Chapter 21
Erling watched as Eddie extracted a letter from the envelope and began to read. Having seemingly satisfied himself as to its contents, Eddie then turned to Rachael.
‘When did you get this?’ he asked softly.
‘I found it during DI Flett’s visit last night,’ she told him, her expression calm.
‘He’d asked me for some items belonging to Kris to send for DNA purposes along with the body they’d found at Lyrawa .
. .’ Her voice broke a little at this, before strengthening again.
‘The envelope was in Kris’s toilet bag. My name on the front.
’ She paused briefly. ‘I thought it was a break-up note, after what I’d said about the baby.
’ She halted there briefly as though realizing what she’d let slip.
‘So I couldn’t bring myself to open it until this morning.
When I saw what it was, I got a taxi over here. That’s why I was late.’
‘Baby?’ Hugh said sharply. ‘What baby are you talking about?’
Rachael appeared to brace herself before answering. ‘I’m pregnant with Kris’s child. I initially wanted to have an abortion. He didn’t,’ she added, a catch in her throat.
Hugh Mowat muttered what sounded like a curse, before demanding that he also be allowed to read the letter.
‘The letter is addressed to myself as Kris Mowat’s lawyer,’ Eddie said firmly. ‘It is therefore both a private and a legal document in this case.’
Hugh, who was obviously trying to keep a rein on his anger, said, ‘Does the delivery of this letter mean we can continue with the reading of my father’s will?’
‘I believe it does,’ Eddie said, with a glance at Rachael, ‘since Kris has requested Rachael be his proxy here today.’
Hugh gave a sharp nod. ‘Right. Let’s get started, then. Although, as I told DI Flett, we, as a family, will be contesting all decisions made by my father in the months leading to his death, because we believe he was not of sound mind when he made them.’
Erling watched as Eddie mustered himself to answer this.
‘That’s for another time,’ he said. ‘Let’s deal with the business that brought us all here today.’
There was some murmuring on their re-entry to the room, but Erling’s reappearance led to a swift silence.
Or maybe, he thought, it was simply Hugh’s murderous expression that had brought them all, including Harald, to order.
Settling himself to the left of Eddie’s desk, behind which the lawyer had taken refuge, Erling watched as Hugh made a space beside him for Rachael by sending an annoyed Harald one place along.
Hugh was acting more of the gentleman than the Mr Angry of earlier. Erling found himself wondering why. Rachael, he noted, appeared a little more relaxed, even bestowing a faint smile on Hugh as she settled herself on the seat.
Eddie now produced a large envelope and, opening it, extracted what looked like a single sheet of paper. He began to read out its contents in his rich Orcadian voice.
As the words flowed over and around him, Erling thought of Cathy and Elspeth witnessing the writing of the short will, with no idea what it contained.
The company before him, however, heard the words stated clearly and with no possibility of misunderstanding their meaning.
‘I, Ivor John Kris Mowat, being of sound mind and body, hereby declare this to be my Last Will and Testament.
‘I revoke all prior wills and codicils.
‘I appoint my great-grandson Kris Mowat as my sole beneficiary.
‘I appoint my lawyer, Edward Balfour, as the Executor of my estate.
‘I sign this Will on this, 18th May 2025, in the presence of Cathy McCue and Elspeth Crawford.’
The silence that followed felt to Erling like the moment before an anticipated bomb exploded.
Rising, he motioned Rachael to come to him and immediately ushered her out, telling her to go into Mr Balfour’s office.
Following this, he called the officer at the front door to come up, buzzing the door open for him.
A cacophony of anger met him on his return to the room, where he found Eddie still behind his desk, with Hugh standing in front of it and the melee behind Hugh gathered around Harald.
When his officer arrived, Erling told him to blow his whistle.
The blast was enough to hurt his eardrums, but it worked. In the stupefied silence that followed, Erling told everyone but Hugh to leave with the officer.
When Hugh gave a nod to this, a furious Harald exited, the muttering troops dutifully following, leaving silence in their wake.
‘That will is nonsense,’ Hugh told Eddie.
‘And you know it,’ he added, his voice thick with fury.
‘The business with Ivor’s name at the head consists of numerous enterprises, all run by different branches of the family.
’ He halted there but only briefly. ‘As to the man calling himself Kris Mowat. Is he even who he says he is?’
‘Ivor appeared to think so,’ Eddie said. ‘However, we will of course confirm his identity.’
‘But what if you can’t find him? According to the lass, he ran off and left her.’
Eddie looked to Erling. ‘Detective Inspector Flett?’ he said, the question in his voice obvious.
‘It’s our job to discover the whereabouts of Kris Mowat, and to confirm his identity,’ Erling said.
‘And if you can’t?’ Hugh said. ‘Or it turns out to be that body on the beach at Lyrawa?’
A glance at Eddie suggested that if he knew the legal answer to that question, he wasn’t willing to voice it at this time. However, he did have something else to say.
‘A smaller envelope with my name on it was included in the one he left for Rachael.’ He showed them the said envelope.
‘For fuck sake,’ Hugh uttered in an exasperated tone.
‘I would have read it out after Ivor’s will, but the reaction that followed suggested I should wait.’ Eddie looked to Erling.
‘Rachael should be party to this,’ Erling told him. ‘I suggest we move back to your office so that she can hear what is said.’
They duly did so, finding Rachael sitting in a seat at the window, staring out. Hearing them enter, she turned and rose, perhaps reading their serious expressions.
When Eddie explained about the second envelope, she acknowledged this with a nod.
‘It’s not necessarily bad news,’ Erling said. ‘Just something private he wanted only Eddie to know.’
Rachael gave a brief nod at this and gathered herself for the news.
Eddie slit the envelope open and, scanning the contents, mustered himself to say, ‘It’s very brief and simply states that Kris Mowat declares Rachael Everett to be his sole beneficiary in the event of his death.’
Erling’s reaction to this was at first elation, as he realized that Kris wanted Rachael and his child looked after should anything happen to him. But this was swiftly followed by the terrible thought that Kris had felt his own life to be in danger when he’d written it.
The trepidation on Rachael’s face was now briefly replaced by surprise and a fleeting joy, then ultimately horror, as she appeared to follow Erling’s thought process.
‘You,’ she said, pointing at Hugh, ‘Kris was frightened of you and what you might do if Ivor favoured him.’
Hugh was, Erling noted, even angrier now than when the proxy letter had been read out.
Apparently mustering his fury and looking pointedly at Rachael and Eddie, he said, ‘You’ll both be hearing from my lawyer regarding the circumstances surrounding my father’s death and in particular the making of his will. ’
And with that, Hugh turned on his heel and walked out.
Listening to the slamming of the front door, all three of them were left in little doubt as to Hugh Mowat’s readiness for a fight.
‘I need to consider what just happened here, and what we do about it,’ Eddie said. ‘Also, about the box that Ivor left for Kris,’ he added, looking at Erling. ‘If Rachael is proxy for Kris, then she should get to view its contents.’
Erling had been considering this himself, but they would need to confirm Kris’s identity first. Also, if the body on the beach turned out to be Kris Mowat, then what Ivor had left for Kris in that box might well play a role in uncovering his killer.
He now addressed Rachael. ‘You did well,’ he told her. ‘The Mowat clan can be intimidating.’
She appeared to have mustered herself after the surprise and trauma of Kris’s written declaration.
‘Kris was wary of the Mowat family,’ she said.
‘Not his great-grandfather, though. He liked Ivor. They spoke a lot on the phone. Kris really wanted to meet him in person. I only realized how much on the journey up here.’
‘Did Kris have any idea that Ivor planned to make him his heir?’ Eddie asked.
‘I don’t think so. I also don’t think he knew the Mowats were important or wealthy. He did say, though, that Ivor was very fond of his granddaughter Betty, Kris’s mum, and very sad when she left Hoy.’
‘You understand that, before this goes any further, we need to verify Kris’s identity as a bona fide member of the Mowat family?’ Erling said. ‘Do you have any documents, passport, driving licence, credit cards, that would help us do that?’
She shook her head. ‘Kris took his wallet and passport with him when he left. And his phone. That’s why I could only give you photographs I’d taken of him with my mobile.’
‘What about his mother, Betty Mowat?’ Eddie said.
‘I told DS Green all I knew about her. That she died when Kris was nine, after which he was brought up in care. He said he never knew his dad.’
‘Can I ask what Kris does for a living?’ Erling tried.
‘He was – is,’ she corrected herself, ‘self-employed. DJing in clubs mainly, with the name KCM. Trance music. That’s how we met,’ she added with a soft smile.
‘And you, Rachael?’
‘I’m an agency nurse. Working mostly in care homes. That’s how I could take time off to come here with Kris.’
‘You two were living together?’
‘At Kris’s place,’ she confirmed. ‘I can give you the address,’ she offered.
‘Do that. Now, have you any idea how Ivor found Kris? Or maybe Kris found Ivor?’ Erling said.
She shook her head. ‘None. Kris never mentioned that.’
‘The box Ivor left for Kris,’ Erling went on. ‘We’d like to keep it for the moment. Until we know the outcome of the DNA test.’ He didn’t say that if the dead man on Hoy was Kris, then the box and its contents might turn out to be evidence in a murder enquiry.
‘I’m happy for you to have it,’ Rachael said. ‘If that’s okay?’ she added in Eddie’s direction.
‘The police station is the best place for it under the circumstances,’ he assured her.
Their discussion at an end, Erling told Eddie he’d be in touch, then offered to walk Rachael out.
Handing the box to the waiting constable, he told him to take it back to the evidence room and inform DS Green he’d be with her shortly.
‘So,’ he said to Rachael. ‘Are you heading back to Stromness?’
‘I’m going to have a coffee at the St Magnus cafe first, then call for a taxi.
’ She hesitated, before adding, ‘The thing is, Inspector, I think Kris felt he had to go into hiding from the Mowats, and you can see why. All those angry men in that room. They wanted him dead before they knew what was in the will. They’ll want it even more now. ’
Erling found himself thinking the exact same thing.