by G R Jordan
‘McGrath, glad you’re here, I need you to get settled in quickly as I have a job for you tonight. And before you complain, I’ve been through the ringer over here.’
Raising her eyebrows, Hope thought about pointing out how she had been legging it round the small isles running a case of her own but she saw the tiredness in Macleod’s body, his slumped shoulders which he never had unless exhausted. He was also keeping company with Mackintosh on his own so things must have been grim.
It took Hope ten minutes to remove her things from the car, check in, and return to the table, Jona mirroring her actions. In that time Macleod and Mackintosh had not moved and indeed the head forensic examiner had another whiskey before her.
‘Miss Nakamura,’ said Macleod, ‘I believe I have only seen you in passing but your presence is most welcome. As of now until further notice, you will be our main point of contact. Unfortunately, Miss Mackintosh is feeling somewhat under the weather and although here should you require her, we will be coming to you for all our forensic needs.’
Hope watched Jona’s face become slightly suspicious and then look at Mackintosh who simply nodded at her. ‘You two had best get a handover,’ advised Macleod, ‘I’ll just have a word with my sergeant in private.’
Macleod took Hope by the arm and walked her to a different table. ‘It is good to see you, Hope,’ he said offering her a seat, ‘but I’m afraid it’s going to be a busy night for you. We are way understaffed here and Mackintosh is not feeling right. In fact, I have advised her to get to bed soon as possible. On our side of the case, I need you to keep an eye on Karen Gibbons, our first informant for the murder on Vatersay.’
‘You know I still have my own investigation going for Canna?’
‘And I reckon they may be one and the same. I take it Ross is following up the mainland leads, such as there are any for that murder.’
‘Of course he is, as was I. Now I’m here, it’s up to him.’
‘Good, because Stewart’s in bed and on the first plane out tomorrow. She thinks she can get into what’s going on by tracing our murdered man’s contacts on the mainland. I reckon it’s a long enough shot, if any are still about, but she’s the sort of person who can ferret that sort of thing out.’
‘And I wouldn’t have been. You could have kept me on the mainland and I could have done it as well as working with Ross on the Canna murder. Now I’m doing everything by telephone with him.’
‘You’re being a bit protective over this. Besides, I need you undercover watching Karen Gibbons. I think she’s here for a reason and she already knows Stewart and myself. So that’s your task tonight. Here’s her hotel address and details, photographs of her and her mother, although I doubt the old woman will be running around anywhere much. I don’t buy her cover story of the sudden affair. Her mother’s an old customer of ours as well so I think we need to keep a close eye.’
Hope grimaced. ‘Okay, I’ll take Jona with me for the earlier hours of the evening as we came over on the ferry together and we may be seen as friends, but I’ll get her back here by midnight. I’m sure she has lots to do.’
‘She’ll have plenty. Mackintosh is not well at all. So only if Jona’s okay with it should you take her.’
‘Of course, sir. I’ll advise her and get on to it.’
‘Good,’ said Macleod, ‘I’ll get our ill friend to bed and then I’m going to get some sleep myself. I’ll see you at breakfast.’
Charming, thought Hope, he’s off to bed and muggins, who has been working her socks off, gets another job. Waiting until Macleod and Mackintosh had left the room, Hope approached Jona and advised her of her plans for the evening and asked if she would tag along for the first part. There was a reluctance in her face but then Jona smiled and agreed but she did want to be back by eleven. That gave Hope three hours.
The women changed into more casual clothes and Hope let her hair out from her ponytail. Shimmering in every light it passed, Jona’s hair transfixed Hope as its shininess was something she had never quite achieved. Unlike her own, which was inevitably tangled to some degree, Jona’s was perfectly straight and Hope could feel the envy rising.
Hope left Jona sitting in the bar of Karen Gibbon’s hotel while she walked the corridors to her room. Listening in, she heard an older woman and then someone middle-aged before the sound of a door opening. Hope raced off along the corridor, slowing to a steady walk when the door was properly opened. When footsteps sounded off in the opposite direction, she turned around and saw the rear of a woman in jeans and a raincoat.
Tailing the woman down to the bar, Hope saw her turn and take a drink from the barman and Hope slid herself in beside Jona. The woman was the same as the photograph Macleod had given her, Karen Gibbons. She seemed somewhat nervous and Hope whispered to Jona to simply look at Hope and talk away to her. Hope looked back at the pale Asian face and perfect hair but then looked beyond her to Karen Gibbons. The woman was glancing everywhere as she downed what looked like a neat gin.
Within a few minutes, she was on her feet and Hope tapped Jona’s knee indicating she should follow. Outside, Hope watched Karen Gibbons curse the now-driving rain and open the door of a small three-door hatchback. Jumping into Jona’s car, Hope had Jona tail the woman from as best a distance as possible on the narrow road which, while not a single track, was still difficult to negotiate in the dark. Occasionally, another car came the opposite direction and the lack of centre lines made passing more difficult for someone used to driving around Glasgow and Inverness. But Jona focused relentlessly and Hope believed they were not being seen as a following car.
Karen Gibbons drove out of Castlebay and along the west side of Barra passing by Borve beach before making her way up to Allasdale. As they passed a sheep pen on their left-hand side, she pulled the car sharply into a passing place and Jona seemed to panic for a moment. Hope instructed her to drive on past and stop when instructed. The land around where Karen Gibbons had parked was flat and finding somewhere to stop so that it did not seem like they were watching her was not easy. Once they had rounded a corner, Hope had Jona pull off the road onto the grass verge and she scampered in the rain back along the road. Returning to the car moments later, she pulled a rucksack from the boot and told Jona to follow her.
Wishing her hair was tied up as it flung in a wet mess across her face, Hope realised that some sort of Kagool should have been in order but she was stuck with her leather jacket and felt the rivers of rain water running down her neck and across her front but she focused on the task ahead. Turning only once to make sure Jona was behind her, Hope sought out Karen Gibbons on the flat land ahead. She seemed to be making for the beach beyond the grass out to the west and had something in her hands, possibly a small spade or shovel. But what really interested Hope was the vehicle far beyond Karen’s which had just switched off its headlights and was now sat in darkness by the roadside.
Rather than head directly to Karen Gibbons, Hope made her way in a parallel direction, keeping her spacing and could soon hear the crash of the sea above the driving rain. The wind was strong and her jacket blew out making her skin feel bitterly cold under the wet t-shirt. A glance at Jona saw her struggling behind and Hope gave her a hand. With one hand held against the rain, Jona started to make a faster pace and together the women managed a half run towards the beach where they knelt down in the sand. Hope pulled a pair of binoculars from her rucksack and stared off into the night.
There was no moonlight and she saw an image rather than Karen Gibbons, but the mix of black shadows showed a woman walking forward, apparently counting out steps. A hand was held out in front, maybe holding a compass, Hope thought, and the woman took a maze of steps until she decided she was in the right place. And then with great aplomb in the rain, she began to dig.
The area was just above the tideline but probably always clear of the sea. The woman was well built and she drove her spade into the ground in rapid succession, each time flinging an arm out to the sky. Beside Hope, Jon
a had a camera focused on Karen Gibbons and fired off repeated shots.
‘Can you see her face?’ asked Hope.
‘Not really, it’s very dark but I am getting something. Maybe they can enhance it back at the lab.’
Hope nodded and felt water running across her face, making her squint into the night. Bloody Macleod, no wonder he wanted me out doing this while he was snug in bed. A chill was starting across Hope’s shoulders and she tried to wriggle to generate some heat.
‘Baltic,’ said Jona. ‘I don’t know why you have to put up with this nonsense; we have tents and everything.’
Grinning, Hope looked through the binoculars again but this time was scanning around the area. The car that had stopped was in her head, but she had not seen anyone around. That being said, it was dark and easy to miss people, especially if they were being furtive. Every murder so far had someone being attacked while by the sea. Maybe she should interrupt Karen Gibbons now, for her own safety. But then would they find out what she was looking for. The smart thing was to wait for her to dig up whatever she was looking for in case she did not find it and then they could remain undercover if she looked again. But she needed to hurry up and Hope was getting so very cold.
‘Hope, do you see them?’ asked Jona, pointing into the dark.
‘No, where?’
‘Maybe twenty feet from Karen Gibbons; she can’t have noticed them—maybe it’s the rain. They are moving towards her. Two of them.’
Hope was up on her feet and running now. As she looked ahead, she still saw only shadows and then a cry split the night. An image of a silhouette of a woman with a knife in her back, someone holding her tight from behind.
‘Police! Halt, Police!’
‘Run,’ shouted a female voice. But the figure over Karen Gibbons, who had been deposited to the floor, was inside her coat looking for something. As Hope arrived, he stood up and she ducked low driving her shoulder at him, taking him off his feet. Together they rolled but as Hope broke off him, she felt a blow to the head and tumbled again. As she looked up to the sky, now prone on her back she saw a spade being lifted above her.
But then a fist connected with the spade bearer’s jaw. ‘Hell, that’s sore,’ said an Asian voice before she was hit by someone else.
‘Come on, forget it,’ said the voice again and Hope saw the two figures start to run off.
‘Jona, see to Gibbons,’ shouted Hope as she got unsteadily to her feet and turned to run after her attackers. ‘And ring someone!’
A mix of sweat and rain stung her eyes, but Hope continued apace and began to gain on one of the figures. As they ran over the grass, she saw the first figure get into a car and start the engine. The second figure was only twenty feet from her, but she felt her lungs about to explode from the pressure put on them. The blow to the head was also starting to make her woozy and she felt her legs beginning to go. As the figure opened the car door, Hope came up from behind and made a desperate grab as the door shut. She grabbed the handle but the car drove off causing her to spin round and tumble to the ground. From her prone position she looked up and read the disappearing number plate.
Mobile, get your mobile out. Her hand felt inside her jacket and located it. She clicked the button at the side and saw three pictures at the bottom of the screen. One was Macleod, another Stewart and the last Ross. Not Macleod, this needs to happen fast. She pressed for Stewart.
‘Stewart,’ said a tired voice.
‘Require assistance, Stewart. Allasdale on the road. Suspects departing in a car, northward. Request pursuit.’
‘Colour, number plate, number of suspects,’ said Stewart efficiently with no hint of panic in her voice.
Hope passed what she knew and then dragged herself to her feet. ‘And an ambulance, Stewart, right away, suspect knifed and potentially in a life-threatening condition.’ Again, there was no panic from the other end.
‘I’m on it. I’ll be with you shortly.’
Stumbling back to the beach, Hope realised that Jona and Karen Gibbons were out of sight. She dropped her jacket forming the arms into an arrow toward the beach. Then she ran through the rain, her top now totally sodden and her legs crying out from the spin they had received when the car departed. Hope arrived on the beach to see Jona desperately pumping Karen Gibbons’ chest as she lay on the ground.
‘Come on, dammit, come on. You’re still there, still there.’ Hope slid down beside Jona, but she waved her off and went back to working on the prone woman’s chest. Karen Gibbons was spasming occasionally, but Hope thought that was the forceful compressions of Jona. Otherwise there seemed to be no life. The eyes were gazing nowhere and there seemed to be nothing else reacting to the forceful stimuli.
‘Go to the road, get the ambulance,’ cried Jona. ‘You’re no use to me here. Get them quick.’
Hauling herself back on her feet, Hope ran as hard as she could back to the road and then stood, her body fighting to stand large and tall in the weather as a marker for the ambulance. She put her leather coat back on but there was really little difference now. She was numb: whether this was the weather or the suspect fighting for her life that caused it, she could not tell.
The ambulance arrived, its blue lights lighting up the dark countryside and she flagged them down, yelling at them that it was a knifed woman on the beach, CPR in progress. Leading the ambulance crew down, she watched them jump in past Jona and take control, listening to Jona’s brief situation report. Ten minutes later they called it.
Hope saw Jona fall to her knees, her top, face and body covered in blood, smearing into a thin liquid with the rain. Jona yelled out to the night and began to cry, sniffing loudly. Stepping up to her, Hope wrapped the woman up in a tight embrace. She wanted to say something, but what could you say. She knew the feeling; she knew they had done their best, but it still hurt more than most things in life.
Stewart arrived shortly afterwards and started taking control of the scene while Hope and Jona were shown to an ambulance where they were assessed before being put in the rear of a coastguard vehicle wrapped up in silver blankets and being given hot drinks. They did not speak and Jona sat in a kind of transfixed gaze, staring out to the darkness.
Macleod opened the door of the vehicle, wrapped in a large overcoat and looked at the pair of women huddling in the back. ‘Don’t beat yourselves up; you did all you could. But these guys are killers; she never stood a chance once they had knifed her. Nakamura, Mackintosh says she’s going to handle this tonight, but she wants you ready in the morning, if you can manage that. And you can head back Hope after I get the detail of what happened from you.’
‘She was digging, sir, but I don’t know for what.’
‘Whatever it is, it’s important, as four people are now dead for it. We need to pick up the pace, Hope, or we won’t have anyone left.’
‘Are you sure Canna is connected?’
‘Look,’ said Macleod and pulled out a small piece of parchment. ‘Inside Karen Gibbons’ jacket. Stewart’s going to the mainland tomorrow and we are going on the hunt here. There’s too many dead, Hope. I’m just off with the Chief Inspector and she’s talking about coming out here. How many of these treasure seekers are there out here? When does this end? Now we’ve got two pieces of the puzzle, so we need to get some answers. But tomorrow for you. I’ll take your statement in a moment and then you two need to hit the sack. And that’s an order.’
An hour later Hope stood in the shower, scrubbing off the dirt and blood from the evening. Her body was still chilled but at least the room was warm, and she was starting to feel more alive. Part of her was thinking of checking on Jona who had not spoken on the trip back to the hotel, but she also did not want to wake her if she was asleep. Stepping out of the shower, Hope heard a knock on her door. Wrapping her gown around her, she opened it and found Jona standing there. Without invitation she stepped inside and then simply fell to the ground and began crying. Hope followed her to the floor and wrapped her up. ‘It’s okay, gi
rl; I’m here for you—it’s okay.’
Chapter 11
Macleod sat behind a desk in the local station and watched Mackintosh enter the office. He knew there were a number of reporters outside and she would have to run the gauntlet in coming to him and after such a night, he hoped she had the wisdom to simply keep her head down and keep walking. The local coastguard and fire service were helping out in protecting the scene, but he needed more officers and had told his boss. In fairness to her, they would be on the next ferry but at the moment, he was very stretched.
‘Here,’ said Macleod, standing as Mackintosh entered the room and then pulling out a seat for her. The woman flopped into the chair and then noticed the cup of coffee before her. ‘Yes, that’s for you, Hazel. You deserve it, coming out after your news and that.’
‘I’m the boss, Seoras, like yourself. You wouldn’t run and hide either, would you?’
The veneer of steely grit might have impressed anyone who had not seen her fall apart at her onerous news of cancer, but Macleod was not buying it. But if that’s how she needed to present herself until she left the island then he would let her. ‘So, what do we know?’
‘Knifed from behind, very neatly in terms of a fast death but there was a lot of blood. Jona had no chance of saving her, poor girl. She’s fairly new, you know, good on the science but this side of it must have been a shock to her. At least the Canna body was already cold, but to have someone clinging to life in your hands—it’s not an experience I would wish on anyone.’
‘Have you lost someone?’ asked Macleod, sipping on his coffee.
‘Two. One a motorbike accident I was driving past and the other a stab victim. Just me for twenty minutes. Seoras, I can still see her. But I have two successes to weigh up against these deaths, Jona does not. Take it easy on her. I know you’ll need her a lot over these coming days and I think she’s more than up to it, but don’t give her any of that bullish attitude of yours. And none of the weak woman crap either.’