Chapter 22
Jo replaced the receiver on DI Flett’s office phone, then stood for a moment, trying to regain her composure.
Erling had said he had calls to make before heading to the lawyer’s office, but he hadn’t told her he was planning to ask for back-up from Highland and Islands Division. And now someone was coming. And that someone was DS Gus Gowan.
Someone she’d hoped, no, prayed, never to see again.
She contemplated whether she should reveal this to Erling, or alternatively behave in a professional manner by keeping her mouth shut and getting on with her job.
They did need extra manpower this weekend. That had been obvious in the strategy meeting. And a seasoned detective like . . . him . . . Jo found herself unable to say his name out loud. Or even think it.
What if it had been his voice on the call she’d just taken? What would she have done then?
She stopped herself from going down that path. He was coming tomorrow, not on the first ferry to Stromness, but a later one. God, what if Erling asked her to pick him up?
She should never have transferred here, she told herself.
It was too close. She should have gone to Aberdeen or Glasgow.
But her heart was in the north, despite everything that had happened.
Besides, Scotland was a village. So, wherever you went, you would likely meet someone who knew either you or someone you were acquainted with.
At this point in her thoughts, she spotted the tall figure of DI Flett striding towards the front door of the police station.
The box he’d taken with him had already returned via a constable, and was safely locked back in the evidence room.
Constable Rendall had given her a potted version of the stushie, as he’d called it, at the lawyer’s office.
At least the blowing-his-whistle part of it. No doubt Erling would fill in the rest.
As soon as Erling joined her in his office, Jo gave him the good news.
‘We’ve located the hire car. It was parked on a small harbour in Stromness. Tucked out of sight and only noticed this morning when some holiday folk arrived.’
‘So Kris hid the car,’ Erling said. ‘Before he got on the passenger ferry.’
‘Assuming he planned to go into hiding on Hoy, that was a good idea,’ Jo said. ‘Anyone looking for him, including ourselves and the Mowats, would focus initially on locating the car here on mainland Orkney.’
Erling nodded at this, although it seemed to Jo that his head and thoughts were still on the morning’s event. ‘How did it go at the lawyer’s?’ she said. ‘PC Rendall said he had to blow his whistle.’
‘Let’s just say the Mowat family did not like Ivor’s will,’ Erling said.
‘So Kris turned up?’ Jo responded in amazement.
‘No. Rachael did, together with a letter from Kris to say that she was to be his proxy at the reading of the will. So Eddie let it go ahead.’
Jo now listened as Erling relayed the full story, including the fact that Ivor had left everything to Kris.
‘And when did this letter from Kris surface?’ Jo said.
‘Rachael says she found it in his toilet bag when she went to get the items I requested for the DNA testing.’
‘So he put it there before he disappeared?’ Jo checked.
‘Looks like it. Rachael believes the letter’s existence confirms Kris went into hiding to avoid the Mowat clan.’ He halted there briefly, noticeably perturbed. ‘She also admitted in the presence of Hugh Mowat to being pregnant with Kris’s child, which he didn’t look happy about.’
‘If Kris believed he was in danger from the Mowats, then heard he was also to be a father, that could have been the trigger for him going into hiding,’ Jo said.
‘My thoughts too,’ Erling agreed. ‘Also, a second sealed note revealed that Kris bequeathed everything he had to Rachael, should anything happen to him.’
Jo tried to assimilate this extraordinary sequence of events. ‘That must have confirmed Rachael’s belief that Kris feared for his life,’ she said.
‘Well, now she knows he didn’t disappear because of her, or the child,’ Erling said.
‘And what about the contents of the box Ivor left for Kris, which, incidentally, is safely back in the evidence room?’ Jo asked.
‘Before we examine its contents, I’d like to make sure Kris Mowat is who Ivor thought he was. Plus we have yet to establish whether Kris is currently alive or dead. And we’re unlikely to until we get the results of the DNA test from Glasgow, hopefully early next week.’
‘As to establishing who Kris Mowat is exactly, we’ve already made some progress,’ Jo told him. ‘The team looking into Kris have reported that he paid for the flights here, the hired car and the hotel with the same credit card. Name of K. C. Mowat.’
‘Rachael told me at the lawyer’s that Kris was self-employed as a DJ known as KCM. Playing something called trance music,’ Erling said, a mystified expression on his face. ‘You know about trance music?’
‘I do,’ Jo confirmed with a smile.
Erling looked impressed. ‘Good. Get the team to check out where KCM’s been appearing and when.
Rachael also gave us the address of Kris’s flat in London where she says they were both living.
Apparently Kris maintained his mother died when he was nine.
He was brought up in care and never knew his father.
A record of that should be somewhere in the care system. ’
‘I’ll get the team onto it,’ Jo said. ‘What about Ivor’s personal effects? His mobile? Maybe a laptop? If we can take a look at his messages, searches, etc., we might identify how he first made contact with Kris.’
‘Everything would have gone to Hugh, as his eldest son,’ Erling said.
‘Is that why Ivor gave his two carers the box for Kris, in case he wasn’t around to give it himself?’ Jo said.
It was an uncomfortable thought for both of them.
‘I’ll speak to Hugh,’ Erling said. ‘Although, if he doesn’t want the family connection to Kris confirmed, I suspect he’ll not hand over Ivor’s things willingly.’
‘Unless we open an investigation into Ivor’s death?’ Jo said quietly. ‘Then we could check out the contents of his box.’
She watched as Erling considered this, and not, she thought, for the first time.
‘The Hoy victim must take priority for now,’ he said. ‘If the body does in fact prove to be that of Kris Mowat, Hugh will have to turn over anything he has belonging to Ivor, plus we examine the contents of the box.’
When he checked her reaction to this, she gave a firm ‘Okay, boss.’
Erling continued. ‘I’ve spoken to Willie Halcro and he’s offered the Longhope fire station to use as an incident room. There’s also accommodation available for yourself and Ivan Tulloch at a nearby B&B on Hoy. I’ll travel back and forth as required,’ he added.
The reaction she had on hearing this news must have shown on her face, because Erling immediately asked if she was okay with staying out on Hoy.
‘Of course,’ Jo said, hoping that being marooned on Hoy meant she might avoid Gus Gowan.
‘Good. I’ve also requested reinforcements,’ Erling continued. ‘Detective Sergeant Angus Gowan has answered the call, and he’s coming over on the ferry from Scrabster first thing tomorrow morning.’
Did that mean Gus had actually volunteered to come to Orkney? Jo found herself freaked out by such a thought.
‘I’ve just remembered,’ she said swiftly. ‘There was a call to say DS Gowan couldn’t make the early Stromness ferry, but would arrive on the lunchtime one.’
Erling looked briefly put out by that. ‘I had hoped to introduce him to the full team before you head for Hoy. No matter. I suggest you and Tulloch catch the first ferry to Longhope and start interviewing the locals regarding the fire and the body found at Lyrawa Bay.’
This time Jo managed to hide the relief she experienced at Erling’s order, and went in search of Ivan Tulloch.
On the way, she contemplated how much she liked the young officer from Sanday. Ruddy-cheeked with a wide smile, he had an easy way with folk and appeared to be well known far and wide. If you wanted to find out what was happening anywhere in the islands, Ivan was the man to speak to.
Now seated together in the canteen, she relayed Erling’s orders about their trip.
‘So we don’t get to meet the new bloke from Caithness,’ he said. ‘That’s a shame.’ He checked her expression. ‘Maybe you know him already? Seeing as you worked over that way before moving to Orkney,’ he added, an expectant look on his face.
This is where the lying begins, Jo thought, even as she tried to choose her words. Eventually, she said, ‘The name sounds familiar, but I can’t put a face to it as yet,’ while thinking, and I don’t want to.
‘He’ll likely still be here when we finish on Hoy,’ Ivan offered by way of appeasement.
She managed a half-smile at that, while praying fervently that he would not. Seeing Gus again might plunge her back into the pit she’d finally climbed out of by coming here.
Having sorted out the arrangements for the next day, Jo decided she should check in with Rachael.
Ask how she was after the events of the morning.
In truth, she felt an affinity with the young woman in her present circumstances.
And hearing the news surrounding the will, was both pleased for Kris’s obvious support for Rachael and his unborn child, while also fearful for Kris’s welfare and for Rachael’s.
When her call rang out unanswered, eventually switching to voicemail, Jo left a message, urging Rachael to get in touch and offering to come through to Stromness tonight if she needed someone to talk to about today’s developments.