Written in Bone

by Simon Beckett

  He was right, I realized. Duncan had already died because too much had been taken for granted.

  ‘I still don’t understand what was gained by smashing the yacht ’s radio anyway,’ I said. ‘Even if we could contact the mainland, no one can get out to us until the weather improves. So what was the point?’

  Brody took a drink of tea and placed his mug carefully back on the coaster. ‘Time, perhaps. As far as the mainland’s concerned, this is still about a month-old murder. Important, but not life and death. Even the fact we can’t get in touch won’t worry them overmuch, because they’ll know the phones and radios aren’t working. If they knew a police officer had been killed, there ’d be a helicopter on standby ready to lift off the minute the weather permits. But as things are they’ll wait till it clears before they start things moving. So as long as we ’ve no means of communication, the killer’s got a clear 216

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  window to get off the island before anyone even starts looking for him.’

  ‘And go where? Even if he takes a boat, we ’re in the middle of nowhere.’

  Brody smiled. ‘Don’t be fooled. There ’s a hundred and fifty miles of islands and coastline out here for someone to lose themselves. Then there ’s the British mainland, Norway, the Faroes and Iceland all within striking distance.’

  ‘So you think the killer’s planning to make a run for it?’

  His dog came up and rested its head on his knee. Brody stroked it, fondly. ‘I’d say it was likely. He knows he can’t stay here any more.’

  ‘So what do we do about it?’ Fraser demanded.

  Brody gave a shrug. ‘Watch our backs. And hope the weather clears.’

  It was a depressing thought.

  The three of us took the Range Rover back to the hotel shortly afterwards. We hadn’t eaten since that morning, and while none of us had much appetite we still needed to eat. The rain had eased, but the gale showed no sign of abating as we made our way back along the harbour and through the village. The island was still without power, and the unlit streets seemed eerily deserted in the car’s headlights as we drove up the steep hill to the hotel.

  It was only when we got out of the car that we became aware of the hubbub coming from inside. Brody frowned, his chin lifting as though he ’d scented something.

  ‘Something’s up.’

  The small bar was packed to overflowing, people crowding the hallway round its doorway. Heads turned towards us, the conversations abruptly dying to silence as word spread that we ’d arrived.

  ‘Now what?’ Fraser muttered.

  There was a ripple of movement as the people standing in the doorway shifted in response to some movement inside the bar. A moment later Kinross emerged, the hulking figure of Guthrie just behind him.

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  Kinross’s ice-chip eyes brushed on Fraser and me before fixing on Brody.

  ‘We want some answers.’

  With everything else that had happened, I’d forgotten about Brody’s promise to explain what was going on. Fraser began to draw himself up, shoulders bunched aggressively, but Brody cut him off.

  ‘Aye, I dare say you do. Just give us a minute here, will you?’

  Kinross seemed inclined to argue. Then he gave a short nod.

  ‘You can have two.’

  He and Guthrie went back into the bar. Fraser turned on Brody, angrily jabbing a finger at him.

  ‘You’re not a bloody inspector any more! I told you before, you’ve no authority to tell them anything!’

  Brody kept his voice level. ‘They’ve a right to know.’

  Fraser’s face had darkened. The shock of Duncan’s death—and perhaps his sense of guilt—had been building up all day. Now he was looking for somewhere to vent it.

  ‘A police officer’s been murdered! As far as I’m concerned nobody on this island has a right to anything!’

  ‘Two people are dead already. You want to risk anyone else being killed because you didn’t warn them?’

  ‘He ’s right,’ I said. I’d been in a situation once before where the police hadn’t released information, and people had died as a result.

  ‘You’ve got to tell them what we ’re dealing with. If not you’re putting more lives at risk.’

  Fraser had a cornered look about him, but he wasn’t giving in.

  ‘I’m not taking votes on it! I’m not telling anybody anything without proper orders, and neither is anyone else!’

  ‘No?’ A muscle was ticking in Brody’s jaw, but that was the only outward sign of any emotion. ‘That ’s one good thing about being retired. I don’t have to worry about red tape.’

  Fraser grabbed hold of his arm as he started towards the bar.

  ‘You’re not going in there!’

  ‘What are you going to do? Arrest me?’

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  He looked at the police sergeant disdainfully. Fraser dropped first his gaze, and then his hand.

  ‘I’m not having anything to do with this,’ he mumbled.

  ‘Then don’t,’ Brody said, and walked away.

  I went with him, leaving Fraser standing in the hallway. We had to ease through the crush in the bar. People shuffled aside as we went in, the murmur of conversation dying to a pin-drop silence. It was a small enough room to begin with, not meant for this sort of number. Ellen was serving behind the bar, looking flustered. I spotted Cameron, cleaned up and standing by himself in a corner. He ’d obviously made it back after coming off his bike, but the look he gave me was no warmer than before. Maggie was there too, standing with a group that included Kinross and Guthrie, a look of anticipation on her face.

  But other than that most were people I didn’t recognise. There was no sign of Strachan, although that was hardly surprising. Even if he ’d been told about the meeting he wouldn’t have wanted to leave Grace by herself in order to come.

  I hoped we wouldn’t need him to calm things down this time. Brody made his way to the fireplace and calmly surveyed the room.

  ‘I know you’re all wondering what ’s going on,’ he said, his voice carrying without effort. ‘By now I’m sure you’re all aware that Grace Strachan was attacked this afternoon. And most of you will have heard that the police are treating the body found in the old cottage near Beinn Tuiridh as a suspicious death.’

  He paused, looking round the room. I noticed that Fraser had come into the bar. He stood in the doorway, listening sullenly.

  ‘What you don’t know is that some time last night, the police officer who was on duty there was murdered. Whoever killed him also torched the community centre and medical clinic, and almost killed Dr Hunter here as well.’

  His words provoked an uproar. Brody raised his hands for quiet, but no one took any notice. There were angry shouts of surprise and protest. I could see Ellen looking nervous behind the bar, and found

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  myself wondering if this was a mistake after all. Then a voice was bellowing above the rest.

  ‘Quiet, everyone! I said QUIET! ’

  The clamour died down. It was Kinross who’d shouted. In the silence that followed, the ferry captain stared across at Brody.

  ‘Are you saying it was somebody from the island? One of us?’

  Brody stared back without flinching. ‘That ’s exactly what I’m saying.’

  There was a rumble of discontent, growing in volume. But it stilled as Kinross made himself heard again.

  ‘No.’ He shook his head emphatically. ‘No way.’

  ‘I don’t like it any more than you do. But the fact is that somebody on this island has killed two people and assaulted another.’

  Kinross folded his arms. ‘Well, it ’s not one of us. If there was a killer here, don’t you think we ’d know it?’

  There were muttered ‘aye ’s and murmurs of agreement. As Brody tried to make himself heard above the rising volume, Maggie squirmed her way to the f
ront. She thrust out her dictaphone, as though this were a press conference.

  ‘The body that was found at the cottage. Do you know who it is?’

  Brody paused. I knew he was making a judgement as to how much he should say.

  ‘It hasn’t been formally identified yet. But we think it might be a missing prostitute from Stornoway.’

  I was watching Cameron as Brody spoke. But if the news meant anything to him he didn’t show it. And now other people were shouting their own questions.

  ‘What the hell was a tart from Lewis doing out here?’ Karen Tait called out. Her voice was already slurred.

  Guthrie grinned. ‘Take a guess.’

  No one laughed. The big man’s smirk slowly died. But I was more interested in another reaction. Kinross’s son Kevin had given a start at the mention of the dead woman. His mouth opened in a shocked ‘o’ before he realized I was watching him. He quickly dropped his gaze.

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  Everyone else ’s attention was still on Brody. ‘The police are going to be sending teams out here as soon as the weather allows. I’ll ask you all to cooperate with them when they arrive. Until then, we need you all to help us out. The cottage is a crime scene now, so please don’t go out there. When Scene of Crime get here, they don’t want to waste time chasing false leads. I know you’re going to be curious, but please keep away from it. And if any of you think you might have any information, you need to tell Sergeant Fraser over there.’

  All eyes instinctively went to Fraser. He looked briefly surprised, then straightened almost imperceptibly, squaring his shoulders as he met the stares. It was a clever touch from Brody, a way of handing some self-respect back to Fraser, and reminding the islanders that there already was a police presence on Runa.

  I thought the meeting would end there, but Cameron had other ideas. He ’d been quiet so far, but now his orator’s voice filled the small room.

  ‘And meanwhile, are we expected to just sit tight and behave ourselves?’ He stood with his legs planted and his arms folded. He flicked Maggie a look of supercilious distaste as she pointed her tape recorder at him.

  ‘Unfortunately, there ’s not much else we can do until the mainland police get here,’ Brody answered.

  ‘You tell us there ’s a murderer loose on the island, practically accuse one of us, and then calmly tell us to do nothing?’ Cameron gave an incredulous snort. ‘Well, I for one don’t—’

  ‘Shut up, Bruce,’ Kinross said, without even bothering to look at him.

  Cameron’s cheeks coloured. ‘I’m sorry, Iain, but I hardly think—’

  ‘Nobody here cares what you think.’

  ‘Well, excuse me, but who are you to . . .’

  Cameron faltered to silence as Kinross’s icy stare swivelled to him. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he closed his mouth, swallowing whatever he had been about to say. I almost felt sorry for him. One way and another, the schoolteacher’s pride had taken a battering in recent days.

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  But no one was taking any notice of him now anyway. People were turning away, subdued conversations springing up again as they discussed what they’d just heard. Maggie lowered her dictaphone and gave me a troubled look before making her way out of the bar.

  I looked over to where Kevin Kinross had been standing. But at some point the teenager had slipped away too.

  We found an empty table when the bar started to thin out after the meeting. Fraser insisting on buying malts for himself and me and a tomato juice for Brody.

  He raised his glass. ‘To Duncan. And to the bastard who killed him, Gonnadh ort! ’

  ‘Oh, he ’ll suffer, all right,’ Brody said, softly. Solemnly, we toasted. Then I told them about Kevin Kinross’s reaction to the news that the murdered woman was a prostitute from Stornoway. Perhaps still smarting from his earlier loss of face, Fraser was dismissive.

  ‘Could be just excited at the thought of a prossie. A face like that, he ’s probably still a virgin.’

  ‘Worth following up, even so,’ Brody mused. ‘Perhaps we should have a word with him tomorrow, if the support team still aren’t here.’

  Fraser looked morosely into his glass. ‘I hope to Christ they are.’

  So do I, I thought. So do I.

  I made my excuses not long after that. I’d still not eaten, and on an empty stomach the alcohol made me feel light-headed with exhaustion. All at once the events of the past forty-eight hours seemed to catch up with me. I could hardly keep my eyes open.

  Ellen was still serving behind the bar as I made my way out, struggling to cope with the unexpected demand. I didn’t think she ’d seen me, but then I heard her call as I started up the stairs.

  ‘David?’ She hurried out of the bar. ‘I’m really sorry, I’ve not had chance to get you anything to eat.’

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  ‘That’s all right. I’m going to get some sleep.’

  ‘Do you want me to bring something up? Soup, or a sandwich? Andrew’s minding the bar for me.’

  ‘I’m fine, really.’

  There was a creak on the landing above us. We looked up to see Anna. She was in her nightdress, her face pale and bleary with sleep.

  ‘What have I told you about coming downstairs?’ Ellen scolded, as her daughter came down the rest of the way.

  ‘I had a bad dream. The wind took the lady away.’

  ‘What lady, sweetheart?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ Anna said querulously.

  Ellen cuddled her. ‘It was just a dream, and it’s gone now. Did you thank Dr Hunter for the chocolate he bought you the other day?’

  Anna considered, then shook her head.

  ‘Well, go on, then.’

  ‘But I’ve eaten it now.’

  Ellen raised her eyes at me over her daughter’s head, suppressing a smile. ‘You can still say thank you.’

  ‘Thank you.’

  ‘That’s better. Now come on, young lady. Back to bed.’

  The little girl was half asleep already. She slumped against her mother’s legs. ‘I can’t walk.’

  ‘And I can’t carry you. You’re too heavy.’

  Anna lifted her head enough to regard me with a sleepy eye. ‘He can.’

  ‘No he can’t, madam. He ’s got a poorly arm.’

  ‘It ’s OK. I can manage,’ I said. Ellen looked doubtfully at my sling. ‘I’d be happy to. Really.’

  I hoisted Anna up. Her hair smelled cleanly of shampoo. She snuggled down against my shoulder, just as my own daughter used to. The small, solid weight of her was upsetting and comforting at the same time.

  I followed Ellen back to the attic floor, where there were two small private rooms. Anna barely stirred as her mother pulled back the sheets and I lowered her into her bed. I stood back as Ellen cov-

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  ered her again and smoothed her daughter’s hair before we crept out and went back downstairs.

  She paused when we reached my floor, hand resting on the wooden banister as she looked at me. Her penetrating gaze was concerned.

  ‘Are you OK?’

  She didn’t have to say what she meant. I smiled.

  ‘Fine.’

  Ellen knew enough not to push. With a final goodnight she went back down to the bar. I went into my room and sank down on the mattress fully clothed. I could smell the stink of smoke on my clothes, but it seemed like too much effort to get into bed. I could still feel the phantom weight of Anna. If I closed my eyes I could almost pretend it was Alice ’s. I sat there, thinking about my dead family as I listened to the wind howl outside. More than ever, I wished I could call Jenny.

  But that was something else I couldn’t do anything about. My head jerked up as there was a rap on the door. I’d started to drift off, I realized. I looked at my watch and saw it was after nine o’clock.

  ‘Just a second.’

  Rubbing my eyes,
I went to the door. I thought it might be Ellen, determined to feed me after all. But when I opened it I found Maggie Cassidy standing in the corridor.

  She was holding a tray, on which was a bowl of soup and two thick chunks of home-made bread. ‘Ellen said if I was coming up anyway I had to bring you this. Said to tell you that you’d got to eat something.’

  I took the tray and stepped back to let her in. ‘Thanks.’

  She smiled, but there was a hesitancy about it. ‘Soup again. Been quite a day for it, eh?’

  ‘At least you didn’t drop it this time.’

  I set the tray down on the cabinet. There was an awkwardness between us at finding ourselves alone in this context. Neither of us looked at the bed that dominated most of the room, but we were both 224

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  conscious of its presence. I leaned against the windowsill while Maggie sat on the room’s only chair.

  ‘You look bloody awful,’ she said at last.

  ‘That makes me feel a lot better.’

  ‘You know what I mean.’ She gestured to the tray. ‘Go ahead, you might as well start.’

  ‘It ’s all right.’

  ‘Ellen’ll kill me if you let it get cold.’

  I didn’t have the energy to argue. I was still too tired to feel hungry, but the first mouthful changed that. Suddenly I was famished.

  ‘Quite a meeting tonight,’ Maggie said, as I tore off a hunk of bread. ‘I thought for a moment Iain Kinross was going to deck Cameron. Still, you can’t have everything, eh?’

  ‘You didn’t come here just to talk about that, did you?’

  ‘No.’ She toyed with the edge of the chair. ‘There ’s something I want to ask you.’

  ‘You know I can’t tell you anything.’

  ‘One question, that’s all.’

  ‘Maggie . . .’

  She held up a finger. ‘Just one. And strictly off the record.’

  ‘Where ’s your tape recorder?’

  ‘God, you’re a suspicious bugger, aren’t you?’ She reached into her bag and took out her dictaphone. ‘Turned off. See?’

  She tucked it back into her bag. I sighed.