None but the Dead (33 page)

DI Flett raised an eyebrow. ‘Which, Sergeant, rules out just about every officer currently on Sanday, including myself.’

‘Yes, sir.’

‘What about Dr MacLeod? Or Professor Pirie?’ DI Flett offered.

McNab wanted to say a definite no to Pirie, using the fact that he’d been a visitor to the island as a teenager, and undoubtedly would have met the Ranger then, but something stopped
him.

‘Let’s use them both,’ he said.

‘We’ll ask any further questions required here, Sergeant, before transferring Muir to Kirkwall.’

Muir would be charged with regard to the theft of the skull and the destruction of the forensic evidence. In relation to the death of Jock Drever, things weren’t so clear. McNab found
himself concerned by the imminent removal of the Ranger. And not for altruistic reasons.

‘Why not keep him here, sir, until we work out what happened to the girl? He’s the one with the most extensive knowledge of the island, and its inhabitants.’ He didn’t
add,
after Sam Flett
, but it was implied.

‘I agree.’

DI Flett was observing him in such a positive manner that McNab almost squirmed.

‘I’d like to get a coffee, sir, before joining the others.’

‘Go ahead, Sergeant.’

McNab made for the coffee machine, as keen to get away from DI Flett as he was to satisfy his caffeine craving. He found Hege on duty at the coffee table and they exchanged nods.

‘A double?’

‘Make it a treble,’ McNab ordered.

As he accepted the cup, she said, ‘Will you be at the hotel tonight?’

McNab shot her a glance. ‘Why?’

‘I’d like to talk to you about something.’

Immediately suspicious, McNab wanted to ask what, but was thwarted by DI Flett signalling him to hurry up.

‘I should be there by six,’ he said. ‘I’ll meet you in the bar.’

‘Muir admitted to taking the skull from the deposition site and hiding it in the mound,’ McNab told the assembled group.

‘And afterwards?’ Rhona asked.

‘He noticed you checking out the place. Waited until you left, then removed it, this time to the lighthouse,’ McNab said.

‘I have photographs of the footprints from the mound entrance, which should match those of Derek Muir if his story’s true. We can also compare the DNA of the victim to the Sinclair
family and possibly confirm if it was Muir’s father who wielded the pilot knife.’

‘You doubt it?’ McNab interrupted.

‘I prefer to prove it,’ Rhona said. ‘Or are we taking Don Cutts’s word on everything that happened back then?’

‘Muir believes his father did it,’ McNab countered.

‘That doesn’t mean it’s true.’ Rhona looked to Erling. ‘Is there anyone else alive on Sanday that might corroborate Don’s story of Derek’s father and
Ola Sinclair?’

‘I’ll find out,’ Erling said.

Rhona nodded her thanks. Putting thoughts on the cold case to one side, she drew their attention to the soil map of Sanday that was now displayed on the big screen.

‘A friend and colleague, an expert in forensic soil analysis, has done a rush job on Inga’s boots to see if we can pinpoint where she was on the island when she last wore them.

‘The deposits indicate that Inga was in an area of the map which is coloured pink. As you can see, there are only two sections on the north of the island where she could have encountered
such material. The major one lies here,’ she indicated the northern edge of Lopness Bay. ‘That’s where the remnants of the RAF camp are, through which Inga would have walked to
Sam Flett’s house. The other segment lies along the southern shore of Start Island not far from the shell beach.’ She waited until they’d assimilated the significance of the
information, before continuing.

‘The same classification of soil was found in the grooves of Sam’s waterlogged boots, yet the pedals of his jeep were encrusted with shell sand, suggesting Sam wasn’t the
person who drove the jeep onto Cata Sand.’

‘Did you retrieve any other trace evidence from the vehicle?’ Erling said.

‘I lifted fingerprints from the steering wheel and the door handle, and from the child’s wellington boots.’

‘But how does all this help us find Inga?’ McNab said, a note of frustration evident in his voice.

‘We know that Sam was in the habit of leaving his jeep at the gate near the road end, and walking from there to the croft house,’ Rhona said. ‘When we visited Inga’s
mother the night the child went missing, the jeep wasn’t there, neither was it outside his croft or at the road end.’

Rhona waited, as a small light began to dawn on the faces around her.

‘The bastard used the jeep to abduct her,’ McNab said. ‘The kid thought it was Sam waiting for her to go to the museum.’ He halted. ‘But wouldn’t Sam have
noticed his jeep was missing, when he went to Inga’s house that morning?’

‘Why would he bother to check? No one steals your car on Sanday,’ Rhona reminded him. ‘And immediately afterwards he joined the search.’

They all turned to Magnus at this point.

‘The idea’s a plausible one,’ he agreed. ‘According to her mother, Inga liked and trusted Sam Flett. Therefore she had good reason to approach his jeep, especially since
it was Saturday, a day she would normally accompany him to the heritage centre. But if it was a stranger behind the wheel . . .’

McNab interrupted him. ‘What if it wasn’t a stranger?’

All eyes turned to the photograph which now appeared on the screen.

‘Dr MacLeod and PC Tulloch will confirm that this is the man who threatened Mike Jones the night I was attacked at the hotel. He has since been identified by Inga’s mother as Joseph
Millar, Inga’s father, who has a history of domestic violence.

‘The fishing boat Joseph Millar was on left Sanday on Saturday morning. DI Flett has made contact with the captain of the
Lucinda
and he confirms that Millar didn’t report
back and as a result they left Kettletoft without him. Inga’s mother believes her former partner could have taken Inga, in revenge for her leaving him.’

‘Is he likely to harm the girl?’ Rhona said.

‘According to the mother, he hasn’t,’ McNab said. ‘Up till now.’

‘Is it likely then that Millar was involved in the attack on Mike Jones?’ Erling said.

‘Forensic evidence collected in the schoolhouse went south this morning with the body,’ Rhona confirmed. ‘It’ll also be checked against what we found in the
jeep.’

McNab was the one to break the silence that followed. ‘If Millar did use the jeep to snatch his daughter, then abandoned it on Cata Sand, where did he go from there? And what did he use
for transport?’

Rhona now voiced what she’d been thinking all along.

‘What if he had a boat somewhere within walking distance of Cata Sand?’

A brief silence followed, before Magnus said, ‘Dr MacLeod could be right. The majority of small crafts are already laid up for the winter. The chances are an owner wouldn’t miss one
right away, particularly if it was taken from a holiday home.’

‘So we start looking for the boat,’ McNab said.

When they’d dispersed for the night, McNab had indicated he was heading back to the hotel to eat. Rhona had turned down his invitation to accompany him.

‘I’ll pick something up at the community shop.’

‘You sure?’

At that moment she’d almost acquiesced. After all, they’d have plenty to discuss over whatever delicious meal Torvaig prepared for them, but McNab’s expression, half inviting,
half pleading, had decided her.

‘I’ll see you in the morning,’ she’d said.

Now, entering Lady Village, Rhona drew up outside the community shop. Its neighbour, the heritage centre, lay in darkness, the door shut and no doubt locked, although she still had the key Sam
Flett had given her. Thinking of the old man now, she felt saddened and perturbed by his death, because she too had crossed the causeway. She knew how simple it would be to lose your footing and
fall, hitting your head on the rocks. She also recognized how easy it could have been for someone to make that fall happen, and for there to be no evidence to show that had been the case.

And if Joe Millar had used Sam’s jeep to abduct Inga
. . .

Locking the car from an urban habit, Rhona crossed to the heritage centre.

Since McNab had revealed the possible identity of the body in the schoolhouse playground, and the man who might be responsible for her death, she’d been going over and over it in her head,
trying to work out the geography of what had happened that night, all those years ago. Sam would have been the person to discuss the layout of the RAF camp with, but of course Sam was no longer
there for her to ask.

But the material he collected is
.

The key turned easily and, stepping inside, she threw on the light switch. Standing there in the sudden brightness, she realized she’d hardly spent five minutes in the museum without
Sam’s benign presence. That thought, plus the solemn emptiness of the place, only served to emphasize the sense of loss.

Gathering her thoughts, she looked around at the familiar display of Sanday through the war, knowing that what she really needed was a map of the general layout of the former camp, with its
proximity to the causeway, the shell beach, the schoolhouse and the Sinclair place.

Such a thing had to be in the research room
.

Opening the door, she was reminded of her first visit, recalling how captivated she’d been by the material she’d discovered there, most of it seemingly nothing to do with the
excavation.

How wrong she’d been
.

Locating an Ordnance Survey map of the area, she spread it out on the table and, retrieving various sketches from the folder, placed them alongside. She then fetched the booklet prepared by
people who remembered Sanday at that time, and who’d worked in or visited the camp. Their descriptions of life would help her identify the buildings, and how they’d been used. Plus, she
had her own selection of photographs of those left standing.

Bringing up the soil map on her laptop, Rhona settled down to study the collage she’d created.

The single road ran north, hugging Lopness Bay, eventually forming a loop round the North Loch with a single rough track veering off towards Ayre Sound and Start Island. The
only other paths led to isolated houses, many now derelict.

But not back then
.

The land requisitioned for the erection of the radar masts and the RAF camp had been lost to locals, but not their homes. And one of those houses had been occupied by Derek Muir’s family,
even though his father had been away at sea most of the time.

Studying the map, aware now of the proximity of possible pathways, Rhona could see how a meeting between Ola Sinclair and her attacker might have taken place. Judging by the remains of her
clothing, she’d been on a night out, possibly attending a dance at the camp. After which, she’d never reached home. So why had her family not raised the alarm?

Maybe she thought she was leaving the island, and left a note to that effect?

Was that where Don Cutts’s story of her going off to the mainland had come from?

They might establish her identity and even the likely identity of her attacker, but they would never know the whole story of what had happened that night, nor why Eric Flett had disappeared
straight after.

The chances are we’ll never know
.

Jamie Drever’s parallel departure, she suspected, had more to do with his relationship with Ella than any contact he’d had with Ola. Perhaps Geordie had discovered their relationship
and that had been the outcome.

How terrible to discover his young wife had betrayed him
.

And yet it seemed that Sam Flett, however he’d been conceived, had enjoyed a happy childhood. His father hadn’t punished the child, or his wife, for Sam’s conception. It
appeared the sombre figure in the family photograph had truly loved Ella, because he’d brought up her child as though it had been his own.

The thought of that child brought Rhona back to Inga.

Rhona hadn’t admitted this out loud, or even to herself, but the odds were definitely against the girl being alive. Her fleeting hope that somehow Sam had hidden Inga because of his
irrational fear for her seemed hollow now.

Also, the suspicion that Mike Jones had been involved in Inga’s disappearance hadn’t been dispensed with by his death. The nature of the attack on Jones could mean that someone
believed him guilty of a misdemeanour with the child. If that were true, Jones couldn’t reveal it now. Whoever had attacked him and pushed him to his death had only made matters worse.

We are all too close to this case, and the people involved
.

At that moment her mobile rang. Rhona glanced at the screen expecting McNab, only to discover Sean’s name. Despite McNab’s suggestion that she call Sean in the wake of processing the
body of Mike Jones, she hadn’t done so.

As she hesitated, the call switched to voicemail. Rhona contemplated listening to the message, but couldn’t bring herself to. She didn’t want to think about anything outside of now
and the problems she faced here. Pushing the mobile away, she refocused her attention on the map.

Ola Sinclair’s path the night she was killed was plain now.

But what of her great-niece’s route?

The soil evidence suggested Inga had made her way through the former camp en route to Sam’s place. There was no forensic evidence to show she’d gone by way of the beach or crossed a
different soil formation.

Rhona still held true to her belief that the girl had been picked up in Sam’s jeep. That seemed the most likely explanation for her sudden and immediate disappearance. The alternative
being that, though her boots and coat were taken from the camp area, the girl was not.

They had combed the area extensively, so that didn’t seem possible, and yet . . .

With that thought came a memory of a photograph she’d seen in the research room, in one of the pamphlets featuring Sanday at war. There had apparently been only one death and that had been
when a bomb, falling on the camp, had killed someone working in the mortuary.