There was no sign whatever of a Viking house. The lawn ran smooth from one side of the garden to the other, with the clothes pole in the middle. We were just standing looking over the wall at it when the woman downstairs came out. I recognised her as the one who’d taken our soup orders up at the hall, and smiled. ‘That was a most splendid lunch up at the hall.’
‘Yea, yea. I’m blyde you enjoyed it.’
‘I’d a thought you’d still be washing up.’
‘Oh, these modern dishwashers, the clearing up’s no the chore it used to be.’ She leant on the fence in a prepared-to-chat way. ‘Dishes in, twa minutes, dishes out, and dried in twa minutes more. All you hae to do is put them away. Besides, I hae me visitors to look after.’ She nodded backwards at the house. ‘We’re been busy all this summer. I had a family staying, from Belgium, and a German man, and a woman from Scotland for two days, and now I’ve an Italian lady. It’s been non-stop. What thought you to the desserts, now?’
‘Delicious,’ I assured her. ‘I had the sticky toffee pudding, but I wanted to try them all.’
‘And what’s come o’ your cat?’
‘I left him up at the hall, while we walked down to look at—’ I gestured to her smooth lawn. ‘Nothing to see now.’
‘Yea, they filled it all in,’ she said. ‘The Time Team dig.’
‘A Viking house,’ I said.
‘A lock o’ folk come to see it. The end of it was under our clothes line, then the foundations run under the house. It’s a pity they hid it all, but apparently that’s what they aye do. They didna hae time to stabilise it, or whatever they call it. They did do a board though, there.’
She led us over to have a look. The interpretative board had photos of a covered drain, a wall, a floor lined with dark blue schist, and a polished platter, big enough to serve a whole family, made of dark green soapstone.
‘The big plate, that’s in the museum now, in Lerwick.’ Archaeology finished, she changed tack. ‘Whereabouts are you from?’
‘Muckle Roe,’ I said. ‘But I’ve spent the time since I left school on board ships.’
‘Aye, aye. I ken you now. Your father’s involved wi’ the wind farms.’
I nodded, and hoped the conversation wasn’t going to get controversial, but it seemed she just wanted to place me on her mental map of the residents of Shetland. ‘If you’re interested in archaeology,’ she said, ‘you might want to take a look at the muckle wall. Finnigurt.’
The Finns again. There was a massive land and sea search, but nobody was found, or any sign of them, and in the end we just had to agree that we’d miscounted …
She pointed. ‘It’s just ower there.’
‘I don’t think we have time,’ I said. ‘We’re signed up for the hnefatafl contest.’
‘Ah, you’ll enjoy that. Well, have a fine afternoon.’
We chorused our thanks and headed back up the hill.
The hall had been transformed again. Now the stage had ‘World Hnefatafl Championship’ blazoned along it, and the marshals for the event were dressed in full Viking rig. The tables had been laid with new white cloths, glasses and water jugs. The hnefatafl boards and bags of players were set out. There was a water urn in the corner, with cups beside it and several trays of fancies, covered with snowy-crisp dishcloths. Each table had a number, and there was a list on the door of where each player was to sit.
Geir had done a good job of publicising on board, so there were sixty-four on the list, divided into eight groups of eight. They’d put the ship’s crew against each other, I noticed, with the serious players in a separate league. I did the arithmetic: game one would give four winners at each table, game two, two double winners, game three, one group champion, and then the champions of each group would play each other, putting the best of us sailors against the real enthusiasts. Five games, allowing forty-five minutes for each, took us till 18.15. I expected to be knocked out early on, giving me time to relax before I was due back on duty at 16.00.
Cat was still on his sunny windowsill. He recognised me coming up to the door, and gave his silent miaow in greeting, but didn’t bother to move. I went over and stroked him, then looked for my place. The Danish husband, Carl, was my first opponent. Gavin was at the table next door, against Mona. I wished him good luck, then sat down at my number, smiled at Carl, and repeated my thought. ‘Beginners together.’
‘A good thing.’ He looked across at Geir, on the serious tables, setting out his pieces with a determined air. ‘Geir has inspired almost all of our watch.’
There was an odd emphasis on almost. I looked at Carl with more interest. So far I’d only really noticed him as the non-sailing spouse. His wife, Signe, was keen and reliable, first to volunteer even for galley duty, and when she was on watch, she stayed there, no matter how cold it was on the foredeck. Carl had taken part in an unenthusiastic way, giving the impression of quite enjoying himself, but not bowled over by the tall ship experience as Signe’s shining eyes showed she was. His eyes were sharp enough, set close together over his thin-bridged nose, and constantly shifting, like a herring gull eyeing up a chip packet. He might not have thrown himself into the sailing, but he’d have kept a keen eye on the emotional ins and outs aboard the ship.
He justified that opinion by a glance at Alain, over on another table, then one back at Gavin. ‘Your partner?’
‘Gavin,’ I said. Experience of Inga’s mother-in-law, the gossipiest woman on the west side, prompted me to add voluntarily, ‘He’s a police officer here in Scotland.’ To give information not only saved you the third degree but meant that the right story might get round the first three circles of people it spread to.
His sand-brown brows rose. ‘Police?’ I’d expected him to glance at Oliver, or Daniel, but oddly his gaze went straight to Frederik Berg, the fireman. ‘Oy, oy.’
‘Off duty.’ I reached for the bag with the little resin figures in it and tipped them out. ‘Attack or defence?’
‘We have to toss a coin. The person who gets the face side is the king.’
I fished a coin from my pocket, tossed it, and found myself looking at the Queen’s profile. ‘I’m defence.’
We reached for our figures and began placing them in position. The warriors wore round helmets and clasped long swords in front of them, while my king, twice the size of his minions, had a patterned shield below his forked beard, a short blade, a flowing cloak, and a helmet with the nosepiece moulded over the crown.
The games I’d watched had shown me the importance of keeping your opponent guessing. It didn’t matter if you had to sacrifice a warrior or two; kings were ruthless. My strategy would be to keep my warriors moving outwards, into a different corner each time, until my king had a protected near-corner space to move into. After that, it would be a matter of fine-tuning until he was safely in his ‘den’.
It worked a treat. As Carl moved his tan warriors to counter each of my moves, I whizzed another warrior into a different corner, keeping an eye all the time on where I could move my king. It didn’t help Carl that he was chatting instead of concentrating, that ‘not really trying’ pose that saved his pride should a woman beat him.
‘Odd that Laura didn’t want to come and play,’ he said. He shot a glance at me out of his narrow eyes. ‘Maybe she just wanted to get away for a while.’ He took a warrior I’d placed casually in his reach. ‘You’ve got a ship’s doctor on board, haven’t you?’
I made another casual-seeming move into a different corner. ‘Should we be worried about her?’ I was worrying already, but as a member of her watch, he might have seen a side of her that was hidden to us officers.
‘Well … I think she’s fragile. Her brother keeps a close eye on her, have you noticed?’ He made a move that seemed random. I studied it for repercussions while he kept talking. ‘A touch of paranoia … have you ever mentioned cars to her?’
I gave him a blank look. ‘Cars?’
‘Well, I did … oh, just in passing, yesterday. I asked
her what kind of car she drove, and it seemed to trigger off something.’ He leant towards me and lowered his voice. ‘She said she used to drive, but she’d got rid of her car now. It was too easy to tamper with. Those were her very words. What do you think of that?’
I moved my warrior to confront his on a safe diagonal. Too easy to tamper with. The parents had died in an unexplained car crash. ‘What a strange thing to say.’
‘That’s what I thought.’ He moved another warrior up to the one I’d placed so temptingly, freeing the space I needed. ‘She said she took taxis in town, and trains for longer journeys. She only hired a car if she really needed one, from a different car firm each time, on the day she wanted it, just turning up and taking what they had.’
It sounded paranoid, the way he was putting it, but I was accustomed to Inga’s mother making a full suit of clothes from a scrap of cloth. I tried to think of a way in which it could be reasonable. I’d heard people say it was cheaper to take taxis than keep a car in town. The car hire thing could be made up for extra excitement; I couldn’t see why Laura would tell these details to a stranger, even allowing for the intimacy of a quiet dawn hour on foredeck watch together, with just you and the sea all around you. I kept my eyes on his, and nodded. ‘But what was she afraid of?’ On the board, my hand moved the king smoothly to his new position, one move off the corner.
He shook his head, and took the warrior I’d left exposed. ‘That was all she said. Too easy to tamper with. Maybe she’s one of these people who’s got obsessed with terrorists.’
Terrorist threats these days were a stranger driving a car into a crowd, not a booby-trapped car. No. Laura feared someone closer to home. I needed to repeat all this, germ of truth and embroidery, to Gavin. ‘Well,’ I said, ‘maybe you’re right, she just needs time to herself. I’m sure she’ll turn up soon.’
He looked across my shoulder. ‘Her brother’s not saying anything, but you can see he’s worried, the way he keeps looking at the door.’
I turned. Yes, Oliver’s laugh was forced, and even in the half minute I looked at him, he glanced over at the door twice. I turned my head back to my own table, moved my king into the corner I’d set up for him, and surveyed the board with satisfaction. I had a nice group of little warriors ready to move in around him, and even if Carl did his best to take them, I reckoned I’d still won the game.
He saw now what I’d done, and pored over the board. While he thought, I flicked a glance over at Daniel. He had that same air of uneasiness, although he was hiding it better than Oliver, but every snick as the door opened had him forcing himself not to glance up.
Carl nodded to himself and brought his first tan warrior over, but it was too late. It took another dozen moves of slaughter on both sides, but I kept moving my protective warriors in, and managed at last to place the three I needed around my cornered king. Game over; twenty-five minutes.
Carl took losing well. ‘Good game,’ he said. ‘The speed’s the thing, isn’t it? Moving swiftly.’
‘Luck,’ I said. I stood up and stretched. Around us, a good number of players had also finished their games, or were fighting that last battle. Gavin was leaning forward, chatting to his opponent; I could see the king had won there also, but I didn’t know which side Gavin had been playing.
A bell rang and one of the Vikings stood up. ‘I see you’re all finished that game, so we’ll move on to the next round. Winners play winners at your table; losers, you can play each other, or sit a game out and get a cup of tea or coffee. Don’t forget to fetch one to the players. Or, of course, you can head off to explore our beautiful island, whichever you fancy. The shuttle bus is still at the door, and it’s a fine day outside. Round two.’
He struck his bell again, and I looked around me. I’d been too clever for my own good; now I was up against Frederik Berg, and this time I found myself with the tan warriors, attacking. He was following the strategy I’d used, but I could see he was thinking several moves ahead, so that every accidental-seeming placing meant I couldn’t take his warrior without having my own swiped from behind. His king was in its corner with three ivory warriors guarding him, and most of my pieces left standing forlornly outside the board edge, in sixteen minutes.
‘Neat,’ I said. ‘Will I bring you a cup of tea?’
He made a face and fished in his rucksack for a can of Diet Coke.
I checked my watch. Nearly half past three. It was time I headed for the ship. I went over to Gavin first, to see how he was doing. His opponent was a red watch trainee, and from the numbers of warriors taken, the game looked pretty even. Gavin was attacking, and his pieces were gathered around the centre, so that the king was trapped within his men. It looked like a war of attrition was brewing, with each picking off the other’s men one by one. It didn’t look as if the king could make it to a corner now, but he could still be surrounded in the centre. An intense game; I was vaguely surprised Gavin hadn’t brought out his fly-tying kit, as he did with suspects whose attention he wanted to distract, but perhaps it wasn’t counted honourable under these circumstances.
I laid a hand on Gavin’s shoulder. ‘I’m heading for the ship.’
He nodded. ‘If I win this game, I’ll need to stay put. Otherwise, I’ll call from shore for you to fetch me.’
I nodded and left him to it.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Cat had slipped out during the change-over. I had no doubt I’d find him in the hall grounds, watching birds. I paused at the tea trolley to pick up an angel cake and a piece of millionaire’s shortbread for an on-duty snack. I was just folding them into a napkin when Oliver came forward with that air of someone who doesn’t want to make a fuss, but has decided something needs done. He went straight up to Captain Sigurd, surveying us all benevolently from the organisers’ table on the stage, and spoke softly to him. The captain listened, asked a question, and Oliver replied with a headshake and a vehement gesture of his hands. The captain lifted his head and looked around until his gaze rested on me. He nodded, and I walked over.
‘Ms Lynch, Mr Eastley is concerned that his sister hasn’t come back yet. You were on the island all morning. Did you see Miss Eastley in your walk?’
‘No, sir,’ I said. I’d leave it to Gavin to talk about blood.
‘Please ask your watch if they saw her.’
Petter and Mona were playing each other at Gavin’s table. I went over to them and said softly, ‘I don’t suppose any of you saw Laura in your travels?’ Gavin didn’t turn his head, but I knew he was listening. ‘She’s not back, and her brother’s worried.’
Petter shook his head, but Mona nodded. ‘She walked from here towards the bird loch.’
‘On her own?’
‘No, with a woman from one of the other watches.’ That jogged my memory. I’d seen her going off too. ‘They said they’d walk first, to stretch their legs, and get the bus back if they felt tired.’
‘What woman?’ I asked. ‘Is she here?’
Mona glanced round the tables, took a second long, slow look, then shook her head. ‘I don’t think so. I didn’t notice her particularly. She was smaller than Laura, and wore a knitted cap. Not one of our watch. That’s all I remember.’
I went back to the captain. ‘She went east, sir, on foot, with another woman, from the blue or red watch. She’s not here either.’
‘Laura often skips lunch,’ Oliver said, ‘so I’m not worried, exactly.’ His face showed that he was. ‘Maybe she and this other woman were having fun watching birds or something, rather than coming back here. But I’d have thought she’d want to see the tournament.’
Captain Sigurd’s gaze returned to me, then moved to Alain. I could see he thought it was a fuss over nothing, but he had to do the right thing. ‘Ms Lynch, can you ask Mr Martin to come over. Then convey my compliments to Ms Solheim and say I would be obliged if she would join me here.’ I rolled my eyes mentally at this careful grading of officers, and went off to Alain. His warriors had just surrounded Johan’
s king, and they were shaking hands over the scattered bodies. ‘The captain wants you,’ I said, and headed for Agnetha, to convey Captain Sigurd’s compliments.
‘I would like you, Ms Solheim, to take over the ship,’ he said, once we were gathered around him. ‘Ms Lynch is more familiar with this terrain. Ms Lynch, Mr Martin, take your watch leaders and ABs and split into four pairs. Take the bus to the east and west of the island, have a walk about, and see if there’s any sign of Miss Eastley.’ He turned to the organiser beside him. ‘A preliminary look – they should be away only the duration of one game. If there is no sign of her in the obvious places, then we will need to take our search further.’
The organiser nodded. ‘I’ll look at how we can reorganise once you’ve taken the people you need.’
‘Should I go too?’ Oliver said.
I had a knee-jerk reaction against that, and spoke out of turn. ‘We’ll have plenty. Four pairs.’
The captain silenced me with a look. ‘I think, Mr Eastley, you would be better here. Be assured my crew will do everything they can to make sure your sister isn’t on the hill with a twisted ankle.’
If that was all … I needed to give Gavin the chance to mention the shot we’d heard, the blood he’d found. On top of that, I needed to tell the captain about the extra person who’d come off the ship. While they were just roaming around, it did no harm; I’d already determined that I’d personally count everyone back on board. But now, with Laura missing … I waited until he acknowledged me. ‘Sir, I think we may have two people unaccounted for.’
His brows rose. ‘Ms Lynch?’
I explained. ‘I counted fifty-seven off the ship, and five left aboard. Somehow we had an extra trainee.’
Death on a Shetland Isle Page 15
