Shona shook her head and said, ‘Lawrence went
to the island that day and he’s still there. The boat hasn’t come back, so it couldn’t have been him … but whoever asked for the return of the parcel had
Lawrence’s ID
…
How could that happen?’
Bannerman felt sure that Shona was as capable as
he of answering that question.
The implications of what they had just learned
hung above Bannerman and Shona like a guillotine.
Whoever had been after Gill had found him.
‘You know what was in that parcel don’t you?’
said Shona, thinking she could read the look in Bannerman’s eyes.
‘No,’ replied Bannerman, truthfully, but his mind was lingering over the missing brains. Is that what had happened to them? Had Gill tried to send them
to the MRC in London? But why? And who had
stopped the parcel being collected? And why, again?
All of a sudden he felt afraid. The questions were
coming thick and fast and he could think of none
of the answers.
SIX
Bannerman followed Shona down the stone steps
leading from the harbour wall to the water. He held
the little white boat while she got on board and clam
bered up to the stern to prime the outboard engine.
‘I hope you’re a decent sailor,’ she said. ‘It might
be a bit rough out there.’
‘
I’ll do,’ replied Bannerman.
Shona pulled the cord for the fourth time and the
engine spluttered into life. She gave it a moment
or two to warm up and settle down into an even
rhythm, then cast off the securing ropes. Bannerman
pushed the boat clear of the side and they were
off. Gulls wheeled overhead as they cleared the
harbour mouth and headed for the open sea with the boat picking up motion as its bow took the
waves head on.
‘I didn’t ask you what you did for a living,’ said
Bannerman, raising his voice to be heard above the
sound of the engine and the sea.
‘I’m an artist,’ Shona replied, using her free hand to keep her hair from her eyes.
‘An artist?’
‘Why so surprised?’
‘I suppose I assumed you had some connection
with medicine or science,’ said Bannerman.
‘Because of Lawrence,’ said Shona. ‘In a way
you’re right. I trained as a physiotherapist before
chucking it up to go to art college in Dundee. I
met Lawrence when we were both working in a
hospital there.’
‘And you had an affair.’
That’s what the world would call it,’ said Shona.
‘What would you call it?’
‘We loved each other, but he was married,’ replied
Shona.
‘So why didn’t he leave his wife?’
‘Are you married?’ asked Shona.
‘No.’
‘I didn’t think so, somehow,’ said Shona.
‘What does that mean?’
‘Some things aren’t as simple as other people imagine. Lawrence had two small children and a
wife who was entirely dependent on him. He simply
married the wrong person. Lots of people do and
they don’t all rush off to the divorce courts. People
like Lawrence grin and bear it; it’s in their nature.’
‘People like Lawrence?’
‘Nice people, but weak. Lawrence wouldn’t have
hurt a sparrow let alone another human being.’
‘Who ended the affair?’
‘I did, but we stayed friends. We write once or
twice a year and if he needs a soul mate, he
calls me.’
Bannerman nodded. He changed the subject. ‘Can
you make a living as an artist?’ he asked.
‘Depends what you call a living,’ smiled Shona. ‘I illustrate children’s books and get the odd commis
sion from
Mammon.
It’s a bit erratic but it allows me
to do what I want to do.’
‘Which is?’
‘To live on the island, paint, take the boat out when
I want to, feel the wind, see the sky.’
‘Sounds all right,’ said Bannerman.
‘What about you?’
‘What about me?’
‘Are you doing what you want to do?’
Bannerman found himself caught unawares at the
question. ‘I suppose so,’ he said, ‘I’ve never really
thought about it.’
‘You should,’ said Shona, steering the boat head
on to the shingle beach they were approaching. At the last moment she swung the motor out of
the water so that it wouldn’t foul the bottom and
waited until the boat had grounded before leaping out into the shallows and pulling on the bow rope. Bannerman got out with a deal less elegance and
helped her pull the boat up on to the shore.
‘The cottage is up at the top on the western edge,’
said Shona as they looked up at the cliff towering broodily above them.
The wind, which had been quite strong at ground
level, increased as they made their way up the nar
row cliff path, and was positively fierce at the top.
They kept well away from the edge as they battled up to the cottage to find the back door flapping open and
banging against the wall. They entered, discovering
the groceries that Gill had brought to the island lying
on the floor. They appeared to be untouched. A
search of the cottage yielded no signs of Gill or any
indication that he had been staying there.
Bannerman found some footprints in the grime on
the kitchen floor and deduced that more than one
person had walked on it recently. ‘I think someone
must have been waiting for him when he arrived,’
he said.
‘Maybe they took him back to the mainland,’
suggested Shona.
‘Maybe,’ agreed Bannerman, but the doubt he felt
showed in his voice. If Gill had been caught by his
pursuers near the top of a cliff … He said that he
was going to take a look around outside.
Bannerman crawled up further to the very western
edge of the cliff top and looked down. He saw what he had almost expected to see, a man’s broken body
lying draped over the rocks below at an unnatural
angle because of broken bones. Plumes of spray
were breaking over it. Bannerman, who was lying
on his stomach, brought his arms round in front of his face and rested his head on them for a moment. There was a hollow feeling in his stomach that he didn’t like at all. He wondered just what he had got
himself into.
Bannerman broke the news to Shona in the cot
tage. She stood before him with moistness in her
eyes and an air of beguiling vulnerability. She said, ‘I suppose I knew. As soon as Kirstie told
me about the man using Lawrence’s ID and the
business of the parcel …’ Her voice trailed off in
sadness.
‘
I’m sorry,’ said Bannerman, seeing that she was hurting.
Shona took a deep breath and recovered her
composure. ‘What now?’ she asked, dabbing her
eyes dry.
‘We’ll have to tell the authorities when we get
back. They can recover the body and do what they
have to do in such cases.’
Neither of them spoke much on the trip back to
North Uist but just before they entered the harbour
at Ralsay, Shona said, ‘You will make sure his wife
knows that he did not run away to be with me
won’t you?’
Bannerman agreed that he would.
Shona tied up the boat and they both climbed up onto the harbour wall. She looked at her watch and
said, ‘You’re too late to get back to the mainland.’
‘One more night at Mrs Ferguson’s,’ said
Bannerman, inwardly cringing at the thought of
more bacon and egg.
‘Stay at my place,’ said Shona.
‘Won’t that give the neighbours cause to talk?’
asked Bannerman.
‘Yes,’ said Shona.
‘I think we could both do with a drink,’ said Shona as she closed the door of the white house and shut
out the sound of the sea. ‘Whisky?’
‘Please.’
‘And then we’ll call the police?’
Bannerman hesitated with his response.
‘We won’t call the police?’ asked Shona.
‘I’d prefer it if
you
were to call the police … tomor
row, after I’ve left,’ said Bannerman. ‘My being here
isn’t going to help and I have a job to do.’
‘What exactly is this job?’ asked Shona. ‘Do you
know why Lawrence was killed?’
‘I genuinely don’t,’ said Bannerman. ‘But it has
something to do with the deaths of three men up
in Achnagelloch. Gill was looking into the cause
of death and I think he must have found out something that certain people didn’t want him
talking about.’
‘And it was worth killing him for?’
‘Apparently,’ shrugged Bannerman.
‘What was special about the deaths? How did
these men die?’ asked Shona.
‘They died of brain disease.’
There’s more to it, isn’t there?’ said Shona.
‘What do you mean?’
There’s something you’re not telling me,’ said
Shona.
Bannerman looked down at his feet, then confessed, There is a bit more, not that it helps in understanding why Lawrence Gill was killed.’
‘Will you tell me anyway?’ asked Shona.
Bannerman nodded. He said, ‘Have you ever
heard of a disease called
Scrapie?’
Shona shook her head.
‘It’s a disease of sheep, a brain disease. It’s been
around for a long time but we thought it only affected
sheep, so nobody paid it that much attention, until
fairly recently.’
‘What happened?’
The disease crossed what we thought was a
species barrier. It caused a condition in cattle called
Bovine Spongioform Encephalopathy.’
‘Mad Cow Disease?’ said Shona.
‘Yes. It turned out that there was no species barrier
between sheep and cows after all.’
‘Oh dear,’ said Shona.
‘We think that the three men up in Achnagelloch
died of
Scrapie.’
‘It crossed to humans?’ exclaimed Shona.
‘Yes, and we have to find out how and why.’
‘I see,’ said Shona. ‘Thank you for telling me.’
‘I’d rather you didn’t tell all your friends,’ said
Bannerman.
Shona gave a slight smile and nodded. ‘Will you
be going back to Edinburgh now?’ she asked.
‘No, Achnagelloch.’
‘But won’t you be in danger too?’ asked Shona.
‘
I genuinely don’t know anything,’ said Bannerman.
‘But you’ll be doing the same thing Lawrence was
doing, asking questions, poking your nose in.’
‘
I suppose …’ said Bannerman thoughtfully.
‘Please be careful.’
Bannerman saw the look of concern in Shona’s
eyes and nodded.
‘I won’t call the police until you’ve left,’ said
Shona.
Thanks. One more thing,’ said Bannerman. ‘I’d
be grateful if you’d just report the finding of the
body. Don’t tell them about the parcel or the man
at the post office.’
‘If you say so, but won’t they think it was an
accident in that case?’
‘I’ll make sure the authorities get to know what really happened. They’ll deal with it without the
newspapers getting hold of it.’
Shona prepared a meal for them that Bannerman
thought a good London restaurant would have had trouble matching. He purred appreciatively as he sipped his coffee afterwards.