“The Sultan has already restored Ardray,” Lady Ellan said with a smile, “according to Alasdair, the estate is completely different now.”
“You went there, Lord Rothlan?” Neil asked, his eyes round.
Alasdair Rothlan nodded. “You wouldn’t recognize it, Neil. The Sultan blotted out the magic forest and the Black Tower and has replaced them with a beautiful castle that is set closer to the sea. Casimir is delighted with it and I think he plans to invite us there once he’s got it all fixed up.”
“Prince Casimir’s all right, is he?” Lewis asked anxiously.
“Here he is now,” Lord Rothlan said as the Sultan and Prince Casimir stepped through the gilded frame of the magic mirror. “You can ask him yourself!”
Everyone bowed as the Sultan appeared but Lewis ran straight to Casimir and hugged him. “I’m so glad to see you!” he said. “You look really well!” Indeed, they all looked at Casimir in astonishment. The Sultan’s generosity had been such that there was no room for discontent and his face, now calm and untroubled, was kindly and pleasant. His eyes twinkled as he looked at Lewis.
“You haven’t changed a bit, Lewis,” he said, with a sigh. “Where’s your bow to the Sultan!”
Lewis reddened and bowed hastily to the Sultan.
“Don’t worry, Lewis,” the Sultan smiled, “we all understand your concern for Prince Casimir.”
The ice was broken and it was only after they had finished eating an absolutely massive Christmas dinner of turkey and Christmas pudding that they all sat, chatting idly together round the table.
Prince Casimir looked across at Sir James and asked about the pantomime. “Is Ali Baba still running, Sir James?” he queried.
“Oh yes,” Sir James nodded. “It doesn’t finish until the middle of January.”
“And are Neil and Clara still taking part?” asked the Chief Constable, looking across the table in surprise. “Sorry, I’ve been busy. I meant to ask earlier.”
Neil and Clara both nodded. “Matt Lafferty gave us a really funny look when we turned up again, though,” Clara grinned.
“Gob-smacked is the word he’d have used!” Neil said.
“And he looked absolutely floored,” Clara added, “when I had to have a new costume made!”
“And I needed a new turban! I gave mine to Nessie to use as a flag and I’m sure he recognized it from the TV footage,” Neil said with a grin. “He knows that something odd was going on the night we disappeared and I think he’s guessed that magic was involved!”
“An intelligent man,” nodded the Sultan, his eyes twinkling.
“He doesn’t miss much,” Sir James agreed, “but, you know, even he will be hard put to make up a story that’ll link you to the Loch Ness monster!”
There was a murmur of laughter.
“I do miss Arthur,” Clara said sadly. “Don’t you, Archie? I know he’s happy with Nessie but there’s not a lot to do at the bottom of Loch Ness.”
“He’ll stay a few months and then come back,” Archie sighed. “I wish he hadn’t missed our Christmas party, though.”
“What I’d really like to know is what happened to the bank robbers?” Clara asked. “Did you catch them, Sir Archie?”
“We only caught two of them,” Sir Archie replied, “Murdo and Tammy Souter. Wullie managed to slip through the net.”
At Clara’s questioning stare, the MacArthur chipped in. “You did hear what happened to Wullie, didn’t you?”
Lady Ellan burst out laughing at the mention of his name. “He was fantastic,” she said. “The ghosts of the plague victims didn’t stand a chance against Wullie! Not a chance!”
At that, both Neil and Clara sat up straight and looked at one another in horror. “You mean the ghosts of the plague got out?” Neil gasped.
“Yes,” she said, startled. “I’m sorry! I forgot you didn’t know! Yes, when the crooks blew up the vault, the explosion knocked down the walls of their cellars. Mary King’s ghosts got all the policemen out safely, thank goodness, but they somehow managed to miss Wullie.”
“You don’t mean …” Neil looked stricken, “you don’t mean …?”
“Nothing happened to Wullie,” Lady Ellan grinned despite herself. “The plague ghosts went for him, of course, but would you believe it, he killed them off! All by himself!”
“Wullie?” Clara said. “I thought he was a bit … well, he wasn’t sharp like Murdo.”