The Darkness Within

by Alanna Knight

  Thane and the glove had not been needed. The grim possibility was now almost a certainty, as Meg said: ‘I wonder who could have been here? It’s been my secret and I’ve never told anyone about it.’

  ‘Except Sven, remember,’ said Magnus. ‘He was always so interested in Edinburgh history.’

  ‘But he was one of us and he promised not to tell,’ Meg continued indignantly while Magnus looked at the grown-ups, with a question unasked. He was a jump or two ahead of them. He knew that Sven was a bad man who had tried to kill him. He had his own terrifying experience of the young man the grown-ups thought so wonderful.

  Faro thanked Meg, who said: ‘I hope you enjoyed it, Grandpa. The caves are such fun.’ She thought he looked rather tired and took his hand as they scrambled down, back home to be offered cups of tea and newly-baked scones by Sadie.

  Such normality seemed strange to Rose and Faro, their appetites dulled. Emily and Imogen had to be told. Imogen listened unsurprised as Faro said: ‘We need to get Jack.’

  Emily said: ‘You don’t know for certain that there’s … there’s anyone in the cave. It could be a landslide.’ They looked at her pityingly, still trying to find excuses, reluctant to believe what lay behind those stones.

  Sadie was sent off on Rose’s bicycle to the Central Office. Jack had been out but would get Faro’s note to ‘come at once’ when he returned. Rose groaned, knowing only too well what that meant. ‘We might be in for a long wait,’ she said as they sat around the table and tried to pretend that this was just another ordinary day.

  Faro was strangely quiet, thoughtful. Rose looked at him, realising that he had some plan regarding Sven in mind.

  Imogen took them aside. ‘Emily can’t stay here, it is too cruel for her. I’ll think of a good excuse. We might take the children to Portobello again. What do you think?’ They looked at her gratefully. Emily’s misery was heart-rending; torn between angry denial and defence of Sven, it was a relief when she left with them.

  An hour later, Jack rushed in. ‘That note. What’s happened?’ His first thought was the children, and in particular, Meg.

  Faro told him about the cave and what they believed that it contained. He listened grimly. ‘Right. I hope you’re wrong, but off we go.’

  Rose said, ‘I’m coming too.’ The two men looked at her and shook their heads. ‘I’ve seen more dead bodies than either of you. Remember I lived in Arizona for ten years. Fought off Apaches and cattle rustlers.’

  ‘No,’ Faro said firmly and Jack added: ‘This is no picnic, Rose. Imogen and Emily and the children will be back soon. Meg will want to know where you’ve gone.’

  It was a lame excuse, but Rose had to abide by it, however reluctantly.

  Faro and Jack were very silent on their way up the hill and removing the stones, they found what they were dreading. A still figure at the back of the cave, with long fair hair falling over her face. Bruise marks on her neck indicated that she had been strangled – Sven’s work – and beside her the valise he said she had been carrying to the railway station. A pathetic collection of the few possessions she had acquired through Emily.

  Jack said he would notify the police station and have the body removed. An inquest and a search for the killer would follow.

  ‘Can I ask you a favour?’ said Faro. ‘She hasn’t been dead long and I have a plan to save you searching for her killer. Its success lies in the fact that Sven has not the slightest idea that we have discovered Alice’s identity, thanks to Imogen’s memory about meeting her on the royal yacht.’

  ‘A stroke of luck that was.’

  ‘Indeed, but he thinks he has got away with it. However, one important factor remains. The vital link: the Yesnaby Jewel and the reason for all this. He didn’t take it with him – Emily still has it and we can be fairly sure, according to her, that he will come back for it. Before Saturday when he believes she is going back to Orkney.’

  Jack had listened, frowning. ‘And so I am to conceal a murder?’

  ‘Only to capture the murderer.’

  Jack sighed. ‘You sound very sure and you’re very persuasive.’

  ‘You’ll do it?’

  ‘It’s very irregular. Totally against all the rules.’

  ‘For one policeman from another?’

  They both grinned and Jack said: ‘If you are wrong, my job might be in peril. Whatever happens, we would do well to be watchful in Solomon’s Tower.’

  He had alerted the authorities in Kirkwall, although they thought that Sven’s plan to go there was merely a lie to fool Emily. ‘If he had got hold of the jewel he would be on his way to London or God only knows where, somewhere far away where he could cash in the priceless jewel for a lot more than a thousand pounds. As it’s still here, that’s a different story.

  ‘But for his plan to succeed, there’s a time limit. And that is what we are banking on.’

  What an end to the holiday, an extraordinary holiday it had turned out to be. And what lay ahead in the remaining days?

  It was the discovery of Alice’s body that finally jolted Emily back to reality, from her fantasy world that had allowed herself to be gulled by a ruthless killer.

  ‘And who knows,’ said Rose, who had long since run out of patience, ‘you might be next. You still have the jewel and he promised you that he would come back.’

  ‘For me,’ Emily whispered and shook her head. ‘To get married, spend the rest of our lives together, that’s what he said. And I believed him, believed that he had always loved me. Oh God, it’s so awful.’

  Rose said to Faro: ‘I wonder when his audacious plan began, when he lured Lindsay Minton into playing the part of Alice Yesnaby?’

  Faro thought about that. ‘If we presume he has always been after the jewel, then it was triggered off by this impending visit from Erland’s relative, who none of them had ever met, their sole communication Christmas cards through the years.’

  He sighed. ‘Have no doubt that we are dealing with a very clever fellow and not one afraid to take a gamble on high odds. Let’s imagine that the moment he rescued the Minton girl—’

  ‘You think that was the truth?’

  ‘Yes, with maybe a few exaggerations for our benefit.’

  ‘Did he immediately think she could be Alice, and put the plan to her when they were sleeping together at the hotel?’ Rose said.

  ‘She was probably besotted with him, ready to do anything. And if persuasion failed, if she declined, then he might remind her that he had helped her get rid of the obnoxious Mr Smith by hitting him over the head, robbing him and pushing him into the sea at Kirkwall.’ Faro shrugged. ‘A little none too gentle blackmail and aware that she was in a tight situation, his final persuasion was no doubt that he had a plan by which they could get a thousand pounds and set up the rest of their lives together. Criminal, of course, but to a woman in love …’

  He paused and they avoided thinking of Emily as Rose said, ‘So we have the set-up: Alice appears at Yesnaby but we are leaving for Edinburgh so Emily suggests, as she has come a long distance and wouldn’t want to stay there alone, she should join us. She tells Sven and part two of the plan is in operation. Emily is taking the jewel to Edinburgh and, always careless about its safety, he has this brilliant notion that Alice should steal it and get a jeweller to buy it for that thousand pounds.’

  Faro shook his head. ‘But as with the best laid plans o’ mice and men, it doesn’t work out that way. What neither realise until Mr Jacobs tells her is that the jewel is priceless. What can anyone do with a priceless jewel? They must reach a collector, a very rich man or an entrepreneur, possibly in London or New York, since it is not negotiable in the marketplace.

  ‘I think it was somewhere about this time that Sven ran out of patience. The end of the Edinburgh holiday was in sight, Emily and the jewel would be returning to Yesnaby, but most dangerous of all, his accomplice was losing her nerve, terrified every day that Imogen might remember that they had met on the royal yacht. He is scare
d and there is only one solution: persuade Emily of his undying affection and kill off the bogus Alice.’

  Rose said: ‘Maybe he always intended to get rid of her, once he had the money to move on to other pastures.’

  ‘One thing he still doesn’t know is that Imogen has recognised her, told us and that we have put the pieces together. And that is to our advantage.’

  Emily came in and slumped down at the table beside them. Faro looked at her with compassion. She said: ‘I owe you all an apology. I just hope you find him. All those lies he told me and, fool that I was, I believed him. Always ready to help, so calm, so smiling.’ She shook her head. ‘Do you know, I have only once, in the two years he has been with us, seen him lose his temper. A terrible, frightening rage. We all get angry sometimes, but this was scary because it was so unlike him.’

  ‘When was that?’ Faro asked.

  ‘After the reading of Erland’s will. I felt sorry for him because he obviously felt cheated that he should have been left more than a small yearly pension. He expected a lot more than that. I tried to say something consoling and he just glared at me and said: “After all I have been.”’

  Reporting this scene to Jack, he merely nodded and Rose asked: ‘Tell me, what was it you had against Erland?’

  He gave her a surprised look. ‘What do you mean? I had nothing against him.’

  ‘But you knew something about him. I could tell when you went silent and thoughtful.’

  Jack sighed. ‘Oh, I might as well tell you, but for God’s sake don’t tell Emily. She’s got enough to bear and this is something I wouldn’t want her to know – ever. When you were visiting them, the year Magnus was born, one of our older officers was from Orkney and I happened to mention that you were related to the Yesnabys. “Oh, is she?” he said. “We once handled a paternity case, a woman from Norway claimed Erland Yesnaby was her son’s father. No proof, of course, letters and that sort of thing, and the lad would have been grown up by then.” So it was dropped, but I gather Erland had a soft heart or a bad conscience and sent her some money, which was probably the reason for her claim. She wanted more, to keep her mouth shut.’

  Rose’s eyes widened. ‘If Sven was Erland’s son, it explains why he was so furious that he had been more or less cut out of the will. He must have hated Erland for not acknowledging him.’

  ‘And it is still the most popular motive for murder.’ He thought for a moment and added firmly: ‘You know, he might even have murdered him, I’ve never thought of that before, but as a passionate gardener he probably had access to a number of unidentifiable poisons. So easy, too. And Dr Randall was taken aback that this strong, healthy man should have gone into his garden for an afternoon nap and taken a heart attack. It would never have occurred to him that there was anything suspicious when he signed the death certificate.’

  ‘The only way to prove it would be to exhume poor Erland.’

  ‘We can’t do that to Emily, she’s had more than enough. Or to John Randall, the scandal would probably end his career.’

  ‘The possibility that Sven killed Erland – I’m just thinking—’

  ‘I know what you’re thinking – so am I – that he tried to kill Magnus, the son and heir, drown him on Duddingston Loch, and before that, leave him in the sea cave.’

  Rose’s eyes widened in horror as she remembered. ‘And that left only Emily.’

  ‘Killing her would be risky. So how about marrying her, instead? No problem there. She loves – loved – him, and then he could arrange to do something that’s quite usual with second marriages: get the will changed so that if Magnus died without issue – a ten-year-old boy – then Yesnaby would come to him.’

  Rose said: ‘I wouldn’t give much for Magnus’s survival without Thane having been there to keep him from drowning.’

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  The family gathered – Emily absent, still too shocked to take part in the discussion that followed – and when Jack told them that Sven was probably Erland’s son, he added, ‘She must never know.’

  Faro said, ‘I think we have Sven’s motive for all this at last: traditionally the most compelling reason for murder. If Jack can be persuaded to keep silent on the discovery of the girl’s body for the moment, I have a plan. But for it to succeed, it is vital that Sven does not see policemen swarming over Arthur’s Seat.’

  Jack wasn’t keen on the idea but Faro was certain that he was lurking about Edinburgh in cheap lodgings, lying low, awaiting the right moment to strike. Jack had confirmed this by studying the list of ships’ passengers sailing from Leith to Kirkwall. Sven Johannson wasn’t among them and it was unlikely he would have not given his right name, since he had no reason to be fearful.

  There was a time limit. Sven had to appear before the end of the week to claim Emily and the jewel, before she and Magnus returned to Orkney.

  They were eager to know how Faro intended to trap Sven. And horrified that he intended using himself as bait.

  ‘You can’t do that, Pa,’ Rose protested.

  He looked at her. ‘I can. And I know what I’m doing. It won’t be the first time I’ve trapped a killer.’

  She wanted to say: but you were young then. Now you’re an old man. Sven is young, strong, less than half your age. but she knew he would never listen. And Imogen could have added, he never did.

  The plan was when Sven came back, with some excuse about not going to Orkney, after all, he would have thought of something to convince Emily – he had been thinking about her, wanting her so much, just to be near her – to go back to Yesnaby together.

  ‘You have a gun?’ Faro asked Rose. She nodded and he said: ‘Keep it at hand, just in case.’

  She said: ‘You’re mad trying something like this.’

  ‘Am I? He wants the jewel. The plan is that I will have it – or so he believes. I’ll need Emily’s help, if she hasn’t changed her mind about him, and Jack’s to set the trap.’

  Rose groaned. ‘Oh, Pa, please, please don’t. There must be some other way.’

  ‘Then name it, but be sharp about it.’

  ‘At least take Thane with you.’

  ‘He comes with me. We both like the Radical Road in the early morning. Don’t look like that, Rose. It’s a perfectly simple plan. Told that I have the jewel he follows me on to the Crags. Remember, he has no idea that we know the truth about him. As far as he is concerned he is going to meet me, and with a fresh pack of lies, get that jewel. What he doesn’t realise or remember is that there is only one exit to the park from the Crags, down the hill, and that’s where Jack and the police will be waiting to arrest him for the murder of Lindsay Minton. Now, I have to talk to Emily. The success of it all depends on her.’

  He was glad to see that she was looking stronger, more resolute. She was his daughter and he believed she could be relied upon to find an inner strength, assuring him that she wanted this man who had tried to drown her son, put behind bars. He didn’t tell her that murder was a hanging matter.

  ‘If I am to catch him, your help is crucial. There is a time limit. He believes you are sailing for Kirkwall on Friday, the day after tomorrow. He has to come for you …’ He paused seeing her wince at the memory, in the death of a dreamt-of future.

  ‘Solomon’s Tower is perfect for watching anyone approaching by the road, so when we spot him, you and Imogen and Rose must do your best to keep him occupied and give me time to start off for the Crags. Just act normal. Once you tell him that I have the jewel, he’ll set off after me.’

  He sounded so confident they gave up trying to dissuade him. A terrifying plan and Rose thought it was insane, that it could never work, and what was finding a killer, solving those mysteries that had beset them in Orkney, compared with throwing away his life?

  She begged Imogen to intervene. But Imogen merely shrugged sadly. ‘He is Faro. You cannot change that. God knows I’ve tried.’

  The trap was set. All that remained were those endless hours of waiting. In vain it se
emed, with a mere twenty-four before Emily and Magnus were booked on the ship sailing for Kirkwall.

  Sven knew that but would he come? What if he had changed his mind, thought of a different way to get the jewel? If Faro’s plan failed and he had made up his mind to follow them to Orkney, once Jack told the police about the body in the cave, it would be another murder investigation with himself in charge of a hunt for the killer.

  As for Faro and Rose, they would be out of it, on their separate ways again, Faro travelling with Imogen, and Rose as a lady investigator, two detectives with their mysteries solved but without that most important conclusion, their personal capture of the killer.

  The hours grew short, their tensions increased and it was vital now to take turns watching the road from the upstairs window. At the first sighting, Faro would be out of the door, across the garden and up the hill to the Radical Road.

  Reaching the door, Sven would find it bolted, providing more delay for Faro. Emily would make excuses, apologise saying that there had been high winds and it was constantly blowing open, that it needed fixing.

  Hearts beating fast, and even better than they had hoped, he appeared on the road early that morning while the children were still abed. Rose and Emily sighed. That was a relief, their presence might have caused complications and Sadie had been sent home for the weekend.

  As footsteps approached, Emily was preparing to delay unbolting the door. All seemed right, all going to plan.

  Except for the fog. The early-morning fog, a wisp of it drifting down from Arthur’s Seat, their unseen enemy no one had taken into account.

  Imogen and Rose saw it creeping across to Faro as he covered the distance to Salisbury Crags, while downstairs Emily had opened the door, let Sven in, giving excuses for the delay.

  He sat down and was offered tea. The kettle was on the boil and his eyes narrowed when Imogen and Rose appeared. This was not what he had wanted; he had hoped to find Emily on her own. He was biting his lip, his patience fraying.