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“I…the first time I saw you…I felt that you—and me—maybe we’d be good together.” His arms slipped around my waist. “I thought you felt it too.”

I didn’t say so but privately I couldn’t deny that, at first glance, I had been attracted to Douglas too. It was only when Casper had reappeared that I had changed my mind.

Clearly I was crazy. Casper was out of bounds. Douglas was sexy, dark and handsome. There was no reason I should hold back now.

Well, actually, there was. We were searching for a dead body. This was no time to be scratching a sexual itch.

Planting my hands firmly on Douglas’s chest, I pushed him gently away. “This isn’t the place. We should concentrate on what we came here for—to search for McEwen’s body.”

Douglas looked disappointed. “Casper is a lucky man.”

“For the last time, I’m not having a relationship with him.”

“He’s married, isn’t he?” Nobody could accuse Douglas of not being persistent.

Stifling a sigh, I said, “Casper isn’t married, I am. I’m married to my work.”

Douglas shrugged as though he was unwilling to fight my self-delusion any longer. He lapsed into silence. Apparently even his persistence had a limit.

As we continued along the shore, I pushed the thought of both Casper and Douglas out of my mind. It was time to forget about men and concentrate on work.

By three-forty-five we hadn’t found McEwen’s body. Almost four hours of tramping around the loch and nothing to show for it but muddy feet and a cold nose. Even the food Douglas had packed was gone. We’d eaten lunch hours ago and now even the little snack packets of sultanas were gone.

I turned to Douglas. “I have to get back to Furness,” I said. “I’m meeting Casper.” He raised his eyebrows as though I’d told him Casper and I were going on a date. “It’s not like that, Douglas. We’re going to Maitland House to talk to Sir Alastair.”

“Och, well, that’s all right then.”

He sounded really pissed off but at least he didn’t do anything childish like trying to delay me. We marched back to the car and drove to the village.

When we got there, Malcolm and the others were still searching. Casper was loitering outside Mac’s.

“Ready?” he asked.

I glanced down at my mud-spattered jeans. “Give me a minute to change.”

In my room I put on clean trousers and a camel-colored sweater. Then I put on some makeup. Usually I don’t bother with makeup when I’m on a case. My appearance is less important than my ability to solve puzzles. But sometimes, when I’m interviewing a man like Sir Alastair, it pays to look as good as possible. The only thing I drew the line at was wearing jewelry. It gets in the way during hand-to-hand combat. Not that I expected to have any of that with Sir Alastair, but you never knew.

Grabbing the thick jacket I had worn the night before, I went downstairs. Casper was in the kitchen drinking coffee with Douglas. They stopped talking when I entered.

I glanced from one to the other. Although they could never be mistaken for best friends, they seemed to be getting on well enough. Douglas offered me a coffee. Neither he nor Casper seemed to notice I wore makeup. Didn’t matter. I wasn’t wearing it for them.

I declined the coffee. “We should be heading to Maitland House.”

Casper drained his cup. “Ready when you are.”

“I’m ready now, Casper.”

Chapter Eight

We didn’t talk much on the way through the village. When we reached the fork in the road, we turned right.

As we climbed the hill to Maitland House I said, “You seemed to be getting on all right with Douglas.” Okay, I’ll admit I wanted to know what they had been talking about.

Casper saw right through me. “I don’t think Douglas would appreciate me repeating our conversation.”

“I’m sure he wouldn’t mind. Go on, Casper, tell me. It won’t hurt anyone.”

He gave me a look that suggested I let him be the best judge of that. “The only thing I’ll tell you is that we weren’t talking about the case.”

That piqued my curiosity even more. I wheedled and pleaded and annoyed the heck out of Casper, but he refused to reveal anything else.

I lapsed into a sulky