Chapter 23
Despite all that had happened since his five o’clock rise, Erling had the feeling that the day had run away from him. The afternoon certainly had.
Having missed out on lunch, due to the shenanigans at Balfour Legal Services, hunger drove him to seek out a coffee and sandwich, which he duly took back to his office.
There he mentally listed the calls he still had to make.
Including checking in with Colin at UHI, as much out of courtesy as to enquire if he’d had anything back about the mother and child at Lyrawa.
Although fairly certain Stella and wee William had died too long ago to become a live murder investigation, he couldn’t shake off the notion that Ivor, the croft house land and the current Mowat feud were all somehow connected.
Often the older people became, the more intense their desire to right past wrongs or deal with perceived slights.
Ivor Mowat had begun distancing himself from his family by moving into a care home on Mainland, where he seemingly didn’t relish family visits, even from his eldest son, Hugh, if Cathy and Elspeth were correct.
He had then instigated trouble by secretly selling off the former family croft to someone with war links to Hoy. Apparently approaching Richard Webber Maitland directly after reading a piece written by him in The Orcadian.
According to Auld Mackie, Ivor had had a schoolboy crush on Stella and one of his older brothers had likely gone out with her. The fact the dead child’s name was William suggested which of his brothers that may have been.
How much had Ivor known about the supposed Stella, his brother and her child? Was the discovery of the two bodies a surprise, or had Ivor always known or suspected what the digger would find? If so, when had Ivor learned of the burial of mother and son? Back when it happened? Or more recently?
Auld Mackie had been keen to talk about Stella, but was what he’d said merely imagined rather than factual?
With no one left alive to confirm or deny Mackie’s tale, Erling couldn’t be sure.
At this point he made a mental note to talk to Tommy again about Sandy.
Might Tommy recall anything else his own father had said about Ivor and his brothers on Hoy?
Setting these thoughts aside for the moment, Erling brought up Colin’s number on his mobile.
‘Erling,’ Colin answered promptly. ‘I was just about to call you.’
‘You’ve heard back from Glasgow about Stella?’ Erling immediately asked.
‘I have. It seems our mother and child have now been examined by the resident forensic pathologist, together with osteologist Dr Ruth Styles, who, if you remember, helped us with the body uncovered by Dr MacLeod and myself during the Skaill Bay murder enquiry?’
Erling had no difficulty recalling the last major investigation in Orkney, when Colin, together with Dr Rhona MacLeod, a forensic expert in buried and hidden bodies, had uncovered a not so ancient set of remains buried in the sand at Skaill Bay, not far from the famous Neolithic village of Skara Brae.
When Erling confirmed this, Colin said, ‘Dr Styles has sent us an image of what Stella and her child would have looked like when alive, which I’ll forward to you.’
‘Anything about how she and the child died?’
There was a moment’s uneasy silence before Colin responded. ‘The post-mortem report states they found a fracture in the mother’s hyoid bone.’
‘Caused by strangulation?’ Erling immediately said, his voice as sombre as his thoughts.
‘Perhaps. Or she may have hanged herself.’ Colin’s tone betrayed his distress.
‘And the child?’ Erling mustered himself to ask.
‘Best guess, suffocation. Either before burial or as a result of it.’
The silence between them grew at the horror of both possibilities.
‘And how long ago did this happen?’ Erling eventually said.
‘Around the time we surmised. Eighty years or so ago.’ He paused momentarily. ‘Did Hugh agree to a DNA check to see if the child was a Mowat?’
‘He said if we managed to identify the mother, he would gladly do so,’ Erling told him.
‘What about him offering a DNA sample to check if Kris is a member of the clan?’ Colin asked drily. ‘That would be the swiftest way to establish Kris’s identity and maybe take him out of the running for the family fortune.’
‘I take it you’ve heard about this morning’s event, then?’ Erling said.
‘I heard about Rachael turning up, PC Rendall blowing his whistle and the fact that Hugh will be disputing the will on the premise that his father was doolally when he wrote it. Plus he doesn’t believe Kris is a Mowat.’
‘News travels fast here,’ Erling offered.
‘You bet it does,’ Colin agreed. ‘Okay. I’ll send you through the forensic report on Stella. And, of course, the images.’
When Erling thanked him, Colin added, ‘I know you must be run ragged at the moment, but if you can take a break, I’d love to cook dinner for you at the Ivy House. Rory included.’
Thanking him, Erling rang off and immediately checked the time.
Rory had indicated he hoped to be at Langwell by five. He’d also said he planned to cook, meaning he wasn’t expecting Erling to appear much before seven. Which, if all went well, was a distinct possibility.
Erling smiled inwardly at that thought.
Checking his incoming mail, he found the two attachments from Colin. Leaving the forensic report for the moment, he opened the AI-generated images of the mother and baby.
The first reconstruction was a reflection of what they’d discovered inside the wooden coffin. A mother looking lovingly down at her small son, cradled in her left arm.
The DNA reading from her remains had provided them both with blue eyes and light-coloured hair. The baby’s short and curly. The woman’s fashioned in a style typical of the war years.
A series of individual images followed, showing Stella and son from all angles. Then a short video in which each came alive, their eyes blinking. A baby’s cooing look, a mother’s answering smile.
He imagined showing Stella’s image to Auld Mackie. Had he ever seen Stella in the flesh? Or had he only known about her through Ivor’s description?
His next call was to Magnus, who immediately confirmed that he was keen to talk over what he’d discovered regarding Stella.
‘I’ve been in touch with Hoy Heritage regarding female personnel, both army and civilian, during the Second World War, and there are some possible Stellas in there.’
‘And I have an AI-generated image, just sent through from Dr Ruth Styles, of both mother and child,’ Erling told him.
‘You have?’ Magnus said, his tone becoming more sombre. ‘Can you share it with me and I’ll see if any of the women whose images I have might be a match?’ He hesitated at this point, before adding, ‘I take it you have an idea how the mother and baby may have died?’
When Erling told him what he’d learned from Colin, his explanation was met with a heavy silence.
‘Either way is awful,’ Magnus eventually responded. ‘And both warrant an explanation. If Stella hanged herself, who buried her body near the croft house, together with the child? If she was strangled, who killed her and buried both her and the boy?’
‘I’m increasingly of the mind that Ivor Mowat knew or at least suspected something had happened to his Stella.’ Erling detailed his thoughts on the secret sale of the house.
‘You believe Ivor was aware that once work began on the eco-house, Stella’s body would be discovered?’ Magnus said.
‘You’re the criminal psychologist,’ Erling reminded his friend. ‘What do you make of Ivor’s behaviour?’
‘I don’t work with many ninety-plus subjects, but I have met Ivor Mowat in the past. I suspect he did nothing without good reason,’ Magnus assured him.
‘Hugh plans to prove that his father had lost his wits before he died,’ Erling said.
Magnus laughed. ‘Good luck with that, is what I’d say to Hugh.’
‘You’re acquainted with Hugh Mowat?’
‘More so one of his nephews. Name of Max Mowat, son of Hugh’s brother Harald. I gave evidence in a drug trial in Aberdeen last month. Max Mowat was one of the defendants.’
Now that was interesting.
‘So this Max is one of Ivor’s grandchildren?’
‘He is, and has a son of his own, called Ragnar. I’ve put them on the updated family chart, which I’ll send over.’
‘Was he convicted of the drug offence?’ Erling asked.
‘No, he got off,’ Magnus said.
‘According to our local street pastor Leo Strachan, we have stronger drugs coming into Kirkwall. Likely some of the newer synthetic types.’
‘I’d believe him,’ Magnus said, ‘because they’re everywhere.’
Erling remembered something else he wanted to mention.
‘Maitland’s grandfather served on Hoy during the Second World War.
According to him, Ivor read the piece Maitland wrote regarding his grandfather in The Orcadian, which prompted Ivor to contact Maitland and offer him the Mowat land to build on.
Maybe his grandfather was billeted in or near Lyrawa Bay.
It appears Maitland’s grandmother was from Hoy. ’
‘I’ll definitely follow up on that,’ Magnus told him.
They rang off then, with Magnus promising to keep in touch regarding the images.
Having forwarded the Stella files, Erling went to check on the roster of who was scheduled to police the town centre over the weekend. Then he called Leo Strachan to tell him more officers would be on duty.
‘Not in uniform, I hope?’ Leo said.
Erling listened as Leo explained his concern about this. ‘We’re generally trusted. That’s why we can do our job. If a sudden influx of uniforms appears, it’ll look like we’ve been blabbing to the police. The dealers will go to ground and the buyers will boycott us.’
‘Then we’ll provide plain-clothes officers,’ Erling said, thinking that could be a job for DS Gowan, tomorrow night at least. DS Gowan was an unknown person in Kirkwall, and in Orkney in general, which could prove useful.
Leo came back in then. ‘Are you just acting on my concerns or have you had a lead on what new drugs are coming in and where?’ he asked.
‘A bit of both,’ Erling told him, thinking of his recent conversation with Magnus.
Ending the call, he decided what he planned to do with the time he had left today.