A small weeping lab-2

by Alex Gray

  Forensics found nothing to suggest that he had interfered with the body. His only need had been to pull her hands flat together and then add his final touch, the red carnation.

  Solly switched on the light and the room below was suddenly visible. it was smaller than he had thought it would be with its fluorescent strip hanging on a long wire suspended from a fitting on the ceiling. The wire had been looped and fastened to one side, presumably as an aid to changing the light fitting.

  ‘How many psychologists does it take to change a light bulb?’ Rosie had teased him. Her voice came unbidden into his mind. He was suddenly very aware of her presence there in that basement room where she had examined the young nurse’s body. Solly had seen her at scenes of crime before and marvelled at her clinical, detached manner. He stared down into the basement room. Had the killer walked calmly out of the back door, stepping over the girl’s dead body? Had there been a quickening of his pulse as he’d climbed the stairs out into the back gardens, escaping from the sight behind him? Or was there another explanation altogether that involved someone staying behind in the Grange? And Brenda Duncan had come on the scene so soon after that, hadn’t she?

  Solly stroked his beard thoughtfully. Whatever scenario he came up with, one thing stood out clearly: it had taken a very cool and determined person to carry out this attack. Whoever had planned this had expected to get away with it. They’d known the layout of the clinic and had knowledge of where the nurses would be on duty. Or had they? Was this just a random stranger killing after all? Solomon closed his eyes. Had the killer known about the MS patient, too? Try as he might his vision of this killer was of a figure that had disappeared back into the labyrinth of doors and corridors, a killer who had brought a red carnation for a pretty lady.

  He would have to seek plenty more information before the vision took on flesh and bones but for now he had the sense that creating this profile was going to take all his time and energy.

  Chapter Fifteen

  The boat from Uig was always on time, the man at the pier assured them. Lorimer, wrapped in his winter jacket, hoped fervently that he was right. Solly stood near the edge of the metal ramp looking out over the choppy grey water, his long black coat flapping round his legs. Even his beard had lifted in the wind, making the psychologist look like one of the ancient patriarchs.

  They had travelled up early that morning, Lorimer doing all the driving. Solly didn’t drive, never had and claimed it was something he could happily do without. He’d certainly enjoyed the trip though, gazing out of the window and commenting on all that he saw on the way up. It had been Lorimer’s idea for them to make the journey together. Almost a week had passed since Kirsty MacLeod’s body had been found in that dingy basement. Forensic reports showed that strangulation had probably taken place in the clinic’s corridor. The body had been dragged through the clinic to the basement door then halfway down the stairs. It appeared that the killer had then flung Kirsty away from him, making her land flat on her back on the cold concrete. That much they did know. What had happened next was a matter of conjecture, though Solomon had been inclined to think the killer might have remained inside, despite the open door.

  A huge file of statements from staff, residents and anyone who had known the young nurse had accumulated back at the Division. Yet Lorimer was troubled by how few people there seemed to be who had known the girl intimately. It was almost as if she’d deliberately kept a low profile. Or perhaps her friends just weren’t willing to talk for some reason.

  The landlady hadn’t had much to offer apart from the fact that the rent was always paid on time and she’d been a quiet girl. No one in the neighbouring bedsits had offered more than that. It was Dr Tom Coutts who had been most helpful. He’d seen Kirsty MacLeod a few days prior to the killing and gave the police a fair amount of background information. She’d been one of the community nurses who’d cared for his wife up until her death last year and Tom had only charitable things to say about the young woman from Harris. She’d been a caring, compassionate person, he’d told them. Had the knack of making Nan feel better just by being there beside her. They’d followed this up with visits to the other community nurses and heard the same story of a nurse who’d had a proper vocation. All the residents at the Grange had liked her. She’d been a good listener, Eric Fraser had told them.

  There was an old aunt, Kirsty’s only living relative, whom they would interview, but the main spur behind this journey was the revelation about the respite centre, Failte. Mrs Baillie had been strangely reticent about its existence and quite unrepentant about letting her two patients be transferred there the day after Kirsty’s death. One was Sister Angelica, the nun, and the other was a man called Sam Fulton. Both patients had been in Tom Coutts’ cognitive therapy classes. DC Cameron had raised an eyebrow when he’d been told that the DCI was heading for Lewis and Harris.

  He could have dispatched one of his junior officers but there was something that he wanted to see for himself up here. This respite home was a sanctuary of sorts. And right now it was sheltering two people who had suddenly disappeared following Kirsty’s murder. Samuel Fulton’s name had come up on the police computer. His record showed an involvement in two domestic incidents. There had been more, according to the file but previous charges had been dropped until he’d broken his wife’s arm. A man with a record of violence being quietly shipped up to the Hebrides at the outset of a murder inquiry did not rest easily with Lorimer. The significance of the other patient being a nun was not lost on him either. Those praying hands on each of the two victims might have emanated from some twisted religious brain. And Harris and Lewis were famous for religious piety. Looking into the water, Lorimer wondered what these islands were like. He would be there soon enough.

  The journey up from Glasgow had taken more than six hours. Lorimer had pushed on through Rannoch Moor, a strange, bleak landscape that never failed to conjure up the blasted heath of Macbeth’s three witches, he told Solly, who’d nodded wisely. Glencoe had shown its usual dark brooding shadows but the sun had appeared briefly on the Commando Memorial at Spean Bridge as Ben Nevis lowered through a covering of cloud, snow still visible on its higher slopes.

  ‘I’m ashamed to say I’ve never been further north than Loch Lomond,’ Solly had told him as they drove past loch after loch on the way to Skye. Lorimer had slowed down at Eilean Donan, letting Solly have an eyeful of the well-photographed castle out on its peninsula. Lorimer had been polite about it but that was all. There were some tourist spots for which he couldn’t muster up much enthusiasm. The quiet and lonesome places like Rannoch and Glencoe held more real magic for him. He’d hoped to show Solly the Cuillin but the journey from the Skye bridge north to Uig was a disappointment. Mist had covered the mountains and there was hardly anything to see save the hunched, damp shapes of sheep at the roadside.

  They’d driven through Broadford on the road north and now here they were at Uig, waiting for the boat that would take them across to Harris. At least the rain was off, thought Lorimer, clapping his hands against the arms of his jacket to keep warm.

  Solly had given up his post by the water’s edge and was slowly walking towards him.

  ‘Any sign of it yet?’ Lorimer asked him.

  ‘Just coming in, now.’

  Lorimer walked further down the pier, glancing over the concrete wall. There it was, Caledonia MacBrayne’s ferry. The Hebrides, the man at the ticket office had told them. The car ferry cut a swathe of white foam from her bows as she neared them. She was making good speed and Lorimer wondered if she’d overshoot the pier. Solly and he quickened their pace as they walked the length of the pier back towards the parked cars. In a matter of minutes the boat had moored, disgorged its passengers and Lorimer was driving into the bowels of the car deck. By the time they’d collected jackets and locked the vehicle, The Hebrides was sliding through the waves once more.

  ‘Look, I know it’s cold, but how about coming up on deck?’ Lorimer asked. Solly nodded
cheerfully enough but pulled up his collar as they ascended the narrow metal staircase. The wind hit them full on the face as Lorimer opened the door to the upper deck. But the DCI didn’t care. There was an hour and a half of sailing before they reached their destination and he wasn’t about to spend it sitting in a smoke-filled bar.

  ‘Is that your famous Cuillin, then?’ Solly asked, pointing to the flat-topped hills rising above the mist.

  ‘No. They’re MacLeod’s Tables. We couldn’t see the Cuillin from here anyway, even if the weather had been any good,’ Lorimer told him, watching as the huge hills reared their heads above Skye, as if mocking their departure.

  ‘Still, you’ve seen some of Skye’s mountains.’

  ‘They’re amazing!’ Solly stared as the hills receded from them.

  Lorimer was gratified as Solly exclaimed his delight. There was something childlike about his enthusiasm. They stood huddled together on the top deck, the sea breeze whipping across their faces, watching as Skye faded into the distance, a tumble of clouds obscuring its contours.

  For a while there was only a large expanse of moving water, then a group of islands came into view.

  ‘What are they?’ Solomon wanted to know.

  ‘Think that’s the Sheant Isles,’ Lorimer replied, trying to recall the OS map he’d pored over the previous night.

  A smoky green horizon unfolded as the light played over the contours and curves of the landscape. Then the shadows deepened and became the hills of South Harris.

  A lighthouse stood bravely amongst a cluster of black rocks, dazzling in the spring sunlight. Somewhere, Lorimer had read, these southerly shores boasted miles of deserted, white sandy beaches. Now he could make out a rocky shore with dots of white here and there along the coastline. As they drew nearer the dots became small houses.

  ‘What’s that?’ Solly asked, pointing into the waters ahead. Lorimer followed his gaze. Orange marker buoys bobbed up and down quite far from the shore; too far for an anchorage.

  ‘Creels, I think,’ Lorimer answered. ‘They’re probably floats to show where the lobster creels are kept.’

  The boat rounded the rocks and suddenly they were coming inshore to what appeared to be a tiny hamlet. This couldn’t be Tarbert, the largest town in Harris, surely? Lorimer looked over the harbour. The colours seemed to have been washed with a different sort of rain from the slate grey stuff that fell on his city. Or was it the light? It was as though everything was being magnified. Details were sharper, like the cluster of men in orange jackets who were working on the pier; uncoiling the thick mooring ropes, pulling the gangway into position, standing by the few motorists who were about to leave those shores. A knot of people stood around the edge of the pier waiting for the boat, but not passengers. He could see that. Waiting for the mail, perhaps?

  There were women whose heads were wrapped in scarves and men in flat tweed caps. Bunnets. His dad had worn a bunnet, Lorimer remembered. He had a sudden vision of that tall, spare figure doffing his tweed cap to any ladies passing by; a gesture from a bygone age. Would Harris have retained any of the dignity of yesteryear or would it be just like every where else, in pursuit of the latest trends?

  Lorimer’s reminiscing came to an abrupt halt as a voice called over the loudspeaker system.

  ‘We are approaching Tarbert. Would all drivers please return to their vehicles. Thank you.’ The voice was taped, of that Lorimer had no doubt, but it had a soft melodious quality that he recognised. It sounded just like Niall Cameron.

  They made their way down the very steep staircase leading to the car deck and located the Lexus wedged between a British telecom van and an ancient Ford Transit. Two men in overalls and thick-soled boots were squeezing their way amongst the vehicles.

  As they passed, one of them nodded briefly, saying, ‘Aye, aye. Grand day,’ as if he were exchanging pleasantries with old friends, instead of total strangers. Solomon gave Lorimer a meaningful look. This was certainly a world away from their city streets.

  Then they were inside the car and all around them engines were roaring into life in the bowels of The Hebrides. There was the unmistakeable sound of wood against steel as the boat docked and Lorimer waited impatiently for the moment when he could surface again. If there was one thing that made him uneasy it was being locked in below water level like this. Maggie even teased him for his dislike of war films depicting life in a sub.

  At last it was his turn. As Lorimer accelerated off the metal ramp and onto the safety of the Tarbert streets he glanced at Solly and smiled indulgently, noticing how he twisted around to catch a glimpse of the tiny shops and houses as they passed out of town. The gesture reminded him of his wife and her zest for anything new and unfamiliar. Suddenly Lorimer wished that he, too, could recapture Maggie’s vast capacity to enjoy life. He’d lost that feeling long ago, somewhere between the back streets and the City Mortuary.

  Kirsty MacLeod’s last known Harris address was c/o Mhairi MacLeod at Borve Cottage in Rodel. There had been no telephone number. Rodel was not so far away in terms of mileage but it took Lorimer the best part of an hour before the road sign proclaimed that they had reached the village. Several times he’d had to swing into the curve of a lay-by to let another car pass. Lorimer hadn’t minded. They weren’t running to a time schedule after all, and had booked into the Rodel Hotel for one night, so all the stopping and starting had given him the opportunity to look over the coastline. The day was still fine, although he’d noticed more clouds gathering overhead. The blues and greys of sky were reflected in the water but it was the green that really struck him; everything from a dark bottle green where rocks undoubtedly lurked, to a dazzling emerald reflecting light above the white shores. The brochures hadn’t exaggerated.

  These beaches were endless swathes of white sand licked by curling waves; and not a soul to be seen.

  ‘We could be on another planet,’ Solly had murmured, gazing round from the shore to the hills crouching around them. He’d been pretty impressed by this Hebridean island and Lorimer was gratified. OK, so it was his first visit to these parts too, but he still felt proprietorial. Scotland was his country.

  Rodel, or Roghadal as the Gaelic sign proclaimed, appeared to them suddenly around yet another winding corner between the hills. A quick glance told Lorimer that he was below the infamous site of the quarry that had caused so much public dissension amongst the islanders. As they drove past a lone cottage a man rounded the side of his shed, stopped and caught their eye. Suddenly he waved and smiled. Lorimer was struck by the expression of open friendliness on the man’s face. it was as if he were welcoming them home rather than saluting a pair of strangers to his island.

  Lorimer had only moments to absorb the man’s working dungarees and shock of weather-bleached hair as they drove by. Looking in the rear view mirror, he could see the man leaning on the cottage gate, following them with his eyes. It was a small thing, maybe, but it impressed itself on Lorimer. Suddenly the city seemed light years away.

  ‘The natives are friendly,’ quipped Solly, nodding into his beard as if the incident were being filed away for future reference.

  ‘Looks like we’ve arrived,’ Lorimer replied, indicating a sign for the Rodel Hotel.

  ‘Not exactly a metropolis, is it?’ Solly joked. There had been very few houses along the road and now they were passing an old church.

  ‘That looks interesting.’

  ‘It is,’ replied Lorimer. ‘That’s not just any old church. What you have here is the ancient cathedral of Saint Clements. I fancy having a look around it while we’re here,’ he added to himself. But business would have to come first.

  The road took them on a loop and soon he was driving through a courtyard to a large edifice whose grey stones rubbed shoulders with the harbour walls. So this was Rodel; one hotel and a scattering of houses strung out along a windswept stretch of land.

  ‘Hardly surprising that Kirsty came away to the city,’ he told Solly.

  ‘Interest
ing, though,’ replied the psychologist. ‘I expect it’s a close-knit community. The sort of place where it’s well nigh impossible to keep things to your self.’ Solly gazed over the harbour wall at the stretch of ocean.

  ‘This is the sort of place where people would know each others’ secrets,’ he added, turning to raise his eyebrows at Lorimer.

  ‘See you in the bar,’ Lorimer gave Solomon a nod and made his way up the narrow stairway. He pushed open the unlocked door of his bedroom and shivered as an icy blast came from the open window. They were a hardy lot up here, then. Telling himself that he’d had enough fresh air during the crossing to last a good while, Lorimer pulled down the sash window. For a moment he looked out at the waves beating against the harbour wall. Had Kirsty MacLeod stood on that very pier watching for a boat that never came home, he wondered. He’d ask a few questions downstairs. Bars the world over were a perennial source of information.

  There was no one behind the bar although the brass clock on the wall made it after five. A faint rolling sound came from the floor beneath his feet and Lorimer guessed that a new beer cask was being brought up from the cellar. The noise grew louder and then a slim figure appeared from a door behind the bar. He was about nineteen with that fresh complexion and shock of dark hair that defines the Celt. The green T-shirt sporting a brewer’s logo showed that he was one of the staff.

  ‘Oh, hallo there. Didn’t realise there was anyone in yet. What’ll it be?’ The words came out in a breathless rush.

  ‘Vodka and tonic, please.’ Lorimer had already considered the possibility of an interview with an old Hebridean lady and he didn’t want to be smelling of drink.