Chapter 61
Thanking DI McNab for his assistance, Erling ended their call.
The Glasgow detective had now confirmed what Erling already believed with regard to the DNA tests, the post-mortem results on both Eilidh and the body at Lyrawa Bay, and the CCTV evidence of that Saturday night.
Eilidh Mowat had been a casualty of a drug war between members of her own family and the competing gang from Liverpool, intent on taking over the supply of synthetic opioid drugs both in Aberdeen and Orkney.
The guy captured on CCTV talking to her was already in the system. As was the DNA from the body found on Lyrawa Bay. Both men were known to the authorities and were being sought by the police further south.
Knowing the identity of the two men, however, wouldn’t provide any sense of peace, especially not for Eilidh’s parents, nor for her grandfather Hugh.
Neither would the fact that Harald Mowat and his son Max were now in custody in Aberdeen on a variety of charges.
Hugh Mowat had been forthright and, Erling thought, honest, in his statement on his dealings with Ivor regarding Kris, the will and Rachael’s part in the proceedings.
Recalling all of this, Erling wondered, not for the first time, whether Hugh would ever have spoken out about Harald threatening Kris, had it not been for Eilidh’s death.
Being faced with the terrible result of inaction could sometimes change people’s perceptions of right and wrong and the messy part in between.
Kris was definitely Harald’s son, DNA had confirmed it. Had Ivor been alive, Erling had no doubt he would have had Harald charged with the rape of his granddaughter Betty.
Whether Kris would do the same, Erling thought not. Neither was he convinced that Kris would stay on in Orkney with Rachael and their child when it was born. But he did think peace between Hugh and Kris was a distinct possibility.
As for Mackie, he was well and home, after coming by the station to give a full account of his tangle with Max over his mobile.
Apparently the two men had been merely minutes apart in their visits to Mackie. Hugh he’d had time for, believing he was ‘on Kris’s side’.
‘I never liked Harald, though,’ he told Erling. ‘A bully when he was younger, with a bully for a son in Max. Hell mend both of them is what I think Ivor would say. Let’s hope with them away young Ragnar can get his act together. His sister, Helen, needs him to do that.’
Erling’s mobile rang at this point and, picking it up, he answered.
‘Colin, did you get my message regarding Stella and Ivor’s notebook?’
‘I did,’ Colin confirmed. ‘Also Magnus called and sent me over the photographs he found in the war records. I wondered what the plan was about her remains.’
‘Hugh says she and the baby will be buried next to Ivor on Hoy. He said his father would have wanted that.’
‘And that’s happening when exactly?’ Colin said.
‘Hugh says next week sometime,’ Erling confirmed. ‘I’ll send you the details once I get them from Hugh.’
‘I’m glad we learned Stella’s story,’ Colin said. ‘That doesn’t often happen in my own field of work.’
‘Thank Ivor for that,’ Erling said. ‘He was determined to right the wrongs of the past and his part in them. Not many of us get that chance.’
Checking his watch, he realized it was time he and Jo set off for the cathedral.
Eilidh Mowat was to be buried today.