The Underground City(69)

“Make no mistake,” laughed Lady Ellan. “Wullie was marvellous!”

“It was his cigarettes that finished them off,” nodded the MacArthur with a grin. “He absolutely reeked of tobacco smoke and they couldn’t take it!”

“Especially when he flapped his overcoat at them,” added Jaikie. “That’s what really did for them! They just fizzled up and died!”

“I still can’t believe it!” Sir Archie said. “To tell you the truth, I don’t know what we’d have done if it hadn’t been for Wullie! The very thought of the Plague People getting out into the streets still gives me nightmares.”

“Have all the ghosts gone back to Mary King’s Close now?” asked the Ranger.

It was the MacArthur who answered. “Well, we had a bit of trouble about that,” he said, leaning back in his chair. “The Plague People put them in a blind panic, as you can imagine. Once they’d seen your policemen safe in the Assembly Hall, Sir Archie, I’m afraid they just lost their heads. Some of them went up to the castle but most of them moved down to Holyrood Palace and well … you know how it is, they got accustomed to living in style and didn’t fancy moving back to the High Street.”

Jaikie grinned. “And you can just imagine what happened when they first arrived at the palace!” he grinned. “Believe me, it was absolutely manic! They scared the living daylights out of the tourists for a start and, in the end, the staff had to close the palace altogether!”

“Rizzio,” Lady Ellan said seriously, “was not amused.”

“You can’t blame him,” the MacArthur said, reasonably. “After all, he’s had the run of the palace for centuries!”

Jaikie grinned. “Apparently, he threw a thousand fits when they all poured in from the High Street. The very thought of them living in the palace … well, I ask you! He’s such a snob!”

Sir James and the Chief Constable looked at one another with lifted eyebrows. They both knew who David Rizzio was, of course. Italian by birth, he’d been secretary to Mary, Queen of Scots before her husband had murdered him!

Lewis smiled at the mention of his name and looked over at Casimir. He not only knew that Lord Darnley had murdered Rizzio but also knew the date — 1566.

“As Jaikie said, he was really furious,” continued Ellan. “He called the Council of Elders to a meeting at the palace and demanded that all the ghosts be made invisible again and ordered to move back to their old quarters.”

“Aye,” said the MacArthur. “There was a real stramash about it but he won in the end.”

“What, er … happened?” asked Sir James faintly.

“Well, it was Her Majesty!”

“The Queen?” said the Chief Constable, in tones of surprise.

“Aye,” the MacArthur nodded, “as you know, she’s always in residence in the summer. And, as Rizzio said, it just wasn’t on. Her Majesty accepts his presence as a matter of course, you see, and he’s very discreet. Just a dignified bow if he ever encounters her. But, as he said, she really shouldn’t have to put up with half the High Street drifting through the walls of her apartments whenever they felt like it!”

“Not at all the done thing,” said Sir James, keeping his face straight with an effort.

“Exactly!” said the MacArthur, heaving a sigh. “Anyway, it was all sorted out in the end. The Council of Elders made them all invisible again and they’ve already moved back up the High Street to Mary King’s Close.”

“And what about the bank?” Neil asked curiously. “I can’t understand it. Dad told me it wasn’t a branch any more but I see from the papers that quite a lot of money was taken.”

Everyone looked at Sir Archie. “It isn’t a branch anymore,” he agreed, “it’s a museum now, and normally, it wouldn’t have held any money at all. But it turns out that the Bank of Scotland were in the process of refurbishing some of their branches and, well, I suppose they had to put the money somewhere. The empty vaults at the Mound were ideal for the purpose. It was just bad luck that Murdo, Wullie and Tammy decided to rob it when it was stuffed full of cash.”

“And there’s no doubt they took it,” Sir James added, “for when we emptied the charity baskets in the foyer that were used for donations, we found bin-liners full of used notes at the bottom of most of them.”

“Wow!” Clara’s eyes grew large.

“Ali Baba and the Forty-Three Thieves,” grinned Neil.

“I’ve good news for you, though,” and here Sir James smiled happily. “The bank has been very generous and has made us a gift of the money we found, so we’ll be able to send a much larger donation to Children’s Aid than we thought! Much larger!” he added.