by M C Beaton
"You might think of something," said Hamish. "Where's Parry?"
"How should I know?" Hamish gave up.
Outside, he said to Olivia, "We may as well try Parry later. There's a good tea shop down in the village." "I couldn't eat anything after that lunch." "We'll just have tea. Miss Black, who runs it, is very sharp. She might know something."
As they got into the police Land Rover and drove off, Hamish could see Felicity's pale face at the kitchen window, looking at them.
"This isn't a village. It's a hamlet," remarked Olivia as they drove into Glenanstey.
"And full of rude forefathers," said Hamish. Olivia surveyed the small huddle of houses. "Why would anyone want to live here?" she marvelled.
"Because it's beautiful," said Hamish testily. His little dream of himself and Olivia settling down at the Lochdubh police station was fading fast. "Well, Miss Black likes it and runs a good business. Here we are."
He parked outside the tea shop and they went in.
"You're latish," said Miss Black. "I was just thinking of closing up. But sit down. What can I get you?"
"Just tea," said Olivia.
When Miss Black bustled back with a fat pottery teapot, milk and sugar and cups, she smiled at Olivia and said, "The tea's real. No tea bags here."
"Won't you join us?" said Hamish. "This is Chief Inspector Chater from Glasgow. Although we are both officially on holiday, I'm still puzzled by poor Tommy Jarret's death."
"Yes, it is puzzling," said Miss Black, sitting down at their table. "He was so young, so confident, although always talking about seeking the meaning of life and that's apt to rob anyone of their sense of humour."
"Yes, there was talk of him being religious," said Hamish. "His Bible was never found and I wonder why. His parents would like it."
"Oh, the Bible," said Miss Black. "He left it here the day before he died."
CHAPTER NINE
This strange disease of modern life.
– Matthew Arnold
"Have you got it?" asked Hamish.
"No, I gave it to Mr. McSporran."
"When?"
"I took it over on my way to work, the day Tommy died. I was in a rush and I saw Mr. McSporran in the lower field with his sheep and so I gave it to him."
The door opened and two ramblers walked in.
"Excuse me," said Miss Black, and rose to serve them.
"We'd better go and have a look at that Bible," said Olivia.
"I don't understand." Hamish shook his head in bewilderment. "Why would Parry keep it and not say anything?"
"Maybe he did give it to Tommy, and whoever killed the boy found it and took it away. I mean, you did say you thought there ought to be more of that book he was writing. So maybe they took that away and took the Bible as well."
Hamish's face cleared. "That must be it."
Olivia frowned. "You know Parry well?"
"Yes, we're friends. I usually drop in on him for a cup of coffee when I'm out this way."
"Did not his choice of tenants strike you as odd? One junkie and one magic mushroom picker? Bit of a coincidence."
Hamish darkened. "It can't be anything more than a coincidence."
"But wouldn't it be an idea just to ask him about a few things?"
"Aye," said Hamish heavily. "Let's go."
Parry's car was once more parked outside his croft house. Hamish knocked at the door and Parry opened it.
"A few words," said Hamish.
"Right you are," said Parry cheerfully. "It's all over the place about your kidnapping. This'll be that woman inspector I read about."
"Yes, this is Olivia. We've just had tea at Miss Black's. Parry, she says she gave you Tommy's Bible on the morning of the day he died."
Parry struck his forehead. "So she did! Didn't I tell you?"
"No, you didn't. Why?"
"I'm telling you, that boy's death put it clean out of my mind."
"So may we have it, please."
"I put it out with the rubbish."
"Why?" demanded Hamish.
"Och, like I said, I had forgotten it so I didn't want to be accused of keeping it so I put it in the rubbish, like I said."
Hamish's heart was sinking by the minute. There was very little rubbish put out from a croft house. Food refuse went onto the compost heap. Paper was burned. But all Highland crofters were superstitious. None of them would burn a Bible.
"And when did you put it in the rubbish?"
"A couple of days ago."
"Look, Parry. That was withholding evidence. That was destroying evidence."
"But the case is closed!"
"You knew I had my suspicions about the lad's death. And what about the parents? Didn't you think they might have wanted their son's Bible?"
"It's no big deal, Hamish. Och, you're just showing off in front of the lady here."
Hamish loomed over him. "I'll be back, Parry."
"Where are you going?"
"Neffer you mind, Parry. Come on, Olivia."
"Where are we going?" she asked when they were in the Land Rover.
"We're going back to the police station to get a couple of powerful torches and we're going to search the council dump."
"It'll be like looking for a needle in a haystack, Hamish!"
"I've got to try."
"You know," said Olivia, "Parry's story did ring true."
"Not to me. Any decent crofter would have got in touch with me and confessed to still having that Bible if he had genuinely forgotten about it."
"So is there something fishy about him?"
"I can't think of anything but getting that Bible. There's Sean Fitzpatrick's cottage. He might lend us a couple of torches and save us going all the way home."
Hamish climbed down and Olivia stayed in the Land Rover.
"What is it now?" grumbled Sean when he answered the door. "I thought you might be getting over your adventures."
"I wondered if you could lend me a couple of strong torches," said Hamish.
"What for?"
"I'm going to search the council tip."
"That should take you about a year. What are you looking for?"
"If you must know, a Bible."
"A Bible? If it had been jewellery or money or something useful, I would have sent you to Crummy Joey."
"Who the hell's Crummy Joey?"
"He's the chief scavenger. Searches the tip for valuables."
"And where can I find him?"
"You'll find an old wooden fisherman's hut, right down on the shore near the tip. He lives there. But a Bible!"
"Have you got torches or not?"
"Oh, I suppose I'd better let you have them or I'll never get any peace."
He turned and went into the house and came back with two torches. "Return them to me in good order," he said. "And while you're at it, you might get me some spare batteries."
"All right." Hamish leapt into the Land Rover and gave the torches to Olivia.
He told her about the scavenger as they drove along. "Not very hopeful," said Olivia gloomily.
"It's a chance. Then we'll go back and grill Parry."
Olivia suppressed a sigh. She had been looking forward to preparing a dinner for Hamish and going to bed with him.
"Why don't you report it to headquarters?" she said. "They could get a squad of men out to comb the tip in the morning."
"You forget, the case is closed."
"But we're still heroes to them. They'd do it." She took out her mobile phone. "I'll call them now."
"No!" said Hamish sharply.
She studied his face in the light from the dash and then she said quietly, "You're trying to find some proof before landing your friend Parry in it."
"If we find the Bible by some miracle and there's nothing in it but scripture, then I'll return it to his parents and say no more about it."
"You didn't even ask Parry about the coincidence of having two drug addicts as tenants."
"I'll get to that
," said Hamish grimly.
At last the council tip outside Strathbane came into view in the moonlight, a wasteland of garbage above which the ever restless seagulls wheeled and dived.
"There's a wood shack over there," said Hamish, pointing to a shed of a building on the shoreline. "And there's a light on."
He drove the Land Rover as near it as he could. They climbed down and walked over the tussocky grass and then across shingle to the door of the hut.
He knocked on the door and called, "Police. Open up!"
There was a shuffling of feet inside and then the door creaked open. A truly filthy old man stood there, illuminated in the candlelight from the room behind. He was clutching a packet of biscuits. His rags were covered in biscuit crumbs.
"What do you want?"
"We're looking for something you may have picked up on the tip."
"I only get wee bits and pieces," whined Joey. "Why should I not pick up what folks are eager to throw away?"
"We're not accusing you of anything," said Olivia soothingly. "We only need your help."
"Come ben." He shuffled backwards into the malodorous hut which was crammed with old newspapers, odd bits of iron, pieces of china, biscuit packet wrappings, old tyres and various glass jars and bottles.
How long had he lived like this? wondered Olivia. His face was seamed and wrinkled and his eyes small and watery. The stink rising from his rags was choking.
"We wondered if you might have picked up a Bible," said Hamish. He and Olivia stood. There was nowhere to sit down. There was a filthy mattress in one corner and one kitchen chair on which Joey now sat, staring up at Hamish, whose bright hair brushed the ceiling.
Joey shook his head. "No Bible. And if I saw one, I wouldnae take it. Bad luck."
His voice was faint and singsong.
Olivia went over and crouched down beside Joey's chair. "We're really anxious to locate a certain Bible which was thrown away two days ago. We'd pay you for your help."
He looked at her and smiled, exposing a mouthful of white false teeth. "My, what a bonny lassie you are," he crooned. "How much?"
"A tenner."
He struggled out of the chair and Olivia stood up and backed off. "I can take you to where the latest stuff would be."
"That's grand," said Hamish.
Joey took up an old hurricane lantern and lit it with one of the candles which were stuck in wine bottles. Then he blew out the candles.
Unlike some council tips, this one was not locked, nor did it have a fence around it. With surprising agility, Joey trotted ahead with his lantern and soon they were stumbling over piles of garbage. The moon shone down and the seagulls screamed and dived. Frost was beginning to glitter on the piles of garbage. Olivia shivered and wished she had put on warmer clothes.
They reached a sort of road between the rubbish where the council trucks drove in. After about a mile of walking, Joey said, "It'll be ower here, a bittie. And probably up on top."
The latest truckloads had obviously run up a path and dumped their loads on top of the mountains of garbage already there.
Flashing their torches, Olivia and Hamish and Joey began to search. After an hour, freezing with cold, and utterly miserable, Olivia could only admire the energy of Joey, who scrabbled away, humming under his breath. She had a sudden sharp longing for the busy streets of Glasgow, the buses, the shops, all familiar territory and, above all, where she was always in control, always in charge. Ever since the drug case began, she reflected, she had felt as if she were only some sort of female sidekick to Hamish Macbeth.
Another hour. Her clothes stank and her nostrils reeked with the smell of the tip. A seagull swooped down and screamed in her ear and she let out a startled cry, lost her footing and fell backwards into a pile of kitchen waste.
"Olivia!" called Hamish. "Why don't you go back to the Land Rover and warm up?"
But the feeling that she might not be as strong or as tough as any man drove Olivia on. "I'll be all right," she said.
Her nose was beginning to run. Her eyes were beginning to run with the cold. And then she saw an edge of black leather binding. Laying the torch on the ground, she got down on her knees and scraped away the debris. It was a Bible.
Her voice croaking with cold and excitement, she shouted, "I've got a Bible."
Hamish scampered down from the top of a pile of rubbish. "I'll hold your torch. Open it."
With stiff red hands Olivia opened the Bible. "Bingo," she said. For on the flyleaf was written "Tommy Jarret."
"Let's go home and get changed," said Hamish. "We'll look at it properly at the station."
They thanked Joey and Hamish handed him a ten-pound note, which Joey tucked inside his rags and scuttled off. "Look at him go," said Hamish. "Maybe that's the secret of a long life, all day out in the open air, never ruin your skin with a bath, keep your muscles supple by running up and down piles of rubbish. I wish I'd worn my own clothes. This lot's for the cleaners. Come on. Let's get out of here."
When they returned to the police station, Olivia stripped off her clothes and put them in a canvas bag supplied by Hamish and soaked in a bath. After Hamish had a shower and dressed in fresh clothes, they went into the kitchen and stared at the Bible on the table.
"I'm almost frightened to look at it," said Hamish.
They sat down and he opened it.
Tucked between the leaves of India paper was a folded piece of A4 typing paper. Hamish carefully spread it open on the table. His face grew grim as he read it. Olivia moved her chair round next to his and looked at it as well.
"I'm keeping this for the end of my book," Tommy had written, "in case Parry looks at my computer. He's in it somewhere, this drug business. Billy, a chap I used to share a flat with, met me one day in Strathbane. I told him I had given up drugs and just wanted to get away from it all. He told me about Parry, just said he'd happened to hear of this man out of Glenanstey who had chalets to rent. Parry seemed just a simple crofter. I'd suspected something might have been going on at the Church of the Rising Sun, but they were just a lot of daft folk talking about sex. I was at a loose end and wanted to take a break from writing, so I decided to follow Parry. I didn't think there would be anything there. I was just playing at detectives. Then one day, I saw him go into Lachie's. Nobody like Parry would have gone to Lachie's for any innocent reason. The next day when he was out on the croft, I looked in his cottage. There was an admiralty map of the area and there was a circle around the entrance to Loch Drim. Then two nights later, a car arrived. I saw Lachie get out with another man and they went into Parry's cottage. I went out and crouched down and peered over the window. Parry was showing them the map. I wanted to keep all this for the book but it's too heavy. I think they were plotting the landing of drugs. Everyone knows Lachie deals drugs. That's where I got the stuff anyway. It's too scary now. I'd better go to the police. But I feel bad. Parry's been kind to me. I'll tip him a warning. He probably just recommends safe locations along the coast."
"Parry," hissed Hamish. "The bastard. Why did he do it?"
"Let's arrest the bugger and find out," said Olivia.
Parry's cottage was in darkness. Hamish hammered at the door. After a few minutes, the lights went on. The door opened.
"Parry McSporran," said Hamish. "I am arresting you for the murder of Thomas Jarret. I must caution you that…"
"You're talking rubbish," howled Parry. "This is me, your friend."
"We found the Bible at the tip."
"So? I told you I threw it out."
"There was a piece of typescript inside where Tommy described the visit you had from Lachie and, I assume, Jimmy White, and about Loch Drim circled on the admiralty chart and that he was going to the police but going to warn you first."
Parry turned white. "I neffer thought to look inside."
At headquarters in Strathbane, the whole story came out in the interrogation room as the tape whizzed.
Parry had borrowed heavily from the bank to build
the chalets and the bank was demanding he pay back the loan. He was in danger of losing his croft house. He had run into an old school friend, Hughie Grant, who was looking very prosperous. They had a drink and Parry had told Hughie about his troubles. Hughie said he could put Parry in the way of big money. When he heard it had to do with drugs, he refused. But the bank became even more pressing. He panicked. He went to see Hughie. At first it was storing drugs for them at the croft house and delivering them to certain locations. Then it was helping them to suss out locations to land the drugs. The bank loan was paid off. He told them he wouldn't be having any more to do with them but they told him the only way to retire from the trade was to die.
Then Tommy had come to him and told him he had found out about him and was going to the police but giving Parry time to make a break for it.
"It would have meant it wass all for nothing," said Parry. "I would lose my sheep, my house, my croft, everything. So I told Lachie. 'Sit tight,' he said, 'and don't interfere.' "
Parry said that two young men had called at Tommy's cottage on the day of his death. One was small, with a tattoo of a snake round one arm, and the other was tall and with his hair in a ponytail. Tommy's flatmates, thought Harnish. He had done nothing, as instructed. After a time, they left, and he went in and found Tommy dead. He had phoned Lachie. "Call the cops," Lachie had said. "He's taken an overdose."
Parry began to cry.
So much for me being a shrewd judge of character, thought Hamish bitterly.
Olivia and Hamish got to bed about ten o'clock the following morning and both fell instantly asleep, wrapped in each other's arms. Hamish awoke in the late afternoon. Olivia's hands were caressing his body.
"I don't have any condoms," he whispered.
"I've got the coil. Do you have AIDS?"
"No."
She raised herself on one elbow and smiled down at him. "Then what are you waiting for, copper?"
Blair was sitting at an AA meeting in Inverness on Ness Bank. Outside the windows, the river flowed lazily past. The man behind him nudged him in the ribs. "Oh," said Blair, "I'd rather just listen." If you swine think I'm going to join you and tell you anything about me, you've got another think coming, he thought.
