The Dark Isle

by Katherine Pathak

“Her brother told me that most of their mother’s furniture was sold when she went into residential care,” Dani explained. “Juliet insisted Charles should take any jewellery for his daughters. There wasn’t much left after that.”

  “Sounds like Juliet was clearing the decks.” Andy glanced about him at the stark surroundings.

  Dani went to the sink and looked out of the window, down onto the street. The view was obscured by an old-fashioned net curtain. She pulled it aside. A realisation abruptly dawned.

  Dani spun round and addressed DS Forrest. “When we arrived just now. There weren’t any nets up at the windows of the flat downstairs. I’m sure there were when I was last here.”

  Forrest rubbed his forehead. “That’s right. The old dear downstairs has moved out. I think her family have put her in a home. The landlord’s cleared the whole flat out and is repainting. I spoke to him the other day. He’s hoping to attract a younger couple to move in there. Especially with the status of this place in limbo. He could do with charging a higher rent. Young folk don’t like nets.”

  Dani blinked rapidly. “Juliet wrote to Kerr Travis to tell him she thought she was being watched. The lady downstairs, she watched Juliet’s movements, didn’t she?”

  Forrest grimaced. “Yes, she did. But only in a nosy old biddy type of way.”

  “Watching someone is watching someone,” Andy added dryly.

  “Can you talk to the landlord again?” Dani asked briskly. “I want every detail he can give you about the old dear who lived downstairs from Juliet Lowther.”

  *

  They parked the car on the private strip of land on the outskirts of Mallaig where Lowther’s abandoned green Ford Focus had been found. The place was overlooked by an imposing line of tall pine trees, making it a lonely spot that must have been dark by mid-afternoon.

  Dani and Andy walked towards the port. The wind was whipping into shore, driving cold rain into their faces. The residential home they were heading for was next to the leisure centre, its sea view obscured by an ugly tall fence surrounding a marina.

  The manager of the home took a perfunctory look at their ID cards before leading them to one of the rooms along a dingy ground floor corridor. He knocked loudly before leaving them to it.

  Dani pushed open the door. A woman with wispy white hair was seated by the tiny window. A row of potted plants had been crammed onto the narrow sill, threatening to topple at any moment onto her head.

  “Mrs Lykova. We are officers from the Glasgow police. We need to ask you some questions.”

  Her expression was confused. “What has happened? Is Anna okay?”

  “Nothing has happened. May we take a seat?”

  The lady nodded.

  “We are investigating the death of Juliet Lowther. One of our officers has already spoken to you.”

  “Oh yes,” she replied. “He came to my flat.” Her face fell and a mist blurred her bright blue eyes. “I had to leave it. Anna said we could no longer afford the rent. I miss my garden.”

  “I’m sure you do.” Andy looked disapprovingly around the small, dark room.

  “You told DS Forrest that you watched Juliet from out of your front window, is that right?” Dani continued.

  “That’s right. I liked to take an interest in my neighbours. Juliet was on her own so it was my duty to check on her.”

  “Did you ever tell anyone about Juliet’s movements, other than DS Forrest?”

  Mrs Lykova shuffled uncomfortably in her chair. “I’m not supposed to say anything. I had a nice place to live and it was only a small thing to do in return.”

  Andy leant forward. “Well, you aren’t living in that nice flat now, are you. They’ve moved you here, with no garden. I don’t see why you can’t tell us about it.”

  She let her eyes scan her miserable surroundings. “I didn’t know that I wouldn’t be able to stay there. I thought I’d done everything I was told.”

  “You did do everything you were told, I’m sure,” Dani continued. “But this is a fine way to repay you.”

  She nodded. “Yes, I was very upset with Anna when she told me.”

  “Who is Anna?”

  “My daughter, of course. Anna Aliyev. She lives with her husband in Fort William, not far from where I was.” Her eyes misted again.

  “Was it your daughter who wanted to know Juliet’s movements. Was it her who you told?”

  The lady paused for a moment and then replied. “Sometimes, yes. But most of the time I told Eric, my grandson. He was the one who came to visit most often. He helped me tend the garden. He had a key to the back door.”

  “Is that Eric Aliyev?” Andy clarified, making a note.

  “Yes, he’s been such a help to me since he returned.”

  “Where had he been?”

  Mrs Lykova looked confused again. “He was fighting in an important war. For the honour of Kazakhstan, which is my homeland.”

  “Okay, how long was he away for?”

  “A long time, many years. He was just a young man when he left. A good, meek boy, a religious boy. Eric came back a soldier. His cousin wasn’t so lucky.”

  “What happened to him?”

  “Marat was killed in the war. His mother was devastated. She never got over it.”

  “What does Eric do now he’s back in Scotland?” Dani kept her tone gentle, cajoling.

  “It hasn’t been easy for him. Eric has been working on the ferry boats and driving taxi cabs, whatever work he could get.”

  “Where does he live?” Andy couldn’t refrain from asking.

  Mrs Lykova gestured towards the small window. “Eric is here in Mallaig. They said by moving I would be closer to him. But he hasn’t visited once yet.”

  Chapter 40

  The house was a seventies semi-detached with a garage to the side. Alice had placed a priority on the warrant to search the premises, but the document had still taken until the following morning to arrive. Dani just hoped that Mrs Lykova hadn’t tipped her grandson off that they were looking for him.

  It didn’t seem as if she had. Dani saw a flicker of movement behind one of the bedroom windows as they stood outside. She gestured to a couple of DCs from Highlands and Islands that they should go around the back.

  Andy stepped up to the door and leant on the bell. Perhaps Eric Aliyev had seen the officers entering his garden because he opened up, showing no indication he was about to do a bunk.

  The man was tall and broad, with a head of curly dark hair which he wore to shoulder-length. “Come inside,” he said courteously, with a soft Glaswegian burr to his accent.

  The house was clean but sparsely furnished. Alice had already ascertained the property was rented by Aliyev from a local landlord with several other houses in the area.

  They reached the living room and sat down. Eric dipped his head towards the two burly men standing guard on his patio. “Was that really necessary?”

  “You are a suspect in a murder investigation, Mr Aliyev. I think it’s entirely justified.” Dani eyed him carefully. He was neatly dressed, in chinos and a roll-neck sweater. She already knew he was 31 years old and had spent the first 22 years of his life living in Glasgow.

  “We spoke to your grandmother,” Dani explained. “She told us where to find you. But I wouldn’t be too hard on her, I don’t believe she understood what she was doing.”

  “No, she wouldn’t. My grandmother had no part in this, or any other member of my family. I acted entirely alone.” He expression was resolute.

  “What about your mother? Weren’t you using Anna to collect information for you about Juliet Lowther?”

  He shook his head vehemently. “My mother knew nothing either. Grandmother told her about Juliet, but it was me who wanted the information. To Anna, it was simply evidence of the nosiness of an inquisitive old lady.”

  Andy shifted his weight forward. “But your old Granny could be charged with accessory to murder. You did use the information Mrs Lykova gave you to murder Juliet Lowther
, didn’t you?”

  “Leave her out of this. She’s just a confused old woman!”

  “You brought her into it, Eric. Can’t you see that?”

  Dani glanced around her. “We’ve got a warrant to search these premises. I’m particularly interested to see what’s in your garage. Do you own a car?”

  “No. I drive mini cabs sometimes for a friend. I use that if I need to get about.”

  “Then what’s kept in the garage?”

  Eric leant his tall, lean body against the frame of the patio door. “My boat.”

  Dani nodded to Andy, who stood and left the room. “My colleague will be calling in a forensic team to examine that boat. Even if it’s been scrubbed clean, we’ll still find evidence. Juliet must have bled an awful lot after you stabbed her. The blood would have gone everywhere.”

  Eric gazed out into the garden, where the two officers were seated on plastic garden chairs, sharing a cigarette. “I could have fled again, like I did back in 2008. But it didn’t feel like the right thing to do this time. Anyway, there was nowhere to go. For me, the war is over.”

  “Tell me what happened.”

  “We were young students. Adnan studied at GCU and Marat and I had graduated from the technical college in Maryhill. We met Adnan at the mosque.”

  “On Baird Street?”

  He nodded. “We became friends. Adnan was a quiet boy, like my cousin and I. We shared similar backgrounds. Our families were devout Muslims but we had been born in Scotland. All we wanted was the chance to get a good education and practice our religion in peace. We knew there were groups operating in our community who felt resentment towards the west. They were angry about the invasion of Afghanistan and Blair’s illegal war in Iraq. We understood their grievances but never subscribed to the violence of their ideas. Not then, anyway.”

  Dani said nothing, allowing him to continue.

  “When we were worshipping at the mosque one evening, DI Lowther and her henchman turned up.”

  “DS Travis.”

  “They marched us into a room and questioned us about the bombing, about what we knew of the boys who took the bombs to the bus station. Of course, we knew nothing about it. Adnan’s father was a lecturer in law, so he understood something of our rights. He told us to say nothing, even to the simplest of questions. This seemed to infuriate them.”

  “They should never have questioned you outside a police station. You should have had lawyers present.”

  Eric laughed. “They did far worse. Our friends’ houses were ransacked in the middle of the night. Children terrified out of their wits. I suppose we thought we could outsmart the police officers. We refused to open our mouths in their presence, we wouldn’t even look at them, but kept our heads facing the floor. I could tell it made the male officer want to lash out at us.”

  “It probably encouraged them both to think you were hiding something.”

  “I realise that now. But back then we were young and cocky. We underestimated them.”

  “Adnan went missing on the 12th March. Did they take you and Marat on the same day?”

  “Yes. They intercepted us as we walked home from prayers. A bag was put over our heads and we were bundled into the back of a van. The journey was long, several hours at least. We were alone in the back, so we could whisper to one another. That’s how we knew Adnan was there too.” He moved across the room and sat opposite Dani. “We finally stopped moving. The man, Travis, led us out of the van and into a boat. I could feel the motion as we climbed on board. Our hands were bound behind our backs and I could feel the metal barrel of his gun intermittently pressed into my flesh.”

  Dani recognised the feeling.

  “It was once we were off the boat that the torture started. They waited until we were bound and gagged in a chair before the hoods were removed. I saw Travis then and another man.”

  “Sean Ballater.”

  “Yes, I found that out later. We were in a large barn. They interrogated us for several hours. Mostly it was beatings, but when they got really frustrated with us, Ballater brought in a pig’s trough full of stagnant water. Travis tipped up our chairs so that our faces were submerged. He didn’t lift us out until we were about to asphyxiate. The other man just stood and watched. I’ll never forget it.”

  “Good God.” Dani felt sick.

  “There was no God present in that place. We were in hell for those few days.”

  “Are you okay to continue?”

  Eric wiped away the beads of sweat that had broken out across his brow. “Those first few hours were the worst. When our captors were united. But as time went on, it became clear we didn’t know anything. That’s when Ballater started to panic. He was arguing with Travis, saying it was all a mistake, they weren’t going to get any leads from us. Marat recognised their loss of resolve. He asked to go to the toilet. He said he was in pain. He worked on Ballater whenever he was watching us alone. Eventually, the man came across and untied him.”

  Dani imagined Ballater as the weak link, the one who was slowly coming to realise they’d kidnapped a group of innocent men.

  “When they were out of the room, Marat turned on Ballater, he shoved him to the ground and kicked him in the head. The man was dazed or unconscious. It gave Marat enough time to come back into the barn and cut me loose. But within minutes we heard Travis return. He’d found Ballater on the ground.” Eric’s voice became distant. “We didn’t have time to free Adnan. The decision to go has haunted me ever since. I know we left him to his death. He never returned to his parents. Our associates at the mosque could not trace him.”

  Dani needed to snap the man out of his guilt-ridden malaise. “How did you and Marat get off the island?”

  “The sun was high in the sky. We’d totally lost track of time and it was lucky it wasn’t dark. The island was small and we found the boat easily. I untied the ropes and pushed off, Marat dragged me aboard and we started the motor. I was convinced we would be wanted men. The whole of the Scottish police force would be out looking for us. So, we sailed for as long as there was daylight to guide us. We came ashore not far up the coast from here. We hid the boat amongst the foliage by the shore. My grandmother lived in Fort William then, so we hitch-hiked to her house.”

  “You never raised the alarm about Adnan?”

  Eric lifted his arms in exasperation. “How could we? Adnan was being held by the British police. Who could we call upon to help him?”

  Dani shook her head in sorrow at the evil committed by her one-time colleagues. They’d made a mockery of everything the police service stood for. “They beat him to death, trying to find out where the two of you were heading. His body was found in a shallow grave, just metres from the barn where you were kept.”

  Eric doubled over and sobbed. “Bastards! Why couldn’t they have left him alone! He was just an innocent boy!”

  “You should have reported it, Eric. When you returned to the UK. We could have punished the three of them properly, in a court of law.”

  Eric raised his gaze to meet hers. “I’m not the law-abiding, foolish boy I once was. Marat and I couldn’t stay in Scotland, we feared the police were after us. We had no choice but to contact those very groups whose extremist views we had abhorred. These men got us passage to Pakistan, where there were camps on the border with Afghanistan where we could train to be soldiers. We fought with our comrades for years. Marat was killed in a skirmish with UN forces five months ago. I knew it was time to return. The war in Afghanistan had never been my cause, nor Marat’s either. My duty was to find those who had caused the death of Marat and Adnan and bring them to justice.”

  Andy stepped into the room. “We’ve got something, Ma’am.”

  Dani stood up. “Okay. Let’s finish this at the police station.”

  Chapter 41

  Fort William police station was in the centre of the town. Eric Aliyev was waiting in one of the cells on the ground floor. Dani wanted Alice and Grant Peyton to be able to join them for
the interviews. They’d contributed so much to solving the case. A car had been sent to pick them up from their ferry.

  Andy carried a couple of coffees into the corridor where Dani was seated. She accepted one of the cups gratefully.

  “I’ve been on the phone to Gail Ballater. She confirmed that her husband had a boat stolen in the spring of 2008. She wanted to report it to the police, but Sean refused. He said it would just have been kids.”

  “Does the boat in Aliyev’s garage match the one that went missing?”

  “From Gail’s description, I’d say so. But the forensic evidence will be the most compelling factor. When the techs shone their ultra-violet lights around that garage, the walls were dripping with blood stains.”

  Dani shuddered. “I don’t think Eric is going to resist the charges. These murders were performed as a form of martyrdom.”

  “Will he receive any mitigation because of what those bastards did to him and the other boys?”

  “I honestly don’t know, Andy. This is outside my experience. We’re in brand new territory.”

  Andy sat down, cradling the cardboard cup in his hands. “Bill and Joy are back home in Falkirk.”

  “Thank Christ for that,” Dani muttered. “Let’s hope they stay there, for a while, at least.”

  Andy laughed, nearly spilling the hot coffee in his lap.

  A WPC put her head around the door. “DI Peyton and Mann have just arrived in reception, Ma’am.”

  Dani got up. “Thanks,” she replied. “Let’s get this interview started.”

  *

  James had a bottle of wine gripped in his hand. Dani had a bunch of flowers. The bouquet was an elaborate arrangement, one she’d had individually prepared at a local florist. She wanted it to look as if they’d made a special effort.

  Fiona answered the door. “Come inside, Phil’s just taking the joint out of the oven.”

  As they were led along the hallway, Dani noticed that a teenage girl was spread out across one of the sofas, watching the large TV in the dark.