by John Carson
‘We can drive you anywhere you need to go,’ Turnbull said. ‘We have a spare car that can be used. The Wolf family always made sure we were wanting for nothing.’
‘Good,’ Dunbar said. ‘Make the call and get the ball rolling, son.’
Turnbull nodded and walked back to the patrol car.
‘That’s not the same sergeant who was giving you lip earlier, surely?’ Harry said as he looked at Turnbull’s back.
‘I had my DI, Tom Barclay, call him up and give him a roasting. Just making sure he didn’t think I was some kind of pushover.’
‘It did the trick,’ Harry replied, then had a coughing fit.
Twenty-One
‘Can I get you a wee brandy?’ Nancy Shaw said, coming into the bar. ‘You both look like you’re shaken up.’
‘Thanks, that would be great, Mrs Shaw,’ Dunbar said. ‘I think we could all do with a wee drink. Stick it on the tab, will you?’
‘Aye, of course.’ She went behind the bar to pour the drinks. The bar was technically closed, with most of the other guests having departed, except for one old couple who were finishing up. Nancy brought some glasses out and poured the drinks, including one for herself.
‘I think I’ll be fine after a hot shower,’ Harry said.
‘Me too,’ Missy said. She had a holdall at her feet, hurriedly packed when they had all gone back to the big house. Neither of the Wolf boys had been around and Thomas Deal had presumably gone to bed, probably long before sundown. There was no sign of Brian Gibbons.
They all took a drink. Harry felt the warmth of the liquid burning its way down and was grateful for it.
‘You don’t mind if Missy bunks in with Alex, do you?’ Harry asked Nancy.
‘No, of course not. You shouldn’t be alone tonight.’ She looked at Harry. ‘Where are you going to sleep?’
Harry looked at Dunbar.
‘Aw, look, neighbour,’ Dunbar said, his head trying to come up with all sorts of reasons why Harry couldn’t share his room, ranging from heavy snoring to having rickets.
‘There is another wee room, next to Robbie’s,’ Nancy said. ‘It’s like a broom cupboard, but it’s got a bed in it. You’d have to share a bathroom with some of the other guests.’
‘That would be terrific, Nancy, thank you,’ Dunbar said, grinning at Harry. ‘Nothing personal, mucker.’
‘Offence taken,’ Harry replied.
‘We’ll be next to each other,’ Evans said, as if this was a positive thing.
‘Just do me a favour,’ Dunbar said. ‘Don’t have a snoring competition.’
‘I appreciate this, Mrs Shaw,’ Missy said.
‘No problem, love. I think this has put the wind up everybody.’ Nancy looked at her watch. ‘I’m going to get the kettle on through the back for old Boxer. He likes a cup of tea before bed. Just give us a shout if you need anything.’
Nancy left the bar and they stood up, getting ready to go upstairs. The elderly couple walked by, and the old woman stopped and spoke to Harry.
‘I couldn’t help overhearing what you were talking about. The house going on fire on the north island. Nothing like this has happened on the island for a very long time.’
They all looked at her. ‘What do you mean, “for a very long time”? It’s happened before?’ Harry said.
‘Well, you know about Murdo Wolf. Went missing in his plane two days before Christmas, thirty-five years ago.’
They nodded their heads in unison, agreeing that they did indeed know what had happened, and his sudden reappearance was one of the reasons they were now sitting in a bar which would transform into a breakfast room later on.
‘That’s not the whole story. Two days before, a house belonging to the Wolf family burned to the ground.’
‘Where was this?’
‘You were in it tonight, love. It was the same house.’
Twenty-Two
‘How do you feel this morning?’ Alex said, coming into Harry’s room.
‘A bit stiff. But I’ve had a hot shower and feel much better. How about you? Miss me spooning with you?’
‘Of course I did.’
‘How did Missy sleep?’
‘Well, we weren’t spooning, if that’s what you’re insinuating.’
‘I’m not. And don’t play with Harry’s head this early in the morning. Harry doesn’t like it.’
‘Tell Harry his wife doesn’t like it when he talks like that. Alex thinks it’s very irritating.’
‘Okay. But how did Missy sleep?’
‘Restless. She woke up a few times. Unlike us, the only dangerous thing she’s done in her life is drink some milk that was a week past its sell-by date.’
‘We could have both died in there last night. Whoever they are, they’re not messing about.’
‘Let’s not try to stretch our brains too much. We damn well know who they are.’ Her cheeks were starting to get a little bit red as anger touched them. ‘Fenton fucking Wolf and his scabby brother, Zach. I am going to boot them in the bollocks when I see them. Try to kill my husband? Yeah, you have me to answer to now. Bastards.’
‘It pleases me that you’re so protective,’ Harry said, ‘but form a queue. I want them in the station today, answering some bloody questions.’
‘It’s the memorial today for Oliver Wolf.’
‘Then they won’t want to hang around. The quicker they answer, the quicker they can leave.’
‘I suggested to Jimmy we go now.’
‘Agreed. Has he had breakfast?’
‘And spoken to his wife and dog. Robbie, I’m not too sure about.’
They left Harry’s room and he knocked on Evans’ door. No answer.
‘He might be downstairs,’ Alex suggested.
There was no sign of him, but Dunbar was sitting outside at a bench table with Missy. Then they saw Evans further along, on his phone.
‘Morning, Harry. Alex. You had breakfast?’
‘Just a quick coffee. I’m not that hungry. You?’ Harry said.
‘Same. I was up early. I got Missy here to do some checking on her iPad. After what that woman said last night about the house being burned down thirty-five years ago. Tell him what you found, Missy.’
Harry and Alex sat down at the table. The sun was out but was yet to make the island feel warm.
‘I did some digging and public records show that the house didn’t belong to Murdo Wolf. It belonged to Oliver.’
‘Why is that strange?’ Harry asked.
‘All the other properties were owned by Murdo and only passed down to Oliver after Murdo was declared dead. That’s not the strange thing, though; the twist is, Murdo burnt the house down.’
‘Murdo?’ Alex said.
‘Yes. He was drunk and was just standing there watching the flames take hold of the property when the police and fire brigade arrived. He confessed, and was arrested, which meant they were just going through the motions. He was charged and released. An officer drove him home to sober up. The next morning, he had a lawyer. Nobody knows what the outcome would have been as he disappeared two days later.’
‘People probably thought he had disappeared so he wouldn’t have to face up to his responsibilities,’ Harry said.
Missy shrugged. ‘Nobody knows why he did it, but there was plenty of speculation. They thought he was hurting for money and would claim the insurance money on it, but he got caught. However, from reading the police report, I don’t think he wasn’t trying to hide anything so I think there was something else entirely going on.’
‘And now, almost thirty-five years later, somebody burns it down again,’ Dunbar said. ‘But this time, they were trying to elevate it to murder.’
‘We’re dealing with somebody more dangerous than anything else; somebody who doesn’t care,’ Alex said.
Harry shook his head. ‘No. Two people who don’t care. We’re looking for a team.’
‘Let’s get along to the big house, neighbour. I want to be there when they reveal t
hat the memorial is cancelled,’ Dunbar said.
‘The boys said it’s going ahead,’ Missy said.
‘Surely to God they can’t be serious?’ Harry said to her.
‘Let’s go and talk to them,’ Dunbar said.
Twenty-Three
‘Fenton and Zachary?’ Thomas Deal said, trying unsuccessfully to stifle a yawn. ‘I haven’t seen them yet, but you know young people; they like to lie about in bed all day.’
Harry turned to Alex and Evans. ‘Could you both go and see if they’re in their rooms? And Brian Gibbons.’
‘Yes, sir,’ Evans said, then he asked Deal which rooms to knock on.
They went upstairs and came back a few minutes later. ‘Fenton and Zach aren’t there. Brian said he’ll get dressed and be down in a minute,’ Alex said.
‘Okay. Call Lillian Young and get her to liaise with the investigator to check out the burnt-out house as well.’
‘I’m sure fire investigators will have that in hand.’
‘Wait, what?’ Deal said. ‘What burnt-out house?’
‘The house that belonged to Clive. On the north side.’
‘The log cabin?’
‘Yes.’
‘It’s been burnt out?’
Harry nodded, watching the man’s features. ‘Somebody torched it last night. Missy and I were in it and we were attacked.’
The colour drained from Deal’s face. ‘Oh my God. Are you both okay?’
‘We are, but it was a close thing. They were going to murder us and set the house on fire to cover their tracks, but we fought them off.’
‘Them? There was more than one? Are you sure?’
‘Of course I’m sure. I was there.’ Harry’s voice came out a bit harsher than he’d wanted it to, but somebody trying to kill him had that effect.
Deal sat down in a chair. ‘Would you mind getting me a glass of water, dear?’ he asked Missy, who left the living room and went through to the kitchen.
‘Do you know why Murdo Wolf would burn the cabin down back in the day?’ Dunbar asked.
Deal whipped his head round like he had been slapped. ‘No! No, I wouldn’t know why he did that. Murdo was under a lot of strain at the time. Oliver’s wife was sick. She had been sick for a very long time and her long-term prognosis wasn’t good. It was a very upsetting time for us. Plus his own wife had only been gone for a couple of years.’
‘Yet he was still having the party?’ Dunbar said.
‘It had been arranged for a long time. Everybody loved coming to Murdo Wolf’s parties, especially the Christmas party. No expense was spared. But that year it was going to be cancelled; Murdo insisted. Oliver was the one who wanted it to go ahead, not Murdo. He said it was what his wife would have wanted. It was the time of year that the staff got together too, and the Wolf family would show their appreciation. Murdo got upset, but Oliver had a meltdown and told the old man that the party was going ahead, with or without him.’
‘And the party was the night Murdo disappeared,’ Alex said. ‘Or was murdered, I should say.’
‘One of the parties, my dear,’ Deal said, taking the glass of water from Missy after she appeared with it. ‘There was a party almost every night.’
Harry was standing looking out of the window, trying to make sense of it all. Something had been niggling away at him, some little detail that kept appearing like a ghost through the mist, only to go away again before he could get a grip of it.
In the distance, a commuter plane was on its final approach to Laoch airport. He thought back to when he had been on the plane and wouldn’t look down to the fairground.
Then it came to him. He turned back to the room.
‘There’s a plane coming in to land,’ he said. ‘Over there in the distance.’
‘Yes,’ Deal said.
‘You told me that you knew Murdo was on the plane the night he took off because he got permission to take off.’
‘Correct.’
‘He would have had to have followed the corridor, or whatever it’s called, the same flight path every other plane takes when it leaves here. On a different path the incoming planes take,’ Harry said.
‘Of course.’
Harry pinched the bridge of his nose for a moment. ‘The planes don’t fly too far out from the island, just in case of emergencies, so they can make it back to dry land. But enough distance separating each air corridor for obvious reasons. One flight path in, one out. Now, the air traffic controllers said the plane took the normal flight path, but then dropped off the radar. That’s why they thought it went down into the sea and they could never find it, or Murdo.’
‘Yes. But what’s your point?’ Deal said.
‘It was something you said,’ Harry continued. ‘You said you heard a plane coming over the house so low that you thought it was going to crash into it.’
Deal stared into space for a moment. ‘Yes, I did.’
‘Did anybody else hear it?’
Deal drank some more water. ‘The drinks were flowing. If anybody else did, then they didn’t say anything. It was mid-evening and people were already half-gassed.’
‘What’s your line of thinking here, Harry?’ Dunbar said.
‘If the plane flew out from the airstrip at the hotel next door, it would still have to fly onto the flight path. You saw it heading away from the hotel, didn’t you?’
‘Yes,’ Deal said, ‘I did. He was heading in the right direction.’
‘Then how did he end up coming back over the hotel when he shouldn’t have been anywhere near it?’
Deal didn’t answer for a moment. ‘I have no idea,’ he said quietly.
‘I’m assuming because he was so low, he would have been under the radar,’ said Harry. ‘Just like he was when he took off. But when he climbed, he was on the radar in the control tower. Then, when he dipped below it, he could have turned back and landed again. Just like he would have if he had picked up his friends from the mainland. Except he never got to the mainland. He turned around and flew straight back.’
‘That doesn’t make sense.’
‘How long between him taking off and you hearing the plane come back over?’ Dunbar asked.
Deal shrugged. ‘Fifteen minutes maybe. I thought maybe he’d changed his mind, and was coming back because of the weather or something, but then he didn’t appear so I thought it was maybe somebody else. Some other idiot flying a plane. Then I had a few drinks and didn’t think about it again.’
‘I don’t think Murdo was flying the plane that night. Coming back, I mean. He might have taken off in it, but his killer was with him and his killer landed the plane,’ Harry said.
‘Why wouldn’t he just have killed Murdo on the ground?’ Deal asked.
‘Despite the bad weather, there were a lot of people going about for the party. Somebody might have seen him. It was a lot easier for the killer to kill Murdo on the plane than on the ground.’
‘So his killer took off with him, killed him in mid-air and brought him back?’ Deal said.
‘That’s what I think. The question is, who killed him? And where could the plane have been hidden?’
Twenty-Four
‘What’s all the commotion?’ Brian Gibbons said as he walked into the living room.
‘Where were you last night, Mr Gibbons?’ Harry asked him.
‘I had a few drinks here with Thomas, then I went to bed. Why?’
‘Oh, nothing much. Just that somebody tried to kill me and Miss Galbraith.’
‘What? Jesus Christ. I hope you don’t think it was me?’
Harry looked at the man standing before him, dressed in sweatpants and a grubby tee shirt, and thought no, that wasn’t the man who’d tried to attack him with a hammer. However, Brian had enough money to pay somebody to do it. What the motive would be, Harry didn’t know yet.
‘We’d like to talk to you in private,’ Harry said. ‘The kitchen should do.’
He and Dunbar followed the big man through.
&n
bsp; ‘Jesus, this is getting worse,’ Brian said, switching the kettle on. ‘Shall I be Mother?’
‘Sit down,’ Dunbar said.
‘I think better when I’ve sobered up. Let me tell you, that old boy can’t half shift the drink. I thought I could put it away, but by God he has hollow legs.’
Dunbar got Harry to use the photo app on his phone to start recording. ‘You didn’t leave the house last evening?’ Harry said as they sat down at the table across from Brian.
‘No. Me and Tom sat and reminisced. Had a few whiskies. Then I had some beer. Actually, Tom was on the vodka. I don’t know how he did it. I carry a few extra pounds and can absorb more, but by God he gave me a run for my money.’
‘Neither of you left the house?’
Brian shook his head and gave a little laugh. ‘Neither of us was in a fit state.’
‘Missy said she didn’t see anybody when she came in to get her things,’ Harry said.
Brian shrugged. ‘We were in the living room having a drink. Maybe that was after she came and went. How would I know? All I do know is that we were in here drinking.’
‘How long were you married to Shona?’ Dunbar asked.
Brian looked longingly at the kettle as it switched itself off. ‘Just one cup. My head’s buzzing and my throat feels like it’s been slit.’ He started to smile but then it fell off.
‘Hurry up,’ Dunbar said.
‘You two want one?’
‘No,’ Harry said.
‘I won’t gob in it. It’s only instant, but it’s good stuff.’
‘Just get on with it,’ Dunbar said.
‘Suit yourself.’ Brian moved about the kitchen with finesse, like some overweight people move on the dance floor, but his particular partner was a carton of milk from the fridge.
‘Right, there we are.’ He sat down at the table and slurped some of the hot liquid. ‘Oh, ya bastard. That’s hot. Maybe I should put some more milk in.’
‘Stay there,’ Harry said. ‘Now, again, how long were you married to Shona?’