“Dan Porter, Inverness Courier. Assuming a water creature killed this stag, how large would it have tae be to inflict a bite wound this size?”

“Honestly, I couldn’t say.”

“Go on, Dr. Liao,” Angus pressed. “Bein’ a proper scientist, I’ll bet ye can provide a proper estimate of this beastie.”

“I don’t wish to be quoted, Mr. Wallace.”

“Who’s quoting ye? By the way, my son estimated the guivre at more than twelve meters. Would ye agree this completely different species is probably bigger?”

“I wouldn’t know.”

“Whit aboot ye, Dr. Ahmed? Yer a lake specialist.”

“Yes. But like I said—”

Two photographers snapped the visitors’ photos.

“Issac Pringle, nice tae meet ye, Dr. Ahmed. I understand you and Dr. Liao traveled all the way from Antarctica tae be in Loch Ness. That’s quite a journey. When did you find out we had a second monster?”

“I didn’t know— no comment. Dr. Liao, perhaps we’d better—”

“Mr. McFarland, is it?”

“How did you know that?”

“You’re a guest at the Lair. Records show ye work for Stone Aerospace. With all the drones yer company builds, how would ye go about locating a second monster trapped in Loch Ness?”

“That depends. How big is Loch Ness?”

“Twenty-four miles long, a mile wide, and six hundred feet deep. Deeper still in Nessie’s grotto where Zachary Wallace confronted the last monster.”

“I’m not sure. Underwater drones perhaps.”

“Dr. Ahmed, I understand your field of expertise involves extinct species. Is there a chance this new species could be a plesiosaur?”

“None at all. Again, there’s no need for conjecture once your experts perform a proper necropsy on this animal.”

Angus interjected. “Then a necropsy could help determine the new monster’s species?”

“Absolutely.”

“Then you agree Loch Ness has a second monster?”

“Yes. I mean, no. I mean no comment!”

Fifteen hours later, an exhausted Ming Liao and her three male associates found themselves in line at the airport in Inverness, waiting to pass through customs. Having barely slept, Liao had spent the better part of the morning arranging for her office in Beijing to wire five thousand U.S. dollars into a Bank of Scotland account belonging to one Angus Wallace. The inebriated Scot had kept her up until dawn, reassuring her that his son would sign commitment papers before the weekend was out, but that his power of persuasion needed persuading. They finally agreed that Angus would receive an additional ten thousand dollars once Liao had received a notarized signed agreement, which was a far cry from the fifty thousand the Scot had demanded at dinner.