Chapter 18
News of the discovery of a male body on the sands of Lyrawa Bay would spread quickly. Acknowledging this, Erling asked Jo to call Rachael and give her the bare minimum of details, which is all they had themselves.
‘Explain that the body has been transported to the hospital in Kirkwall. And that we’ll keep her informed as to any further developments. If you don’t reach her, leave a message. Also check she’s still resident at the hotel,’ Erling said. ‘I’ll head for the mortuary.’
‘D’you want me to follow you there?’ Jo said.
‘No. You should have finished for the day. Head home after the phone call. There’s nothing more you can do. I’ll see you first thing tomorrow.’
Before he drove away, he called the hospital to warn them of his arrival, and to check if the body from Hoy had been delivered.
Establishing that it had arrived a short time ago, he was told that the mortuary staff were expecting him.
The hospital, referred to locally as the Balfour, was a small, rural general hospital with forty-eight beds, close to the centre of Kirkwall.
The modern building offered a range of medical services to islanders with both resident and visiting consultants.
It also had a mortuary with eight flexible bays, although post-mortem examinations to establish the reason for a death were conducted off-island, usually in Glasgow.
However, all he needed to know at this moment was whether there was a likelihood of the body being that of Kris Mowat.
Now at the Balfour, he parked, then made his way to the mortuary, armed with Jo’s notes regarding Rachael’s description of Kris. If the body was tattooed, he now knew what to look for, and where.
He’d been at the mortuary a number of times since his return to Orkney as a detective. Often, as he’d mentioned to Jo, regarding bodies washed ashore on one of the seventy-odd islands that made up the archipelago. Most of the bodies had been in the sea a long time and were therefore unrecognizable.
Judging from Willie’s photographs and video, the victim’s time in the water as food for the fishes would not be the stumbling block to identification in this case. That would more likely be the burns.
In the few minutes it had taken him to get here from the station, his imaginings of a man on fire running for the water had further developed into an image of the victim being doused in petrol and set alight by a third party.
Just as had been done to the red digger, which had started the hill blaze in the first place.
Might whoever had started the fire be responsible for the death of the man on the beach?
On entry, he found APT Hannah Weir awaiting his arrival. It wasn’t the first time he’d dealt with Hannah at the mortuary, so after a brief greeting, she handed him a suit and then a mask.
‘And you’ll definitely need that,’ she advised.
Zipped up, mask firmly in place, he was now led to the refrigerator bay. As Hannah pulled open the appropriate drawer, the acrid smell of burnt flesh mixed with accelerant assailed him, despite the mask.
A sympathetic Hannah gave him a moment to get used to this before she spoke.
‘As you can see, I’ve removed what remained of the clothing. It’s bagged and ready to accompany the victim to Glasgow for the forensic examination,’ she told him.
‘Tell me what you’ve deduced from the body,’ Erling said.
‘It’s male, young, fit, with dark hair,’ she offered. ‘Circumcised. Height one hundred and seventy-eight centimetres. Weight seventy-one kilos. Healthy, before the fire damage. Eye colour probably blue.’
Erling made himself study the charred head with the remains of dark hair, then ran his gaze slowly over the shoulders, arms and hands. After which he moved to the less-affected lower parts of the body.
And all the time he did so, he thought there was a possibility that it might be Kris Mowat.
‘Was there any jewellery?’ he checked.
‘I removed what looked like the charred remains of a leather band from his left wrist,’ she offered.
‘Any rings?’
She shook her head. ‘No rings, earrings or piercings.’
So the ring he and Jo thought they’d spotted in the video Willie had sent hadn’t been there at all.
‘The missing male Kris Mowat, last seen on the ferry to Moaness,’ Erling explained, ‘had a tattoo on his upper left arm described by his girlfriend as a Valknut tattoo.’
‘That’s a Norse tattoo,’ Hannah said with a nod. ‘I’m familiar with it. Three interlocking black triangles.’
Erling moved to the victim’s left side to study the area of the upper arm, trying not to breathe in.
Hannah, having left him briefly, now returned with a magnifying glass.
‘Try this,’ she said, handing it over.
The burnt flesh was now amplified in all its horror, but he still couldn’t make out a tattoo.
‘The forensic examination will likely determine the existence of a tattoo despite the surface damage,’ she offered.
‘But you’ll have to wait until the post-mortem for that.
’ She paused before saying, ‘The lower half of the body is relatively unmarked by the fire and would likely be recognizable to an intimate partner. The genitals and feet in particular.’
Erling imagined bringing Rachael here to try to identify Kris in such a manner, and found himself repulsed by the thought. Although, he suspected, in her desperation to know the truth, she would agree to come if asked.
‘Too much?’ Hannah said, reading his expression.
‘I’ll make contact with Kris’s partner tonight or first thing tomorrow and obtain something to sample for his DNA,’ Erling said, aware how much even that would distress Rachael.
‘Right. I’ll request a police chopper for tomorrow afternoon,’ Hannah told him.
He rang Jo from the car. When she picked up almost immediately, he realized she’d been awaiting his call.
‘Is it Kris?’ she asked, before he had time to speak.
‘Undetermined,’ he responded. ‘Did you manage to talk to Rachael?’
‘I had to leave her a voice message. But I checked with reception and she is still resident at the hotel.’
‘I’ll go over there now,’ Erling said. ‘I need a DNA sample to send down with the body tomorrow.’
‘Do you want me to—?’ Jo began, before he cut her off.
‘That won’t be necessary. See you in the morning, Sergeant,’ he said and rang off.
As he headed out of town, he reminded himself that tomorrow was the day Ivor’s will was due to be read. But, according to Eddie Balfour, that couldn’t happen without the presence of Kris.
Would Eddie have already heard about the discovery of a male body on Hoy? If so, he was bound to imagine that it might be that of the missing Kris Mowat. Especially if Kris didn’t appear tomorrow.
Rumours regarding the body and the missing Kris would already be weaving their way around Mainland and the outer isles, gaining arms and legs as they did so.
And what folk didn’t know for certain, they would simply make up.
But whatever that was could never match the horror of what he’d recently been faced with in the mortuary.
Leaving Kirkwall, he registered that it was still broad daylight. At this time in May, the sun wouldn’t go down until close to ten o’clock. The sky was clear and, despite the hectic nature of the day, he recalled that it had been fine and sunny.
He’d taken the Orphir road and, passing Houton, he resolved to check in again soon with Magnus, to see if he’d discovered anything of interest in his work on the Mowat family tree.
Since this morning at the care home, it seemed even more important to gain as much background on the Mowats as possible, from the time of the disappearance of Stella up to the recent disappearance of Kris.
The gnawing hunger he’d managed to ignore until now was asserting itself, and Erling vowed to seek out a fish supper after he’d – hopefully – spoken with Rachael.
He parked on Victoria Street and made his way to the hotel, inwardly planning what he might say to her, while aware that his sergeant would have had the right words. He tried to imagine what those words might be as he climbed the steep front steps and entered.
The young woman on reception recognized him immediately.
‘Is Ms Everett in?’ he asked.
‘I believe she’s been here all day,’ she said in a concerned tone. ‘Have you come about the body in Lyrawa Bay?’ she asked outright.
Ignoring the question, Erling said, ‘I’ll go on up, then.’
He chose the stairs, not wanting to be trapped in the elevator with anyone else keen to establish why he was here.
His knock at the door brought a sound of movement inside.
When this didn’t result in the door being opened, he announced who he was and that he’d like to talk to her.
Even as he said the words, he knew they would strike terror in Rachael and that she would have to open the door to find out if her worst nightmare had been realized.
He heard footsteps approach and, a few moments later, the door was opened.
The image of the figure before him brought a surge of pity. Rachael had been upset on their previous visit, but now true despair had taken over. This young woman was broken in more ways than he could imagine.
‘May I come in?’ Erling said quietly.
She stood back, wordless, and let him into the room. After which she shut the door.
‘It’s Kris, isn’t it?’ she said, her voice trembling.
‘Can we sit down and I’ll explain everything,’ Erling suggested.
She slid into a seat and Erling took his place at the other side of the table.
‘I believe Detective Sergeant Green left you a message,’ he said.
‘I didn’t listen to it. I couldn’t,’ she said, shaking her head.
‘What she wanted to tell you, and what I want to tell you now, is that we recovered a body from the beach at Lyrawa Bay today. That’s the bay below—’
She cut him off before he could finish.
‘Below the Mowat croft. I looked down on it when I visited the grave of Betty Corrigall.’ Her eyes seemed faraway as she added, ‘It was so beautiful, the blue water and golden sand. I thought I’d remember that moment for ever.’ She looked back at him. ‘I will now.’
Erling gathered himself. ‘The body has been taken to Balfour hospital. I’ve just come from there. The remains are those of a young man, the approximate age and build of Kris. However, there are serious burns on the upper body that prevent identification.’
‘You mean it might not be Kris?’ Her eyes were now alight with a small flicker of hope. A feeling Erling wasn’t sure he shared.
‘What about the tattoo I told DS Green about?’ Rachael demanded.
‘I couldn’t confirm its existence on the body,’ Erling told her.
Hope apparently still continuing to build, she said, ‘Kris was circumcised.’
‘So are many young men.’
‘And the bracelet and ring I told your sergeant about?’
Aware she was becoming increasingly convinced that it might not be Kris, Erling decided not to mention the remains of the leather bracelet, so he just shook his head.
Contemplating all of this, she seemed to suddenly register his mention of burn injuries.
‘Why was he burnt? You said he had serious burns on his head and shoulders. Why? Did he get caught up in the hill fire?’
Erling had managed to prevaricate up to now, but he couldn’t lie outright.
‘There was evidence of an accelerant.’ Even as he said the words, he could smell it again and his face must have betrayed his thoughts.
‘You mean someone set him alight?’ she said, her voice rising.
‘That would be one explanation,’ he said, while thinking that it wasn’t the only one. Self-immolation being another.
She curled up in the chair, her arms round her knees, her mouth muttering her horror at the image this must have conjured up. An image Erling was all too familiar with.
He decided to bring her back to the present.
‘As I explained, because of the injuries, facial identification isn’t possible. So we will need a sample of Kris’s DNA. We can retrieve this from various items such as his toothbrush, hairbrush, anything he’s used recently, worn or handled.’
‘Of course,’ she said, forcing herself to rise. ‘I’ll get them for you.’
As she disappeared into the bathroom, he heard a muffled sob and knew that the brief flame of hope had been extinguished by fear.
This, he recognized, would have been the moment his sergeant would have known exactly what to do and say. As it was, he found himself accepting the items she brought him and bagging them in silence. Followed by him informing her that he would be back in touch with any news as it came in.
‘When were you due to leave?’ he added quietly.
‘Our booking here is only for a week,’ she said. ‘If Kris isn’t back by then—’ She halted there.
‘I’ll keep in touch,’ Erling promised and left.
His mind consumed by what had just happened, he found himself departing Stromness without buying the anticipated fish supper and realized he would just have to produce a meal at home with whatever was left in the fridge.
He tried to console himself with the thought that there was always whisky to take the edge off his hunger and the memory of Rachael’s stricken face.
Plus Rory would be back tomorrow, and would hopefully take charge in the kitchen.
At this point, he suddenly remembered that they’d been looking forward to a long-awaited scuba dive together in Scapa Flow, because they both had the weekend off.
Something that would no longer happen, for him at least.