kidding,” I said, “but you’re not. What is it?”
He waved off my concern but I knew him, knew he was hiding something.
“What are you not telling me?” I asked.
He pursed his lips. “I suppose there is a bit more to the story.”
I sat back with a thud. “You’re killing me.”
“Yes, well, this is where it gets a bit sticky.”
“Sticky?” All sorts of alarms went off in my foggy brain. “Okay, spill it.”
Kyle avoided eye contact by grabbing my hand and playing with my fingers. “I was thinking of presenting a paper on the book this week.”
“That’s cool.” I nodded encouragingly. “I’ll try to be there.”
The barmaid brought his pint and he took it eagerly. After a long drink, he said, “I’m not doing it.”
“But this would make an awesome presentation.”
“I thought so, too,” he said. “But it seems someone disagrees.”
“Who?”
“I’ve no idea. But since I first mentioned the book, I’ve received a number of strange phone calls and several poison-pen letters.”
“Poison-pen letters? How weird.”
“Yes, quite.” He glanced anxiously around the pub. “Some are fairly brutal, in fact. You might even say life threatening.”
“Oh, my God.” I grabbed hold of his fidgety hands. “Did you show them to the police?”
“No.” He hesitated, then added, “I threw them away.”
“Kyle!”
He held up his hand to stop me from saying more. “I know it was stupid, but I figured it was all a sick joke.” He chuckled without mirth. “But then yesterday…” He shook his head.
The fact that he’d actually bothered to call the police was alarming in and of itself. “What, Kyle? What happened yesterday?”
His smile was nearly apologetic. “Seems someone tried to kill me.”
Chapter 2
“That’s not one bit funny.”
“Tell me about it,” Kyle muttered.
I rubbed his arm consolingly, hoping to get him to spill the whole story. Kyle had a tendency to dole out information in bits and pieces, as control freaks often did. I could relate. “What happened?”
He breathed in deeply, as though the extra air might give him courage. “I was crossing the street in front of the hotel. There was no traffic, and suddenly this car gunned its engine and aimed straight for me. I barely made it back to the sidewalk when the driver veered the car right at me. I knew I was a dead man. But then he swerved back and took off.”
“I don’t suppose you could see who was driving.”
“No.” Frustrated, he raked his hand through his hair.
“What kind of car?”
“A Mercedes. Big. Probably S-Class. Black, with darkened windows. The hotel uses them to chauffeur people in from the airport.”
“Someone might’ve stolen it from the hotel,” I murmured.
“Quite possibly.”
“So it would be impossible to track down.”
“Exactly,” he said, slumping back against the padded banquette.
“And you talked to the police.”
“They can’t do anything.” He tapped his fingers on the table. “One of the valets saw everything, thank God. He was more shaken than I was. He called the cops and told them as much as he knew, which was about as much as I knew.”
“Did you tell them about the book?”
He snorted in disgust. “Oh, that’ll go over well. Someone’s trying to kill me because I dared suggest that Rabbie Burns shagged a Sassenach princess back in the day. I’d be laughed out of the city.”
“What did you say? Saucy what?”
He chuckled. “Sassenach. It’s what the Scots call the English when they’re riled up. It’s from the word Saxon, I believe.”
“Saxon? Like the ancient Saxons?”
“That’s right.”
“Wow, some people know how to hold a grudge.”